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15 Deranged Serial Killers Who Operated in Florida · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Okay, so you reached out wanting to go deep on
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  like Florida, right, but not the sunshine and oranges side,
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  more like the shadows.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And we're talking seriously dark here. Serial killers, right. You
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  sent over articles summaries. I mean a whole stack on
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  fifteen different cases.
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  Speaker 2: It's a lot.
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  Speaker 1: It is a lot, which I get. You're big into
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  Florida history, so I'm kind of seeing a theme here.
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  Is there something about Florida itself that I don't know
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  breeds these kinds of stories?
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  Speaker 2: Well, even just glancing at the material, the thing that
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  gets me is how many cases tie back to Florida
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  being so transient? Oh okay, tourists, people just passing through, snowbirds,
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  you name it right. Sadly, that's like a tool for
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  these guys.
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  Speaker 1: Ted Bundy right off the top of my head, he
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  was all over, but Florida's got that constant new face
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  thing going on exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Bundy's like he used deed, the allure, the promise of
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  Florida to blend in. And it's not just the victims either.
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  Speaker 1: Oh interesting.
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  Speaker 2: I think Bobby Joe Long Tampa Bay Area, he's using
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  classified ads, totally mundane place where people are always coming
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  and going vanishing is easier.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost like you mentioned sunshine and shadows earlier, but
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  it's not just a metaphor, the openness, the energy. It
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  can cut both ways, and.
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  Speaker 2: It gets even darker when you're talking about someone like
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  Gerard Schaeffer, the killer Cop. That one always gets me.
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  Speaker 1: Uh yeah, just the ultimate betrayal using your badge to
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  I don't even know control terror exactly, And it makes
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  you wonder did that sunshine and shadows thing play into
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  even that? Like Florida, it can feel both freeing and
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  de anonymous. Did that somehow feed into this guy thinking
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  he was above the law.
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  Speaker 2: It's a thought right hard to say without getting deep
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  into the Shaeffer's head, but it makes you think about power,
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  especially in a place like Florida, where the line between
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  order and chaos sometimes it's blurry. But going back to
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  being transient, you mentioned Bobby Joel Loong using that, But
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  then there's a flat tire murderer, still unsolved, but very
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  specific area, preying on that fear when people couldn't just
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  call for help.
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  Speaker 1: See that's the thing. It's not just one thing, it's
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  like layers. That case freaks me out. Because it's a
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  universal fear, but it's also so so rooted in a
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  place and time in Florida's history, you know, yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Each case is like a peek into this weird mix
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  of like the killer's mind, what's going on in society
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  and Florida itself.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we got Transien's this sunshine and shadows idea,
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  the whole killer cop thing, which is its own can
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  of worms. But there's one in this pile. I got
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  to ask you about Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper, oh.
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  Speaker 2: Man, Danny Rolling. Even in this line of work, that
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  case just sticks with you. It wasn't just the murders.
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  It was the way he posed them, like he was
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  putting on a.
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  Speaker 1: Show, right, almost like he wanted it to be more
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  than just horrific, you know. And this is where my
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  brain goes to Florida, Like Gainesville in the early nineties.
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  It was a time of change there. The university's growing,
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  the town's trying to figure itself out, and bam, this
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  darkness hits am I like reaching for a connection here
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  or what not at all?
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  Speaker 2: A lot of folks who study this stuff think time's
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  a big change, a peace evil It can be like
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  fertile ground for that kind of extreme behavior, Like things
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  get shaky, not just for the community but for people
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  who are already kind of on the edge.
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  Speaker 1: So even rolling, as awful as it was, he's almost
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  like part of this bigger story of Florida changing exactly
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  every case.
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  Speaker 2: The details are different, but they build on each other.
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  You see the psychology what's happening in society then, and yeah,
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  Florida itself all mixed up.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so you get these weird echoes, the crimes, the times,
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  But then there's someone like Gary Ray Bowles right targeting
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  gay men, crossing state lines to do it. That feels different,
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  doesn't it, Like it's not just opportunity, it's about hate.
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  Speaker 2: Bulls is a reminder that hate, bigotry, that's fuel for
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  violence and you can't separate it out. It's part of
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  this bigger pattern of violence against LGBTQ plus folks and
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  that's sadly still going on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like a gut punch reminding you that for
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  all the patterns we're talking about, people making choices, awful
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  dark choices, which brings us to honest tool man, where
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  do you even star art with that one? Messed up childhood,
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  maybe connected to over one hundred murders than the whole
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  thing with Henry Lee Lucas. It's a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Tool is fascinating, but so tough for anyone in my field.
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  Was he giving false confessions? Was any of it true?
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  Could he really have been part of this huge web
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  of crimes? It makes your head spin.
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  Speaker 1: It's like trying to walk a tightrope in the dark
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  during an earthquake.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty much. Yeah, And it shows why you need good investigators,
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  people who are skeptical, who analyze everything, especially with someone
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  like Tool, where reality.
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  Speaker 1: Was slippery totally. So you've got Tool this tangled mess,
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  and then you've got cases that seem more about just
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  wrong place, wrong time. Michael Townsend meeting someone at a
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  hotel bar tons deadly, just reminder that danger can be anywhere,
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  even when you think you're just living life.
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  Speaker 2: No doubt. Townsend really hits home that randomness. You can't
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  predict who you'll run into. It's not always about being
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  in a bad part of town. It's about people and
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  you never really know.
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  Speaker 1: And that's even scarier when you think of someone like
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  Sammy Little Right. He flew under the radar for years
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  praying on women. A lot of them. We still don't
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  even know who they are. How many others are out
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  there like him?
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  Speaker 2: That's the thing about little He reminds us, these guys,
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  they often go after the edges of society. People disappearing.
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  It doesn't always raise flags right away. It's heartbreaking and
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  it makes you realize you have to speak up for
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  those who can't. Everyone deserves to be remembered.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Okay, So we've got Florida being transient, the sunshine
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  and shadows idea even times changing playing a part. But
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  then there's someone like Edwin Capratt, the Granny Killer, more
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  localized targeting older women.
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  Speaker 2: Caprat's a reminder that, yeah, some places might be more
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  prone to this stuff, but evil it can bloom anywhere.
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  Looks for the cracks, you know, people at thinks are
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  easy targets. In his case, it was those women alone,
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  maybe more.
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  Speaker 1: Trusting, sobering, right even in your neighborhood, behind any door.
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  As we hand to the last stretch of this, what's
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  the big thing you want our listener to walk away with?
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  What connects all these cases, even if they seem so different.
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  Speaker 2: It's tough, you know, you want there to be this
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  one thing this reason, like Florida has got the secret
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  sauce for serial killers. But it's just not that simple.
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  It's more like all these things we've been talking about,
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  they're all bumping into each other the way their minds work,
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  what's going on in society. And yeah, Florida being Florida paradise,
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  sandy place where bad stuff can fester.
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  Speaker 1: So we're not saying Flora's evil, but that it's got
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  this identity of history that maybe accidentally made it easier
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  for these things to happen.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah, and by seeing those shadows, those weak points,
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  it's not about scaring anyone. It's about giving you power.
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  Like knowing is half the battle, right for sure, More
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  we get what makes these guys tick, what lets them
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  blend in, even how our surroundings can help them. That's
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  how we protect ourselves, our people.
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  Speaker 1: So last question, then, for our listener, who's clearly put
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  some thought into this, what's the takeaway?
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  Speaker 2: Be aware of yourself, of others, Support the folks fighting
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  this stuff, you know, victim's rights, stopping violence before it happens.
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  Speaker 1: Seriously, a lot of this it thrives on us not
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  seeing each other.
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  Speaker 2: You know, those crimes, as awful as they are, they
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  happen in the dark to people who are already hurting.
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  If we shine some light there, if we make sure
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  everyone counts, maybe it happens less man.
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  Speaker 1: That's yeah, hits hard, but in a good way. And
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  I think that's what we're all about here on the
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  deep dive, you know, not just staring into the abyss,
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  but finding the way out together.
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  Speaker 2: One hundred percent. You just wish away the bad, but
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  you get to decide what you do with it. Let
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  it eat you up or light the way forward.
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  Speaker 1: Couldn't have said it better myself, and to everyone listening,
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  thanks for coming on this journey with us, facing the darkness.
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  It's not easy, but it's how we find our own strength,
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  you know, stay curious and stay safe out there.