Latest / The Unscripted Investigator Podcast / What People Get Wrong About Being a Private Investigator - Episode 2

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What People Get Wrong About Being a Private Investigator - Episode 2 · The Unscripted Investigator Podcast

• Daniel: Welcome back to the unscripted investigator podcast, episode two with Austin the P.I. and your co-host, Daniel, me, not a PI. Austin The PI: D Snizzle. Daniel: D Snizzle. No one's ever called me that in my life. Austin The PI: Probably have once or twice. Daniel: Maybe once or twice, yeah. Austin The PI: In my head at least. Daniel: daily, probably. A pizzle. A the pizzle. Austin The PI: De Snizzle Austin Teppy. Daniel: Austin Thapy. Yeah, fun fact, Austin's last name is actually Thappi. In case you didn't know. Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah. Everybody thinks it's Austin the P.I. on Instagram. It's actually Austin Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: Thepi. Daniel: It's all a farce. Austin The PI: Yeah, don't I'm not actually a private investigator. People started saying that because they were reading my name wrong and I took on this this persona. Daniel: Fake identity. Man, how was your week? Austin The PI: My week is good. kind of been well, so my sister in law got married. So my wife's sister got married. And so that was that was fun. That was a big event this weekend. And Daniel: Nice. Congrats. Austin The PI: and then I've been thank you. Yeah. I did a lot to get that done. fun fact about that, so we're at the we're at the reception and this guy walks up to me. He's like maybe fifteen. He's like Daniel: He's like, bro, are you Austin Tappy? Austin The PI: He said he said, Are you Austin? And I was like, Yeah. He was like, well, I'm I'm one of Sebastian's students. That's that's her husband's name. I'm one of his students at his his youth group, and you're a private investigator, right? I was like I was like, Yeah, I am. And he was like, Yeah, he told me about the the first time you guys met and how you interrogated him. Daniel: Ha ha ha. Austin The PI: I was like Thinking like, No, I did not. Like I just went up there to get to know him and like take him out to dinner. and he was like, Yeah, so Daniel: Did he know you were a private investigator when you met him? Austin The PI: Sebastian, yeah, he did. Daniel: So he probably thought like, shoot, this investigator with Pennella. Yeah. You're like, how's your day Austin The PI: Every question I was asking him, he's like sweating. Yeah. Daniel: going, man? He's like, how do I answer this? Austin The PI: crap, what am I supposed to say to that? Yeah, no, but he was like, Yeah, he told me how you interrogated him. He was like, so basically you can you can like get somebody's name and then figure out everything about them, right? And I was like, Well, sort of. I can figure out a lot. but I was like, but only if I get paid to. but yeah, it was pretty funny. I was not expecting that. It was just eaten. Daniel: That is funny. That's not where I thought you were gonna take it. I thought you were gonna say he he knows you from Instagram. Austin The PI: No, he did not. Daniel: But that's better. Austin The PI: Yeah, that that was much better. It was funny. Daniel: Have you ever gotten someone to recognize you? Gotten some has anyone ever recognized you from Instagram? Austin The PI: only only when I've it only like when you and I went to that concert. We went and but I Daniel: yeah. Were you like Austin The PI: had art I had followed the bands and then they they recognized me from me following them. It wasn't like they stumbled across my content, yeah. Daniel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Austin The PI: Yeah, but other than that, week's going good. I've been working on marketing to a couple of different types of businesses trying to get some stuff going that I'm interested in in the business. Yeah. Daniel: Nice. You want to share with the class? Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah. I'm not trying to bore everybody to death, but basically I've been marketing to personal entry firms lately because th that type of work is very straightforward and low risk, so I can scale it. It's not the Daniel: Mm. Mm. Austin The PI: juicy stuff, but it it pays really well. It pays my full rate, which is another thing that makes it worth doing. And then I've also been This is a risky one to share because people could steal my idea, but it's okay. basically there are these like children's homes like my dad grew up at and Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: different schools. I've shared this idea with you before. I want to be able to help those institutions locate their alumni because Daniel: Yeah, yeah. Austin The PI: they need to locate, you know, sometimes a thousand people, and then you charge per per locate, and that it adds up really quick, and I can I can do those really fast and I can also hire people to do it and scale the business that way. Higher paying jobs. Yeah. It's just Daniel: Yeah, that is a great idea. Remember talking about that. That's a smart one. Austin The PI: finding the right customer. and and that one's more about like timing and and their where they're at in the buying process, if they're educated or not, you know. Daniel: Tell me about it, dude. Austin The PI: It's all about the funnel. Daniel: That's right. Austin The PI: Yeah, how was your week? Daniel: Pretty good man. I started a new job today. same company, same team more or less, but I'll be working with yeah, Austin The PI: I didn't know that was today. Daniel: yeah, yeah. No, I'm gonna work with influencers, which is cool. So it's almost like I have some experience or something. Austin The PI: Yeah, you definitely do have some experience with that. Daniel: a bit. but I have to tell you about the story Austin The PI: That's exciting. Daniel: from yesterday. the worst thing happened to me yesterday and Austin The PI: Well well wait, let me tell my experience of this first. And that way you can Daniel: I don't know if I want to talk about it. Austin The PI: you can get it. Yeah, yeah, we have to talk about it. so Daniel Daniel calls me yesterday and I was playing Fortnite so I didn't pick up and I s I look at my phone and he's like freaking out about being such a baby. And I was like, no, is Daniel alright? Like, did he break his arm or something? And he's crying in front of his his new wife? Like, what's going on? So I called him back. And then he said he had a story and he wouldn't tell me until the podcast. So that's where Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: we are now. Daniel: Here we are. So the story is I'm a so I'm a new new homeowner. So I'm learning the ins and outs of the house, including, you know, things to fix up in the interior and also things to take up take care of in the exterior of the home, in the yard, if you will, slash driveway. and yesterday I was moving our two vehicles around. One I was parked in front of my wife's car and we had to s swap because I was gonna leave for work the next day. And so I had to back her car up and then back my car up and then pull her car in and pull my car in behind, right? Austin The PI: Right. I've I'm envisioning it. Daniel: right, typical stuff. so I back her car out, park it, you know, and I'm walking back up the driveway and it's like it's nighttime, it's dark. it had rained earlier, so like the the gravel was kind of like, you know, glimmery and shiny and stuff. but there's like this like white patch on the driveway and I'm like walking closer and I'm like looking at it, I'm like, what is that? And then the closer I get, I eventually just see this like chipmunk that's like on its side and it's like and it's got its eyes closed and its mouth open and it's like I'm like that's dead. That's a dead chipmunk. and then I was like immediately terrified. I was like, Huh which I that stuff just creeps me out. I did not like looking at it. Austin The PI: Wait Wait, wait, wait. So you're terrified of the chipmunk? Daniel: I was I wasn't a hundred percent sure if it was dead or not. But it looked pretty dead. But yes, I was terrified either way because I just I I wasn't expecting to see a chipmunk. And Austin The PI: I I've heard that they're they can really be fierce. Daniel: Well, we have a psychotic squirrel in our backyard too, so I don't know, I was just bracing myself. Austin The PI: so there were there's past trauma with this. Daniel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. about a week ago we had our front door open and a squirrel, I swear, jumped from like mid tree, plopped itself down on the ground and we heard like a thump and then it like scurried about and we thought it was gonna run in our front door. and it didn't. But yeah, there's been recurring trauma over Austin The PI: So Daniel: four legged rodent creatures in our yard. Austin The PI: What did you do with the chipmunk? Daniel: So I realized it was dead and I was sad and confused and scared all at the same time. And so I walked back in and I said, I I I don't know what to do. I I Austin The PI: You're like, I gotta call Austin. He obviously will know what to do. Daniel: Well, it it that actually wasn't my first thought, unfortunately. It took me about fifteen minutes of trying to figure out what to do and how to take care of this before I thought to call you. But you were one of my first thoughts and then you didn't pick up. So then I asked chat, my preferred chat of choice. and it said it was actually smart because I would I would approach it and then I would like not want to look at it, and then I like backed off again. And then it said like grab two trash bags and like stick your hand through one and like grab it and pull it through. And I was like, I don't wanna do that, I don't wanna like feel this. dead chipmunks body. And I was like, why am I using two trash bags, not just one? But I ended up grabbing one of the legs of this old table that I just disassembled. And then a big trash bag. And then I got paper towels and covered the top of it so I didn't I didn't have to look at it while I was like scooping it into the trash bag. wait, no, I I used an old piece of cardboard and I like Put the cardboard under it, but paper towel over it. Austin The PI: Right, this is this is like ten times more elaborate than what I would do. Daniel: And then scooped Yeah, I'm taking way too long telling the story. And then I scooped into the bag and then I ch ch ch ch you know, and then bunched the bag up and fortunately it Austin The PI: Job done. Daniel: was trash night, last night. So only had to live in the can for a day. One one night in the can. Austin The PI: You wanna know what I would have done? Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: I would I would have gone to the shed and grabbed a shovel and scooped it up and just chucked and just chucked Daniel: Okay, I don't have a shovel. That was the whole that was the whole problem. Austin The PI: it towards the tree line. Like I w I wouldn't have bagged it or anything, just like fling Daniel: I what would you do if you didn't have a shovel though? Austin The PI: Kick it. Daniel: no. Austin The PI: Or like put my shoe on it and then like do like a little lift and toss situation. Daniel: N no. Austin The PI: I know that might be disrespectful to the chipmunk, but I mean Daniel: Or the shoe. Austin The PI: man. That's hilarious. I love that. Well, Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: wish I was there. Daniel: Yeah, I wish you were too. I almost that's gonna show everyone Austin The PI: Got my field kicking practicing. Daniel: how squeamish I am, but I almost went and got a neighbor, but it was like a little too late. Austin The PI: And they would have been like, Are you serious? Daniel: Yeah, grow some balls, dude. Austin The PI: Yeah. that's hilarious. I love that. Daniel: So that's how my week started. Austin The PI: one time my dad at my parents' house there was a a bat that flew in the house. Yeah, which like talk about like 'cause that thing could bite you and have all kinds of diseases. And so he grabbed a rake, like one of those plastic rakes out of the garage, Daniel: Yeah. Yep. Austin The PI: and he slammed it down on the bat, and then he grabbed a pair of pliers and started handling the bat. Yeah. And I was like, Dad, you're gonna break its yeah, by the wing. Like you're Daniel: What? Like by the wing or something or what? Austin The PI: gonna snap its wing off. Like, we're not trying to kill it. We're trying to get it out. Like just get like a leather glove and pick it up. Daniel: Hm. Austin The PI: I know. And I Daniel: Hang dad. Austin The PI: remember I was like I was like thirteen at the time. I was like, let me do it. Daniel: Yeah. Well next time a chipmunk is laying in our driveway, I know who to call. Austin The PI: Yeah, I'll I'll roll out there and and get it for you. Daniel: Perfect. Thank you. Austin The PI: What what's on the docket, big Daniel: This is qu Austin The PI: dog? Daniel: it's quickly deviated from PI content, but Austin The PI: Yeah, it's all right. It's unscripted. Daniel: That's right. It's true. Never know what you're gonna get. all right, on the docket for today, episode two, is another clip that I'm gonna show you. Actually, this is the one I was gonna show you last week that I didn't show you. Austin The PI: Let's get it. Daniel: Yup. And then you're gonna tell a story again. And then we got some more questions. Austin The PI: Yep. Got a good one. Daniel: wait, and We have sound effects this week. Austin The PI: we have click tracks? You kidding me? Nice. That's what I'm talking about. Daniel: And how's that? Yep. So I'm excited for that. Yep. Austin The PI: We we need some like meme ones too. Daniel: I know you can upload them, but these are just the preset ones. Austin The PI: Side note, we're still working this setup a little bit. Obviously I've got a spoon for my mic. my key light is right here. If you guys have like preferences on how you want this to look, let me know. Cause I'm like Daniel: Yeah. I like when your hair is a little Austin The PI: But I'm excited to hear what you ha Daniel: a little longer. Austin The PI: it'll be that way next next week. Daniel: A little more growth. Perfect. Austin The PI: Yeah. I'm excited to hear what you think about this story and what kind of questions you ask. 'Cause you th you always think about things so differently than I do. And this is a really like this story is from a case that was really interesting to work. And so I'm I'm excited to see what you think about it. Daniel: Perfect. I can't wait. Austin The PI: Yeah, it's a criminal case. Daniel: All right. You gonna s tell the story? Austin The PI: I thought we were playing the clip. You want me to tell a story now? Daniel: well either way, I w I just wanted to transition I wanted to do the transition noise. So I was trying to queue it up. Austin The PI: yeah. Let's play the clip. Daniel: Yeah? Pretty good. Austin The PI: What a that's what I'm talking about. Daniel: All right, so we're going clip first. All right. So this is a hypothetical scenario. and the the premise is or the prompt is what would you do as a private investigator in this scenario? All right. Austin The PI: Okay. Got it. Daniel: All right, there it is. Austin The PI: Love that movie. First of all. A a most delicious scene from a most delicious movie. So Daniel: That's right. Austin The PI: I mean, so if if people don't know, that was for the people just listening, that was taken. It's Liam Neeson. His daughter has just been abducted, and he is a super BA dude that can basically like Jason Bourne, right? In the movie. Daniel: Yeah, he's not a private investigator, is he? He's like a agent of sorts. Austin The PI: No, he he's like a I think he's yeah, I think he was like special forces in the movie or something like that. And then he like worked in a for a private like defense contractor company or if I remember correctly. Something like that. so if my daughter was taken Daniel: Yeah, sorry, this is kind of like a morbid episode. It's all just fun and games. Austin The PI: it's okay. It's okay. It's all right. Yeah, no, we so if if someone close to me, I'm not gonna say my daughter, if someone close to me was taken and it was on me to find those people, there are some Daniel: Yes. Austin The PI: like concrete ways you can go about that to actually find people. The difficult part in that situation is it's in a different country, so it's different investigative resources because as you know, I'm licensed in North and South Carolina. Which means I Daniel: Mm. Austin The PI: can operate with my investigative resources in the United States. Daniel: Right. Austin The PI: And when I say investigative resources, I mean databases to look up phone numbers, identify people that way. And there are ways to do that online for free. but what I've learned from like people hiring me from other countries is that a lot of times it's a lot harder to do that in other countries. So, Typically, like I would go online, try to identify the phone number. In that case, it's gonna be a burner phone, so you're not gonna get anything. Daniel: Right. Austin The PI: Then I would travel to where they were, it what country they were in, and I would try to interview people. And I would just go down every single rabbit hole I could. But then once I got there, you know, I'm not Jason Bourne. So I I couldn't snap any necks. And I mean I could try. I would try. Daniel: Maybe a couple of chipmunk necks. Austin The PI: Yeah. I could definitely yeah. Yeah, give him the boot. Give him the old lifting kick. Daniel: So you'd you'd Austin The PI: Yeah. Daniel: assess the situation, track down any leads, interview try to get as much info as you could at on on the on the ground there, wherever the location is, and kinda take it from there. Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah, 'cause i in that sense it's kind of like that's like an organized crime ring, right? And those things do exist. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: Like that is it's totally real. but what I've done in the past is not necessarily organized crime, but like when you're trying to track down a drug dealer that doesn't have anything in his name, he has a prepaid phone, he has like somebody else rents a car for him so that he can drive it around and then like all those different things. They don't have a place where they st they stay and a record that ties back to their name. So you have to look for them in ways that are kind of like off the grid. You talk to their friends, you talk to their mom and their their grandma, and their mom and their grandma are always gonna have some kind of contact with them, especially in those communities. Like that's just how it goes. So you find you find connections like that, and Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: eventually you will find what you're looking for. It's just like How how long and how hard are you willing to look? Yeah. And so, Daniel: Nice. It's a good answer. Austin The PI: yeah, it like if you turn over every rock, that's that's the thing. A lot of times I think about if it's difficult being a an investigator, and it is, like you have to be able to think critically in certain situations, but if you're willing to put in the effort to continue looking, you will always find something. You can always give your client results. It just depends on like how hard you're willing to work to get it. Daniel: Yeah, is it hard to think of new places to look? Austin The PI: You can definitely come up dry and then be stumped. Like that's why cases for the for the police go cold because they've exhausted all their leads. Daniel: Mm. Yeah. Austin The PI: but yeah, I think I think really like if you go to a place like I think they were taken at London or something, right? If you go to London and there are, you know, ten thousand leads, ten thousand ways these people could have been seen, you can go ask businesses for cameras to find leads and things like that. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: For a one man show it's kind of like an unending pool of resources for you to Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: pull from. Yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Nice. I like Austin The PI: Yeah. Daniel: it. Austin The PI: That's a good one. Daniel: Good answer, good answer. All Austin The PI: Thanks. Daniel: right. so what what do you think about this week's clip versus last week's clip? Austin The PI: I I like this one better because it's like more it's more strategic. It's yeah. And you know, it's it's like larger than life. But honestly, like those Liam Neeson, his role in that film is like some people that we know from Fayeville. Like th there Daniel: Yeah, for sure. Austin The PI: are people that actually have that level of like tactical skill. so it would be like you're you're marrying like a spy with with a Delta Force operator. That's what that Daniel: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Austin The PI: and it's it's obviously like a little bit larger than life, but at the same time there are people that can do a lot of what he did in that movie. Daniel: Yeah, we got a couple of Liam Neesons in our phone book, if you know what I'm saying. Austin The PI: Yeah, we certainly do. Daniel: All right, part two is storytime with Austin the PI. Get into it. Austin The PI: man, I like those transitions. Yeah. Okay. So this story, I'll just set it up a little bit. So I do a lot of I do a lot of criminal investigations and that can look that can look different. That can be a local criminal investigation, which is like a drug dealer is, you know, s servicing the local area, providing them with the services they need. I'm talking about drugs, nothing else. Don't get crazy. So he's he's doing that and then he gets in a beef with somebody and kills him, right? That can be one of the criminal investigations that I would do. And so I would be working for his lawyer, who is is an indigent defense lawyer provided by the state, right? Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin The PI: So what a lot of people don't know is you also get provided an investigator when that's the case. When you can't afford a lawyer. you you're also you obviously can't afford an investigator and so they will give you one and that would be me. Daniel: So that's part of the fifth. Or not the fifth. The fifth is just the right to be silent. And then they say Austin The PI: Y yeah. Right to remain silent. Daniel: if you cannot afford a lawyer or you have the right to a lawyer. Right? Miranda rights, that's right. Austin The PI: Yes. It's part of your Mur it's part of your Miranda rights. Yeah. Yeah. So when you get arrested, you get read your Miranda rights. And it's not Daniel: That's what I was thinking. Austin The PI: it's not a part of your rights that you get an investigator, but states allow for it. So they they set aside a budget that goes to investigators to help those attorneys understand the case, right? You get a defense investigator. So that's one side of the criminal stuff. The other side is like private. Or working with the military or military service members, but they're all, like I said, private clients. So I had this client, and this is a private client. So a little upper echelon made a lot made a lot more money. He was a doctor, and he was also a high ranking official. I won't say where he was an official at, but he was a high ranking official. And he was accused of sexually assaulting someone, right? And this person accused him of this. It was his partner. His his partner accused him of this. And the the agency that he was at took it really seriously. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: And basically they took what she said at face value, which in one sense like have you heard of the the Me Too movement? Yeah, so the Me Too movement, there are a couple of of different Me Too movements. There was one in the army. Right. And there was one in in like universities. Basically, somebody claims that they've been sexually assaulted and then me too, me too, me too. Right. And the the really big like downfall of the Me Too movement is that it discredited a lot of victims that were actually victims because there were a lot of people claiming that they were victimized when they actually weren't. They just wanted to get back at someone. Daniel: Right. Right. Austin The PI: and that was proven on multiple multiple times, multiple instances. So all I say all that to say this agency took it really seriously at face value. Without investigating anything, they like basically basically like moved forward with charges without thoroughly investigating. Which is a great opportunity for me. Because then I come in and I start interviewing people and I interviewed it was like twenty or thirty people in that case. And every single one of them knew him and his partner and they were like, Yeah, basically she's lying. She's been taking like copious amounts of drugs for years and years and years. And like she made all that up just to get custody of the kids. Daniel: Wow. Austin The PI: Yeah, so like w n would not only end his career but also send him to prison for like double digit years. Daniel: Dang. So you found that Austin The PI: Yes, but Daniel: out just through your typical interview process? Austin The PI: Discovery review, interview process. Basically, like she was not consistent even in the the agency's interview and and like investigation. And so we were able to point that out and be like, She said this on this date, and then this is the fact over here that doesn't make any sense with that. But you guys didn't put two and two together, but you still Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: move forward with charges against this like highly esteemed doctor. And so What was really awesome about that case is I was able to go to the to the trial where he was acquitted and it just like tears pouring from his face. Like just such a beautiful moment of watching him like walk out of there scot free because he actually Daniel: Thing. Yeah. Austin The PI: did not do this and he was like trying to provide for his children and and try to be the man that that he was always trying to be, but it was like about Daniel: Right. Austin The PI: to be taken from him. Daniel: Right. That's cool. Austin The PI: Yeah, it was a a really cool a really cool like because that that is not typically the case. Eighty five Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: to ninety percent of the time when somebody's accused of a crime, they did it to s to a certain extent. Like and most of the time they are guilty as sin. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: Yeah. Daniel: Dang. Austin The PI: Yeah. What do you think about that? Daniel: That's tough. I mean that's good. That's good for him. still it would be a tough situation to be in. Austin The PI: Well, you you gotta think about it. So, like if you put yourself in that situation, or if I put myself in that situation, if we were accused of a sex crime, what's what's our reputation gonna be like after that? Even if you get acquitted, like Daniel: Right. Right. Austin The PI: everybody in your community knows that you were accused of rape. Daniel: Right. Yeah. Austin The PI: That's going to live with you forever. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: And then even after you're acquitted, it's still on your record. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: So you you do a background check and they're like, Hey, looks like you had a a rape charge. I see that it was dismissed, but it's still there. You wanna tell me about that? Or they don't even ask you about it, they just pass over you for the job. Daniel: So talk more about like the inconsistencies part, 'cause that jumped out to me of like did you go in looking for inconsistencies, or is that just one of the things that you kind of pay attention to and then as you were talking to various people, then it jumped out. Austin The PI: Yeah, so I mean, s the the inconsistencies, when you're reading a discovery packet, like an evidence packet, if you like the victim statement is w the most important thing in there, right? So Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: if there's more than one and they're different, that's like red flag number one. That's the first thing you notice is like, Well, you Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: said this on this date and this on this date. Like those are very clearly different. Or there would be like details where, you know, she was too inebriated or intoxicated to to actually say what happened. And so different accounts would be totally different than hers and and hers just didn't even make any sense. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: so those kind of inconsistencies. And then when you talk to people, like she's claiming one thing, like heinous acts by him, and then you've got twenty people that are saying like he's never showed any kind of aggression to anyone. He's never had a blemish on his record. He's always been a good father. Like Daniel: Right. Austin The PI: Typically when there's people don't usually just out of nowhere grow this aggressive bone in their body and then murder Daniel: Right. Austin The PI: someone or rape someone. Like it's like a trend or an escalation over time, usually. Now it can happen to where, you know, they just snap and kill somebody. But Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: that is typically not the scenario. Like for these the like I was talking about earlier, these drug dealers, it it's not like all of a sudden they wanted to kill somebody. It's that they carry a gun with them every day, they're committing felonies daily, putting themselves in situations, they went to rob somebody and then they killed them. Yeah. Daniel: Right. Right. Right. Almost like a byproduct of like the situation rather than the direct intent. Austin The PI: Yeah. Typically if there is someone that commits a crime and like it's not it's not usually like a first offender, right? Like they're they're they're always first offenders. Like everybody has a first time doing something. But a lot of times if somebody is like accused of a serious crime, there's gonna be a track record of being aggressive, of being, you know, out of line in certain ways, or being sexually aggressive. And this guy had Zero track record of anything ever. Daniel: Dang. We might have to label this one explicit. Austin The PI: Yeah, I mean I don't think so. I think we're just talking about a case. Daniel: Yeah. Dang, no, that's that's a that's a lot. I can see how I mean, even just hearing more of these stories, this is like heavy stuff. Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah, it's it's heavy. but at the same time Well and here's the thing, like I think a lot of people when they hear that I I do defense work, I I know a lot of people are like, How could you do that? Like you're you're defending that person? And it's like, well yeah, in a s in in one way I'm defending them 'cause I'm working with their defense attorney. But in another way, that's the only way the system works. Like this guy Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: who was innocent, his His attorneys would not have had any of that information without our investigation. and he would have gone to prison for like Daniel: Yeah. Yeah. Austin The PI: a de a decade or more. I think Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: if I remember correctly, he was looking at like fourteen years. for something that he that never happened. It like the whole scenario never happened. Daniel: Yeah. Wow. Austin The PI: And yeah. So it is it is heavy, but there's also this like big redeeming factor because there are innocent people out there and they they require like a a good defense and a solid defense team. So yeah, that that kind of redeems it a little bit. Daniel: Yeah, definitely. Austin The PI: Mm-hmm. Daniel: Thanks for sharing. Austin The PI: Yeah, man. That surprises me every time. Daniel: Had to pull it out at some point. no, that was a good that was a good one. It was a good story. Interesting stuff. Austin The PI: Yeah, I like that one. Yeah. That one lives rent free. I'll tell you that. Daniel: I like that. Austin The PI: Sometimes I forget why I'm doing it. Daniel: Well Yeah, you gotta keep that one. Keep that one in there somewhere. Austin The PI: Like I'm interviewing somebody and I'm like, God, this guy's a scumbag And then I'm like, but you know, I'll get another one of those one day. Daniel: Yeah. One every ten years. Austin The PI: Exactly. Daniel: Man. All right. Well, it's it sounds like it's about time for part three of the pod. QA. I need to come up with better Austin The PI: Q and A. Let's do it. Daniel: titles for these. question and answer time. That's not much better. all right. So these are questions. Austin The PI: Yeah. Q's with with A the P was Austin Thappy. Daniel: Yeah, QA with Austin Thappe. These are questions from your Instagram followers. If you're watching on YouTube, you can leave a comment in the comment section. How else can people ask questions? Maybe one day we'll live stream and they can ask there. Austin The PI: Live stream also yeah, on Instagram. I'll post it on my story and you can ask a question that way. Or just DM me. Just say Austin, ask this on the pod. Daniel: Yeah, you get a lot of questions anyway. so so we do our best to sift through but here's a here's an easy one to start us off. We got Do you need to be a cop first to be good as a PI? Austin The PI: Th that is a great question and it's one that I get all the time. And Daniel: Really. Austin The PI: the easy answer is no. You definitely do not need to be a cop. So for example, I was not a cop. I was not law enforcement of any kind. And and people think that is like a gotcha moment. Like they'll they'll like throw that at me and be like, You're never even a cop, like and it's like, yeah. But I I see from this side of the house how much former law enforcement can struggle to make the shift to defense work because it's the total opposite. The your entire career as a cop, you're looking for why someone is guilty. And and this is like, I'm I'm looking at the the situation as a whole. I'm just gathering the facts. Like I don't care if they're guilty or not. I have to have the the facts of whether they're guilty. But then you also need to understand the full picture of what mitigating factors there are. So yes, this guy might have, you know, done X, Y, and Z, but what made him do that and what or what did he consider when he was doing that? Or does he have brain damage? Or like all these different things where Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: the police are the police and the prosecution are not paid to look for things like that. and also the police do surveillance totally different than private Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: investigators. So do you need to be a cop? No, it's it's great experience. Like police training is great training and same for military. Like military do very well as private investigators too. But you have to essentially relearn a lot of the things that you do. if you were a police officer before PI. Daniel: What if you're a Liam Neeson? Austin The PI: He'd be great. Yeah. He'd be great at it. He might not be very good as an interviewer because people would just be like wetting themselves all the time. But yeah, he'd be great. Daniel: Nice. All right, cool. here's another similar type question. What kinds of certificates or schooling do you need to become a PI? Austin The PI: Yeah. so it it differs country to country. So like in in the US essentially, in most states you have to have a license and what that requires is you have to have a certain number of years of experience. So for the Daniel: Mm. Austin The PI: states that I'm in, that I'm licensed in, it's five years. And some states it's two years, some states it's seven years, something like that. but then you Some states you have to take a test, but essentially almost all states you have to be licensed. schooling, you don't necessarily need any schooling. For me, I went to business school, but my my experience was heavily shaped by my dad. I trained under him for a year directly before I was like able to work on my own. And that that was like a huge advantage that I had that not a lot of people have. So if you can If you can find a good mentor that 'cause there's not a ton of great education, like standalone education out there. But yeah, you don't Daniel: Does are there certain majors that would lend themselves to either getting a job as a PR or at least connecting you to someone? Like would that be a a reasonable step for someone like younger? Austin The PI: Yeah, I think I think a criminal justice major, so for one thing, criminal justice major, like if you if you just go to college and just get a bachelor's in anything, that automatically gives you like eight hundred hours of experience in in the eyes Daniel: Okay. Yeah. Austin The PI: of the licensing agency in most states. But like criminal justice, understanding the criminal justice system is huge because ultimately when you're marketing yourself to an attorney The only thing that matters is how you can help them in court. They don't care if you do things like a cop, if you do X, Y, and Z. All they care about and all you need to communicate to them, like to gain their business, is I have this value for you. I can present this value, and that's why you should pay me. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah. Austin The PI: Yeah. So understanding that criminal justice system and then also even like digital media. Like in today's day and age, understanding how to edit video, understanding how to work a computer and like find yourself clients, th those Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin The PI: kind of things, like understanding the digital age is a huge leg up on older investigators. Cause I get calls all the time from like my dad or other investigators that need help with tech stuff that's like really not hard. It's just I'm younger and know how to do it because I do it all the time. Daniel: How how do I log into my email? Austin The PI: Hey Austin, how do I how do I upload something to Google Google Dri Google Drive is it? Google Drive? How do I sign in my drop how do I how do Daniel: You probably get that once a week. Austin The PI: I how do I get something off a Dropbox? Hey Austin, is there a way I can sign into this this Gmail on my phone? So I can see it on my phone instead of my computer? Daniel: That's the clip. Austin The PI: Hey hey y'all yeah I have spent I I don't want to offend my dad, but I have spent many an hour, many being as patient as I possibly can to walk him through something Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: on on Google Drive or on the Dropbox. Daniel: I believe it. a lot of investigators are older though, yeah. Like the the industry generally Austin The PI: Yeah, because typically Daniel: skews older. Austin The PI: Yeah, I'm I'm definitely like one of the youngest and I think Daniel: Yeah. Austin the youngest PI. Austin The PI: I think actually I might have been the youngest when I became a a private investigator. Like I was the youngest Daniel: That's pretty sweet. Austin The PI: in in south in North Carolina, yeah. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: but yeah, so it it's typically older because they have done law enforcement and then they go into it. So they've already had a law enforcement career before they start a private investigator. Daniel: Dude, I have the perfect next question for you. Austin The PI: Let me hear it, Daddy. Daniel: If I'm in law enforcement, how do I start a firm? So you're talking to all the Austin The PI: I love this question. Daniel: you're talking to all these guys now who have been in it. They're ready to get out, do their own thing. What do they do? Step one, Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah. Daniel: figure out what Google Drive is. Step two, get yourself a phone. Austin The PI: Yeah, yeah. No, I mean it like nowadays if you if you're working in law enforcement, you're gonna understand most of those things because you have to use computers on a daily basis. so what you should do if you're if you're in law enforcement now and you wanna start a PI firm, the very first thing that you should do is start contacting criminal defense attorneys. And I'm giving away the bag right here. Like that is how I make my money. But I'm not gatekeeping a single thing. Contact yeah. Yeah, double whammy right there. Daniel: What's this? Austin The PI: that's the slam dagety. Get let me get one more. reverberation. Daniel: That's the bag dropping on the floor. Austin The PI: Yeah, I'm dropping the bag. So essentially you want to get in touch with those people because if you can provide them answers that they need, a lot of defense attorneys don't know what they're looking at in an evidence packet. Those those cops wrote those evidence packets. They know what is in there. They know what cops are talking about because they used to write them. So if Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: you understand the process really well, you need to be getting in touch with the people that are trying to digest it and then provide Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin The PI: them value, go out and investigate for them, and you'll never be hungry. You get you get like five or six solid defense attorneys that you're working with and you've got a full business. Daniel: There you go. Free game right there. Giving it away. Austin The PI: That is that is the game. Daniel: That's the game. Start to finish. Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah. Daniel: Nice. Are there different kinds of PIs for different things? Austin The PI: Yes, and I love this question. The reason Daniel: Good question. Austin The PI: I'm I'm gonna tell you a story. All right. So my dad. My dad, he is a very successful PI. He at one point he had like twelve people working for him. And to to put that into perspective, it's like twelve people's full caseload at a time. Like that's a lot of cases Daniel: Well. Yeah. Austin The PI: that he was bringing in, making like, you know, a lot of money every year. But he he told me this is kind of like an aside on the story. He told me that basically he was making a lot of money, but he was also paying out a ton of money every month. And so he was making about what he made when he worked by himself. But his he Daniel: Mm. Austin The PI: was providing work and a a livelihood for all these guys too. Because a private investigator, you've you've already worked a a career in law enforcement, or you've attained high level skills, and so you are paid To compensate you for those skills. But he can't charge the client any more money. So he has to pay them a f a good wage and he's just taken off the top for the business, right? so so it meant but he was managing all of those investigators, so he couldn't work his own caseload. So he's Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: he ended up making about the same amount as if he would just work by himself. Yeah. But those investigators were mainly surveillance investigators doing like cheating spouses and insurance work, so like workers' comp type of stuff. Then there's like like we've talked about criminal investigations, which that can range from homicide, robbery, sexual assault, white collar crime, which is its own lane. Like I wouldn't be as as equipped to handle white collar crime cases. But my dad, who was white collar crime in the FBI, would. So like that's a different lane. You can have specialties. and you can totally get into those specialties without being law enforcement, like digital forensics is one that's that's really, really good and highly sought after as a court expert. But there's one that I'm particularly interested in in scaling my own business for, and that's the online side of things. So doing background checks. locating people and providing services for like document retrieval and and stuff like that. Like if somebody can't find a document and it's in, you know, Washington State and they have no clue how to get it, because ev what people don't know is every state's court system and record system is different. And so when these people advertise like we've got a nationwide record check, that's actually it doesn't actually exist. There is no nationwide record check. Yeah, they might cover one jurisdiction in every state and that's a nationwide, but there's Daniel: Hmm. Austin The PI: like seven hundred jurisdictions in every state. And so they Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: don't have they don't have near what you would think a nationwide should cover. Yeah. Daniel: I got you. Austin The PI: So there is a wide swath of like specialties and directions you can go with private investigation. And I like that's I think that's so cool because there's so much to talk about and so much to dive into. And it's all interesting. Daniel: Yeah. Now if you weren't a PI, what would your dream job be? Austin The PI: we take a hard left. I wasn't expecting that. Daniel: Yeah. Gotcha with that one. Austin The PI: Yeah, no, I like that. So if I wasn't a PI, this is funny, kind of to me, because I'm a horrible, horrible artist. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: but I would love, love to be a tattoo artist. That's like my Daniel: I didn't know that. Yeah. Austin The PI: That's always been like my I don't know. Like this could never happen, but I would love it. I think it could happen, but I'm just trash at drawing. Daniel: D isn't it just like color by the number type stuff? Austin The PI: It well, yeah, but that's if you wanna be like a low tier. You know what I mean? Like like you can do the basic basic white girl tattoos. Daniel: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, I know. I'm oversimplifying it. Yeah, there's some crazy tattoo work out there. Austin The PI: Dude, there's this guy that I follow on Instagram and he does everything freehand and it is incredible. He does it. Daniel: Shout out. Go ahead. Austin The PI: I don't know his name. I just follow him and I'm like, dang, that looks so cool. Well Daniel: Thing. Austin The PI: let me let me flip it on on you, Daniel. What would you be if you weren't in marketing? What would your dream job be? Daniel: I I'd have to say a PI. Austin The PI: Actually? I Daniel: No. Austin The PI: was like, because I can make that dream come true, dude. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: We we can we can workshop that. Daniel: No, I just thought it sounded good. Austin The PI: It it did. It got me excited. Daniel: I mean similar to you, if I had the skill set for it, I've always wanted to be like an artist. Not sorry, not a tattoo artist, like a musician artist. when I was in middle school I wanted to be like a Austin The PI: Yeah. I can see that. Daniel: a drummer with like the like bangs, you know, emo style. Austin The PI: Are you you can have you can have banks? Daniel: I tried at one point. my mom wouldn't let Austin The PI: Einer. Daniel: me. but as I've grown up and become more mature, you know, I'd be more of like an introspective folk indie songwriter or something like that. So No, that I mean that's that's like the like in another life type thing. Austin The PI: Yeah, that's what we're talking about. Daniel: Yeah. But you know Other than that, no, I like I like my job. I like marketing. I wouldn't choose anything different. I feel like I chose marketing so I don't feel like I have to choose something else. Austin The PI: Yeah, I I think I think people ask like if I genuinely like being a PI and Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: and sometimes I talk about like how how it is really dark and and can be difficult but genuinely like it is like being a spy a lot of times. Like like Daniel: Yeah. No, that's fun. That's cool. Austin The PI: a spy and like a detective and y you wear multiple hats and then not a not a hacker, but like when you're doing open source intelligence like stuff on the internet. And you find Daniel: Mm-hmm. Austin The PI: what you're looking for, bro. That is that is like a type of adrenaline I can't describe. Daniel: It's like treasure hunting, except the treasure is a criminal or something. Austin The PI: Yeah, the tre the treasure is like dirt on somebody. Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: Yeah. That it's Daniel: One man's trash is another man's treasure. Austin The PI: Yeah. I'm like, left your credit card on this website? Let me Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: get that. Just kidding. Daniel: Well we have one last one last question that's not actually a question. it's just a statement and somebody said you're hot. Austin The PI: yeah, no, I appreciate that. Was that Daniel: I think that was directed at me. Austin The PI: was that you that said that? Daniel: No, I think they were saying it to me. Austin The PI: yeah, you are hot, yeah. Daniel: Was that you? Austin The PI: I've I bet I've said that, yeah. Daniel: We'll keep an anonymous. Austin The PI: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I think I don't know. I I've really enjoyed like what Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: no, I w I was moving on from that. We can keep we can keep talking about that if you want, but Daniel: All right. No, I just thought you were gonna expound, so Austin The PI: No, I've really enjoyed I don't talk to a lot of people about my job because it typically I mean, I talk to the internet about it. So so I talk to ninety thousand people about it, but I I don't talk to a lot of people in person about my job Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: because at parties it gets real weird. It's like people ask you what you do and at first they're like really excited about it, and then they're like, Yeah, well what does that actually look like? And it's like, well I interview like a lot of murderers and then I then I go talk to the people about like if they murdered that person or not. And they're like, that sounds fun. Daniel: yeah. Well now you can just tell to check out the pod. Austin The PI: Yeah, this is a much more like this is a more lighthearted and fun way of talking about it. And so it's Daniel: Yeah. Austin The PI: it's op it's opening something else in me. Daniel: Maybe I'll become a tattoo artist soon. Austin The PI: Yeah, you wanna see? Daniel: Side gig. Austin The PI: I I've I've thought about getting a gun and trying on myself. A machine. Yeah. Yeah. no, yeah, no, Daniel: Tattoo, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could see that. Austin The PI: I have I have a gun. I'm talking about a tattoo gun. Yeah. Daniel: All right, well any other final thoughts before we call the day? Austin The PI: Think that's a rap. Daniel: I think that's a wrap too. We will see you next week for episode three, dropping every week on the unscripted investigator podcast with Austin the PI and your co-host, Daniel Knott the PI. Peace. Austin The PI: Base.