Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre

Transcript

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: On February tenth, nineteen ninety two, men with guns stormed
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: a bowling alley in Los Crusis, New Mexico. They gathered
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the employees and two young girls inside, forced them into
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the main office, stole some cash, and opened fired on
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: all seven victims before setting the room ablades and escaping
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: out the back door. This is the brutal and unsolved
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: story of the Los Crusus Bowling Alley massacre.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and Grim, a true crime podcast.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: The following podcast material intended for a mature audience.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: Listener discretion advised.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: It's up Happy Friday, Happy Friday.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: This story took me a long time to type out
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: because my wrist is fucked Yeah.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fucked up your wrists. Perfect timing, I.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Know, right, I had. I've got a little bit of
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: like ten nights going on the last few months, and
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I went and played some ball hockey the other day,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and yeah, it hurts a lot more now since then.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it doesn't last too long.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I don't think so. I mean, I've got a brace
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: on my hand right now to keep my wrist nice
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: and straight. And took an heal and it's doing better.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: You're old. I know you're getting old. I know, I
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: know you will play ball hockey once a week and
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: you get injured.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's pretty much it right there. But the freeze
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: is coming, so it's gonna be like ice hockey pretty
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: quick here. So yeah, I can be outside playing some
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: ice hockey and uh yeah, good times. Got a little winter.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Really taking this enjoying hockey to the next level. You're
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: not just watching it, you're playing it.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thirty six years old and I'm starting to play
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: hockey for the first time. So yeah, should have started
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: when I was younger. I could have gotten too the NHL.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Who knows, I know we would have been rich too
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: late for that. Now.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Ah, that's okay. Our life is still pretty good.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Is it okay though?
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: H is it okay though? Yeah, we could have been rich.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Do you know the percentage it's probably
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: very low of what like kiddos actually make it into
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: the NHL.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Oh no, it's it's minimal. Any any sort of like
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: kid going into sports. It's like a fraction of a
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: fraction of a fraction will make it into the pro leagues. Yeah,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: are you talking like NBA, NFL, NHL, like all of them.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: It's good to be a professional athlete. I think is
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: pretty hard.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Oh definitely. The Well I was going to say it's
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: super competitive, but I mean it is sports, so but yeah, no,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: it's I think for a lot of people though, it
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: isn't getting into there. It's just enjoying the things in
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: the daily lives, right, which is exactly why I'm starting
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to play hockey now at the age that I am,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: is because it's not about like, oh, I'm gonna go
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: and be super competitive.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: It's just like we're fun.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I just want to play hockey. That's all it is,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, So yeah, do what you love is
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: the moral of this story. Yeah, just don't hurt yourself.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Well, I know. I mean when we're young, we're just
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: like invincible or you feel so much quicker, and then
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: when you're old, you're just well, we're not that we're old.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: We're not old. We're middle aged, right, we're middle aged. Yes,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: we're not even middle aged yet technically you don't think
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: we are.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: No, I don't think so, because I think middle age
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: quote unquote it's like around forty, isn't it. We're not
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: technically forty, yet we're thirty.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Six, so humhm fun okay, because.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Middle age is like the middle of your life, the
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: middle of your life span, right, middle aged, And technically
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: I think our lifespan is around forty or sorry, around eight.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Oh man, wow, so middle age should be around forty.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: So I guess I mean, if you're going either end
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: of forty, we're we're middle aged.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we're getting there.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, gotta love life. Anyways, we digressed. I don't know
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: why we talked about this this morning, but we we did.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Hopefully you guys are having a good morning, better than
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: my wrist, and hopefully you guys are not going to
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: pay attention to the uh Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I'm going to. It's just I don't don't. I don't
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: want to feed that kid any more attention than he
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: already has. But I'm gonna watch, but you're going I'm
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: going to. I just really hope he gets his face
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: punched and he is old.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Ben, this is like taking okay, this is taking a
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: turn here, let's.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Go Okay, let's get on the case. We're just rambling
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: this morning, so we are talking about it. I am
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: just rambling this morning. I haven't had coffee yet. Maybe
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: that's the thing. Maybe I need a coffee to settle
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: me down.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: So maybe the tea didn't cut it, Egy, No it didn't.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: But yeah, this is the Lost Crusis Bowling Alley massacre.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: So on the Saturday of February tenth, nineteen ninety, the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: day began like any other weekend for the family run
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Los Crusis Bowl. It's east of Amatur Avenue in Los Crusis,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: New Mexico, and the bowling alley planned to open at
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: nine am this day. They were going to be welcoming
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: a youth bowling league which has had around forty young
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: bowlers ages four to twelve, and they're going to be
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: participating in this you know, loose youth bowling league day
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: or whatever it was, right, So it was quite a
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: big event day with a lot of little kids.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Employees arrived early to make sure everything was all set up.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: As events like this there's there's always a lot to prepare.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Stephanie Senek was the thirty four year old men and
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: came in at around eight am that morning. She brought
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: along with her her twelve year old daughter Melissa Ripass
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: and Melissa's friend Amy Hauser, who was thirteen. The girls
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: were there to help with the day care service for
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the day. You know, being as young as they were
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: didn't stop them from being a part of learning the
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: family business that it was and being involved and getting
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: those work time the work time in right, that's awesome.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: The day was beginning with Stephanie heading to the office.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: She's going to sort out receipts in the previous night,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: while Melissa and Amy you know, kind of explored and
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: played together throughout the bowling alley. So it's not like
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: the kids are being put to work right away, but
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: it's like, hey, you gotta do some help out for now.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Go explore it, Go play. I got a little bit
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: of paperwork to do.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: That's kind of fun. Hey, as a kid, just to
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: get to explore, like an empty bowling out right, that
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: sounds super fun.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: That would be. So as the kids were doing this
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: and Stephanie's in the back starting to tackle some of
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the paperwork, meanwhile, there was a woman, a woman by
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the name of Ida Holgan. She's a thirty three year
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: old individual who is a cook for the establishment. So
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: she's in the kitchen already busy with the morning preparations
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and prep work is often the most labor intensive part
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: of cooking for events. You know, you've got a lot
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: to prepare for. You got a lot of meals that
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: like need to be happening as these are going. Even
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: if you're gonna go like fast food stuff, you got
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: prep work to do. If someone's going to order, say,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: for example, you go through a drive in just on
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: any sort of fast food restaurant you can think of.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: If someone say says, I want eight cheeseburgers, well you
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: got to fly those eight cheeseburgers out, So you need
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: to make sure you have the buns, the condiments, the patties,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: all the stuff that goes on it ready to go.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot to it.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So that's what she's doing, is making sure everything's
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: ready to go for this like forty plus.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Right, So then it makes their life.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Easier later, Yeah, with all these people coming in. So
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: that's what she's doing in the kitchen, hard at work,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: and so far it's a regular morning, but that is
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: until the two young girls, Melissa and Amy, walk towards
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: the vending machine in the building just before eight twenty am.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: It was then that they noticed two men approaching them
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: coming inside the building. The girls politely asked if the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: men needed any help or what they were looking for.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: They're like, you know, what's up. But this was when
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: things took a turn for the worse. The two men,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: one being significantly older than the other, each drew a
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: twenty two caliber handgun and pointed it directly at the girls. Man,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: leave these little girls alone, I know, right, And it's
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: the first ones that they see and the first ones
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: they go for.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: And here they're just like, how can we help you?
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Like the bowling alley's close about what can we do
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: for you?
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: And I like how the girls are like, you know,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: they're starting to work in this establishment, ha bit, and
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: so they're almost like the customer service kicks in. But
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the girls were unfortunately in a bad spot and they
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: were immediately terrified and frozen in fear. But they were
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: quickly forced to move and were made to go into
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the office where Stephanie was already reviewing the paper. Right,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: so they're all forced into this back room. The men
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: continued to brandish their guns at their new captors, you know,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Sephanie and the two girls, and they got them all
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: to kneel and lay down on the floor. They were
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: left with no other choice but us to do what
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: they were told, So they all got down to their
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: knees and then laid face down, and one of the
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: gunmen would leave the room briefly in search of the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: building in case there's anyone else left around. And this
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: is when Ida was spotted cooking in the kitchen. Now,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: according to reports from the Las Crucis Sun News, the
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: man aimed his gun directly at her and shouted, quote,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: this is a hold up, could be important, jeez. So
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: once he had Ida under control, he led her to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: the office where Stephanie, Melissa and Amy were already on
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: the floor and the men meant business. And to prove this,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the one leading Ida struck her repeatedly on the back
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: of the head with the gun in his hand, forcing
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: her into the office and onto the floor only shit.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Ida was ordered to sit with her head down. So
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: she's on her knees with her head down, and one
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: of the men then direct did Stephanie to open the safe. Stephanie,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: doing as she was told, moves slowly. She's trying to
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: ensure that she didn't startle anyone, you know, make any
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: moves that could cause a trigger to be pulled or
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: someone to get hurt. Right, So she's moving cautiously and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: slowly and did as she was told and opened the safe.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Once the men had access, they grabbed around five thousand
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: dollars of cash from inside the safe. But this is
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: where something interesting happens. They didn't grab all of the money.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: They did leave some behind still sitting in the safe. Now.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Ida later recounted that the police or sorry to the police,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: that at this point the men seemed agitated. They began
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: rummaging frantically through the office cabinets and drawers, as if
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: they were almost searching for something, something more than just cash,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: almost like there was something specific that they were in
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: search of and looking for.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Hmmm, okay, and it's very odd that they didn't just
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: take all the money.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: That doesn't make any sense.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So there's a few question marks on a
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: lot of this, Like, as I mentioned, when the one
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: gunman already went to Ida in the kitchen and had
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: had her at gunpoint, he said, this is a hold up.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: What does this as a hold up mean?
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't even know.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: That's usually mean it's a robbery. This is a robbery.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: This is a hold up. This is a stick up.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: It's all like in terms of like I'm pointing a
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: gun at you, You're gonna give me what I want?
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Okay yeeah.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: So if this is a hold up.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: They would have nothing to be looking for other than valuables.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're looking for to looking to steal, but they
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: didn't even steal all the money, and then it's reported
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: that they seemed like they were looking for something else. So,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: now as this is going on, the Bowling Alley mechanic
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Stephen Tarn, who is twenty six, was just arriving at
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the building Damn and with Stephen were his two young daughters.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Oh Manka, six year old Paula and two year old Valerie.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: As he entered the building, the two gunmen spotted Stephen
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and his kids, and the men didn't hesitate and forced
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: them into the now crowded office as well and ordered
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: everyone to kneel with their heads down. It's unsure why,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: but what happened next was unexpected. Once everyone was in
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: the office kneeling on the floor with their heads down
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: as directed, the two men began firing at their victims.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Though some sources report all victims were shot in the
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: head execution style. A Las Cruces Police Department captain clarified
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: that while five were indeed shot in the head, others
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: suffered wounds to their shoulders, hands in other areas. Now,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: this next part is a bit of a spoiler, but
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: for story's sake, it is the best time to mention it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: So we're going to go with the spoiler right now.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: You'll figure it out here shortly. Anyways, so Ida, who
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: survived the shooting, later told investigators and the media that
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: the gunman appeared visibly anxious as they were firing their guns.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Often as they were shooting at her, they missed, and
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: they needed to shoot several times before hitting her accurately.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, almost like they weren't wanting to or they were
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: kind of doing this against their.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Will of sorts, or yeah, or maybe it was the
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: first time doing it, or they were nervous, or who
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: knows what. But you have someone point blank range and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: you're missing. Yeah, that's significant.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Because it wouldn't necessarily take a lot of skill to
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: hit that aim. No, right, No, I have no experience.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Have I fired a gun oh maybe, I guess actually,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: like like target shooting for hunting or whatever. Right, yeah,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: but I'm a hunter. But I think you've shot a
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: twenty once in my whole life. Yeah, it's not rifles
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: or air guns you've shot. But but yeah, this is
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: close range handgun. It should be relatively easy to hit
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: a body at least. Yeah.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but they were missing and Ida was able to
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: look directly at their shooters as they were shooting at
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: her and not hitting her. But they kept shooting and
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: eventually did. Now, after the men had shot all the
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: victims and believed they were all dead, the gunman then
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: took some papers and some that were sitting on the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: desk and lit them on fire before slipping out the
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: back door and making their escape. Now I mentioned that
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Ida survived the shooting. We already know that that was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: the spoiler alert part, and I also mentioned that the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: men believed they had killed everyone. Well, at eight thirty
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: three am, the nine to one one dispatch would receive
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: a call from that office, and it was from someone
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: else who was still alive.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, I was like, please have some other people surviving this.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: The call came in from twelve year old Melissa against
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: all odds, and despite being shot, she managed to reach
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: for the office phone and dialed nine to one. One.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: My gosh, bless her little heart.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: I have that night.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Oh God, of course you do. Of course you do.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Here we go, please.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: Tell oh well, show down, show down, We are shot.
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: Hold up? Okay, where are you at?
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: One?
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Stam the door US's ball? Yes, okay, and there were
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: there were shots fired.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: Yes, o huh Oliver.
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: I think I'm the other one conscience. All of you
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: were hurt. Okay, we'll get a name of the rolling
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: please okay, what's your NAMESA repas? Please hurry, say Melissa,
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: we've got him dispatched. Did you see who did it?
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: No?
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: They told before to get down.
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: They shot me five times.
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: Okay, we'll get him rolling, Melissa, just hang on. Take
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: a deeper patrol unit in around. How many people are hurt? One, twoday, four, five, seven, seven?
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: People are hurts? I think I hurt?
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: Okay, okay, Melissa, it hurts, it hurts. Okay, Melissa.
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: I've got any ambulance and I've got the police officers
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: in round.
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: They'll be with you just shortly.
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: You didn't see what any.
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: Of the men they wear over money. You didn't see
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: what any kind of the men were wearing or anything. Nothing.
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: They just walked in.
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: Do you know if they were black men.
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: White men, black mesa two black men? Yeah, okay, No,
• 16:32
  Speaker 6: they've left two black mele.
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: Okay, Okay, it's okay, Melissa.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: They's a fire too.
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: There's a fire. They are the men still there? I
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: don't know.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: You don't know.
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: I don't know if they put it in the office.
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: They put you in the office. Yes, I need a
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: fire too.
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: Too, Okay, Melissa.
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: She said they locked them in the office. He doesn't
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: know if they're still there or not. The door's opening.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: The fire yet.
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: You smell smoke, militia, Yes, I could see it. Okay.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: Can I get the fire apartment?
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: Yes, because she smells smoking.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Let the building on fire?
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: No, it is on fire, is on fire?
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: Okay, Melissa.
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Can I go and buy utility one?
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: Okay, Melissa. We've got him coming home. We've got him coming.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: If somebody Okay, Melissa, there's a police officer there now, Okay,
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: there is, Yes, there is. He's gonna try and find
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: you office.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: I have thirty three traffic.
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: God okay for the old Melissa. We've got the ambulance coming.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: They're just down the street.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: Huh. She still advises all seven or they're injured, they're.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: In the office.
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: Where's the office at?
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: And then you take it right and we're right in
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: the ld.
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: Okay, since you go in the.
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: First, let's take a right and you're right there.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: At the office.
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: Okay. I'm giving the directions on how to get to
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: you to the police.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: Officers that are there. My God, you're helping you, Melissa.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: We've got them rolling.
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: Okay. You gotta be brave, gotta be strong now.
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: Okay, God, it's gonna burn our flight.
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: Now, Okay, can you see flames? Yeah?
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: Okay, okay, Oh, I got bullet in my fe.
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: Okay, the bullet in my head. You both the bullets
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: in your head? To go ahead. I hear the officers
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: telling you to get out. Was at the police officer.
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: Okay now.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: During the call, Melissa described the attackers as two black men. However,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: detectors soon Detectives soon clarified that the men were most
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: likely Hispanic, possibly Cuban or Cuban American, rather than African American.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: So I did want to clarify that before we move
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: any further. But that was a tough call to get through.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Holy shit, that was one of the worst things I've
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: ever heard.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, she's how old is she twelve or third?
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: I think I'm going to go back on my notes
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: here and check her age. Boy, Yeah, she's twelve years old.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: She had been shot five times, and she's laying in
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: the office with the other six individuals, all unconscious, and
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: she managed to communicate to officers not only what happened,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: no kidding, also gave them direction on how to get
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: inside to find them in the office, and she stayed
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: on the line to the very last moment where officers
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: were directing you to get out of the building, despite
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: that room still being a blaze.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: My heart just like listening to that was just oh,
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: it just shattered.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Melissa is one hundred and ten percent the badass of
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the pay today.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: And I guess she wasn't aware then that Ida was
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: still alive.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Hey, she said unconscious.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Everyone else is on commage, okay, So she wasn't aware
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: that they were all like dead or what or exactly
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: what was like just hurt kind of thing.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, everyone else, as far as she knows, she used
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the word unconscious too. Twelve year old in that moment,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: they're all unconscious, not even like panicking, they're all dead,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: they're all knocked out, they're all black like who knows
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: she's with it, which.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Is so exacting because just the scene that she would
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: be witnessing there right with all the shots and stuff
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: in people's bodies, like.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Oh man, well, and she even said there's like I
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: don't believe she was shot in the head. So I
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: believe she says, bullet in my hands.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, yes, yeah, that's what I thought she had said.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: So yeah, but the dispatch was question, there's bullets in
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: your head? And so I do want to clarify. I'm
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: pretty I'm this is me and my interpretation. I'm almost
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: certain she says bullets in my hand.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Well, the dispatcher did a real good job too, Oh definitely. Oh,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: I just I don't know. Those are just like heroes too,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: because imagine just I mean, you're having to console her
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: and then also get people there like as quickly as possible,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: so you're kind of like, you know, being in two
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: places at once, really well.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Everyone involved, because you also have first.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Responders that have to go in there.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Yet went in there and hauled these people out of
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the building as it's burning.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Gosh, that's just terrible.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So when first responders arrived, they quickly worked to
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: extinguish the flames and also carrying the victims outside. As
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: I mentioned, sadly, they discovered that Stephen Terren, his daughter Paula,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: and Melissa's friend Amy had not survived. The remaining victims
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: were all transported to the hospital in critical in critical condition,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: but Steven's two year old daughter Valerie also succumbed to
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: her injuries just forty five minutes later, so he.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: And his two daughters died.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Correct.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Oh boy.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Only three survived the attack, Melissa, her mother, Stephanie and Ida.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: Wow okay, I mean it's amazing that they survived, like
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: you wouldn't think anyone would, but brutal.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I can't I don't know. I don't even
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: know what to say. I'm just going to keep going
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: on here. Police immediately launched a full on investigation, canvassing
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: the area around the Bowling Alley for any possible witnesses
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: to see two men approaching or leaving the scene. They
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: also spoke to Stephanie's brother, who will call Brian. Brian
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: recounted that he had stopped by the Bowling Alley that
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: morning to retrieve a backpack that he had left the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: previous night. Now, as he entered, he had noticed the
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: doors to the building were unlocked, and he told Stephanie
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: before leaving to make sure that she locks him before
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: they actually open.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, and here she was probably just like busy working.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Didn't kind of get there yet. Mostly still like even
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: if the doors were locked, they might have still found
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: a way in. Mostly, you know, if there's a will,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: there's a way.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Right now, as Brian left, he said he noticed two
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Hispanic men moving from the back of the building towards
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: the entrance. The older man handed a small case to
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: the younger one, then crouched down and made direct eye
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: contact with Brian. Sorry, I think I might have said
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: old man. He's older. He's not old per se. But yeah.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: So this encounter allowed Brian to actually get a very
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: clear view of their faces, and he would later work
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: with police to create two composite sketches, which were released
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: to the public in hopes of identified the attackers. Now.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Other witnesses in the area also described seeing two men
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: driving a van or utility vehicle, though the colors varied
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: a little bit. It was either green or tan, and
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: this was near the scene around the time of the shooting.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: With all these descriptions that they now had in hand,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: law enforcements set up ten roadblocks on all highways out
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: of Los Cruises, screening every single vehicle that entered and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: left the city for the rest of the day. The
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: US SORRY, the Army, the US Customs and Border Patrol
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: also joined in the search, employing helicopters up in the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: air planes as well, all in an attempt to locate
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: this vehicle they were searching for. But despite these extensive efforts,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: no match was found for this vehicle. Back at the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Bowling Alley, the Lost Cruises Police Department began proceeding with
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the crime scene. However, by the time the investigators arrived,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: firefighters had already used hoses to extinguish the flames. And
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: while it's an important thing that needs to happen to
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: extinguish the flame, this initial firefighting response is always something
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: that inadvertently causes damage to a crime scene.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Evidence.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes it really complicated to gather any sort
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: of evidence whatsoever, But I mean the alternative is to
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: let it burn down.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Anything get rid of all the evidence exactly.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: So it's you're damned if you do, you're damned if
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: you don't.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: So the firefighters, of course they're going to put out
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the fire. It just leaves a contaminated crime scene, unfortunately,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and it's something that investigators always struggle with when a
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: fire occurs at a scene, and in this case, not surprisingly,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: it became a significant hurdle for the investigation. The Lost
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Cruses police requested assistance from the New Mexico State Police
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: to try and gather the evidence that they could from
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the scene, but despite their combined efforts, they were unable
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: to gather enough evidence to complete and create a DNA
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: profile of either of the assailants. They did, however, recover
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: fingerprints and shoe prints, but as this is a public
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: bowling alley, presence of multiple sets of prints and tracks
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: made a challenging to determine which were relevant to the
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: crime and not simply public patrons of the facility.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Dang, yeah, yeah, I didn't even think of that. There
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: would be like fingerprints and footprints and stuff all everywhere.
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Oh shit, yeah, I mean right away, I was like, Wow,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: they got to work, but they have a damn hard job.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is not one that is going to come
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: easy for sure.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Now, In the following days, the survivors of the attack
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: were they were able to provide details and descriptions of
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: the gunmen. The older man was described as around fifty
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: with salt and pepper hair, a dark complexion, standing at
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: about five foot seven inches tall and weighing it around
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: one hundred and forty pounds or so. He spoke with
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: a slight accent. Now, the younger man appeared to be
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: around thirty years of age with dark, wavy hair and
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: light colored eyes. He stood around five foot ten and
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: weighed around one hundred and seventy pounds, speaking without any
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: discernible accent, and both men were fluent in both English
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: and Spanish, which in all honesty I don't think is
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: super uncommon for the area by any means. So, based
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: on these accounts, police artists, sorry police artists, created composite
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: sketches of the suspects with these descriptions, and of course
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: these were quickly distributed to the public in hopes of
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: identifying them as well. Detectives soon found themselves following over
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: one hundred tips. As the investigation unfolded, some witnesses reported
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: seeing two men fleeing the scene, running across Amador Avenue
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: towards the Interstate immediately after the massacre had taken place.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Others suggested that the crime could be linked to a
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: local gang living just two streets from the Bowling Alley.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Among the many leads was a claim from a woman
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: at a nearby bar who told police that she allowed
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the gunmen to stay with her after the attack.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Okay, and she's basically admitting this later on kind of thing.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's like a couple of days go by
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: and she's like, oh, well, actually not even I think
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: it's the day after. Maybe I'm not certain exactly, okay,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: but yeah, she's like, oh yeah I let them stay
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: with me.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Did Okay? I have so many questions regarding that, but okay.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Well you may not have as many questions once I
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: tell you a bit more. Yeah, okay, because the officers,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: of course, did interview this woman and right away she
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: appeared to be under the influence of drugs and she
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: was reported to be high at the time, which casts
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: a lot of doubt on her reliability.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: Mm.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, does answer some of your questions?
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because I was like, did she know what
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: they had just done, Like, yeah, well but maybe not,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: or maybe it didn't even happen, who knows.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Maybe. But now here's the thing, because, according to her
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: initial account, the gunman had targeted the Bowling Alley because
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: they believed it was a front for a large drug stash.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: She claimed that they hitted her place when they heard
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: the helicopters searching for them. Now, despite her current state
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: being all high and these outlandish claims, she agreed to
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: take a polygraph test and she passed it. Okay, Now
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: those aren't always super reliable, but it is impressive still
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: at the very least to say she passed this.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because what was she holding or helping them
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: against her will? Or was she freely helping them?
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm not too certain now. However, after
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: she sobered up, she apparently recanted her entire story, admitting
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: that she fabricated it in hopes of gaining some status
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: in the community and potentially receiving free drugs. So she's like,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: I could be famous and maybe get some drugs out
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: of this.
• 29:33
  Speaker 5: Shit.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: That is one of the most crazy reasons I've heard
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: to do anything, right, Wow, I know, Okay, So yeah,
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: that's I feel like, if anything, that's just going to
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: make you have the most terrible status right now.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: There was a witness report that claimed they actually saw
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: the gunman at the Las Crucis Bowl the night before
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: the shooting had actually happened. So they're there at the
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: actual facility, you know, bowling or enjoying their time however
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: it was. But according to this account, one of the
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: men had tried to flirt with the manager, Stephanie on
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: that night, but she rejected his advances. Now, this led
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to speculation that the shooting might have been some sort
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: of active retaliation, you know, like, well you're gonna reject me,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: No one rejects me, or something like that.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: Right, we've had cases like that before.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: We certainly have Junco Feruda being one of them. Forty
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: hell right. Yeah. So though this theory, like many others,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: they couldn't prove it. There was nothing that they could find.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: It was just that a theory. So after reviewing the
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: evidence and tips, detectives developed several different theories along with
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: that one about the motive specifically behind the massacre. One
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: theory was that it had been a robbery that had
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: gone wrong, and another considered the possibility of a bounched
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: hit could have been maybe against Stephanie or maybe someone
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: else who knows, but a botched hit was another possible ability. Now,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: the robbery theory left several unanswered questions. Why had the
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: gunmen left some money in the safe if it was
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: a robbery, which we kind of already talked about. And
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: why didn't they disguise themselves if it was a robbery, right,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: because you think of a robbery typically you got like
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: guys and scheme asks or whatever, you know, covering their
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: identities and no one can identify them.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: But it doesn't seem like they're very concerned about that
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: at all exactly, especially see the guy I can't remember
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: his name who had left the bowling alley and okay, yes,
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: got to even look them in the eye right.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: Now.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Most disturbingly, the biggest question was why would they kill
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the kids if it's just a robbery, you.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Know, right?
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: So?
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because the kids, you know, I don't well, especially
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: like the little ones, they probably wouldn't be able to
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: like recount or remember too much necessarily.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Do you have a two year old that you killed?
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: So, Now, these unanswered questions led some investigators to suspect
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: that the attack might have been more than just a
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: robbery because it didn't quite make sense, and maybe it was,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: you know, a hit on someone that we already mentioned
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: and it went horribly awry. But this theory raises another
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: critical question. Why would someone want to target an employee
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: of a bowling alley for a fucking hit? Would it
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: be because you know, like we said, hey, you don't
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: deny my advances, or is there something further? Is there
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: someone else in here?
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: I'm almost wondering if it's potentially something to do with Ida,
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: because how they were like missing her, you know, if
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: that was like planned to like not kill her per se.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: I I mean, I don't, I don't see it. I
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: see what you're saying, but I disagree.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: Okay, they were just that bad, so it wasn't necessarily
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: trying to save her, It was just that they suck.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, that account came from Ida herself, So
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: why would if she was, you know, supposed to be
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: saved from this and make it like she was one
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: of the victims as well?
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: Well, maybe she didn't. She knows who was like behind
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: all this though, but doesn't know right, like she maybe
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: didn't have anything to do with it, but the person
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: behind it was like, make sure you don't kill her.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I mean I don't maybe, I don't know. It still
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: seems far fetched to me. Okay, there's some other ones that,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: well we'll touch on right here now that's not quite
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: as far fetched though. Yeah, anyway, we'll just get into it.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: So this this theory raised another critical question though, of course,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: why target Bowling Alley employee. But to explore this angle,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: detectives met with Ron Senek, the owner of the Bowling
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Alley and the father of victim Stephanie Senek. So when
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: I asked if anyone might hold a grudge against him,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Ron simply said no. He insisted that you know, it's
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: like this is clearly a robbery, like they stole my
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: money and stuff, right m hm. And he even explained
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: that the Bowling Alley had been targeted for robberies multiple
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: times since opening in nineteen eighty four, so he's like,
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: robbery have happened here before, that's most likely what it
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: is now. However, Stephen Arn, his brother, suggested that investigators
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: or sorry, two investigators, that Ron's lifestyle was a little
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: bit questionable at the time of the attack. So reportedly,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: Ron lived in the Bowling Alley and had been visited
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: by several unusual individuals in the months leading up to
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: this attack. Not to mention, Ron was reportedly in deep
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: financial trouble, owing one point five million dollars due to
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: poor business decisions.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: O dang.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: In fact, his debt was so severe that he had
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: to reopen the Bowling Alley less than a week after
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: this tragedy took place try and keep his finances afloat. Yeah. Yeah, whoa.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: So I'm surprised that would even necessarily been allowed like
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: that that you know, it's a crime scene, that they
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: would be done.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: With it, I know, right, I don't even know, like even.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: If I thought it was like kind of on fire,
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: well yeah.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: That's the thing. It's like even if well, I mean
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: like they started with the desk, right, so like the
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: desk is on fire. Maybe the structure's fine, but you
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: still got like smoke damage, you got to clean Like
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: how can you clean a crime scene and then clean
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: your building and get it open less than a week later?
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Like holy shit, there was some hustle in that well, and.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: You imagine or you think, like would people actually want
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: to be going there. I mean, there'd be some that
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: would want to definitely check it out, but a lot wouldn't.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know, there's a lot of people with morbid
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: curiosities that might want to go.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm sure his daughter wanted nothing to do
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: with it.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: I highly doubt that. Yeah, it's not only his daughter,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: it's also his granddaughter who is a part of this.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah. True.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: So, Now, when Ron learned that the detectives were scrutinizing
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: him as a potential suspect, he immediately was uncooperative. He
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: shut down and yeah, he was refusing to communicate or
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: answer any other questions, which of course only heightens his suspicion.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but also I don't know. I mean, yeah, his
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: daughter and granddaughter were there. I think that he would
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: be behind this, but maybe the people he's you know,
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: hanging out with. Yeah, that's that's more okay, Okay.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Now, Despite this, though, detectives found no concrete evidence linking
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: him to the crime.
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: Now. Another theory involved a rumor that Ron's son, RJ,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: who also worked at the Bowling Alley, was involved in
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: this somehow So, according to the rumors, RJ was allegedly
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: dependent on cocaine, it might have been using the Bowling
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Alley as a location for drug deals. Now, this theory,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: if true, could explain why the gunmen seemed intent on
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: searching the office and cabinets, possibly looking for something else,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: maybe drugs or more stashes of money. Right now, this
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: could also tie the story from that woman who was
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: high and said that the men were out targeting this
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: place because they figured it was some sort of front
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: for drugs. Right that Also that all of a sudden
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: makes it this account makes sense, it does bit yes,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: So despite sorry, detective speculated that if RJ had been
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: buying drugs at the Bowling Alley, the gunman might have
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: known about it targeted him specifically. But when detectives interviewed RJ,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: he showed no emotion and only answered direct questions, offered
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: no new information, and ultimately investigators could not determine whether
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: RJ was in the intended target of this hit or not.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: But even with that, regardless of not finding drugs and stuff,
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: I just feel as though people like that would still
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: go about taking all the money that was available, right
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: So that just that's weird unless they were just owed
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: a certain amount.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: But even still, if they're owed a certain amount, if
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: they're owed five grand, say.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Right, they would take more interest, you know.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Exactly, they'd take more interest. And even if they got
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: the amount that they needed, why are they shooting all
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: these seven people?
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah? Well they all were witnesses.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Though not if you fucking wore sche masks.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and they should have just done one simple thing
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: to make them not as simple.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: And a two year old's not a fucking witness.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: Oh wow, Okay, yeah, this is this is a weird case.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: And don't get me wrong, Like when you start dealing
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: with individuals like in the mob and shit like that,
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: they have they have fucking standards. They're not going to
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: just pop a two year old.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: No, you might own still not going to miss missing
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: and stuff.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: Because guys like that, they're they're not quote unquote gang members,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: they're quote businessmen. Right, So if you owe them money
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: and shit you're not paying, it's going to get personal.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: They're going to go after your family. But they're not
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: going to pop an innocent two year old because you
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: owe them five fucking grand or something.
• 38:49
  Speaker 6: Mm hmm.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: That doesn't make sense because that two year old wasn't
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: even his granddaughter.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: Well, no, they were just people that worked there. Yeah, well,
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: and and kids of people that work there. So there's
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: no way someone of that businessman's status or mentality would
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: pop an innocent two year old that has nothing to
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: do with this, and yet Stephanie and her daughter survives.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: No.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, oh man, this one's really got me thinking. This
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: is wild.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: So, despite the extensive efforts, detectives were unable to conclusively
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: prove any of the theories they were working with, whether
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: it was a botched hit, or robbery gone wrong, or
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: something else entirely, they just didn't know. Over the next decade,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: they left no stone unturned, investigating over a thousand potential
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: suspects and even turning to unconventional methods, including psychics and hypnosis.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: They also sought public help with multiple television programs airing
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: In March of nineteen ninety, Unsolved Mysteries filmed a segment
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: on the case, and the episode generated a wave of tips,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: though no none led to a breakthrough of any sort.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Five years later, a MA Because Most Wanted aired a
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: feature on the massacre, bringing a flood of new tips
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: in but once again failed to produce any anything conclusive.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: While detectives pursued leads. The survivors, Ida, Melissa, and Stephanie
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: grappled with the lifelong impact of the attack. Ida endured
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: debilitating panic attacks, headaches, and PTSD, compounded by brain injuries
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: that made everyday tasks difficult for her because she was
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: shot in the head. And that's especially like, that's what
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: really brings us more into like what your theory was
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: like really hard to believe and really far fetched, because
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: it's like she was actually shot in the head. It's
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: like not like she was just shot and like, oh
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: my arm. It's like no, she was fucking shot.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: So like has life long I mean the trauma, but
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: also you.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: Know, yeah, she's she'd had brain injuries.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: F yeah, exactly.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: Now. Melissa and Stephanie also suffered from PTSD, and Stephanie
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: faced lasting physical injuries. Unfortunately, tragically, Stephanie would pass away
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety nine due to complications stemming from her
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: injuries from really. Yes, ah, so the shooting did claim
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: five lives, yes for sure, ough by the early two thousands,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: investigators were still determined to solve the case. In two
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: thousand and five, the updated the composite sketches of the gunmen,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: reflecting about a fifteen years of aging that would have occurred,
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: But this effort did not yield any significant new leads.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Entering into the twenty tens, the case remained active and
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: detectives continuing to follow every possible promising tip. In twenty eleven,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: the detectives sorry. A detective shared with CNN his belief
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: that the murders were likely the work of experienced criminals
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: who likely intended to leave no witnesses. To quote him,
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: it was easy for them to kill, but you couple
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: that with their knowledge of what they were going to
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: gain out of hitting this particular place, and it tells
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: you that this was probably wasn't their first crime. Sorry,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: I kind of fumbled that last sence, but this was
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: probably Sorry, this probably wasn't their first crime.
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: There we go, But it does seem like they did
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: things wrong though, so that okay, it's I don't.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: Know, it's hard to say. I'm not sure if I
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: fully agree with that officer or investigator or detective. There
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: we go, but I do see what he's saying. I
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: guess because it was like they fucking shot a two
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: year old, right, Maybe they were still having trouble dealing
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: with pulling the trigger with someone so close. Maybe they're
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: battling with it. They still fucking did it, you know, Yeah,
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: I'm sure they.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: Could if they were say, part of like a gang
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: or something. It could be like really new ones, right,
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: because maybe they send potentially, yeah, people that are pretty
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: new to the I don't know, organization or whatever the
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: hell you want to call it, to do shit like this. Yeah,
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: it was for what five grand I'm just sitting here
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: just like shocked.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Well, there was clearly something else, right, they were in
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: search of something else, whether it was more money, whether
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: it was drugs. Maybe who knows there was something else. Now.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: This detective also emphasized the importance of someone coming forward, saying, quote,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: there's someone out there who knows what happened. They need
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: to speak up so the victims and their families can
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: finally have answers. And that's the thing. There's definitely individuals
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: out there who know what fucking happened. Oh yeah, more
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: than just the two who would have committed it. For sure.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Now decades later, here we are today, and the case
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: remains completely unsolved. The community, victims, loved ones, they're all
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: searching for closures, still Melissa Repass, one of the survivors
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: of the Las Crusus Bowling Alley massacre, spoke out in
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: her thirties about the enduring things that she faced after
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: the attack. She said that she needed the killers to
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: be caught so she could finally stop living in fear.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: To quote her, then I will be able to go
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: out in public and feel safe. I won't constantly look
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: over my shoulder. I won't fear for my children for
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: their safety. I won't have fear in my own home
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: that they're going to come back and try and finish
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: what they tried to do twenty one years ago. And
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: just so you know, that is the same Melissa that
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: dialed nine went one when.
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: She was oh yeah, gosh, okay. That gave me goosebumps
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: for sure, that is. And she's gone ahead and had
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: her own kids say she has I mean good for her.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: So By February of twenty twenty two, thirty two years
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: after the horrific crime, the Lost Crusis Police Department renewed
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: efforts to solve the case by offering a twenty five
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars reward for any information leading to suspects. Additionally,
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: Charles Minn, the filmmaker behind the documentary called A Nightmare
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: in Los Crusius, contributed another seven thousand dollars to the reward,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: bringing the total up to thirty two thousand dollars. Despite
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: this renewed push, no significant breakthroughs have been reported and
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: no new updates have come out since twenty twenty two.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: The Lost Cruci's police department continued to search for the
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: two men responsible for the attack on that fateful day.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: And that's the story of the Los Crusis Bowling Alley massacre.
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: I like freaking hate these unsolved ones. It's such a
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: bummer when they're just when you don't get that closure,
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: it's such a bummer.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: It is, it really is. And this is because we
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: covered a case of this not too long ago where
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: it was a department store and an individual came in
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: through the back door. Yeah, the same sort of thing,
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: seemed to almost be looking for something and killed them
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: and fled and didn't find them. Now, thankfully in this
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: case that there were survivors. The other one, the nine
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: one one call came in from someone who ultimately wouldn't survive.
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: But yeah, well just thinking back to that one too.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: That's why I was a bit surprised that the Bowling
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: Alley was able to get was open within a week,
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: because that one the store closed for like a year
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: and then was like done done, Yes.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: But I think honestly, with this one though, it was
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: like there was the fire, so there was so much
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: like there was not much that they could do. Everything
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: was contaminated, everything was just done. It's like, okay, well
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: it's it's botched. We can't really use it as a crime.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: There'sn't much of one left.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: Because the other one was the chain too, so maybe
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: they'd made the decision that they don't want that store anymore.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: You know, well that store did close well yeah, yeah.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: So they weren't like in any rush to get it
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: open and stuff.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows.
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: Oh boy, that is sad, isn't it.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: That nine to one call. When I first heard it,
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: it it struck a fucking chord. I can tell you that.
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that was the only thing I knew about
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: this case because earlier You're like, I have a nine
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: one call for this one too. What did I say?
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: I was like, cool, yeap, yeah, thanks for that, basically cool.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Sorry. I think those nine and one calls are are
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: one of the best in sites to any sort of crime,
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: to really see if you can put yourself in those shoes,
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: because that's that's in the heat of the moment. That's
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: from the people who were there, victims often who have
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: passed away, and it's the only real sense of what
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: it could have been like there at that scene at
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: that time.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I lots of times I'm surprised that they even
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: are out there though.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: The nine one calls. Yeah, yeah, like.
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: It's surprising that those get released.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: To me, Well, I will be honest, lots of times
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: when I find nine one one calls, it's not because
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: I find the nine one one call. It's because I
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: find another creator who found the nine one one call
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: and they used it. And I don't know where the
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: fuck they're getting these calls from. But this creator that
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: I got it from, let me see what's his He's
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: on YouTube. His name is Derek Levsuer and he is uh,
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: he used to be a detective or something like that.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: But yeah, he had the entire call in his his video.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: And honestly shout out to him because his video was
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: a great resource for me in researching this one. So
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: thank you very much Derek for that I really appreciate it,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I don't know where people do find these
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: calls from. Once in a while I'll find a call, yeah,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: but typically I find it through other individuals.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Okay, interesting, I mean the bigger case is I feel
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: like there are lots of times out there a bit more.
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: But yeah, well done, thank you, as per usual. But again,
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: it's like, frick. For the rest of my mind or day,
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be like, who the fuck did it?
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: Who the fuck did it? Who the fuck did it?
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Well, I can tell you there is one person who
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: needs to do something, and it's you need to do
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: a case. We're getting a lot of messages and stuff
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: coming up here that Nicole needs to do another case.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: The problem is that I'm drowning and editing, true, literally drowning.
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: True.
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: But I did say I would do one in November,
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: and I still am planning to.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: Well we're halfway through November.
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: I know where the shit does time go out? The
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: fucking it still should be August in my opinion, September. Okay, September,
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: oh boy.
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so that was for that. Yeah, you're welcome.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: That was the rough ones, particularly with that nine on
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: one call. But I'm glad you guys made it through it,
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: and shout out to Melissa for being our badass today
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: because you one percent solely are. We are so impressed
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: with how you got through that.
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: So yeah, for sure, that's unreal.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you guys want to check out any of
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: our social links or anything, it's in the description of
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: this podcast. If you want to give us a rating
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: appropriate to what you think we deserve, we appreciate that too.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: But if I may suggest a five star, I will
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: suggest it. But again, you do you. We appreciate you
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: being here regardless. It means the world. We are independent creators.
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: There's no one who owns our show. It's just us,
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: not just us, it is it is us. It is us.
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: I didn't even notice that this time.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: Nicole gave me shit for that before, but it is
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Nicole and I. We produce, we record, we write, it's
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: it's us. There's no one else who oversees it that.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: It's us too, and you guys. Without you, guys, we
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have a show. So thank you so much. We
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Should we go get you that coffee?
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's go get a coffee. And let's walk these dogs.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: There you go, all right, Well, thank you for being here,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: and until next time, stay wicked.