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The Blue Moon Murders · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

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Discretion is advised. This is ten minted murder. Far too often investigations are
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pulled into the wrong direction because of rumors about witchcraft, black magic, and
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human sacrifices. With one mention of devil worship, paganism or Wiccan beliefs and
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otherwise normal case can cause mass hysteria, and one twenty fifteen triple homicide,
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which occurred in Pensacola, Florida, allegations of a ritualistic killing almost led investigators
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on a wild goose chase, distracting them from the killer's much more mundane motive.
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Still, the case has never quite escaped the nickname it was given in
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those early days, the Blue Moon Murders. It was the thirty first of
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July twenty fifteen, three days after the murders, when the bodies of three
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victims were located. The Escambia County Sheriff's office had sent deputies to forty seven
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year old Richard Smith's house to carry out a welfare check because he had failed
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to show up for his job at the Department of Homeland Security. Richard worked
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as an IT specialist, and he had a reliable reputation, so when there
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was no sign of him at work. One of his colleagues reported him as
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missing. When nobody came to answer the door, the deputies entered Richard Smith's
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house, where they found him dead. Alongside Richard's body were two other bodies,
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Richard's brother, forty nine year old John Smith, and their mother,
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seventy seven year old Vonsil Smith. David Morgan, Escambia County Sheriff gave a
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statement shortly after the bodies were discovered, saying, quote, the elements of
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this case are odd at best. We have a very reclusive family. Obviously,
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we've canvassed the neighborhood and spoken to people who have lived there for years
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and years. Neighbors have related to us that they've never met members of this
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family. All three of the victims had been killed in the same way.
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They had been severely beaten with a large clawhammer, and their throats had been
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cut with a sharp blade. However, Richard Smith had some additional injuries.
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Unlike his mother and brother, he also sustained a bullet wound to the head.
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Investigators believed that the killer shot Richard before the rest of the murders took
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place, making sure that he was incapacitated and unable to fight back. Another
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unusual detail was that the victims had been separated from each other. The bodies
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were found in different rooms, and all three bodies have been covered with blankets,
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which is usually a sign that the killer knew the victim or feels some
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sort of remorse about their death, but it asks the question, why would
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a remorseful killer brutally murder three victims at once. Shortly after the three bodies
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were found, rumors began to circulate about the case. It was already unusual
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for three members of the same family to be found dead, and because the
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Smiths were known for being reclusive and keeping to themselves, the element of mystery
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that surrounded the case made the local community even more fascinated. Soon, there
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was one theory that was especially common. Many people believed that witchcraft played a
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role in the deaths, and it wasn't just the local gossip circles who believed
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this. The sheriff's department did too. At a press conference shortly after the
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murders, one local sheriff told the astonished reporter, quote, it's witchcraft.
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I'll say that right now. Bizarrely, one of the biggest pieces of witchcraft
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evidence that the Sheriff's department leaned on was circumstantial. There had been a blue
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moon coming up at the same time the family was murdered. A blue moon
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is the name of the beer that I drink when I'm playing top golf most
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of the time, and it's also a nickname for when there's an extra full
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moon in a lunar cycle. It's a rare phenomenon and it takes place about
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once every three years. It's how the phase once in a blue moon came
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about. But the Sheriff's department weren't only basing the black magic theory off the
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date of the blue moon. They happened to already have a key suspect in
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the killings, and they knew that the suspect was the practitioner of an unusual
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religion, so unusual in fact, that they believed that he might be capable
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of carrying out a ritualistic murder. But the suspect wasn't some stranger in a
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dark luke who had staked out the house and sacrificed the family to the devil.
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In fact, he was someone that all three of the victims knew very
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well, because he was related to all three of them. His name was
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Donald hard Tongue, and he was von Ziel's sixty three year old son from
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a previous relationship, making him both Richard and John's half brother. Even when
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investigators first broke the news to Donald that three members of his family had been
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brutally killed, they noticed that he was behaving very oddly. There was no
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sign of grief or anger that usually accompanies this time of tragedy. Instead,
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he almost seemed too calm and composed, like he was reading from a script
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or reciting something he memorized. One of the detectives who talked to Donald that
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day, Detective Matt Infinger, described Donald's first response to finding out the news
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about the murders, saying, quote, he was really nonchalant and non emotional
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when I told him the whole family was dead. Looking back on it,
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it was like he prepared himself for questioning. It was like he already knew
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his family was dead, and he kept his composure and showed no emotion the
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whole time. On the same day that the bodies were found, local deputies
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rated Donald hard Tongues nearby home. Inside they found the bloodstained outfit he had
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been wearing at the time of the murder, a clawhammer and a blade that
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matched the murder weapons, and also what they called a worship room. It
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was a perfect media storm. The news had only just broken about the bodies
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being found, and now the news reported that some kind of pagan altar had
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been found inside the killer's house. Sheriff Morgan himself later fed into the rumors
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about black magic, saying quote the crime appears to have been a part of
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a witchcraft practice linked to the thirty first Blue Moon, a reference to the
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second of two full moons that appear in a calendar month. When the media
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became aware of the connection of the July blue moon, they gave Donald a
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nickname, calling him the Blue Moon Killer. However, all the excitement generated
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by the idea of a ritualistic murder didn't last. Shortly after the Blue Moon
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Killer received his nickname, investigators stated that the witchcraft theories had been wrong.
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There was no evidence that the three victims had been murdered as a part of
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a pagan ritual, and the timing of the blue moon seemed to be just
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a red herring. In fact, there was circumstantial evidence that Donald's motive had
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been much more simple, like so many other murders, it had taken place
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because of money. One of Donald's co workers came forward, telling investigators that
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she remembered him bragging about when his mother passed away, he would receive all
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of her inheritance due to being her oldest living heir. Unfortunately for Donald,
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his mother had done everything in her power to prevent this. Von Ziel wanted
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to leave all of her money and assets to her other sons, Richard and
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John, who were less well off than Donald, and she felt like needed
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the money more. And von Ziel's will she had written quote, I intentionally
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make no provision herein to the benefit of my son Donald Hartungue Junior, not
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for lack of love or affection, but because he has sufficient assets of his
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own. But to Donald, it didn't matter that he didn't need the money
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as much as as younger half brothers. It also didn't matter that his mother
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was only trying to be fair to him. It felt like a deliberate slight
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by his entire family and his eyes. He had been wronged and he was
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willing to do whatever it took to make things right. He had murdered his
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two half brothers and his mother in one violent attack, trying to ensure that
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there was no way to get in between him and the money that he felt
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he deserved a total sum of almost nine hundred thousand dollars. On the twenty
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seventh of October two fifteen, Donald Hartungue was placed under arrest facing three counts
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of premeditated first degree murder with a weapon. At his trial, it took
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the jury an hour to reach their decision. The Blue Moon Killer was found
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guilty of all three murder charges. He was sentenced to three life sentences to
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be served consecutively, ensuring that he would never kill again or have an opportunity
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to cash in on his dead mother's life insurance. That is ten Minute Murder,
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Brief and bingeible true crime. I'm Joe the host, and thank you
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so much for listening today. And if this is your first time checking out
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Spotify, any place that's possible. You're positive. Feedback is very much
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appreciated, and quickly a couple of email questions, two of them today because
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they're short. Let's see, you've mentioned that you live in the South on
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past episodes. What's it like having romantic partners that are also your cousins?
10:16
That's from Jeremy in Idaho. First of all, Jeremy rude, but I
10:20
don't live in Mississippi, so I can't tell you what that's like. So
10:24
sorry about that funny guy. But in Jeremy's defense, he's probably been out
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in the sun digging up potatoes and the heat's just cooking his brain, so
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he doesn't know any better. And the next one, Hey, Joe love
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the show. Do you do commercials or something besides this podcast? You sound
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like you would be good at it. Mallory in Tennessee, Hey, Malorie,
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thank you for the email. And the answer is yes. For a
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very long time, I've done commercial voices, but not voices, but my
10:52
voice on commercials. I can't do character voices because first of all, to
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make me feel awkward, and second, I just can't do it. For
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years, I was the voice of a shopping center company that has centers all
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over the country, and specifically a couple of them in Tennessee, so you've
11:07
probably heard my voice there. And I already answered Mallory in the email,
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so she knows that answer already, but I brought it here to the podcast
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because I get that question quite a bit. People will email and tell me
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they heard my voice in different places other than the podcasts, and they're like,
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you've got a voice twin out there somewhere, maybe, but usually it's
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just me, Okay, that's going to do it for this episode. Thank
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you so much for listening to ten Minute Murder.