Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / The Circleville Letters

Transcript

The Circleville Letters · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: In the late nineteen seventies, mysterious figure cast a shadow
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: over the quaint town of Circleville, Ohio. This individual embarked
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: on a campaign of terror reminiscent of an analog version
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: of Gossip Girl, but with a far more sinister type
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of consequence that involved divorce, murder, and wrongful imprisonment. This
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: is the mystery of the Circleville Letters. My name's Ben.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: And I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: a true crime podcast. Warning.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Tomorrow's the day.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow is the day, the day, the day, or the day.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I don't even know either one.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Yes, the answer is all of the above.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Tomorrow is the start of our what I guess
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: it would be our third annual Halloween Week.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, don't, dun't, which also means it is the return
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of Jacko. So Jacko is going to be our MC
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: tomorrow as we start the seven straight days of Wicked
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and Grim.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I'm actually sure missed Jacko.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Jacko's pretty dope, so I'm pretty stoked for the return to.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's gonna be awesome. That actually just just hearing
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: his name, maybe even more excited.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Rightfully, so he instills not only fear, but joy. He's
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: like a encryptid Santa Claus. If that makes any sort
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: of sense, it does.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: I get it. Yeah. So yeah, we're pretty pumped. We've
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: been preparing for that. We got lots going on. But
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: we will be announcing what the week looks like tomorrow.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so tomorrow we'll be uh we laying it out
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: a little bit more for you so you can understand
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: what's happening. We got some pretty cool stuff going on.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: One thing we're actually doing this weekend was a photo
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: shoot though. Yeah, we will talk about that a little
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: bit if that's cool, of course.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, our whole weekend consisted of some spooky, spooky stuff.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: So on Friday we did our photo shoot, our annual
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, everything is just an annual now, I guess.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And it's funny. Actually, we were just planning to do
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: photos with the dogs, like just pretty normal photos, I thought,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: and then of course Ben came up with an idea,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and so we did the idea. What was it?
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Well, we involved our patrons in actually voting in yeah,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: you know what we should do. But the idea is
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: that we are out on a picnic, we were enjoying
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: just looking a nice glass of wine and then guess
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: what up comes a zombie?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Oh literally my worst fear.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so the zombie bites one of us and the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: other person gets to kill the other person. If you
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: want to see the result on who got to kill
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: who and who got bitten, you gotta check it on
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: social media though.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll be putting that up shortly.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so shout out to our patrons for helping us
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: pick who got to be the survivor and who got
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: to be killed and all that sort of stuff. You
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: guys are awesome.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was pretty cool. We've been doing a lot
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: more posts and stuff on Patreon. It's fun.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: We are. Patreon's a fun place. And before we forget,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: because we did forget last episodes, we got to shout
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: out some of our patrons who have signed up this
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: week and last week because we forgot to shout out
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: those individuals we remembered at the end of the show again.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: But yeah, we said we would do it again at
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: the beginning.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So to the individuals who have signed up and
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: are joining us over on Patreon, we have Dione Santy Day,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Clay Swanson, Amy Hadden, Crystal Lareth Anna, Jesse Harp, and Silgy.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: They all signed up and are getting that epic so
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: sweet behind the scenes cool Patreon stuff.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome, So thank you.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: If you guys want to sign up for Patreon links
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: down below. If not, you're here, that's cool. We appreciate
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: that too. You're your supporting us in your own way
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and that is amazing, So thank you.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: We just appreciate all the support we do. All all, all, all, yes.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Shout out to Bridges because they offer a lot of support.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: We're also like really missing something.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: What are we missing?
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Yep?
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. Well I was just at a meet
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: up with some creators and stuff like that, and I
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: just had a couple so I thought I might not
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: this time. But that also just sets up for us
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: to open them up tomorrow.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we'll be like enjoying a beverage every every
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: day this week, probably, So do you.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Know what we should do? We should make a run
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to town tomorrow and get some stuff from Margarita's or
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: starting off Halloween.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Oh I would love that. Actually, Yeah, it's been a
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: while since we had a good Margarita.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, if you're listening tomorrow, you need to if you're
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: willing and wanting, and join us with the margarita.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: We're drinking Margerita is tomorrow.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Get prepped when you're listening to the episode with a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: nice margarita, because we're going to have one too. All right,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: we've chatted enough. You ready for this one?
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, without further ado, let's do it.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: It is the mystery of the Circle vill letters, which
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: I have never heard of before until looking for a
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: good case. And this one's kind of reminiscent of like
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: that Watcher case. Okay, yeah, with a different twist in there. Okay,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: so it's like the Watcher, but.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: The Watcher is creepy as shit, it is.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: This one's just as creepy.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, awesome.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Okay. So this story begins in nineteen seventy six, when
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the unsuspecting residents of of course, Circleville, Ohio, found themselves
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: targeted by a series of disturbing letters. They contain shocking
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: intimate details about their private lives, with a particular focus
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: on their sexual deviancies.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Oh shit, yeah, that's terrifying.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Like I said at the very beginning, it's very reminiscent
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of gossip Girl, because yead is Oh no exo xo.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: I'm ashamed that I know.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: That's so exo gossip girl.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Oh wow, oh my god. Okay, people out there either
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: losing their shit being like yes, or they're cringing way
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: too hard right now.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Oh I mean everyone, well not everyone, the majority of
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: people would know that, saying I think I.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Only know it because you watched the shit out of
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: that back in the day.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: That was a good show. I should watch it again.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Anyways, we digress. The letters, all postmarked from Columbus, Ohio,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: arrived without any turn address on them, okay, which to
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: me says that they're being hand delivered by whoever is
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: putting them out there.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because I don't even know if you can. Can
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: you actually mail something without a return address?
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: I'm not certain to arrive. I'm not certain, and it
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: might be different. It might be different in like you know,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: countries or states or even townships. Who knows, right, Yeah,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: but anyways, the town of Circleville had a modest population
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of around fourteen thousand dollars about dollars people. Today, it's
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: not a place for anyone to really easily hide with
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: its small numbers. It's located approximately twenty five miles south
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: of Columbus. This town was home to a manufacturing companies,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Ohio Christian University, and a particular water tower which I
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: thought was rather fascinating. This water tower is painted to
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: look like a pumpkin. Really yeah, so shout out to
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Circleville for their pumpkin water tower.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Because that's why I want to see that.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Look it up. It's all but despite the small despite
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: the small size, Circleville boasted a tight knit community where
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: neighborly intimacy was rather cherished. However, the Circleville letter writer
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: exploited this exact intimacy, transforming everyone into a basically giant
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: fearful bunch or small fearful bunch because it's a smaller town,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: leaving the residents haunted by, you know, the unknown identity
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: of who this person with this poison tipped pen is.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: The town was now overshadowed with this cloud of suspicion
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: as residents anxiously speculated about who among them could be
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: capable of such cruelty. Before it was all you know,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: friendship and neighborly, and now it's cold and who is it?
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Could it be?
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: You. So he's doing this to numerous people, then he is,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: it's not just because then the other one it was
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: just like one person.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Correct, yeah, correct. But we're going to get right back
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to the very beginning of it, and we're going to
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: dive into where it started. And it all started during
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen seventy six when Mary Gillespie, a
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: local bus driver in Circleville. She one day in her
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: mailbox found that she received an ominous letter postmarked from Columbus,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: as I mentioned before, bearing neither signature or a return address.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: She opened the letter and inside was a piece of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: paper with a strangely scrawled message that accused Mary of
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: engaging in an affair with Gordon Massey, the superintendent of
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: the West Fall School District, and the letter sternly warned
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: her to terminate the alleged relationship. Oh geez, The letter
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: read this, Miss Jilliespie, stay away from Massey. Don't lie
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: when questioned about meeting him. I know where you live.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I've been observing your house, and I know you have children.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: This is no joke. Please take this serious. Everyone concerned
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: has been notified and everything will be over soon. And
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: that was the letter.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Okay, well was she actually having an affair?
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Well, despite the claims on the page, Mary denied any
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: involvement with Massey. Now, soon after Mary received the letter,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: her husband Ron found himself targeted as well, with another
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: ominous letter message arriving to him sort of thing this time,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: like I said, directly to him though right, not her,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: And it had a couple inserts, some of them saying
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: things like this, mister Gillespie, your wife is seeing Gordon Massey.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: You should catch them together and kill them both. Oh
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: my gosh, he doesn't deserve to live. And the letter
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: went on to demand that Ron exposed the affair to
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: the school board or face dire consequences himself.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so these are some terrifying threats right out of
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the gate. And now the fact that Mary received this letter,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: she can't just, you know, just pretend this accusation is
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: there and not existing. Her husband knows of this accusation
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: now too. So reassured her husband of her innocence, that
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: there is no affair, and after the two were discussing
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: it for some time, they made the decision to remain
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: silent on the matter and basically hope that whoever this
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: writer is that they would just kind of move on,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: leave them alone and stop sort of thing. Okay, And
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I guess you can assume what happens next. That didn't happen.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: They didn't stop, Okay.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: I was very much assuming that.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, otherwise you wouldn't be having a case that we're
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: talking about right now.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Oh and then it just stops and they moved on
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: and everything was good.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: That's the case. We'll talk to you tomorrow and on
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Halloween week. No, that's definitely not what happens here. Within weeks,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: more threatening letters began arriving, this time warning Mary that
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: unless she ended the alleged affair, the truth would be
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: publicly exposed rather than just within the relationship, and this
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: plunged the Jellispe family further into the nightmare of uncertainty,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and one of the letters they received wrote this, Jellispie,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: you've had two weeks and done nothing. Make her admit
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the truth and inform the school board. If not, I
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: will broadcast it on CBS, posters, signs, and billboards until
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: the truth comes out.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Geez. But like what if she actually wasn't having me
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: a fakir that's true? Like what is she supposed to
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: do then just lie, I don't know.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh gosh. Well, with more letters arriving, Mary and
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Ron decided that it was time to confide in their
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: family about the craftsment. They turned to Karen, who is
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Ron's sister, and her husband, Paul, so their last name
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: was Fresher. Now, Paul was employed at a local beer plant,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: but it once worked as a prison guard. Now Ron's
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: background as a prison guard led them to believe that
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: he might be able to offer some valuable insight, especially
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: given his own past experiences, including surviving a horrific thirty
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: hour ordeal as a hostage during a prison riot in
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Ohio in Ohio Penitentiary Wow, in August of nineteen sixty eight.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: So he's kind of got some experience dealing with some
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: not so savory situation.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I couldn't even imagine like thirty hours. Holy heck.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's terrifying. So in their conversation, Mary revealed that
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: she actually had a suspect in mind. She believed she
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: might know who it could be.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, she had someone that she felt was an enemy exactly.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: She's got her eyes in the prize here. Now, this
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: individual was a man by the name of David Longbury.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: He was a fellow bus driver who she had previously made,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: who had previously made unwanted advances towards her. Oh okay,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: and when she rejected him, he seemingly kind of harbored
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: some resentment from it.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Huh. Well, did she reject him because she was freaking married?
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm assuming so.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: So why should there be any l feelings there? I
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: don't know, huh, Okay, but.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: That's her assumption, is that it's got to be this guy, right,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: you said, yeah, And ever since then it's kind of
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: up in the same So maybe he's, like, you know,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: he's behind these letters, possibly seeking revenge for whatever rejecttion happened,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: or you know.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: So they decided that to put an end to this torment,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: the brother in law, Paul, would confront David in a
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: letter of his own. Okay, so fighting fire with firesome situation.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: So he wrote one making it explicitly clear that they
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: were very well aware who he was and what he
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was doing, demanding that he stopped the threats against both
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Mary and Ron. And in the wake of that letter
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: being sent, miraculously no new letters began appearing. It seemed
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: that it all stopped.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. So then right there they're like, yeah,
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: that was the guy.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Pretty much, it seemed that the whole plan had worked. However,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: the relief was short lived because soon ominous signs of
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: the letters began to appear. And I'm not really meaning
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: really like spiritual or metaphorical signs. I mean literal signs
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: began appearing in the neighborhood, like signs on the side
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: of the road.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, I thought you meant just like more letters.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: But literal signs. How he threatened to begin taking this public.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: With stuff, so he did it.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Signs in the public were being put out. Now, these
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: signs began to appear around town, falsely claiming that Gordon Massey,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: the school superintendent, was involved romantically with the Jellispes twelve
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: year old daughter Tracy.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Whoa shit, I bet this massy guy was also getting letters.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Then I'm thinking, well, individuals do begin getting letters as
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: we go on, for sure, so I don't doubt it.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Okay, So just let me get this straight here. So
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: the signs were saying that he was having an affair
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: with like the daughter of who. It's kind of confusing
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: because the letters were saying she was having an affair
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: with him, but now the signs are saying that he's
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: having an affair with the daughter.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah right, Okay, he's basically saying that this woman has
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: been sleeping with this man even though they're both in relationship. Yes,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: and now these public signs are saying this man is
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: also sleeping with this woman's daughter too.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Okay, see, I'm it's surprising. That's surprising to me because
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I thought the signs, if anything, were just gonna kind
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: of reveal them. But it's almost revealed. It's revealing something.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: New, Yeah, something much darker.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, an affair is one thing that's good, don't get
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: me wrong.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: But like we're an underage.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a whole new ballgame here.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: And he works for the school, just like the schools,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: right yeah. So ah, so.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Of course they're outraged, and Ron, in an effort to
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: actually shield his daughter from this slander, would patrol the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: town early each morning and removing these signs that were
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: popping up before Tracy could ever see them.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, what a good dad. Hey.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so the harassment understandably fueled Ron's anger. Not only
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: was it attacking him or Mary, but now their child
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: was the target of this harassment.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Papa Bear was coming out.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Eh, oh, definitely. And you'll see here just how much
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Papa Bear was coming out because on August nineteenth, nineteen
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: seventy seven, a breaking point kind of came. A menacing
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: phone call came through their home phone. Ron picked up,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and the stranger ominously described his surveillance of the Jesalus
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: b residents. He detailed knowledge about Ron's truck, saying like,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I know where you live, this is what you drive
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: sort of thing. And Ron was pissed and abruptly he
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: hung up the phone and he turned around, went to
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: storm outside, and he said, I recognized the voice on
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: the other end of his phone.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Oh he just like yelled that, or what do you mean?
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: He turned to his family, He's like, I recognized voice. Okay, yeah,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: So in a fit of fury, he stormed out of
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: the house, hopped into his truck, armed with a twenty
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: two caliber revolver, intending to confront the individual that just
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: called him. Tragically, Ron's life came to a sudden end.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Only moments later. His truck veered off the road not
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: far from their home, crashing into a tree, and Ron
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: was found lifeless at the wheel.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Are you shitting me?
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: Strangely, investigators discovered that Ron's gun had discharged a single
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: bullet before he died. The gunshot residue was found on
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: his hand, no bullet casing or evidence pointing towards what
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: or whom he shot at could ever be located.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, okay, so what Okay, that's really confusing.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: So what I'm thinking Potentially he he found this person
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: like right by his home maybe right, and then went
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: to shoot at them and then got in an accident
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: himself and died, Like, are you kidding?
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: It's possible.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: That's brutal. Yeah, And also I'm pissed because that sucks. Yeah, Like,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: that's the worst. Not only that he never said who
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: the fuck.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: He never said who it fucking was?
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: So who he recognized died with him?
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, that's so fucking sad too.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Now. Adding to the mystery, Ron's blood alcohol content was
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: measured at point six, which is twice illegal and indicating
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: that he had been drinking quite a bit that night.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: So Sheriff Dwight Radcliffe and his team, included Pickaway County authorities,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: were unable to find concrete evidence suggesting any sort of
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: foul play. With no definitive proof of the contrary, Sheriff
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Ratcliffe concluded that Ron had tragically driven himself off the
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: road into a tree due to his intoxicated state. Ron's
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: relatives found this conclusion really hard to accept because Ron
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: was not known to be a heavy drinker, but the
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: authorities remain unconvinced that anyone else was to blame, leaving
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: a family just kind of sitting there asking what the fuck.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, but I mean unless it was it was
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: tested in it, like the labs made a mistake or something.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't think there was a mistake. There was
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: that blood alcohol content in his body at the time
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: as far as I can find. Okay, Now, I wasn't
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: able to find anything on anyone saying if he was
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: even drinking that day or anything. But mind you, we
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: are dealing with the situation where they are in high
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: stress right now. Oh yeah, so it is possible that
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: even though he's not a heavy drinker, maybe he was
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: having some drinks being so stressed out.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Just trying to chill or whatever enjoy.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Is even correct. So there's a million different little tiny
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: things that play in that situation. However, that still does
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: not explain his gun going off.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because you said there was gun residue on
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: his hand, right, Yeah, he.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Had gun residue on him, the bullet was discharged, They
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: could not find the casing. They could not find where
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: the bullet was shot towards huh man.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: That would be so hard for the family just to
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: move on from that, Yeah, without with having so many
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: unanswered questions like that.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Yeap. So here's the thing I'm thinking, if he was
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: chasing someone, he probably had the gun outside the window
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: and fired, aka the casing on the ground, not inside
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the cab. If he did get in an accident and
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: it's an accidental just discharge inside the cab, that casing
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: is going to be in the cab. Yeah, but it
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: was nowhere to be found.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So he was shooting at someone and then oh
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: my goodness, I can't believe that that happened where he
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: actually crashed and died.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Right. That's Hollywood, right.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: That's a soap opera. It is so.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Following Ron's death, the unsettling entire saga in Circleville took
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: an even more strange turn. More residents began receiving letters
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: implicating Sheriff Radcliffe in a cover up related to Ron's
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: death and asserting that Mary and Gordon Massey, the superintendent,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: were responsible for it.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Like Mary his wife.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Correct, That's what the letters were claiming.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: And I just have to say too, this potentially, now,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: this person who was writing all these freaking letters or whatever,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: that's like manslaughter, is it not? It could potentially be
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: that he like murdered someone. Now I don't know way
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: so I don't know. I because it wouldn't If it
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: wasn't for him, Ron would not have been all fired
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: up drinking or whatever going out in the night to
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: try to freaking get this asshole. I don't know. I
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: know he'd never be charged of it, but I still
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: think that he is. This person has blood on that
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know. You stressed me out and I drink
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: because of you. Lots.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Oh wow, wow, wow wow, just saying I don't know,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: I think that there's blood on this guy's hands.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Now, I mean, if he was physically there and there
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: was like a little car chase thing or something like
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: that that did happen, I think yes, of course. But
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I don't think harassment can be implicated into manslaughter. Not
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: at this degree, I don't think so.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, like I'm saying, it would never be in
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: a charge or anything, But I still feel this person
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Ron wouldn't have been doing any of this if it
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: wasn't for the stuff.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: No, No, this person definitely played a part in Ron's death. Yeah,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: legally speaking, I don't think this is worth a manslaughter
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: charge as far as you know, courts, I don't think
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: that charge would go through it should it should. Now,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: some believe this cover up thing may be true, and
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: actually point to the fact that Sheriff Ragcliffe disclose to
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Paul Ron's brother in law that a person of interest
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: had actually been questioned regarding the incident and apparently had
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: passed a polygraph test. So what this is basically is
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: the accident happened and the sheriff had disclosed that someone
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: was interviewed. Okay, a person of interest was interviewed, asked
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: to polygraph. So basically, if there was a person of interest,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: then why did they declare an accident If there's a person.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Interest, that doesn't make any sense.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Right, So in this person of interest is a proven thing.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: This is not some hearsay situation. Sheriff Ragcliffe had a
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: person of interest.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Okay, but maybe just for the letters or the harassment.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess actually that's a point potentially Yeah.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Anyways, though, the whole Circleville letters continue to persist, targeting
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Mary and Gordon. Of course, the letters continued in their
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: cruel taunts, claiming, quote, everyone knows what you've done. If
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: you don't believe us, just make them mad and find
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: out for yourself.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Huh. Poor Mary, She's still having to deal with this
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: shit and she has lost her husband.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Correct. It just keeps going. So I missed all this
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: whole drama. Mary's sister in law, Karen Fresher, was going
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: through a divorce with Paul, which prompted Mary to offer
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: her a place to stay over at her place now
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and a supply surprising revelation, Mary admitted to her about
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: actually having the affair with Massey really, although she claims
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: the relationship had allegedly started after the letters began, which
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I complete fucking bullshit.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Are you serious?
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: You're not going to get publicly shamed for a fucking
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: affair and then decide then do well? Okay, I might
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: as well fucking do it now like're putting me fuck off.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Dang, now I feel even worse. Run run yeah, gosh. Now.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: On February seventh, nineteen eighty three, an even more strange
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: turn occurred along Mary's buffs route unless she was working now.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: As Mary was completing her school bus route in Circleville,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: she encountered a handwritten sign unlike many she's seen before,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: at the intersection of Scotio Darby Road and Five Points Pike.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: The sign contained an absolutely vile re mark about a
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: sexual engagement between her daughter Tracy and of course Massy.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Now this has been occurring now for approximately seven years
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: at this point, why correct if you've been following the
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: timeline of the dates, we were at about seven years
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: that these letters and stuff have been going. So Mary
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: was rather undeterred at this discovery. Really, she's kind of
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: used to it, right seeing it been there, done that,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: So she parked her bus and approached the sign this time.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Unbeknownst to Mary, though, the perpetrator had devised a trap
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: on this sign. You see, the sign was rigged with
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: a twenty five caliber handgun positioned to fire directly where
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: she was standing. Once she tore down the sign in anger.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: In an act of remarkable composure. However, Mary didn't tear
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: down the sign. She simply just took it down calmly.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: She took down the whole rig setup, not in haste.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: She brought it onto her bus without triggering the gun.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: So she probably didn't even know that there wasn't even.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: No Once she later inspected a little bit closer that evening,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: she discovered a small container on the post, which then
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: revealed the firearm hidden inside, which was pointing directly where
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: she wash. My gosh, so she were to yank that sign,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: it would have pulled a cable and fired the gun
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: where she was standing.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Wow yeah, Okay, well that definitely would have been murdered.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. So law enforcement launched an intensive investigation to
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: trace down the ownership of the firearm, and surprisingly this
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: actually provided a breakthrough in the case, offering a very
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: crucial lead that could potentially unmask the person responsible for
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the years of torment and threats. The Ohio Bureau of
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Criminal Investigation managed to recover a partial serial number from
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the booby trapped pistol. Someone had attempted to the numbers
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: by filing them away, but there was just enough still
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: left over.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: Oh jeez.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: To get an identification, the firearm was traced back to
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Paul Fresher.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, the brother in law. Correct, what the shit like
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: he was the one that wasn't he the one that
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: wrote the letter? Yes to the other freaking I don't
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: know who David or something?
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Correct? What? Yeah, Paul is Ron's sister's husband.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: So yeah, ex husband, ex.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was Karen Fresher and now it's Karen Sue.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: But yes, Paul, that very same Paul. Now, Karen, as
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, was going through a divorce with Paul,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: and when she was questioned about Paul, she actually disclosed
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: to the police that her husband had indeed been writing
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: threatening letters and she believed he was a Circleville letter writer.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: She claimed that she found several hidden letters throughout their
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: home while together.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: And she didn't disclose any of this to.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Her sister, correct, which I find suspicious.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Paul adamantly denied any involvement in writing the letters, although
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: he admitted to being the owner and purchasing of that gun.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Now I'm thinking it's her the sister almost but sorry,
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: keep going well.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Paul claimed it was stolen weeks before the incident.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's always was stolen.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Very convenient in fact. Yeah, despite his denial, a polygraph
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: test indicated deception. But we do know polygraph tests cannot
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: always be definitive.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Oh. I would fail one of those tests for sure.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, definitely. A police officer pulls me over, just like
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: in a speed trap or whatever, you know, like just
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: a roadblock, going through, sweating, and I'm just like, is
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: there a brick of cocaine in the back of my vehicle?
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Like I don't even do drugs, Like what the hell?
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: I'm just like panicked about, Like, am I like harboring something?
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I don't.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Someone out there has got to sympathize
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: with you.
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: No, I totally get Okay, I get it.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not alone.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah that's yeah. No, I would be sweating, like sweating away.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: There would be no way that I would pass.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well Paul didn't pass, And I'm pretty sure Paul
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: would be sweating right about now because he was actually
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: quickly arrested. Yeah, And throughout the investigation and subsequent trial,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: the motive behind these threats and letters, especially to his
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: you know, in laws, remained a part of the puzzle
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: that no one was able to really ever seem to
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: put together. Paul was of course questioned on it why
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: he did all these things, but he stood strong in
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: his claim of innocence. But the evidence against Paul was
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: just too overwhelming. Paul would eventually get bail, and he
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: was volunt he volunteeringly, yeah, I can't talk. Sorry, He
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: voluntarily there we go, admitted himself to a mental health
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: center at Riverside Hospital. Now some say possibly in an
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: attempt to persuade, yeah, to get a plea of not
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: guilty by reason of insanity, saying like, hey, look, you
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: know I'm in a mental facility sort of thing. Hey,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: clearly there's something going on, right, because he did have
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: a trial coming up now, Regardless of that, as the
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: investigation continues continued handwriting analysis would play a pivotal role
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: in this case. Samples from Paul's employment records would be
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: deemed a match for three hundred and ninety one of
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the individual letters, not like a page letter, but like
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the A letter, a letter c like you know, individual
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: letters and three hundred sorry, one hundred and three postcards
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: that was sent to Jalespe residents and others.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: Oh seriously match correct See I'm I was really thinking
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: it wasn't him. Just sit in here, listen to you.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: I'm like, it's not him.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: You might still want to hold on to that.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Thought, because I really am thinking that.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: No, Like, no, you might want to still hold on
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: to that thought.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm sticking to it.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: Then, Paul claimed, though, that the match only occurred not
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: through records of employment, but only because Sheriff Radcliffe had
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: asked him to mimic the offending letters for investigation and
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: comparison purposes, and that's where they got the match. So
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: what he's saying is the officer told me to copy
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: the letter to see if what my version of it
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: would look like in comparison, and then they took that
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: and matched it the shit. That's what Paul is claiming.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: I couldn't find if that was a factual claim or not. However,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: Paul was indicted by a grand jury on March of
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three and faced tie in October of the
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: same year. The trial lasted just one week, with the
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: jury deliberating for a mere two and a half hours
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: before rendering a guilty correct jeez. Paul was convicted of
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: attempted murder for using the firearm in the potential arm
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: of Mary Jelysbie. Although he was not formally charged with
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: writing the letters thirty nine of which letters were entered
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: into evidence during the trial, so officially in the court documents,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: he was never charged or connected to being the writer. However,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: he was connected for using the firearm in attempted murder.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: Okay, because it was his gun, correct, Okay?
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Now, Judge William Amner sentenced Paul to seven to twenty
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: five years in prison, with an additional three years for
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: controlling a firearm due to the offense. Now, Circleville residents
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: hoped that with Paul behind bars, letters would stop, but
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: they did not.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: Okay, yep.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: The Circleville letters continued to haunt the town even after
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Paul was imprisoned, with hundreds of letters still being received,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: including Paul himself receiving letters from behind bars even while
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: he was in solitary confinement.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that I would just I. Oh, he's
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: gonna lose his fucking mind.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So, with Paul incarcerated, the prison warden stated that
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: he couldn't have sent these letters as there was no
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: way you could access pens or paper, raising questions of
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: course about the true senders identity. Right, So here we
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: have an individual sitting in a cell without pens, without papers,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: even at times being in solitary confinement, letters are still
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: being sent out. In fact, he's even received at least.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: One dang wow, this poor guy. Yeah, and you know what,
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: I okay, because when you said that he had admitted
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: himself to a hospital, right, yeah, I was almost thinking,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: because there was so much evidence you were saying that
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: was pointing to him that he was probably losing his
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: fucking mind and being like holy shit, like am I like,
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: am I actually doing this? Like quescating himself? Right?
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Questioning his own sanity?
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So some people may have said it was because
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: he was searching for a plea deal of insanity. He
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: might have actually thought, maybe I am going nuts here,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: like I don't know if I am writing these letters,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: but these people are saying I.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: Am, like, I'm losing my mind here. I need help.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So maybe it was a literal cry for help,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: or because people were pointing their fingers at him, he
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: was just believing them. Now, I mean, despite Paul's release
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: that would come in May of nineteen ninety four after
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: serving ten years.
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're kidding.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: He still maintained his innocence. He served his time ten
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: years because he was given seven to.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Twenty five oh ten years of his life.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Correct, So he was released on parole after ten years. Now,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: the question still remains, was it actually Paul? This also
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: brings up another question. Maybe it was him and he
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: had an accomplice. Maybe Paul was doing this but while
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: he was in prison he had someone helping him from
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: the outside too, or was it just someone else entirely.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: One theory regarding Paul suggests that he might have had
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: help while in jail, of course with his motives. Sorry,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: but with his motive, but he was maybe trying to
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: demonstrate loyalty to his wife Karen, because I mean, they
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: were in a rocky relationship, right, So the theory says
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Karen's brother Ron might have known about Mary's affair. This
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: theory basically says that Paul and Karen were covertly attempt
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: to put an end to the affair, although the motives
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: remained speculative, but basically saying that he's trying to show Karen,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: his wife with a deteriorating relationship, that I'm a good guy.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: We're gonna fight for a good relationship even in these
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: other people. Okay, so yeah, if that makes any sense,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: This theory doesn't make sense to me. But that's supposedly
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: what it is. That's why he did it.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: That he but then that he didn't actually write the
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: other letters. It was just those ones that he wrote.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know, Okay, Like I said, this theory, I
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: don't get it.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really don't. It's odd.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: So basically he's like, oh, there's this other affair going on,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: so through these letters, we're going to try and like
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: make them make up or make things right. But that
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't explain why he's sending letters elsewhere outwhere to other
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: people or maybe the signs in the road bringing the
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: daughter into it, you know, Like it doesn't make sense
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: to me.
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because that daughter would be his niece. So
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: that's horrible.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Exactly outside of that one. Suspicion also, of course, fell
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: on as you said earlier, Karen, who had spoken against
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: her ex husband to the police, and as you had
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: already mentioned, had access to said firearm.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: MM.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Now, considering their strange marriage and divorce proceedings that included
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: allegations of abuse, Oh yeah, some speculated that she might
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: have framed Paul out of spite, especially after he gained
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: custody of their children in the separation.
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: Okay, but then it's that I mean, I feel like,
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: I don't know, she seems sketchy to me. But also
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: I don't think that she would have gone about trying
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: to kill her sister necessarily exactly.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: That brings up the question on why would she put
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Mary at risk? Yeah, so who's who's to say?
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: I also think that rat was Radcliffe. Radcliffe the like, sorry,
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: I don't know what that in my voice there? Yeah,
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: is a a little bit sketch as well.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well that the letters are even saying that, hey,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: he covered him up with this death.
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I think he's sketched too.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: And then Paul is saying that, hey, he made me
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: duplicate these letters and is now using that as evidence. Yeah,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: so there is some shady shit going on, at least
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: shady allegations going on towards them. So whoo's to know? Now?
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: A crucial lead in the case that had left a
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: lot of people wondering about the true identity involved an
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: eyewitness account from another bus driver working the day that
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Mary discovered the booby trapped sign. There was in fact
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: an eyewitness. Now, this witness reported seeing a yellow el
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Camino parked at the intersection with a man apparently pretending
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: to urinate, who bore absolutely no resemblance to Paul at all.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: But this just kind of got swept under the rug
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: and nothing ever happened of it. So many people think
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: that this stranger driving the yellow el Camino who was
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: pretending to take a piss could have been the individual
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: setting up the sign and could be the letter writer.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, but then you would think, I don't know that
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: that vehicle would be so recognizable, though, I agree.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: In town, right, you would think in a small town
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: of fourteen thousand people, you'd be able to pick out
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: a yellow Alchemune.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: I know. For me, I drive an orange pickup truck
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: in a town of eighty thousand people. People see me
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: all the fucking time.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Do you regret that life decision.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: A little bit? Now, this man has never been identified.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: Like I said, it's just kind of been swept under
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: the rug, and it's kind of an unresolved piece of
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: the puzzle sort of thing. Now, in nineteen ninety three,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: when the television show that We All Know and Love
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: Unsolved Mysteries delved into the case. Okay, now, the production
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: itself actually became a target of the letter writer, receiving
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: a chilling anonymous letter directly too curiously. Yes, it was
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: ominously signed quote the Circleville writer, and it said, among
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: some of the things, quote forget Circleville, Ohio. If you
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: come to Ohio, you L sickos will pay.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: Hey, now this is actually something. I didn't draw this
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: connection while I was writing this, but I just realized
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: if there is a connection with the El Camino and
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: calling them l sickos, what do you mean? Sorry, because
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: the yellow car that was seen with El Camino. Oh,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: I just drew that connection. I don't even know if
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: there's anything there. Huh, Well, I just want to throw
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: that out there. Saw it.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: I have to say, this person clearly has way too
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: much time on their hands.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so too.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: This has been going on for years. That's crazy.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Now, during the time when the show was actually filming
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: and they got this letter, Paul had pleaded with the
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: show to investigate letters further, but not much came out
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: through the investigation. It was just kind of like, oh,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: there's another letter, just like all the other hundreds and
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds and what do you do? So anyways,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: it would be the year after that that Paul would
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: actually be released on parole, and that is the same
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: time that the letters ceased. No one received another one.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: The signs stopped.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: That's really weird.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, so Paul, who consistently denied being the writer
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: passed away in twenty twelve, maintained his innocence to the
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: very end. In twenty twenty one, a forensic examination conducted
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: by CBS the forty eight Hours Team brought fresh scrutiny
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: to the case. Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole, along
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: with forensic document expert Beaverly East, analyzed the letters. While
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Mary didn't be Paul's, Paul matched the profile of the
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: controlling and vindictive writer described by the letters Beverly. Beverly
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: pointed to the striking similarity in the letter G in
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: Paul's handwriting and how it bore a resemblance to the
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: number six in the Circleville letters, which to me kind
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: of I don't know, a bit of a stretch. The
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: G looks like a six. Sure, Okay, I'm pretty sure
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: if we write two things down. There's gonna be some
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: minor similarities like that.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: He needs something stronger than that to me, Yeah, yeah,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: But apparently this rose some suspicion in his potential involvement. Now,
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: this one really gets me. Some of Paul's fingerprints were
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: found on some of the letter writers letters that were
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: sent out. Really, however, his fingerprints were found on the
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: letters that were sent out while he was incarcerated in prison.
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: What the actual shit?
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah? So either he was managing to write from prison still.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: Or he had he had letters that he had already
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: that were saved or whatever, right.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: Letters already written, or someone was fabricating them using somehow
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: I don't know if they were what kind of technology
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: they would have used to duplicate or replicate fingerprints? Who knows,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: latex molds or something. But while he was in prison,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: letters being sent out some contained his fingerprints.
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: Dang. I thought I had this all figured.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Out, but that's but I want to throw one more ballpark,
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: little curveball in there. Okay, what if it was just
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: paper that Paul had handled, and then the letters were
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: written afterwards by someone who I don't know lived in
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: the same household. Yeah, what if Paul just happened to,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know, fill up the printer paper tray one day,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: and then the wife, while Paul's in prison, takes a
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: stack of those papers and starts using them to write letters.
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, holy shit, this case, this literally seems like a
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: real life soap opera to me.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is.
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: This is unbelievable.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, the police consider the evidence inconclusive. They've closed
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: the investigation on the mystery of the Circle Bill letters.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: With all these eerie threats that stand a mystery still,
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: and Paul did officially serve time, not for the letters,
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: but for the incident with the pistol. As for the
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: writer's true identity, though it may forever be unknown and
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: remain a mystery.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Wow, this one sure is.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: A freaking humdinger and a half.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, might like wheels are turning, it's.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: A mystery of the Circleville letter writer.
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: Huh. But I was also going to say, too, like
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: the person that was writing them they just randomly stopped.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: It seemed they could have passed away too, right.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: That's true, But it also could have been that they
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: were specifically trying to coincide with his exiting in prison. Yeah,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: a ploy of some sort.
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: But I mean that doesn't super make sense, because when
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: he's out of prison, it would have been much easier
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: for him to write the letter, to continue writing the letters, true,
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: than when he was in prison still being able to
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: do it.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: True. But I mean, he's some people are probably gonna
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: speculate that he has someone outside helping him write the letters.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: So he's in prison, he's angry, he's communicating with him,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: keep writing the letters, and then when he's out, Okay,
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: fuck it, let's forget about this, let's get on with life.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: So maybe it was a ploy of like showing that,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: you know what, fuck it, he's done, he's over. It's
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: behind him now. So maybe someone was really trying to
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: paint the picture of that. Yeah it is Paul, mm
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: hmm hmm.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: Man. Was this rad what is his name again? Radcliffe?
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, Officer Radcliffe, Sheriff Radcliffe.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: I believe it was. Was. Are they investigated at all?
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: I wonder I problem.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: Not as far as I was able to find. No.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: I kind of looked into it a little bit and
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: I wasn't able to find anything regarding it. I wasn't
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: able to find a lot of information regarding what sort
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: of investigations even really took place at all.
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: Well, they might have just thought, yep, Paul's the guy,
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: like we got him. Yeah, who knows how much was
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: really done behind the scenes, right, It's.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Always hard to tell, And especially in a case like this,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: where it's, like, you say, a soap opera, how do
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: you even keep track of shit like that? It's at
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: a certain point it just becomes this mess of what
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: the fuck is going on?
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And to be honest, if I was in this
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: kind of situation, I feel like I would probably check
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: into a hospital too. I'd be losing my fucking mind. Yeah,
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: fair enough, Like I feel like sometimes I have to
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: do that now and like all that wild shit's not happening. Yeah, Like,
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: holy moly.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: So are you convinced or not convinced that it was Paul?
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: You know, I was pretty convinced that it wasn't Paul.
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: But the fingerprints on the freaking letter are getting me?
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, how about this all?
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Do you think he set up the gun letters? Aside?
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: Do you think he did that sign with the gun?
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: No?
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: No, I don't think so either. It doesn't make sense, yeah, why, But.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: It also doesn't make sense that the sister would do it,
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: or his wife or whatever. You know, Yeah, unless who knows. Maybe,
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: like sometimes siblings have weird relationships. Maybe she actually hated
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: her sister.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows.
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: Family like sometimes family drama, like it's deep true true.
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: I remember one time, when I was about six years old,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: my sister stole a particularly long French fry from amat
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: McDonald's Happy Meal. Wow, it's upset me to this day,
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: and I am always looking for the opportunity to venge
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: that fry.
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I have heard of this numerous times.
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: That is so bizarre.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: It was the largest McDonald's French fry I had ever had,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my god, this thing's huge.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: And she's just like yoink, nabs it out of my
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: hand and shoves it in her mouth. I hate you, Robin,
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: poor poor are you hey? Yeah?
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: It's bullshit, Oh my gosh. And to this day, you've
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: never found a longer French front.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: No, I haven't. I do want to say, I don't
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: hate my sister, Robin, but I hate that you did that,
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: and I will get vengeance. If you are listening, Robin,
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: I will. There will come a day where I seek vengeance.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: And I fulfill my destiny on getting you back.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, Well, on that note, I think Ben needs to
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: go to bed or something.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: Sibling drama is strong and true and the roots go deep.
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: Just like you said, I know, but now I'm regretting
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: saying that. I'm almost like afraid of what have I
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: done to you.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: That you were Do you want me to go off
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: because I can.
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: No, No, I'm good. No.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: What I will go off on, though, is I will
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: go off on you guys and tell you that all
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: of our information is in the description of this podcast.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: You can find Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, you name it, Patreon,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: It's all down there. You can go ahead and support
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: us in any way you want. If you're here just
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: listening right now. That is incredible and we so appreciate it,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: and we will really appreciate tomorrow.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: When you tune in for Halloween week.
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: For Halloween Week, it's gonna be awesome. And like I said,
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: we're going to start it off with Margarita's tomorrow, So
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: if you want to make Margarita and join us with that,
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: that'd be so cool.
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: I think you should.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: Make sure you post on your social media and tag
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: us so we can see your margarita's while you listen
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: to the first Halloween Week.
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do a story or something. We'll share the shit
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: out of those. It'll be so fun. Yes, love that idea.
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, we're going to go get some sleep because
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: we got a big day of making sure we have
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: everything organized, shit together for Halloween Week. So let's we'll
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: talk to you guys later. Have a good one, and
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: of course until next time.
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: Until next time, stay wicked.