Bat bi hiru lau Watch your back, watch your back Ertzaintza's gonna get you Watch your back, watch your back Ertzaintza's gonna get you Watch your back, watch your back Oh, there's a crime here It's a coming from the Euskal hernia Gotta wash those red hands It's the crimes of the basquelands It's the crimes of the basquelands It was probably raining a lot here I think so And then went into France Pays Basque of France The northern Basque Country How cute Were they northern?
We went to Saint-Juan-de-Luz Cute, what a cute little town I mean I've been there but it was a long time ago Probably 20 years ago I know, right?
It was a long time ago, almost 20 years ago That I was there Anyway, this is the crimes of the Basque lands Welcome everybody You guys know this is the True Crime Podcast We expect this podcast to be hashtag Mom Safe Oh yes, yes So not too many gory details for everybody listening There's a little gore But yeah, it's Mom Safe for sure It's pretty Mom Safe We'll go cover your ears, moms No, no, not this one Sounds cool But anyway, it's crimes of the Basque lands and it's a True Crime Podcast
Be prepared for crimes And it's covering crimes that are in the Basque Country Or around the world Connected to the Basque Country somehow Any tenuous link That's right This week we're drinking We talked about our drinks as Oh, I'm having a wine that I'm trying for the first time It's, let me see Bine Basque is the name Oh yes And the grape was What was it called?
Oh, it's very cute Ondarribi Suri Ondarribi Suri So Ondarribia is a town on the coast And Suri means white So the white Ondarribi grape is what it's made of And the wine comes from the city of Sarauts That's Gipusco, right? And we were saying it's pretty acidic, right?
Yeah, I mean it reminded me a lot of Cidre Cider, yeah, the local cider Yeah It's quite fruity, yeah, it tastes like apple to me I think right now it's gained a lot from when we poured it immediately Because it was a bit colder Maybe it had to breathe I'm liking it more But again, very acidic, very Like fresh A summer wine I would say Yeah Alright, so like as Douglas was saying This week we have a mom safe episode, okay?
Mm-hmm You know, there's no murder Oh, right But it does have a bit of gore But it's definitely mom safe And in fact, I bet my mom remembers this story Oh yeah So it's something that was in the news Oh right I was already living here when this happened And I just moved here So I didn't get all the news bombardment I didn't hear about it, really I didn't hear a lot about it I think I'd heard of it in passing But I hadn't like Because I guess in the States
Because this is from the States, another story from the States But Yeah, I was here so I wasn't very Intuned to what was happening in the States I was starting out over here And it happens And it was kind of It was still those last few years When it wasn't You know You didn't have, there was no smartphones yet
Right? So you weren't like always Inundated with things that were happening In the US Everywhere So unless you really Seeked it out, went on to a computer I didn't even have a computer When I moved here, I didn't have a laptop or anything So That tells you how old I am But, whatever Tell me about it Well, time goes by It does, it doesn't stop This is the changes, so that's kind of funny, I was thinking about that Like, oh yeah, I didn't really even have like a
I had one of those really Nokia phones It was I didn't even have a laptop at the time That isn't crazy I wasn't even using a computer very often Did you call up your family?
I call my family on the phone You used one of these cards I used to use a phone, a calling card, yeah And I go to a pay phone I'd have to leave my flat to go To public phone To make a phone call to my mom I mean, my ones, by that By the time I came to live here, I had been using a little card That you'd buy And I would just call an 0800 number And that would be free And then from inside the 0800 number I'd call my mom Exactly, you'd call the 0800 number But if it was a landline, I could
Do it from home I didn't have a landline I was living in a shitty Apartment That didn't have anything It was fucking cheap I live with my bar friend already Because we already I moved here, my bar friend was already here So, you know He had a landline Isn't that nice?
The advantages Boyfriend The sources for this story There was a few I can't mention all of them But the main ones were like The SFGate Which is San Francisco SFGate, New York Times NBC News, CBS News Time Magazine And of course Wikipedia Trustee Wikipedia And a podcast That I listen to a lot It inspired me Give them a shout out So it's Once Upon a Crime The host is Esther Ludlow Sanchez And she does a really good job And she's also very Generous about giving other podcasts That's nice
You know, like A platform To promote their other Podcasts and stuff So she's really cool So she inspired me For this story I was like, oh I could tell that story So our bass connection What's our bass connection? What do you think it might be?
I'm gonna guess it's a surname You're right It's Ayala Ayala is the surname And it's spelled A-Y-A-L-A Which is the old Spanish way of doing it Right, it's Deriving from the town Of Ayala which is Ayara In Basque, Ayala is the Castellano Version And Ayara is the name Of the town It's A-I-A-R-A Okay, 1R And it's in Alaba So, there you go So, and then Ayala Here is a pretty popular Girl's name In fact we have Friends, students Lots of people I know named Ayala And that's spelled A-I-A-L-A Right?
Yep, you got it That's the first name So yeah, there we go So yeah, there we go So, place name Place name, connection Want to hear my one sentence Synopsis?
Go for it babe Although chili Isn't considered a finger food One woman found Just the opposite To be true Oh my gosh, this is too many layers to be Very interesting I'm more scared now Let's go for it So our story takes place in San Jose, California This is a city That's like across the bay from San Francisco, so it's considered the Bay area, just south of it, isn't it?
I have no idea if it's north or south I think it is So, on March 22nd, 2005 39 year old Anna Ayala Entered the Wendy's Restaurant on Monterey Road along With her husband, Jamie Placencia Now, his name is spelled G-A-M-I-E But perhaps if they were Latinx or Mexican American or whatever Maybe he went by Jaime, so I'm not really sure If it's Jaime or Jamie Sure So, the couple Lived in Las Vegas But they were visiting the area to see his family So they were from there, but they had moved
To Vegas and they were back For a visit, to visit his family Nice So, their jaunt to the restaurant included his parents And his two brothers The group sat down to eat at Two separate tables Have you ever been to Wendy's? Do you know the franchise? The chain? It's a basketball chain I have heard about it, but I have never been It's like the mascot? What do you call the Ronald McDonald is the clown
The symbol of them? I don't know if it's a mascot, but sure Wendy's is the girl That's the redhead With the little braids That kind of go up in a flick Oh yes, I have seen that So that's Wendy's So, Anna sat With her mother-in-law and One of her brother-in-laws And her husband sat at another table with his dad And his other brother Anna ordered a chili For herself And chili, should I explain what chili is? I'm supposing a chili con carne Chili con carne?
Yeah, a lot of it is chili con carne, but I usually make vegetarian With beans Only Love chili, love it It's basically like a bean stew And you can add meat, any kind of meat Essentially It's kind of spicy, there's different levels Of spicy Alright, so Anna had ordered A chili for herself, okay?
And after a few bites She bit into something she would later describe As crunchy, and spat it out Oh my gosh, no, no, no Okay, okay She and her table companions Began to examine the strange object In her food, and noticed a human Fingernail attached to it Oh my gosh After vomiting She stood and walked Around the dining area With the item on a napkin Telling people, quote Don't eat the chili, look what I found in mine Oh my gosh Yeah The manager came over To see what the commotion was
And examine the strange meat, quote unquote Like, I'm saying meat, air quotes And confirmed that it did Have a fingernail attached to it Oh Anna called the police, who then Sat about interviewing Anna and her Family, and the staff at the restaurant The police took the Strange meat and sent it over to Be inspected by the medical examiner Okay It was determined to be part of a human Finger, four centimeters Or one and a half inches That's pretty big Oh man, it's like an inch you said
Yeah, it's a pretty An inch and a half So that's like the end of your From your knuckle on, I guess Pretty much the two last little knuckle Bits On Let's take a break Before we get into the rest of it We're back So, I'm gonna like go between Calling her Ayala And Anna Through this story, okay Well, she's a missus isn't she, she's married Yeah, she's married at this point, yeah So Ayala and her husband Anna and her husband Jamie Or Jaime, they returned to Their home in Las Vegas and promptly
Hired an attorney, as you would I mean, this is America after all That's right, it's a very religious country Famously Wendy's Corporation were coming for you I know right, yeah well, I mean Clearly a get in the way with you So, they hired the attorney And Wendy's was then informed by Her lawyer, obviously, that Anna Intended to sue them That's just shit, come on Okay, so when News broke about this disgusting Discovery, Anna Granted interviews to anyone and Everyone who asked
And basically wouldn't shut up About her terrible experience I mean, I would too She described the episode as, quote, sick And disgusting And claimed to be suffering from a lack of sleep And appetite and emotional distress I mean, I would I think I could ever eat a chili again Right? Right, that would fit me up And I love chili, I make chili at least Once a year in the winter With cornbread, you have to have chili with Cornbread, that's the accompaniment
What? Interesting Alright, I'm going to make some this winter And I'm going to invite you over for some chili and cornbread Because it's the bomb So, she made An appearance on a morning talk show These are, you know, these morning talk shows Where they are on for like hours at a time In the morning, so there's like The Today Show and the Good Morning America and America Blah, blah, blah, I don't know, I can't remember all the names of them But she went on Good Morning America And she went to
Talk about her lawsuit against Wendy's When she was asked What happened, she said, quote Well, while I Was eating my chili and I usually crack all my Crackers and just put Put them in there Mix it all around And started eating, eating And eating, the way people Usually eat And suddenly I chew something that's kind of Hard, crunchy, spit it out At first I wasn't Sure what it was, and as we started Investigating, poking it Other people too That's when we find that
There's something that looks like a nail End quote Oh my gosh, yeah, pretty horrible I don't know if this is very Mom safe, it depends what kind of moms we have It's mom safe, for sure And my mom for sure I think remembers this story I'll have to ask her next time I talk to her Okay, so obviously The public was horrified By the story and it was all over the news Right? Because I mean, this is a great story Right? For the news cycle It's a classic, yeah What? A finger in chili?
Bash and Carp America Yeah So, you know, also it brought back memories To everybody of the Ecolibrary Outbreak in 1992 In when, is what you mean? At Jack in the Box Have you heard of Jack in the Box?
I have heard about it So yeah, at Jack in the Box restaurants In 1992 there was an Ecolibrary Outbreak And this sickened many people And it even caused some deaths So over 700 people were affected by this And then So 700 people were affected by it Before they discovered that the source Came from the hamburger patties That were purchased By the restaurant In California and the Pacific Northwest So specifically that area Your hot and ground In my neck of the woods, yeah So I remember this story
When this happened, yeah Because I was in high school at the time When this happened So Jack in the Box as a result Suffered huge revenue losses And this time around it wouldn't be any different For Wendy's So people in general stopped eating out And Wendy's restaurant In particular saw so much of their business Plummeting that across the country Their staff lost hours You know, work hours And then their jobs Eventually So this potentially Multi-million dollar lawsuit On their hands
Wendy's Corporation began an investigation Of their own Oh, man So the police obviously Were interested in finding out where this finger Had come from Sure, there is DNA, well it is 1992 Oh, no, what was it? 2005 you said it was?
2005, yeah So DNA should be around 92 was the equal I think Yeah, this is 2005 So what began Is like a public health investigation It later turned into like A criminal forensic Investigation For their part Wendy's had hired their own team of private Investigators and forensic Experts to test and verify the integrity Of their food supply and processing To counter Ayaala's claim Sounds great So both investigations Determined that the finger didn't belong to any Of the employees at the restaurant
It also didn't belong to anyone tasked With the packaging or processing of the Ingredients that went into the making Of Wendy's chili All across their food supply chain Right And the finger, although it was found To be cooked Determined to have not been cooked in any Chili at any Wendy's restaurant
Why? Because They had a very specific method for Perfecting their recipe Their chili was always cooked at 170 Degrees for 3 hours Always So really well cooked Well and I studied this when I was studying Communication in university And it's called like the McDonaldization of things So where you The processes of doing things Are so precise and standard That the result is going to be Exactly the same every time For you to recognize that taste You eat a hamburger at McDonald's in
Taiwan, it's going to taste exactly the same As the hamburger you eat in California Pretty much They might have different things on the menu To suit the local Like I remember in Turkey When we were in Turkey they had Kebabs on the menu We didn't go to McDonald's but we just saw They had kebabs That's cute, well resisted Well resisted I actually haven't eaten at McDonald's in like Over 30 years probably Oh I've eaten at McDonald's I mean you know like the last time
I guess, I don't know if it was the last time But in Taiwan It was so hot and humid We'd go in to just sit there for like An hour and have an ice cream when they are con In a nice bathroom In the middle of downtown We did that too when we were in Mexico That's right, when we were in Mexico and Guatemala Traveling around, we went to McDonald's To have a McFlurry which is the Milkshake thing Because we were like oh my god a milkshake Because you know they don't Sit in the cold air con
An ice cream dessert And they generally Have reasonable bathrooms It's a public service They do serve a purpose The trip, I was 1998 was The time I most stayed at McDonald's Me and my dad went to Russia And it was 1998 So not very long after You know the end of communism It was like about 10 years later I heard a story about Russia introducing When McDonald's went in to Russia For many years it was the Most selling McDonald's for like a decade or more Maybe two decades It was like the most
Customers served The biggest number of burgers All those things, they had their record in Moscow But because of that, like not because of that I don't know, like you know it's a crazy market Russia, but there were almost no Restaurants in the whole of the capital City of Moscow So we had to keep going to McDonald's Because it's like the only thing that we saw There was somewhere to eat, yeah Out of the house, yeah So we went to McDonald's a lot that time So Back to the matter at hand
Back to the story No pun intended So anyway It was determined that this finger Had not been cooked at this temperature For this period of time So that's what they could determine It's easy to do Police interviews revealed that two of the three relatives Who were with her on that day claimed she had vomited After the discovery of the finger Two out of three, okay But then when they went back and re-interviewed Her mother-in-law and father-in-law They both admitted that they hadn't actually
Witnessed her vomit And then in One source I read that her father-in-law Vomited After the discovery I mean I would have probably And then investigators could Find no signs that anyone had Vomited at the restaurant on that day And that employees assured them that they Hadn't cleaned up anything They'd never cleaned up any vomit And none of the family members that Accompanied her saw her with the finger In her mouth and had only noticed It when she pointed it out at the bottom of her
Chili bowl saying that she'd just spit It out. So police start to look more Closely at the woman at the center Of this event They began to suspect that Anna Ayala Was attempting to pull off a rather Macabre case of insurance fraud Oh man Wow. So in an effort to Find the owner of the finger, police were said To have heard rumors about a recent Passing of one of Ayala's aunts Oh. But Anna denied That any, she had any Like recently deceased relatives It's a hard thing to deny
Right. Something you could prove Yes or no? This happened or not? I've done my family tree I have relatives dying every week I've got hundreds of Cousins everywhere. Sorry, I can do Lipses. Thank you for this And being born, I mean I'm getting Married. It's just big families That's what happens. That's what happens. People die So what police did discover Is that she had A penchant for filing lawsuits Against establishments Big corporate, yeah. That's another easy one to check
Oh man. And they would soon Find out that she was someone whose word Could not be trusted Bum bum bum Should we take a break before we continue? I want to be slightly Culturalist and say she don't Sound too Basque Because the Basques Are very proud of their word You know that, don't you? Well, I think there's a lot of cultures That would say that. I agree But it is still a fact Don't the Italian Mafiosos say the same thing?
Totally. I mean I believe The word of an Italian mafioso I don't know about you I think I dig in for their word I will kill you and your family I mean even I will protect you or your family You know, nice ones as well That's what came to mind We're having a break in any case Yeah, let's take a break We're back Okay so A look into her past revealed that several civil claims involving both herself or her children, 13 in total, had occurred in both California and Nevada. So here's her history.
A little bit of it. It's not all of it. I'm not going to name 13. So in 1998, she filed a sexual harassment suit against her employer, La Oferta, and review a newspaper. And it was later dropped. In 2004, she claimed that the restaurant El Pollo Loco had settled with her for $30,000 after her daughter picked up a nasty case of salmonella after eating there. $30,000 is a nice one.
But when police spoke with the chain, they acknowledged the lawsuit had happened, but they hadn't paid her a dime as the claim couldn't be substantiated. She was telling people that she'd won $30,000 or she had won this in the lawsuit. It's a weird one. Yeah. Also in 2004, Ayala filed a suit against the Goodyear Tire Corporation and General Motors Corporation. She's going for them all. Going for them. I like her. Somewhat. Gumsher. At least she's going for like big corporate.
Okay, so anyway, she had a suit against Goodyear Tire Corporation and General Motors, claiming that a tire had come off her car while driving. And that lawsuit was dismissed because she fired her attorney. Then she didn't show up for her court dates or file the proper paperwork. So the lesson there is don't fire your attorney because they're the ones that take care of all that shit for you. I'm hoping they do. Some doubts.
Yeah. San Jose police soon discovered a more despicable act of fraud and theft in Anna's past when they uncovered a police report that was filed in 2003 in San Jose. So this report was from a woman by the name of Bertha Davila. Davila. Davila? Davila. I don't know where the accent would be. It didn't have an accent on her name, so I don't know where the accent would be. So in September of 2002, Bertha, Bertha Davila, she agreed to purchase a mobile home in San Jose from Anna Ayala for $52,000.
So Bertha's first language is Spanish. And so to complete the transaction, Anna accompanied Bertha to the real estate office to file the paperwork that was necessary for the sale and then was going to stand in as her translator. Right? So in addition, Davila had no credit history or social security number, which would turn out to complicate the matter.
So the real estate agent informed Ayala that Davila didn't qualify for the purchase because of her lack of credit history and social security number and therefore couldn't buy the mobile home. Something that Ayala conveniently left out in her translation to Bertha. Oh, man. So the agent gave the pair some paperwork for a sale by owner transaction. Okay?
Davila filled out the paperwork and then returned it to Anna, who agreed to bring it back to the real estate agent and, you know, to continue the transaction. Right? And she gave her $11,000 as a down payment. So this was, you know, all her savings, basically all the money she had in the world. So believing that everything had been done to complete the transaction of the sale and the purchase of the home, Bertha moved into the home with her family in October of 2002.
Three weeks later, she received an eviction notice from the bank, giving her three days to vacate. The owner of the home had defaulted on their loan and the owner wasn't Anna Ayala. Oh, she was pretending it was her. Oh, man. It was her now husband, but then boyfriend's property. Oh my gosh. Yeah, the plot thickens again. Jamie. Jaime. Oh, it was Jaime. So Bertha had no choice but to leave the house and was now broke, like having given Anna everything she had in the world. Right? Fucking hell.
So Bertha could not contact Ayala as Ayala had left with her husband and moved to Las Vegas at this point. Yeah. Okay. So but Bertha didn't give up and she found out a year later where she lived and went to confront Anna about the money. Right? Where's my $11,000? And Anna acted like she had no idea what she was talking about. And of course, she never returned any of her money.
And so poor Bertha, you know, her only recourse was to go file a police report with the San Jose police for grand theft. So grand theft, I looked up, I was trying to figure out the differences between these crimes. Grand theft is a specific intent crime, meaning that the person taking the property must have had the exact intent of depriving the victim of property or stealing. So meaning she meant to steal money from her. Intentional theft, let's call it.
So when San Jose police showed up at Anna Ayala's house in Vegas on April 14th to interview her about this whole Wendy's thing, she refused to cooperate with them. She would complain to the media and anyone else who would listen, because she really liked the media, that they were harassing her family and treating them like quote terrorists. Oh yeah, it was post 9-11, so now we can say we're terrorists. Sorry. Oh my goggles. So a search warrant was issued, but I couldn't find what they found.
That never was reported, I guess, what they found or if they found anything. Meanwhile, post finger incident, Wendy's was struggling with damage control, right? At the time, they were the US's third largest fast food chain. They claimed that sales were down by a million dollars a day since the story broke. They gave a press conference in April and implemented a PR campaign offering a free frosty to anyone in the Bay Area, which they later expanded to the nation.
So frosty is like a chocolate shake thing. It's like their little specialty. It's like a very particular flavor. It's a chocolate shake basically. Nice, sounds fun. It is good. They're good. I like a frosty.
So on April 21st, Las Vegas police, because they were involved because she lived there, they arrested her for the San Jose police and they charged Ana Ayala with a felony attempted grand larceny for the fraudulent claim against Wendy's and grand theft for the scam that she committed against Davila. Oh good. So she got arrested for both things. Nice. I'm happy Davila is getting something.
Grand larceny, which is what they charged her for the Wendy's thing, is a crime defined as larceny of property worth more than the given state's statutory requirement. Wow. What does that mean? Okay. So the minimum property value for grand larceny often ranges between a hundred and a thousand dollars. For example, in New York, a person is guilty of grand larceny when they steal property at a value greater than $1,000.
So because she was trying to steal money from Wendy's in a larger sum, like suing for whatever amount she decided, X amount, it was grand larceny. The $11,000 sounds like also over that amount. True. Yeah. But she was charged with grand theft for that one, meaning that she intended to steal the money. Let's say she, oh, okay. So the one is she intended. And then grand larceny is more like the amount, the money amount. It has more to do with like the value of what was stolen.
So grand larceny was more about the value that was stolen, whereas grand theft is like, did they intend to steal this property or whatever? Okay. Okay. So at the time, her son, whose name is Guadalupe. Wow. I like his. Guadalupe Reyes Jr. He denied the charges and told reporters at the scene. Because of course, it was a big story. There were reporters on the scene when she was arrested in Las Vegas that she didn't, quote, she didn't steal any money in connection with the trailer.
That was his quote to reporters. So she was being held in, I think she was extradited at this point back to California, because that's where her trial and everything took place. Because it was all took place in California. So they took her from Vegas to California. Interesting. So while in jail, she was held on a $500,000 bail, which is half a mil. Good chunk. Her husband, Placencia or Jaime or Jamie, he was also charged.
But according to one source, okay, so according to one source, this is something I found, but I can't, I couldn't substantiate it, but it was from the New York Times. Right. Well, yeah, I mean. You'd think they'd have grid fact checkers. But this is weird because this is why I'm doubting this report claim is that he was already in custody for being in arrears for child support. Right. Right. He could have had another kid with somebody else. Right. But to, to $400,000, like.
That's a lot of money. That is a lot of money. Could be like five kids though. I guess. For like 10 years. Could be. That's true. I mean. I mean, they have children all over the place. Tons of children. That's true. Anyway, so that's. Jamie, Jamie. Oh, Jamie. So, so they get arrested. They are like, no, this is not cool. They found that the finger didn't, never came from Wendy's, never came from any processing plant. So they're suspect. They think she's just trying to rip off the company. Right.
Sounds like it. But. But. They arrested her in April. Right. But they still don't know where the finger came from, which brings me to the next part of the story. So in early May, 2005, so she's already been arrested. She's in jail. The police announced that they had found the person to whom the finger had once been attached. Okay. Police followed up an anonymous tip received on the hotline that was set up by Wendy's. Oh man, this is interesting. Life is more random. I know, right?
Stranger than fiction, right? That's the word. So the restaurant chain was offering up to a hundred thousand dollars for information leading to the origin of the finger. That's a juicy amount of money. Yeah. So they got this tip. So the tip led police to a, to Brian Paul Rossiter. It turns out that Mr. Rossiter had lost a finger in an industrial accident at an asphalt company in December of 2004.
Okay. So he has, he's only been identified like in all the reports that I read as an associate of Jamie placencia. Yeah. Okay. Yep. So it's your friend of the husband. That's her husband. Yeah. So he, Oh look, I got a little pity finger of mine. What should I do with it? I'll take that off of you. So he did, he sold his finger to the couple for a hundred dollars in order to settle a debt. And in one account, I read that the debt was only like a $50 debt. So he sold it to them for a hundred.
So he made 50 bucks, I guess. America. Land of opportunity. You lose a finger, you get a hundred bucks. Sell it, sell it. Mark it up, sell it on, mark it up, sell it on. I thought that was worth way more than a hundred. So DNA testing verified that it did belong to Rossiter and the anonymous tip came from him. Himself. Yep. Oh my God. He's the one that called it in. Right. And now, well, that, that finger turned out to be a very good investment. Right.
If you got a hundred thousand plus a hundred dollars. No, a hundred. Oh yeah. For Wendy's. Wendy's paid him. I didn't see if Wendy ever paid him for the tip. I didn't see that. It never was in any of the, in the news reports. I mean, it's dodgy that anybody else announces it, but if it's the person who lost his finger, you would have thought he'd get the money because there's no way out of it. It's like, Hey, the DNA was right. You wouldn't have known otherwise. You discover who it is.
You wouldn't have known. There's no way you would find out. And he didn't do anything against Wendy's. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So police actually, that's the next, like police couldn't verify him if he was in on the scam. Right. Also. Right. So they, you know, like if he planned to cash in on the settlement, they would get. Probably not. Let's be honest. But maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe not after he turned himself into Wendy's. Right. So why give yourself up? Right.
Because she thought it was more of a sure thing. Yeah. But this is after she got arrested. Yeah. By the time they were arrested, he's like, this is not going to work. Yeah. They're not going to get any money out of Wendy's. So maybe I'll try to get this hundred grand from Wendy's. So he just turned on their previous associates. Yes. Yes. Gosh, this is, there's layers here.
So on September 9th, 2005 in San Jose, California, Ayala and Placencia, they pled guilty to conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft with damages suffered by Wendy's in just the Bay area, exceeding $2.5 million. Yeah. They pled guilty. So at sentencing on January 18th, so this is in 2006 now, Ayala received nine years in state prison and Placencia got 12 years and four months. So I don't know why he got so much time.
I mean, more than him being because he knew the guy that had the finger. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, the, maybe he was more involved with the trailer park. Yeah. Well, maybe it has to do with that. Yeah. Like an extra three years for the trailer park. Maybe. Yeah. Could be. Yeah. Um, and then they were also sentenced to pay Wendy's $21 million in restitution. So sure. The corporation knew they'd never see this kind of money from them. So they agreed to seek only $170,000. US American.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this was just to make up for the employees lost wages. I mean, it's not going to, so apparently that was the number that came up with the people that lost hours at work cause there was less business and or lost their jobs. Must be more than that, but sure. Well, they don't pay people very well. It's minimum wage. These are minimum wage jobs. It's like an enormous third biggest chain in America. Yeah. Exactly. If that's all they're losing. If that's it. Less than $200,000.
Cheap to run that business, Julie. Let's get into tacos. We gotta buy a Wendy's. Make this happen. So anyway, they, um, they further agreed not to pursue the 21 million if the couple didn't seek a book or movie deal from the notoriety of the case. That was in the clause. Like they can't ever sell the story. It's definitely a California clause. I love it. I love it.
Okay, so, um, I, I had an additional five years tacked onto her sentence because the prosecutor argued that when she claimed she couldn't eat or sleep after the event, this had a direct impact on Wendy's sales. The judge agreed with the prosecutor and gave her the additional five years. However, on appeal, so she appealed this, her lawyers argued that this wasn't legal. It's a bit of an odd one. Yeah. It was just like kind of random. Like, yes, of course. Yes. But she had five more years.
And so she won her appeal. Good. So it reduced her sentence and, and she only served a total of five years. Okay. So post verdict when she was sentenced and everything, she had a lot to say. She lectured folks that others should learn from her mistakes. Quote, let this be an example. Everybody out there, all those young people learn from this. However, she wasn't shy about, oh, that was an quote. However, she wasn't shy about throwing Brian Paul Rossiter under the bus.
Of him, she claimed that he was much more involved in the plot to rip off Wendy's. She's getting revenge. Quote, he got away. He's a hero. I said, quote, he should be back here with us. Rossiter for his part was never discovered to have plotted with the couple. And he told police that the couple had offered him 2,500, no, $250,000 for his silence. So I'm assuming they were like, shut up when we get all this money from Wendy's, we'll pay you $250,000. So he was offered that by them.
Well, they up the offer from Wendy's. So there were at least, you know, pulling the right cards. When she was asked if she was surprised that the court had given her the maximum sentence, she said, quote, I was expecting it. Obviously I committed a crime and I should pay for it and I'm ready. I know I've heard a lot of people. End quote. She said she didn't plan to target Wendy's specifically, but this was contradicted after her release from prison when she granted an interview on TV.
She said, I cooked it. That's what they want to hear on American TV. Totally. So she detailed how she cooked it in her Las Vegas home by following Wendy's chili recipe. Oh, wow. But it didn't reach the right temperature. Exactly. Her undoing was that she didn't realize what the temperature would be or for how long the restaurant cooked their chili. Yeah. She continued. Good preparation though. Yeah, she could. Yeah, I know, right? She thought it out. She thought she had it all worked out.
Basco's following recipes. She thought she had it all worked out, yeah. She continued and admitted that after cooking the finger, she stuck it in the freezer before heading off to Mexico for a vacation. Oh my gosh. I mean, I guess it would freeze their chili. Well, you got to save it for later for that next time you're at a Wendy's. Oh man.
So anyway, in my research, I couldn't find that if Bertha Davila ever got any money from this, like if she ever got her 11 grand back or more for all the trouble she had gone through, like she went and moved in and then got kicked out and then was homeless, right? Yeah. Tough life. I hope so, but I couldn't find anywhere that she got anything out of this. That's such a shame. I know, even though they were charged with this crime too. So should we take a break? Let's do this. Okay, we're back.
Anna did not stay out of the news post release from prison. Yeah, she's already given one interview. So remember her son who defended her to the reporters? Guadalupe. Yes, that's right. My favorite, probably first name in the whole episode series so far. Which is like the Virgin, a Virgin Saint like in Mexico, right? In a number of places. I know there's one in Mexico. But I always see it more in Mexican culture. For sure. Oh, you have Mexican heritage. I'm sure I've seen other Guadalupe's.
So this is what happened, okay? So in 2013, Guadalupe Reyes Jr. Oh, he's learned some tricks from mom and dad. Did I already say he shot himself in the ankle? What? No. Oh my gosh. So in 2013 he shot himself in the ankle. Shot himself. I mean, let's hope this is on purpose. It literally turned out to be on purpose. It wasn't on purpose. This was an accident. It was an accident. Did he sue the gun company? No, he did not. What?
But this is a problem for him because he wasn't supposed to be in possession of a firearm because he was on parole from a burglary conviction. It's getting complicated. So he went to mommy, Anna. She can solve every problem. Anna the Scamma. Oh, you thought about that yourself. I did. I wrote it down. Anna the Scamma. And she cooked up a little story for him to get out of this one, okay? I like the double entendre there. Yeah, I know, right? No pun intended.
So they concocted a story for the police of an alleged attack on him. So they gave a full description of the attacker that Anna provided to the police. They described the assailant to police as a big man with a goatee and unusually large ears. Oh my gosh. Hilarious. Goatee, large ears. Sounds like one of her. And he was wearing a black Oakland A's baseball cap and Air Jordan sneakers. So that was her description to police. So precise. She even gave them a name.
Oh. So the name of the person, right? Yeah. So searching for this man and turning up nothing, they decided to call Reyes or Guadalupe in for questioning and he cracked like immediately. Oh my gosh. And he gave his mom up. Oh my gosh. That's a crap. You didn't learn anything from your parents. Mom was probably really disappointed in him. God damn it. So they were both arrested for this, for filing a false police report. Make her win that one. That's what she's saying.
Yeah. So they were both arrested and they received two years in prison each. So Ayala could have received four years and eight months for her part because she was an accessory to a felony. She filed a false police report and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. So she got charged as well for being a felon in possession of a firearm. And that's because she helped her son get rid of the gun that he had shot himself with and they never found the gun. So sure.
Her sentence was reduced to the two years because she pled no contest. Remember we talked about that in the Irene Garza case? Refreshed. Which is just like that you have enough evidence against me. I can't fight this charges. So I'll just plead no contest. You're not pleading guilty, but you're just pleading like I can't compete or I can't fight it basically. I don't get lost sometimes.
So you'll get like a lower, if you, if you kind of like concede to the crime in a way, you'll get a lower sentence. Dodgy. Well, it's the legal system. So yeah, so that's the last time she was in the news. And according to that podcast I told you about, Once Upon a Crime, she mentioned that on her Facebook page, NIL's current Facebook page, she has in her description, quote, crazy, crazy finger lady. That's like a descriptor. Oh my gosh. Only in America.
I tried to look for it, but there's too many Anna Ayala's out there, I guess. So I gave up cause I was like, I gotta finish this story. I gotta get to the end. So I wanted to finish this story about an article I found on NPR. Connected to the story? It's all about a history of human fingers found in fast food. So a Michigan teen says he got a taste of more than just roast beef when he bit into his Arby's sandwich last week.
So Arby's is another chain that has like, they're famous for the roast beef sandwich that they have. My overall lesson so far is don't eat in American fast food, but let's go, let's go. Well, I know when you've got it. At least we started raving about McDonald's. In Russia. Alright, so this kid, he was a 14 year old, Brian Hart, 14. So the caption under his photo is, Ryan Hart, 14, found a severed finger in his junior roast beef sandwich. Junior roast beef sandwich.
So the one for the little guys. So here's his quote, I was about to puke. It was just nasty. The piece appeared to be the back of a finger, including the pad and extending beyond the first knuckle. They don't have a lot of detail where it came from. We've philosophized about it enough. They just said that the franchise restaurant team stopped food production and thoroughly cleaned and sanitized the restaurant. Less intense than Wendy's. Then, again, at another Arby's.
So Arby's is just rife with fingers flying around. So much like in Ohio, much like in Michigan, Ohio, another man bit into his Arby's sandwich in 2004. And he found a piece of flesh about three fourths of an inch long. And when they spoke with the manager, they saw a bandage on his thumb. Turns out he had sliced his thumb skin while shredding lettuce that reportedly didn't throw away the bin of lettuce. So it was a chunk of his thumb. Then it was an easy crime to discover.
Then, of course, they mentioned the Wendy's. This one. Right. Then the there was a finger in a custard. Okay. So custard is like a sweet thing. And it's much more. This was found in North Carolina. So Kohl's frozen custard. Okay. So Clarence Stowers found a finger in his custard at Kohl's frozen custard in Wilmington, North Carolina. But not before eating all of the ice cream off the finger first. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. To be fair, it was frozen. So it's less disgusting. But oh. Is it though?
Is it though? Oh my gosh. He reportedly thought it was candy and didn't realize it was a human appendage until later. No. So it says, turns out a worker had lost part of his finger in the custard machine at Stowers and was unfortunate and Stowers was unfortunate enough to find it. Later. Later Stowers kept the finger for evidence for so long that it was too late for the employee to get his finger reattached. So he like he held on to it.
And then if he had turned it in, I guess immediately the guy could have maybe got it put back on. I mean still. Okay. That's too much. That's two more. That's two more. Okay. So this is the frozen dinner finger. So it seems this is this one starts with. It seems 2005 was a big year for finding severed fingers in food. So a California inmate, Felipe Rocha was eating dinner in March 2005. Rocha. Rocha. He's eating in March of 2005 when he chewed a crunchy object in his cornbread.
I mentioned cornbread earlier. We did. Look at these circles. He discovered a fingertip. I'm gonna unless you lose a finger Julie, I will try your cornbread. Yes, and he filed a lawsuit and the inmate's attorney said Rocha or Rocha or Rocha is a vegetarian and lost 15 pounds in six days because he couldn't eat after the incident. And then the last one. This is the last one.
Okay. So in 2006 in Indiana, a diner found a finger on his TGI Friday's burger after a restaurant employee accidentally cut it in the kitchen. The manager didn't even know what had happened until he got to the hospital. So he cut it and then put it in a burger and then the manager was not informed. Sounds like. So there you go. A brief history of finger food. So um, Dougal, do you have a mini crime time for us tonight? I do. I mean, crimes are crimes and it's mini.
So here's an example of a mini crime time that you can send in to us. Yeah. Voice message, an email if you want to write it out. If it's somebody else's story, just tell us about it. Who cares? It can be your friend. Who cares? Please make it real. You don't have to name anybody. No, it's all good. Just any crime. And it's like what youth consider a crime. It's not necessarily like legally a crime. Yeah. Although this one could be. Okay. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know if it could be.
I'll tell you. I'll be the judge of that. So we're at the tobacco store and you know, like many European countries, there's only one place that you can buy tobacco in Spain and the best country. It's a tobacco shop. Ah, yes. You have to go to a tobacco shop. It has to be licensed tobacco shop. Yeah. So we get our snooze for all of those who know. What is snooze? The Norwegians and the Scandinavians. Yeah, like it's very Scandinavian, right? Yeah. So it's like a little, a little pillow.
Like a. Yeah. Two centimeters by one centimeter. So let's say half an inch by. Like a tea bag. Yeah. A little tea bag with. Like a little tea bag with. The tobacco inside. Chewing tobacco. Yeah. And then. I remember my Swedish classmates when I first moved here. Exactly. They all used snooze. Exactly. So I've been, I've been seeing a Norwegian guy recently and of course he likes the snooze thing.
And so we turn around and then the next clients who are this older couple or brother and sister or whatever they are. They were next in queue, but we were still just kind of looking around and getting our umbrellas whilst the other sale is happening. And it was a fast one. They asked for like a couple of packs of cigarettes or something and then a commotion started. So it was kind of periphery and I didn't catch what, what the words were said.
But basically the lady behind, there was only one girl in the store. It's quite a big store. Like, you know. Like working. Yeah. There's only this. So lady working. Yeah. And she was Brazilian because I recognize the accent. Okay. And let's say she had a broken Castilian. So it sounded very Portuguese. Or just obviously not from here. Accent. Exactly. So Mr. Old Guy who bought the tobacco. Here we go. Let's say not very much under his breath complained about her accent.
Something like, I have to stand these fucking foreigners serving me. I don't know what the fuck they're saying or something like that. You know, to that extent. I didn't hear what you said, but she was like, excuse me. You have been doing this every time you come here. Please. Like a regular customer. Treat me with respect. Yeah. And even though he deals with her all the time. And he, he just goes, fuck you. It's not your fucking problem. You should learn how to speak Castilian. I know.
And then the other lady who I don't know if it was his sister, starts protecting him. Kind of going like, leave him alone. It's not your freaking problem. Like totally like going for swear words immediately. And I, and the girl started crying. Literally. It was very like, and then, and then the guy I'm with starts like, what the fuck's happening? And I just translate the basic situation and this old couple already left. So I'm like, please wait here. I'm going to go back and say hi to the girl.
Yeah. And so I went back in. Did you go talk to her in Portuguese? I did. I tried, but she didn't realize. She was so nervous. She just continued speaking in Castilian. So I switched back to Castilian. Just not to confuse her, but I'm like, don't worry, honey. This happens to me all the time. But this is unacceptable. I think whoever your boss is, you should definitely talk to him and stop serving this person. And she goes, yeah, cause my boss is my step mom or not step mom, sorry.
Mother-in-law, sorry. Mother-in-law. So she goes, no, my step. So it's her husband that owns basically. Pretty much. So it's a family business. Yeah. So she goes, yeah, no, actually I have mentioned it to my... That's fucked up. But she goes, but you know, you could see from the way she was saying that she didn't ever say, I don't want to serve him anymore. She just told them about it.
And I'm like, I think they're going to support you if you just don't serve them because that was not called for. And she kind of was like, yeah, no, you're right. I think. Fuck that guy. Yeah, 100% fuck that guy. Don't buy your goddamn tobacco. Cause it was, and especially it was one of those times where most of the tobacco shops were open, but not them. You know, they were the one of the few that were open. So I'm like, you're going to fuck him if you don't serve him next time.
And you need to know. He'll be shit out of life. And she was like, no, you're right. Yeah. Cause like on Sundays when he's trying to get the pack of cigarettes. Exactly. Fuck that big head. Cause everything will be closed on a Sunday. Yeah. So, you know, and so she kind of calmed down. That is maddening, man. That is super maddening. It's horrible. Yeah. It's horrible. Fuck. So. I hate that. What's your verdict? Is it a real crime? It's more than many, I think. But it is like, it's.
That's a hate crime. It's probably some kind of, I don't know. I think it's a hate crime. Yeah. It is. I mean, he wasn't like trying to, I mean, hate crime. I don't know if it would legally meet the standard of a hate crime. It's racist, it's xenophobia. It's totally, yeah. That's fucked up and it should be called out in society as much as possible. I think so. I think so. Yeah. Cheers, everybody. Be responsible. Right to us. Bling, bling.
Send us your many crime times via, or send us any emails you want to send us. Ask us questions. Crimes of the Basque Lands. Just tell us anything you want to tell us on crimesofthebasklands.gmail.com. That's it. We have an Instagram account and we have a website. We do. With little titty-bitties, everything coming together. And we're probably going to try to work on our website a little more this coming year, 2024. We'll probably try to up some of our game. Hopes and projects.
Hopes and projects. We're sure, we're so sure. Hopes and dreams. So, yeah, thank you for listening and we bid you a goor. Crimes of the Basque Lands is written and produced by Davos de Carvalho, Julie Garcia, and Megan Dooley, the sound and editing for each episode by Davos de Carvalho and Megan Dooley, theme song written by Davos de Carvalho, Julie Garcia, and Megan Dooley, sung by the choir with no name and produced by Tom Squires. Podcast art by Distinct Signal.
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