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Vampire Gang · Boozy Banter with Friends

• 0:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: Hello and welcome to boozy banter,
• 0:20
  Diane Black: With friends.
• 0:21
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm Leyla.
• 0:22
  Trisha Smith: I'm Trisha.
• 0:23
  Diane Black: I'm Diane.
• 0:24
  Leyla Zmeskal: Grab your favorite spirit and join us because shits about to get real.
• 0:37
  Leyla Zmeskal: Hello.
• 0:38
  Trisha Smith: Hi.
• 0:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: How are you doing?
• 0:43
  Trisha Smith: I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. I'm well into my cocktail.
• 0:51
  Leyla Zmeskal: You know what, I must say, you hit it out of the park today.
• 0:55
  Trisha Smith: It's a good one.
• 0:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: It's so tasty.
• 0:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: We're just jumping right into this cocktail because I've been I've been sipping on it and it's over half empty.
• 1:06
  Trisha Smith: I know.
• 1:07
  Leyla Zmeskal: And I'm gonna have to race through this frickin episode because it's so good.
• 1:10
  Trisha Smith: So we can have another. It is so good. And first of all, we're having this cocktail because it's not gluten free and Diane isn't here
• 1:21
  Leyla Zmeskal: We still love you, Diane.
• 1:24
  Trisha Smith: We do, but since she's not here, we're like,
• 1:26
  Leyla Zmeskal: All of the glutens.
• 1:27
  Trisha Smith: Let's have all the glutens in a glass. Let's just do it. It's so tasty. We decided to have the same cocktail today, which we don't usually do something different.
• 1:37
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, I definitely wanted part of this Correct, correct.
• 1:39
  Leyla Zmeskal: one, so.
• 1:39
  Trisha Smith: So what and it's not gluten free because of the type of bourbon we used.
• 1:44
  Trisha Smith: Yes. It has Maker's Mark, but we are having a, Bourbon Apple Cider Fizz.
• 1:52
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yes, I'm like, anybody? You can't see this, but I'm like, or I'm like mouthing the words.
• 1:58
  Trisha Smith: Yes, because I've said it wrong, like 20 times already.
• 2:02
  Leyla Zmeskal: I mean, it's a tongue twister.
• 2:04
  Trisha Smith: It really is. But it's so tasty. It's worth it. So it's just it has at Apple Cider syrup.
• 2:12
  Leyla Zmeskal: You made an apple cider simple syrup, and you actually cheated. So if you're looking up this recipe, it's it.
• 2:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: calls were to like simmer on the stovetop, in the microwave. is just as good,
• 2:24
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 2:24
  Leyla Zmeskal: And she's like, I could just pop this in the microwave, I'm like, oh shit, I put my coffee in the microwave every damn morning.
• 2:29
  Trisha Smith: I'm not simmering anything. And I want you to sit and let simmer like a gallon.
• 2:35
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah,
• 2:36
  Trisha Smith: The original recipe, I'm like, ummm no,
• 2:38
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm gonna break that down into more of a manageable size.
• 2:41
  Trisha Smith: Right, like one cup. So we did it was just apple cider, brown sugar, a cinnamon sticks and vanilla extract the called for vanilla bean. I am not that bougie.
• 2:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: Who the fuck, has some damn vanilla beans hanging around in their house.
• 2:58
  Trisha Smith: Not me.
• 2:59
  Leyla Zmeskal: Do you know how much those fucking things cost?
• 3:01
  Trisha Smith: Right? Are they Madagascar?
• 3:04
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, let's start don't even get me started on that.
• 3:07
  Trisha Smith: Or Tahitian?
• 3:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: Holy biscuits.
• 3:10
  Trisha Smith: So anyways, we nuked that shit, and then put it in a glass with ice to kind of cool it off a little bit. Threw our bourbon in, topped it off with the sparkling wine, and.
• 3:22
  Leyla Zmeskal: Or you can use sparkling cider,
• 3:23
  Trisha Smith: You could but, I think if you wanted it to be sweeter, use the
• 3:24
  Leyla Zmeskal: We're kind of iffy on that. Because we didn't know how sweet the, the cide syrup was gonna be already cider, if you like it sorta sweet, use the sparkling wine.
• 3:39
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah,
• 3:40
  Trisha Smith: So it is so good.
• 3:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: It's really good.
• 3:43
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, I'll be making this again.
• 3:44
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, I think this is gonna be like, like,
• 3:47
  Trisha Smith: On rotation.
• 3:48
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 3:50
  Leyla Zmeskal: Right, right. Make a batch of it.
• 3:52
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, well, hello.
• 3:52
  Trisha Smith: The original recipe had a gallon of, just using us a cheaper bourbon. You know?
• 4:01
  Leyla Zmeskal: Hell no. Girl what you thinking. I'm at the damn age If I'm having bourbon.
• 4:04
  Leyla Zmeskal: It better be good. I don't want no dang over well, I want to drink good shit.
• 4:13
  Trisha Smith: True. I agree, that's why what do we have in our house?
• 4:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: Good shit.
• 4:17
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, Maker's Mark,
• 4:19
  Leyla Zmeskal: I like Makers.
• 4:19
  Trisha Smith: Woodford.
• 4:20
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. Although you know when we did that bourbon tour, one of our favorites was, Town Branch, so it's called? it's in Lexington. They also make the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel beer.
• 4:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, I've I've I've had that beer actually.
• 4:35
  Trisha Smith: Yes. And their Town Branch Bourbon is delicious. And their tour is amazing.
• 4:43
  Leyla Zmeskal: Holy shnikies, we need to go on a bourbon tour.
• 4:45
  Trisha Smith: Absolutely just say when.
• 4:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: The last time I was in Kentucky was for Ragnar race.
• 4:51
  Trisha Smith: Oh I know, no, no, that doesn't count.
• 4:53
  Leyla Zmeskal: And it was not just a normal Ragnar race, It was an ultra so I didn't get to participate in any of the bourbon distilleries, because you were always close to running. And the last thing you wanted to do was run...drinking.
• 5:08
  Trisha Smith: A couple years ago, we did it with my Dad and his Wife and the Bourbon Trail.
• 5:11
  Trisha Smith: And we went to Buffalo Trace in October, and they have a haunted tour.
• 5:20
  Leyla Zmeskal: Shut the front door.
• 5:22
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. Like there's a part of their distillery that they consider haunted.
• 5:27
  Leyla Zmeskal: No way,
• 5:28
  Trisha Smith: Let's go. Let's go do it we got to do it.
• 5:30
  Leyla Zmeskal: Let's do it.
• 5:30
  Trisha Smith: This for scientific purposes.
• 5:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: I mean, this is for our podcast,
• 5:33
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 5:34
  Leyla Zmeskal: I mean, anything to make our podcast you know, better.
• 5:36
  Trisha Smith: Just, you know, we just want to make it better for all.
• 5:39
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah exactly.
• 5:39
  Trisha Smith: That involves traveling to Kentucky and sipping some bourbon. You know, I'll sacrifice
• 5:45
  Leyla Zmeskal: We'll take one for the team.
• 5:46
  Trisha Smith: Exactly.
• 5:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: Absolutely. All about that.
• 5:50
  Trisha Smith: That's right. I am in complete agreement.
• 5:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: So is there anything besides drinking some really good bourbon lately? Is there, is there anything that you're reading or watching because, I'll have to tell you, this has have to be on you because I'm not reading anything, right now.
• 6:09
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 6:09
  Leyla Zmeskal: And all the things that I'm watching are of all the things that we've kind of discussed already, so I'm not watching really anything new,
• 6:15
  Trisha Smith: Right. I am not really watching anything new.
• 6:20
  Trisha Smith: I'm always reading something. I did find a book. I'm not reading it yet. I have it downloaded to read but it's just so freakin funny. The the description and everything.
• 6:31
  Leyla Zmeskal: Is it one that I'm going to want to put on my Kindle list?
• 6:34
  Trisha Smith: Absolutely.
• 6:35
  Leyla Zmeskal: Ok, let me have it.
• 6:36
  Trisha Smith: Absolutely. Okay, so this the book I found sound so silly. It's called Moth Busters. And evidently, it's part of a series,
• 6:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: Moth?
• 6:48
  Trisha Smith: Moth.
• 6:49
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay. I wonder where they got that?
• 6:50
  Trisha Smith: Busters.
• 6:52
  Leyla Zmeskal: Name from Moth Busters, okay.
• 6:54
  Trisha Smith: So the author is Margaret Lashley and the series is called, Freaky Florida Mystery Adventures.
• 7:03
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay, okay.
• 7:07
  Trisha Smith: Okay, so here's the description.
• 7:08
  Trisha Smith: It's hilarious.
• 7:08
  Trisha Smith: Okay, the description. Growing
• 7:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm ready.
• 7:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: up in backwoods Florida, Bobby Drex has seen it all. From two headed turtles to two timing boyfriends. Her life of Hard Knocks has left her short on cash, but she's still packing enough snark to give any whack job or run for his money.
• 7:30
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm reaching for my phone and I'm actually starting to like plug it in.
• 7:35
  Trisha Smith: Or so she thinks.
• 7:35
  Trisha Smith: But when a mysterious stranger arrives at her mechanic shop seeking repairs to his rundown RV suddenly it's Bobby who's in for a complete overhaul. Norman Bates in a turban, Gonadal twins, what is that? Gonadal?
• 7:52
  Leyla Zmeskal: Gonadal?
• 7:56
  Trisha Smith: GONADAL. Google, do the Google's.
• 7:58
  Leyla Zmeskal: Hold please.
• 7:58
  Leyla Zmeskal: Well, I do the Google's.
• 8:01
  Trisha Smith: Moth man, pooper scoopers.
• 8:07
  Leyla Zmeskal: What is it?
• 8:08
  Trisha Smith: GONADAL, l hopefully it's not something with Google images or anything like that. That's it.
• 8:14
  Leyla Zmeskal: Gonadal twins.
• 8:15
  Trisha Smith: I don't know what that means. But anyways,
• 8:19
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm not, I don't know what that is.
• 8:22
  Trisha Smith: I might have to to message this Margaret Lashley and say what does this mean? So,
• 8:28
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay, moving on.
• 8:29
  Trisha Smith: Anyways, in an instant the world she knew skitters totally off its southern access.
• 8:35
  Leyla Zmeskal: She said skitters.
• 8:36
  Trisha Smith: Skitters, is the mystery man crazy, or is the only one, is he the only sane one in the bunch. The more Bobby discovers about him, the less certain she becomes about reality itself. Ready for some here escapist fun? Grab a can of mosquito repellent and a lawn chair, then sit back and relax.
• 8:57
  Trisha Smith: Things are about to go sidesplittingly off the rails in the Sunshine State. So yeah, I love the idea of as they put it, The X Files and the unwashed insanity of Florida itself collide to form this deliciously snarky, totally abnormal mystery series.
• 9:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: That sounds hilarious.
• 9:19
  Trisha Smith: I thought so too.
• 9:19
  Trisha Smith: So I downloaded it. I haven't read it yet. But I do have it downloaded so that I can because there's seven books total. So what'd I say the first one was Moth Busters.
• 9:34
  Leyla Zmeskal: Moth Busters.
• 9:35
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, Moth Busters. Okay, so Book Two is, Doctor Prepper.
• 9:40
  Trisha Smith: Cuz there's no preppers in the state of Florida.
• 9:44
  Trisha Smith: Three is, Oral Robbers. Four is, Ape Shift. Five is, Weevil Spirits, six is, Scatman Dues,
• 10:00
  Leyla Zmeskal: Scatman Dues.
• 10:02
  Trisha Smith: Seven is, Smoked Mullet.
• 10:04
  Leyla Zmeskal: Holy biscuits.
• 10:06
  Trisha Smith: And evidently there's an eighth book I thought there was only seven but it the last one is called, Half Crocked.
• 10:13
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh my god.
• 10:14
  Trisha Smith: So they sound,
• 10:16
  Leyla Zmeskal: Clever.
• 10:17
  Trisha Smith: I know, I know.
• 10:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: Such clever names.
• 10:20
  Trisha Smith: I'm excited to,
• 10:22
  Leyla Zmeskal: You know, they sound like they'll be fun, quick, easy reads.
• 10:25
  Trisha Smith: Right. You know, everybody talks about these cozy mysteries and things that, I don't have patience for that. I do not, do not want to read that somebody's solving a mystery over their cup of tea in their cozy cottage. No,
• 10:41
  Leyla Zmeskal: I want to hear some snarky ass bullshit over a cocktail.
• 10:45
  Trisha Smith: In your lawn chair with your mosquito repellent.
• 10:49
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's actually really Florida.
• 10:52
  Trisha Smith: So and a couple of the descriptions like the one I read to you was like Plant City.
• 10:55
  Trisha Smith: I mean, they were like places we recognize.
• 10:59
  Leyla Zmeskal: Plant City is just a hop, skip and a jump away from where we are.
• 11:04
  Trisha Smith: So yeah, it's nice to read something that's local.
• 11:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 11:09
  Trisha Smith: You know.
• 11:09
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 11:09
  Trisha Smith: So speaking of local.
• 11:12
  Leyla Zmeskal: Uh oh,
• 11:14
  Unknown: I know.
• 11:15
  Leyla Zmeskal: Whatcha got for me today.
• 11:16
  Trisha Smith: Okay. So last week, we talked about vampires with Diane, right. So I,
• 11:22
  Leyla Zmeskal: Her favorite.
• 11:23
  Leyla Zmeskal: Roderick Farrell. That was that weird kid from what was it?
• 11:23
  Trisha Smith: Right. And so I had heard about this, and I did a little research on it and so interesting, and I felt like it was something that I had already heard before. And then I realized, yeah, I actually absolutely did hear about it on the news, because it wasn't that long ago. So my discussion today my topic today is Roderic Ferrell and the Kentucky Vampir Clan Gainesville?
• 11:54
  Trisha Smith: Eustis.
• 11:55
  Leyla Zmeskal: Eustis. Okay,
• 11:56
  Trisha Smith: Yeah,
• 11:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay. Yeah. Wow, that's even closer.
• 11:58
  Trisha Smith: Right, and, you know, anytime that I can bring true crime and the supernatural together, I'm like,
• 12:05
  Leyla Zmeskal: Winner. Winner.
• 12:06
  Trisha Smith: Right. And Florida. Hello.
• 12:09
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's a trifecta.
• 12:10
  Trisha Smith: Right. Right. And as with this is. I think I've only done that one other time with,
• 12:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: the Devils Tree.
• 12:19
  Trisha Smith: Devils tree. So yeah, so I'm like,
• 12:21
  Leyla Zmeskal: That was a creepy one.
• 12:23
  Trisha Smith: I know. Well, this one's creepy too, like Diane talked about last week. You know, we've all heard of Dracula. Bats that turn into vampires, movie vampires, like Interview With A Vampire or Twilight.
• 12:36
  Leyla Zmeskal: I never really got that,
• 12:38
  Trisha Smith: You know, I was never a fan of Twilight.
• 12:41
  Leyla Zmeskal: I like, What We Do In The Shadows.
• 12:46
  Leyla Zmeskal: Trisha, you need to watch that you will find it so funny.
• 12:50
  Trisha Smith: I will watch. I'll add that to my list. I'll watch it next. I mean, even the latest American Horror Story was about vampires.
• 13:03
  Leyla Zmeskal: It was.
• 13:04
  Trisha Smith: Current one, the current American Horror Story.
• 13:06
  Trisha Smith: But what you don't hear about very often are rare real life vampires.
• 13:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay,
• 13:12
  Trisha Smith: Or everyday life that there's somebody out there.
• 13:14
  Trisha Smith: I mean, you hear about people who are more like uh.
• 13:16
  Leyla Zmeskal: But do you think those people are more like, freaks and they are going through a stage or is a certain aesthetic that they're trying to, you know, achieve? And
• 13:26
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, but in 1996,
• 13:28
  Leyla Zmeskal: Not that long ago.
• 13:30
  Trisha Smith: Right. That's vampires are what this group of teenagers were aspiring to be.
• 13:33
  Trisha Smith: So I found a great article written by Richard Stockman in 2020. For the website, Bear Grass Thunder, about the Kentucky Vampire Clan. I mean, he just gets right to the point and I really love that.
• 13:52
  Leyla Zmeskal: You gotta appreciate that.
• 13:52
  Trisha Smith: So all right, so the leader of this clan was a 16 year old boy from Murray, Kentucky, named Roderick Ferrell. He was born in March of 1980 to 16 year old Sandra Gibs n, his father joined the milit ry and was never part of his li e. So,
• 14:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay,
• 14:11
  Trisha Smith: He's raised by a young young mother. His maternal grandfather apparently sexually abused him when he was five,
• 14:19
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh,
• 14:20
  Trisha Smith: But was never charged with the crime that's got away with it. So Sandra worked as an exotic dancer and sex worker to make ends meet.
• 14:27
  Trisha Smith: And she was the one who introduced her son to vampires at an early age. Like she was fascinated by it and she's like, you will be too.
• 14:38
  Leyla Zmeskal: Well, it kind of sounds like she did not have a good start.
• 14:41
  Trisha Smith: No, I think she did.
• 14:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: Especially if, her Rodricks grandfather abused him then,
• 14:46
  Trisha Smith: He probably abused her too.
• 14:48
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah. And she she didn't have a good time. So in life and,
• 14:51
  Trisha Smith: Right,
• 14:52
  Leyla Zmeskal: Unfortunately,
• 14:53
  Trisha Smith: She needed to escape.
• 14:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, it passed down.
• 14:56
  Trisha Smith: So she clearly of course had issues with parenting. and had what was considered a questionable relationship with her son, according to Roderick himself, when she was 34, she wrote love letters, if you want to call it that, love letters to her son who was 14 at the time. This is some of what she wrote, I long to be near you, for your embrace. Yes, to become a vampire, a part of the family, a mortal, a mortal and truly yours forever. I only hope that one day you will once again return to Murray, you will then come to me and cross me over and I will be your bride for eternity. And you my Sire.
• 15:48
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, well, now.
• 15:49
  Trisha Smith: I know. And.
• 15:51
  Leyla Zmeskal: Holy, Holy schnikeys. That's a little unstable.
• 15:56
  Trisha Smith: Right? And if she, you know, I mean, clearly shouldn't have a traditional upbringing. So probably in her mind, this is completely normal.
• 16:03
  Trisha Smith: I mean, we just talked about if his grandfather did that to him, he probably did to her and she probably just didn't know where the line was.
• 16:13
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah,
• 16:13
  Trisha Smith: You know. Y
• 16:14
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 16:14
  Leyla Zmeskal: Unfortunately, that, that's plausible.
• 16:16
  Trisha Smith: Right.. So the rest of the vampire clan, these teenagers also came from difficult situations. The main members who followed Rod were Scott Anderson, his supposed right hand man, Charity Keesee, his then girlfriend, as well as Dana Cooper and Heather Wendorf.
• 16:37
  Leyla Zmeskal: I remember all of those names in the news,
• 16:39
  Trisha Smith: Right. They all bonded over being like minded and outsiders and took comfort in being their own group. Their meetup spot was a dilapidated structure in the middle of the woods called the vampire hotel.
• 16:51
  Trisha Smith: They or someone before them actually spray painted this over the doorway. This is where they threw parties, took drugs and performed various types of rituals. Heather told stories about suffering abuse from her father, which struck a chord with Rod, when she had to move away, he became obsessed with her situation and racked up hundreds of dollars in long distance phone chargers for their family. I mean, you gotta remember, this is like the early 90s. You know, we didn't have cell phones.
• 17:25
  Leyla Zmeskal: I mean, long distance was,
• 17:27
  Trisha Smith: Was long disntance,
• 17:27
  Leyla Zmeskal: That was a thing.
• 17:28
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. Yeah. So the final straw for Rod was when Heather's parents stopped letting her use the phone. That was when Rod decided their group needed to rescue her and start their own vampire clan in New Orleans. And you know, you have to keep in mind these are they're like 14, 15, 16 years old.
• 17:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, wow, wow.
• 17:48
  Trisha Smith: You know. So, in November of 1996, Rodrick, Scott, Charity and Dana drove 750 miles from Murray, Kentucky to Eustis, Florida, which is what, maybe 30 minutes outside of Orlando 30 to 45 minutes.
• 18:06
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, from here, I would say maybe about 45 minutes,
• 18:10
  Trisha Smith: Right from my side of town.
• 18:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 18:12
  Trisha Smith: So not far from Orlando, Florida. But they, their plan was to drive down and pick Heather up. That's where her parents were and where she had to go back to. But when their vehicle broke down, Heather made a deal with Rod to use her keys to unlock her parents home. So their car could be stolen, and then they could finish their trip to New Orleans. In exchange, Roderick would finally perform what they called the turning ritual where she would consume his blood and officially be a vampire forever.
• 18:46
  Leyla Zmeskal: So I'm gonna ask like, what makes Rod thinks that he is a vampire?
• 18:52
  Trisha Smith: Well, evidently, I don't know.
• 18:55
  Leyla Zmeskal: Is that later on in the story? And I just,
• 18:57
  Trisha Smith: No, it's, I mean, I didn't, I don't think I wrote it down. But he had met somebody in Kentucky who evidently performed this ceremony on him.
• 19:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, okay.
• 19:09
  Trisha Smith: You know, again, that whole group trying to form bonds with each other, I mean, he had he had tried to find somebody else who, who did this to him. So he was doing it to his friends as well. So so he had a, quote unquote, Sire.
• 19:25
  Leyla Zmeskal: Gotcha.
• 19:26
  Trisha Smith: So after Rod consumed a significant amount of LSD. The ritual took place early that morning in a Eustis Cemetery, where Heather admitted to drinking his blood from a self inflicted razorblade wound.
• 19:38
  Trisha Smith: Afterwards, the group left for Heather's family's house.
• 19:45
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, yeah,
• 19:46
  Trisha Smith: I know right. I just ugh.
• 19:51
  Leyla Zmeskal: Anytime you say razor blade,
• 19:54
  Trisha Smith: Right, so when they arrived, Roderick and Scott entered through the garage, Mr.
• 19:59
  Trisha Smith: Wendorf was resting on the living room couch. Roderick used a crowbar to hit him in the face and head 22 times.
• 20:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh my god,
• 20:12
  Trisha Smith: Right. When Mrs.
• 20:12
  Trisha Smith: Wendorf came in from the kitchen, she tried to stop Rod by throwing scalding hot coffee in his face. He retaliated by hitting her so hard in the face with the crowbar, it severed her brainstem, killing her instantly.
• 20:29
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh my goodness,
• 20:30
  Trisha Smith: Right. So I don't know if it was the drugs or what was going on with him that he just had this,
• 20:37
  Leyla Zmeskal: Moment of snapping,
• 20:38
  Trisha Smith: Right. So in his confession regarding Ruth Wendorf, Roderick said by that time, you know, it was pretty obvious. I had blood on me and a crowbar in my hand. I was fixing to say, Yeah, I want to have coffee with you, son of bitching smarts. I mean, these are his words. But anyway, that's when she lunged at me. I just took the boat bottom of the crowbar and kept stabbing it through her skull. And whenever she fell down, I just continually beat her until I saw her brains falling on the floor. Cuz that pissed me off.
• 21:13
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh my God,
• 21:14
  Trisha Smith: The kid is carzy.
• 21:16
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 21:16
  Trisha Smith: So afterwards, Rod and Scott proceeded to ritualistically burn their victims and dance around their bodies. They stole jewelry and credit cards, and then took off in the family's Ford Explorer.
• 21:28
  Trisha Smith: It was Heather's 17 year old sister Jennifer, who found her parents bodies when she got home from work later that night.
• 21:39
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh,
• 21:40
  Trisha Smith: Can you imagine?
• 21:40
  Trisha Smith: As for Heather, she claims she didn't realize her parents had been killed according to her.
• 21:50
  Leyla Zmeskal: Are you sure? I cry bullshit on that one.
• 21:52
  Trisha Smith: I know. How could you not?
• 21:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: How can you not know?
• 21:54
  Trisha Smith: Did they can you take a shower before they came out? They would have had been covered.
• 22:00
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, I don't believe that.
• 22:01
  Trisha Smith: I mean, even in his confession, he said I had blood on me and a crowbar in my hand.
• 22:06
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, no, I don't believe that. Anything like you say crowbar and he he beat the father 22 times right in the face. And then he hit the mother until her brain fell on the
• 22:16
  Trisha Smith: Right? He would have had to have been covered floor.
• 22:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: Covered.
• 22:19
  Leyla Zmeskal: and,
• 22:20
  Trisha Smith: I mean, and even if he had taken a shower in their house, he would have come out wet. You know, this clothes changed or something. I mean,
• 22:28
  Leyla Zmeskal: There had to have been splatter everywhere,
• 22:31
  Trisha Smith: Everywhere. So warrants for murder were put out on the group of teenagers the next day and after four days they were finally captured when law enforcement tracked a call Charity made to her grandparents asking for money. Scott Anderson received two life sentences. But the amount of his involvement in the murders came into question because he claims he never touched the victims and had attempted and failed to calm a raging Roderick who had gone crazy. His sentence was recently changed in 2018 to 40 years, with a credit of 22 years for time already served. By the time he is released in 2032. He'll be 51 years old.
• 23:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, wow.
• 23:18
  Trisha Smith: Just like that, his life is,
• 23:20
  Leyla Zmeskal: Is gone.
• 23:22
  Trisha Smith: It's gone. Right?
• 23:22
  Trisha Smith: So Charity Kesee and Dana Cooper made plea deals in exchange for reduced sentences. Charity was sentenced to 10 years and was released in 2008. And Dana was sentenced to 17 years and was released in 2015.
• 23:41
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, wow.
• 23:42
  Trisha Smith: Heather Wendorf was acquitted by two grand juries,
• 23:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: What?
• 23:48
  Trisha Smith: And still remains free. Even though her fellow cult members and classmates at Eustis High School claimed she talked about wanting her parents dead. I don't understand how she didn't, she wasn't charged in any way, when her amount, you know of involvement was the same as Charity and Dana's.
• 24:07
  Leyla Zmeskal: Absolutely.
• 24:08
  Trisha Smith: I mean, if she was in the car with them,
• 24:10
  Leyla Zmeskal: If she, she was going to leave the key,
• 24:13
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 24:13
  Leyla Zmeskal: For them to steal the car.
• 24:14
  Trisha Smith: Her actually, her involvement was more than
• 24:15
  Leyla Zmeskal: Right.
• 24:15
  Trisha Smith: The fact that she gave the key to them. I mean, her involvement should be more, theirs, if they all three girls waited in the car,
• 24:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah.
• 24:17
  Trisha Smith: Then the other two, but the other two got sentences and she didn't.
• 24:33
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's to me is just.
• 24:34
  Trisha Smith: Two separate trials.
• 24:36
  Leyla Zmeskal: A bit of bullshit.
• 24:37
  Trisha Smith: Right. And the second trial, I mean, and that's why I recognized it, because I think the second trial was like in 2006.
• 24:44
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay,
• 24:45
  Trisha Smith: I mean, she had like one and then I mean, this was. a 96. So over the course of 10 years, she was tried twice, and they both times they found not guilty.
• 24:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: I don't know, if you think about that. Why would she be acquitted?
• 24:58
  Trisha Smith: I don't understand at all.
• 24:59
  Leyla Zmeskal: We're her lawyers different than other lawyers. I mean,
• 25:04
  Trisha Smith: I mean, I guess I should probably look into that a little more. I mean, the,
• 25:07
  Leyla Zmeskal: There has to be some reason why that she,
• 25:10
  Trisha Smith: Got away with it, but the other two girls had to serve 10 and 17 years,
• 25:16
  Leyla Zmeskal: Right.
• 25:16
  Trisha Smith: For the same amount of involvement.
• 25:18
  Leyla Zmeskal: Exactly.
• 25:19
  Trisha Smith: So unless they admitted to some kind of knowledge that they were going to go in and kill,
• 25:29
  Leyla Zmeskal: Unless knew ahead of time they were going to kill them. But,
• 25:33
  Trisha Smith: But then why would, how would she not know?
• 25:36
  Trisha Smith: Because that's,
• 25:37
  Leyla Zmeskal: Exactly.
• 25:38
  Trisha Smith: The plan. Like they didn't even have a plan till she offered up the keys. I just don't understand that. So at first, Roderick Farrell completely denied the accusations claiming he is being framed by a rival vampire gang.
• 25:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: Are there like rival vampire gangs in Eustis?
• 25:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: Like I didn't know.
• 25:59
  Leyla Zmeskal: Just think, what pops into my head right is the movie with Ron Burgundy, where the two rival news gangs, like,
• 26:08
  Trisha Smith: Anchorman,
• 26:09
  Leyla Zmeskal: Anchorman, were they face off? Like are there two rival vampire gang facing off in a cemetery?
• 26:18
  Trisha Smith: Maybe there are? I don't know. I didn't even know there was this gang. So anyways, but with all the evidence, he eventually pled guilty and was sentenced to death.
• 26:33
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah think?
• 26:34
  Trisha Smith: With all the evidence, you're like, Ah, you got me. I plead guilty now. I mean,
• 26:41
  Leyla Zmeskal: Okay. I'm caught red handed, ba-da-dum. Thank ya folks, I'll be here all week?
• 26:53
  Trisha Smith: I mean, I just I, there's no way I could work in any way shape or form with the law because I'd be like, are you fucking kidding me, right now?
• 27:00
  Trisha Smith: I have no Poker Face whatsoever.
• 27:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: No, you don't.
• 27:08
  Leyla Zmeskal: You have less poker face? Well, you have more poker face than I do.
• 27:13
  Trisha Smith: You at least, I don't mean this in any bad way at all.
• 27:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: I never tell I'm never gonna take it as a bad way.
• 27:20
  Trisha Smith: You have perfected, resting bitchface.
• 27:23
  Trisha Smith: Like, people don't even question it. They don't even be like, they're not even like, hey, Leyla. What's wrong? They're like, that's just Leyla's normal look.
• 27:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's just her face.
• 27:33
  Trisha Smith: Whereas if I'm not smiling constantly, people are like, what's a matter, are you okay? Is everything okay? You know, and it's like,
• 27:40
  Leyla Zmeskal: What's wrong?
• 27:41
  Trisha Smith: And then I have to do this. And they're like,
• 27:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, there's Trisha.
• 27:45
  Trisha Smith: Now she's smiling again. So can you imagine if I had to listen to this day in a day, I'd be like,
• 27:50
  Leyla Zmeskal: Your eyes would have like a permanent twitch.
• 27:52
  Trisha Smith: I know. I'd be like,
• 27:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: Trisha, what's wrong with you? Nothing. I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping well at night.
• 27:59
  Trisha Smith: Like The Stepford Wives when they get a glitch.
• 28:02
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm a lucky girl.
• 28:02
  Leyla Zmeskal: I'm a lucky girl.
• 28:07
  Trisha Smith: So yeah, it's like, dude, really, you decided it'd be a good idea? Ah. So by pleading guilty, this made him the youngest American to ever be on death row.
• 28:21
  Leyla Zmeskal: Holy schnikeys.
• 28:22
  Trisha Smith: Right. So he would have been what 17, 16, 16, at the time of the crime. But in 2000, his death sentence was changed to life in prison after the Florida Supreme Court ruled defendants must be 17 and older at the time charges are filed in order to be able to be executed.
• 28:41
  Trisha Smith: So he still remains at the Tomoka Correctional Institution to this day.
• 28:50
  Leyla Zmeskal: I don't know. I think that I think that sentence should been upheld.
• 28:54
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. Yeah.
• 28:55
  Leyla Zmeskal: Me personally.
• 28:56
  Trisha Smith: I know, but you know, they still like,
• 28:59
  Leyla Zmeskal: Vampires code. I mean, that's I just totally made that up. It could not be a vampire's code, just saying.
• 29:07
  Leyla Zmeskal: Sorry, all you vampires out there, if that's the code,
• 29:10
  Trisha Smith: Or not.
• 29:11
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yay me.
• 29:11
  Trisha Smith: Yeah.
• 29:12
  Leyla Zmeskal: But if it's not, I apologize.
• 29:15
  Trisha Smith: Well, I mean, there's that,
• 29:16
  Leyla Zmeskal: It should be, by the way, if it's not.
• 29:17
  Trisha Smith: It should be. I mean, there's the whole stink about, you know, if there are certain age, like if there are minor. I mean, thank God,
• 29:26
  Leyla Zmeskal: I get the minor thing, I really do.
• 29:28
  Trisha Smith: They didn't say Oh, well, you only have stay in jail to your 18 because clearly,
• 29:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: I don't know. I think there's a level of And then your record, your record is asponged.
• 29:32
  Trisha Smith: Free to go. Yeah, no, I think at least they didn't do that. But you know, brutality that's involved. I should classify you as an adult.
• 29:47
  Trisha Smith: If there's planning, if there's a certain level of brutality, Right
• 29:51
  Leyla Zmeskal: Violence, if there's a certain level of violence,
• 29:54
  Trisha Smith: I mean,
• 29:55
  Leyla Zmeskal: Some people are just fucking evil,
• 29:57
  Trisha Smith: Right. And clearly, there was no like, I don't know if he had like any pre planning involved in this.
• 30:05
  Trisha Smith: And so they didn't really decide to do all this till they got down there. And the girl gave them the keys to go in. But he already had issues with her family and because of her cries of being abused, and there were there was nothing documented.
• 30:22
  Trisha Smith: Like there was never anybody that said that she was abused at home. Like her sister. She's estranged from her family, they're like, fuck you. We don't want anything to do with you.
• 30:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: Well, Inwould imagine,
• 30:33
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 30:34
  Leyla Zmeskal: I would absolutely imagine.
• 30:36
  Trisha Smith: And then, of course, to get away with it, like there, how can even just reading the general article. I don't know how anybody could be like, Oh, yeah.
• 30:44
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, yeah. She was innocent.
• 30:45
  Trisha Smith: Your, you didn't have any involvement at all.
• 30:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: She was the MENA.
• 30:47
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, I don't believe it. I don't believe it.
• 30:52
  Trisha Smith: No, I don't either.
• 30:53
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's creepy,
• 30:55
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 30:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: I mean, it's creepy in the fact that one, it's a sad situation that he grew up that way,
• 31:01
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 31:01
  Leyla Zmeskal: However, I'm gonna get on my little mini soapbox, it does not matter how you grew up, you can't use that as a crutch. Everybody has got shitty parts of their, of their childhood, some more than others. But you can't use that as a damn crutch for your shitty actions. You know, you just can't,
• 31:22
  Trisha Smith: You know, and if you're going to blame it on them, and you're going to still commit a crime, you're still going to have the same consequences.
• 31:29
  Leyla Zmeskal: Exactly,
• 31:30
  Trisha Smith: You know, so just,
• 31:31
  Leyla Zmeskal: He should have been charged as an adult in the sentence should have been upheld, because for the simple fact, he was a ringleader.
• 31:38
  Trisha Smith: Right.
• 31:39
  Leyla Zmeskal: You know, it's not like he was doing this on his own. He recruited other members to follow him. That for me, it's like a certain level of like cunning,
• 31:53
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. And you know, the one kid he was 18, or whatever, when he followed him into what he was doing. He went in there with him. And he says, you know, he tried to stop or calm him down. He didn't try to stop him. But you know, what, if you've just watched somebody get smashed in the face 22 times with a crowbar? I don't know if I'd be so quick to try to stop him either.
• 32:17
  Leyla Zmeskal: I would try to calm it down as much as I could.
• 32:20
  Leyla Zmeskal: And I would try, I mean calming down is
• 32:21
  Trisha Smith: Which is what he said he did.
• 32:22
  Leyla Zmeskal: Is also trying to stop it, I would say, but.
• 32:25
  Trisha Smith: But, he also stayed behind to put the bodies on fire and dance around them.
• 32:28
  Trisha Smith: So that yeah, it's just it's
• 32:30
  Leyla Zmeskal: Oh, yeah.
• 32:32
  Leyla Zmeskal: insane. That you know, some of them are punished more severely severely than others. Now, do I think he deserved his 40 year sentence? Absolutely.
• 32:44
  Trisha Smith: But, but I don't understand why the girls, why the three white girls got all different, one got 10 years, one got 17 years, and one to get charged.
• 32:54
  Leyla Zmeskal: So what information is not being said, but my that's my thing. So what information is really not being said that justified their sentence?
• 33:02
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. Yeah. So anyhow, that is the crazy, but true story of vampires in Florida.
• 33:13
  Leyla Zmeskal: Wow. I think I do remember that time when it being on the news, I really do.
• 33:17
  Trisha Smith: And the girl like trying to be all ,I can remember the news stories with her trying to be all remorseful, looking, going into court, you know, in the early, early 2000s. And it's like,
• 33:30
  Leyla Zmeskal: Well, we all know that whole remorseful look of Florida. Yeah, you're giving me the look. You know what I'm poking at?
• 33:39
  Trisha Smith: Yeah, that's exactly how she looked.
• 33:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: Yeah, exactly.
• 33:42
  Leyla Zmeskal: Like the other one. Big famous case in Florida.
• 33:46
  Trisha Smith: Yeah. I, didn't kill my baby.
• 33:48
  Leyla Zmeskal: I don't know where she went. I left her with Zanny the nanny.
• 33:52
  Trisha Smith: Yeah.
• 33:53
  Leyla Zmeskal: Bullshit.
• 33:54
  Trisha Smith: I know. Why do we have so many crazies down here?
• 33:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: I don't know, they give Florida fucking a bad name. I mean, we're really not a terrible state. I mean, there's, we do what we want. And I don't think necessarily think that's a bad thing. But I think there's too many fucktards down here that give it a bad name,
• 34:20
  Trisha Smith: That is very true, so.
• 34:23
  Leyla Zmeskal: Anyway,
• 34:24
  Trisha Smith: Speaking of we do what we want,
• 34:26
  Leyla Zmeskal: And fucktards. I mean, no.
• 34:28
  Trisha Smith: No, we want we want.
• 34:31
  Leyla Zmeskal: We do what we want,
• 34:32
  Trisha Smith: I need a refill.
• 34:33
  Leyla Zmeskal: That's what I want. Let's go have that Bourbon Apple,
• 34:41
  Trisha Smith: Fizzy,
• 34:41
  Leyla Zmeskal: Cider fizz.
• 34:42
  Trisha Smith: There you go, I'll take your word for it.
• 34:45
  Leyla Zmeskal: Until next time,
• 34:47
  Trisha Smith: Cheers.
• 34:48
  Leyla Zmeskal: Cheers.
• 34:50
  Leyla Zmeskal: Like what you hear, Check us out on Instagram.
• 34:52
  Trisha Smith: Or send us a message at Boozy Banter with friends.com
• 34:56
  Leyla Zmeskal: Thanks for listening.
• 34:57
  Trisha Smith: Until next time,
• 34:58
  Diane Black: Late-a.