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S2 E1 - Jerry Walter McFadden · True Crime and Wine Time

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True Crime and Wine time friends. It's your host, Terry Do sold
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and I am back. I hope everyone is doing well during these crazy times.
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Twenty has been like a roller coaster ride here in Texas. Now during
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our break, I've had the pleasure of home schooling our granddaughter, who is
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in first grade while her parents were working. I also enjoyed some daily Pokemon
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Go runs during the shutdown, and of course, lots of couple time with
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handsome Hubby. Somehow he still loves me, even after being stuck with me
3:27
twenty four seven for several months. I think he needs a medal. I
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missed you all and I look forward to our season two. So let's get
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going today. I'm going to share with you a story of Jerry Walter McFadden,
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also known as the Animal. Now the important stuff for today's episode,
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get my class poured so we can get started. There we go. I
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love the smell of it, not just the taste, It's just I love
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it. Like I said, it's one of my new go to wines.
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Let me give it a sip, make sure it's adequate for recording today.
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You know, I think it's gonna work. I need to tell you this
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episode contains graphic content, adult language, and may not be suitable for all
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listeners. Jerry Walter McFadden was born in March twenty first, nineteen four eight,
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to Herman Lee McFadden in Dorothy Lucille Todd in Haskell, Texas. Haskell,
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Texas sits about one hundred and sixty two miles from Denton and one hundred
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and forty seven miles from Lubbock, so needless to say, it is out
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there in central Texas. Haskell, Texas today only has roughly about thirty three
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hundred residents, and a fun fact I found while researching this was that former
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presidential candidate Rick Perry and his wife are both from Haskell. Haskell, Texas
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is a town that was a traditional small oil town that had a close knit
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community. Jerry started having issues when he was a teenager. He dropped out
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of school after completing the seventh grade. At the age of nineteen, he
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married Judy's Story, who was only fifteen at the time of their marriage.
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Okay, guys, you know me, I have to stop, gotta take
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a quick sip. It's amazing. I gotta find reasons to sip this.
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I want to know what in the hell were the girl's parents thinking? Why
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did they allow their daughter to get married at fifteen, especially to someone who
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was nineteen and dropped out of junior high school. Hello, no, just
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no, not no, but hell no, sorry, good thing, I'm
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not having your daughters. Let's keep going. Jerry began his first officially documented
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encounters with the legal system in nineteen sixty six, when he was convicted of
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burglary and then in nineteen sixty eight for destruction of property. Jerry was fine
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for these offenses and sent on his way. In October of nineteen sixty nine,
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Jerry and Judy welcome their first child, a daughter whose name I will
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not share with you, as I feel she deserves to live her life without
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throwing her into the crazy life her father created. In nineteen seventy one,
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Jerry was convicted of a simple assault and once again fined. Jerry and Judy
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welcome their second child, a son, in August of nineteen seventy three,
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which I find very interesting because in nineteen seventy three, Jerry, or I
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should say, as he called himself, the animal, was convicted of two
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rapes and sentenced to two fifteen year sentences that were to run concurrent. I
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have to say I'm not really comfortable with calling Jerry the animal, as I
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feel it's very disrespectful and a disgrace to animals. Sorry, Jerry, you
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don't get to tell me what to call you. Oh quick, friends,
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Kim, take a big drink, and I'm gonna just say, if you
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have a glass, to take a drink because you're gonna need it. Because
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this next part really gets to you. Jerry the ps he was was out
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raping a fourteen year old girl and a junior high school teacher while he was
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also fathering a child with his wife. I mean, seriously, guys,
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he had a daughter who was maybe three or fo for it this time,
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and he rapes a fourteen year old girl. I personally feel he got what
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was coming to him in the end. So let's keep going as Jerry isn't
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done with his reign of terror yet. Jerry was paroled in December of nineteen
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seventy eight after serving only five years of his two fifteen year sentences. He
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was reached early for good behavior. Really, you can rape two people,
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get two fifteen years sentences and get out in a few years because you were
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good. Did anybody stop to think maybe he was good because there were no
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females around. Oh, he's sorry. Jerry was on parole after being released
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early from prison and was supposed to be following very strict rules. We find
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out later that he even left Texas while on parole, which is a no
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no unless you have permission from your parole officer. And considering Jerry wasn't a
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role follower, I knew he did not have permission. Jerry was still on
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parole when he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of an eighteen year old in
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nineteen seventy nine. Yes, you heard me. He was on parole when
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he was once again convicted, and once again Jerry was sentenced to fifteen years
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in prison, but was paroled in nineteen eighty five. Reports say that Jerry
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assured the authorities that he would have followed the terms of his release. Come
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on, guys, really, I've shocked that someone believed him when he told
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him this. Jerry was released to Wood County and the local sheriff and residence
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were not happy about it, and I have to say I cannot blame them.
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And I would have been sleeping with the gun under my pillow. I
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would have been extracautious and I would have locked up any females in my family.
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My head totally started spending out of control while researching the story in all
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of these cases, I was somewhat hopeful when I read articles at say Texas
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is not as gracious as it was before by granting early release. So there's
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something about. A month after Jerry was prolled this second time, a couple
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were visiting Lake Hawkins called them reported a scary encounter with a long hair,
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wild looking guy with lots of tattoos who had pulled a weapon on them and
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asked them for money and a quickie. The couple were able to give the
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police a solid description of the wild looking man, the vehicle they had seen
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him with, and the exact location they had seen him. At the same
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time, unbeknownest to police, family and friends of Susianne Harrison, Gina Turner
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and Brian Boone were worried because the friends had gone out to Lake Hawkins for
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a drive and had not returned home after a couple of hours. They alerted
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the police. I can't say why the police jumped into such quick action,
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but a search was launched and a witnesses reported seeing a strange and wild looking
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guy with lots of tattoos and a blue and white vehicle, the same description
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they got from the couple that was held up by gunpoint. Bryan's brother found
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his truck a band and not far from where the couple since they were confronted
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by the man with the gun. The police were anxious and eager to find
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the strange man that was reported and set about searching for him or his vehicle.
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They did not find him on that first day, and sadly, the
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next day, May fifth, nineteen eighty six, the body of Suzanne Harrison,
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age eighteen, was found strangled with her own panties atop Barnwell Mountain by
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some workers. Suzanne had been savagely raped and sodomized and murdered. The very
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next day, police found their man driving on State Highway their and pulled over
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Jerry Walter McFadden, where he was immediately taken into custody on suspicion of aggravated
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robbery for trying to rob the couple by the lake. Jerry was in police
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custody and was being questioned about the robbery and about Suzanne's death when the bodies
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of Gina Turner, aged twenty and Brian Boone, aged nineteen were found.
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Both had been shot and then tossed into a ditch several miles away. Later,
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ammunition found in Jerry's possession was identified as a match to what was used
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in the killings of Gina and Brian. Jerry Walter McFadden was charged and held
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for trial. Jerry was being held in Upshurre County, as that is where
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the bodies were found and the crimes committed. It was reported that Jerry was
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an easy prisoner and did not give the jailers any issues. On July ninth,
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nineteen eighty six, Sheriff Deputy Kin Mayfield let Jerry out to make a
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phone call, and upon Deputy Mayfield opening the door to the isolation room,
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he was knocked out by Jerry, who had pulled a piece of steel pipe
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off of the window frame. Jerry then took one of the dispatchers and locked
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them in the isolation cell, along with a Deputy Mayfield, who was bleeding
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profusely from the head wound. Jerry then retrieved Deputy Mayfield's gun from the drawer
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where it was cut locked up. Officers were not allowed to carry their gun
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near prisoners, and little did they know Jerry had been patiently watching all of
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their movements and knew that the gun was locked in the dush drawer. Jerry
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then kidnapped the other dispatcher, Rosalie William's Turner, by gunpoint, and took
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her in her own car and fled the jail. Now, as Jerry got
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into the driver's seat of Rosalie's car, he attempted to start the car.
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Jerry did not know how to drive a standard and didn't know how to start
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the car, so he had Rosalie come around from the passenger side start the
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car, and then he put her back on the passenger side he got behind
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the wheel. Jerry drove off with Rosalie down Texas Highway eleven, with his
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jail break undetected. At this point, after officers and others tried to reach
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the dispatchers and received no answer, they headed into the jail to find out
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what was going on. There, they found Deputy Mayfield and the other dispatcher
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locked in the isolation room. Deputy sent the word out that Jerry Walter McFadden
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had not only escaped, but that he had kidnapped one of their own law
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enforcement as you can imagine, jumped into action immediately started trying to close roads
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send a helicopter up to search for the escapee, and upon hearing the helicopter,
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Jerry became a very agitated and drove off the road directly into a tree.
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Jerry then grabbed Rosalie and they walked all through the night. The kidnapping
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of Rosalie Williams Turner launched one of the biggest man hunts in Texas history,
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with over twelve hundred officers assisting. Now, after walking all night, Jerry
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and Rosalie were in Big Sandy, where Jerry held Rosalie captive in an empty
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box car he found on the railroad tracks. Rosalie later says that they could
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hear people driving across the roo at nearby tracks, and workers were talking and
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walking around the box car, but no one ever looked inside the car.
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And remember, guys, it's July in Texas, and that means it was
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blistering hot. So after spinning all day in the car, it's coming up
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on the evening. Rosalie was dehydrated, Jerry was dehydrated. Rosalie was crying
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and screaming in ash Jerry for water. He told her to be quiet and
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he would get them some water. Jerry got up and left the box car,
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where he encountered a dog, and I'm going to just say the dog
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did not like Jerry very much, and the dog started viciously attacking him.
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Good job, dog. But when Rosalie hurt the commotion, she took this
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as her chance to escape. She jumped from the box car and took off,
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running in the opposite direction from where Jerry was fighting with the dog.
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Rosalie ran to a nearby home, where she found help in the Martinez family.
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They helped clean Rosalie up, got her some water, and then called
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the Big Sandy Police Department to report that Rosalie had escaped and was in their
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home. They had, of course, like everybody else in Texas, seen
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Rosalie's picture on the news in the newspaper. The police station was only about
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a block away, and police Chief Richard Lingle chumped up and drove straight to
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the Martinez home where he found Rosalie and he barched in and he gave her
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a big hug. Obviously they knew each other, both work in law enforcement
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neighboring towns. Chief Lingle called him back up and started setting up roadblocks in
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Big Sandy. Chief Lingle, along with Sheriff Dale Jukes, set up a
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search team which started the train tracks and then they decided to spread out.
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When Jerry was not found near the tracks, the teams expanded the search to
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include vacant homes and empty buildings in Big Sandy. Now, out of those
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twelve hundred officers that came to help in the search, one was a SWAT
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team from Colin County and they came into help and they while going door to
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door, building to building, they kicked a door in on a vacant house
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where they found Jerry hiding in the bathroom. Jerry was arrested without any resistance.
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Once again, Jerry was taken back to the courthouse in Upshore County.
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There is a picture on our website of Upshore County, along with a lot
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of other pictures from this case, but it's kind of interesting to see what
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it looks like. It is said that there were crowds gathered around the courthouse
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and that the SWAT team and other law enforcement teams celebrated the capture of Jerry.
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Walter McFadden I couldn't see that. Right After five delays, Jerry stood
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trial in Bell County, where the trial was moved on a change of venue
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request. A little fun fact here. One of the delays was due to
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the fact adjuror got attacked by his rooster and he had some rooster damage.
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She got packed a couple of times. Oly in Texas, right or I
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think only in Texas. I don't know. Anyway, the trial would forward.
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Jerry stood trial only for the rape and strangulation of Suzanne Denise Harrison,
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so rape and murder. During the trial, doctor Moses Schenghill testified that the
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phenotypes detected in one of the samples from Suzanne Harrison was the same as those
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detected in the blood of Jerry. The prosecution called more than sixty witnesses and
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presented over a hundred and seventy pieces of evidence in the trial. On July
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eighth, nineteen eighty seven, the prosecution rested their case and turned it over
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to the defense. During the trial, the prosecution attempted to prevent Rosalie William's
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Turner from testifying because they didn't want her to testify about what Jerry said to
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her during her kidnapping, but the judge denied their requests. Rosalie testified for
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roughly three hours during which time she did finally recount what Jerry said to her,
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and I, quote Rosie, They're going to give me the needle for
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something I didn't do. I didn't even know those three kids, quote Rosalie
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also testified that at no time did Jerry cause her physical harm. She said
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he looked scared. During the defense testimony, one witness testified that he saw
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a dirty, unshaven hitchhiker who had bloody scratches on his face and neck.
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Several other witnesses also said they saw the same man that exact same week the
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murders took place. Eddie Williams said that the police did not even talk to
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the three witnesses who reported the dirty hitchhiker and that they only focused on Jerry.
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Guess they're trying to say, maybe it wasn't Jerry. Yes, it's
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phenotypes don't matter. The jury deliberated for about four and a half hours.
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It was unanimous. After the guilty verdict was announced and before the death penalty
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phase began, Jerry's seventeen year old daughter testified that she loved her father and
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asked jurors to not give him the death penalty, which she described as murder,
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she said, and I quote, no man has the right to murder.
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If it's wrong for him to do it, then it's wrong for you
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to do it. The jury took thirty five minutes to return the death penalty
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verdict. Walter McFadden was convicted and sentenced to die by the lethal injection.
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The defense team said they would be filling an appeal, which is automatic in
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Texas, and they felt competent that the truth would come out and the conviction
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would be overturned. After exhausting all of his appeals, Jerry's conviction was upheld
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and he died by lethal injection on October fifteenth, nineteen ninety nine, at
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six sixteen pm. Jerry chose not to make any final statements before his execution.
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It was said the needle that contained the death cocktail was inserted to write
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above a large satanic face on Jerry's arm, and that on Jerry's chest.
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The saying death before dishonor for the lonesome loser was tattooed, and there is
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a picture of this on the website. It's creepy as heck now. Suzanne's
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mother burst into tears upon entering the execution chamber. Crying out. I quote
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he took our children due After Jerry was pronounced dead, Harrison then said it's
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done. I'm ready to go home. Jerry Walter McFadden's reign of terror had
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ended. However, it's not the end of his story. Now, before
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we head into the next twist, I'm going to grab a quick drink now,
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I have to also tell you this next part I'm about to share with
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you is how I wound up covering Jerry Walter McFadden's case. I originally started
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researching just this next portion and decided to cover all of it. Are you
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ready? On July twenty fourth, nineteen seventy nine, Anna Marie Halvacca worked
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her shift at the nearby McDonald's and then headed home to the apartment that she
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shared with her sister, Rose inn Halvec and her boyfriend. Rose said it
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had been a typical day and that when she returned home, she opened the
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door and called out for her sister. Anna did not answer, and when
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Rose went into the bedroom, she found her beloved twenty year old sister deceased
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and sprawled out in the bedroom. Anna had been strangled with the electrical cord
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from her clock radio and sexually asted. Upon arrival to the home, police
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did not find any signs of a break in, but they did find a
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window that had been left open. The police did a great job interviewing countless
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suspects, collecting forensic evidence, and searching for Anna's killer. Sadly, the
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case went stone cold, that is until two thousand and nine. In two
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thousand and nine, the Portland Police Department sent old evidence from Anna's case to
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see if new DNA technology might help them turn up a lead as to who
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killed Anna. Surprisingly, a full DNA profile from an unknown male was found.
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Police team was excited. They immediately uploaded that DNA profile in Dakotas and
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were shocked when there was no hit. Once again, the case went cold,
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that is until Detective Meredith Hopper took over the case in twenty twelve and
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began painstakingly trying to match the DNA profile with several suspects that had been identified
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over the years, and none of them were a match. Once again,
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this case started to grow cold. Then one day, Detective Harper was reading
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a news story on how Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State killer, was
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linked to thirteen murders in fifty rapes by using a public genealogy database. Yes,
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sorry, guys, I love that This prompted Detective Hopper to send over
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the DNA profile from Anna's case to Parabond Nano Labs in hopes that either the
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killer or one of his family members had submitted their information to one of the
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public sites. The case was no longer cold. October of twenty eighteen,
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Parabond Nano Labs notified Detective Hopper they had a match to McFadden. Yes,
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Jerry Walter McFadden told you her story wasn't over now, Detective Hopper, as
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was I when I first started looking into this, was puzzled as to how
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Cherry's DNA was not in CODUS, so along with her partner, Detective Brendan
26:27
McGuire, they headed to Texas. During their trip to Texas, they learned
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that the state did not start tracking DNA until nineteen ninety five, and as
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we know, Jerry was already on death row awaiting his day with the needle.
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McFadden's family cooperated with the detectives and provided DNA samples so that they could
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confirm, double check that the DNA was a match. Also, while talking
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with McFadden's family. They discovered that he had traveled with the friend to Portland
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in nineteen seventy nine. Okay, guys, my first thought, how in
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the hell did Jerry travel to Portland when he was on parole? As I
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said, I guessing he went without telling his parole officer. When the detectives
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returned to Portland, they met with Rose and Havoca and family to give them
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the news that they had found Anna's killer and that he had been executed in
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Texas in nineteen ninety nine. Guys, I hope this news provided some piece
27:33
for the family. Is I'm not sure how you ever find closure? And
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I know that's a word that's thrown around a lot. I'm not sure how
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you ever find closure when one of your family members is brutally attacked and murdered.
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I don't know. Now, before we wrap up, I want to
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go into a quick timeline of Jerry's life and crimes because it frustrates me that
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the law did not protect the innocent. Okay, I mean, we know
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he was born in nineteen forty eight, he married a fifteen year old when
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he was nineteen in nineteen sixty six. Once again, why did her parents
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say that they could get married because you couldn't get married without parental consent.
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And Jerry had his first brush with the law in sixty six when he was
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convicted of burglary, and then in sixty eight when he got charged with destruction
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of property. Daughter was born nineteen sixty nine. Seventy one, he was
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convicted of a simple assault, paid a fine. Nineteen seventy two, he
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was convicted of a d wi in given probation nineteen seventy two into seventy three,
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he was sentenced to two fifteen years sentences for two counts of a rape.
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Mind you some was born seventy three. He was paroled in seventy eight.
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In December of seventy eight, he killed Anna in Portland July of nineteen
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seventy nine. He had still been in prison where he should have been,
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he wouldn't have killed Anna, okay. Then he sentenced to fifteen years again
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in nineteen seventy nine for the aggravated rape and kidnapping of an eighteen year old.
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His wife got smart divorced him into eighty once again. He was paroled
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in July of nineteen eighty five, where he moved in with his mother and
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his sister. Then not very long goes by. He holds up the couple,
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demands money and a quickie by gunpoint, lets them go, kidnaps and
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kills Suzanne Harrison, Gina Turner, and Brian Boone in nineteen eighty six,
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then escapes jail. I mean, let's just go back. If he would
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have still been in jail, Anna wouldn't have been killed. He never got
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tried for that case because he was already dead. If he wouldn't have been
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out, he wouldn't have been able to do that. And if he would
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have still been in jail when he got prolled in eighty five, he couldn't
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have killed Suzanne, Gina and Brian. Then he escaped jail. He had
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no handcuffs on in the jail. I don't get why you take a prisoner
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out of an isolation room to a phone with no handcuffs when they've raped,
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killed, robbed. I mean, explain it to me. Think about it.
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The fact that he was paroled the first time after serving only five and
30:47
a half years on two fifteen years sentences for rape, then prolled again after
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roughly five years for a fifteen years sentence for aggravated rape and kidnapping. I
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don't understand. I am thankful that the Texas law has gotten a lot stricter.
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Even read one article. They said a lot of it came down to
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what happened in this case. So I'm very thankful for that, because you
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don't get time off for good behavior when you're locked up with men and you're
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a rapist. I'm sorry, and an interesting thing I found. Okay,
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guys for being gone for a while, that was a doozy. I'm gonna
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need to fill up my glass of wine since I only have a couple of
31:37
SIPs left. I would love it if you would reach out to me on
31:41
Facebook, Twitter, Now, on good Pods, Instagram, or via email
31:48
and let me know what wine I should pair with an upcoming case about a
31:52
potential cult killer. This episode was researched by Terry do Sole, edited by
31:59
Handsome Up Phil do Sold music by at of Old. Thank you for listening
32:04
to True Crime and Wine Time until next week, Stay safe, watch out
32:08
for crime, and enjoy your wine time. M H.