Amok

We're leaving today and entering a world Mickey Mouse Waving, Princess Meeting and Greetings. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror dropping! Fanshee flying? Space! Galaxy Rewinding, but the whole deck of Galaxy Rewinding. Fireworks igniting. Worlds of other worlds. For whatever you love. Infinite worlds of magical place on earth. Sword. This message may be shocking to many millennials. If you are one, you might want to sit down. Right now. People are searching the following on Depop.

Halter top, velour tracksuit, puka shell necklace, You likely place these in the dark of your closet in 2004, never to be seen again. But if you can find it in yourself to dust them off, there are a lot of people who will give you money for them. Sell on Depop or taste recognition. This episode includes graphic descriptions of violence. Please use discretion.

One day in Southwest Poland, um, there were a couple of fishermen and one of them noticed something uh floating, and then the other came over and they realized it was a body. Um and there was a noose around the neck. and the hands had obviously been tied behind their back. There was no doubt that the figure had been murdered. This is author David Grant. The men who found the body called the police, who came to remove it. It was decayed.

Um and it was evidence once the pathologists looked at the person that they also had lacked food uh in them. So somebody had clearly deprived uh the person of nourishment. some indications that they had been beaten and tortured. And there was something very peculiar the way the noose was around the neck and the hands were tied behind the back. At one point the rope had been cut in the middle, but it was

to the noose in the back almost like a backward cradle. So a very, very painful position so that if the figure had moved at all or struggled to move, um, they would have been choking themselves. Um it was clear that the body had been through a lot. It suggested almost an anger. Um it was almost uh it did not seem like some detached uh murder. The man seemed to be in his thirties, was tall, and had long dark hair and blue eyes.

He matched the description of someone who'd been reported missing, a man named Darius Yanishevsky. Darius was from the city of Rotsuav, sixty miles away, and had last been seen about four weeks earlier, on november thirteenth, two thousand. He was a young businessman in his thirties. He worked in advertising. Uh he was married.

He was known as kind of uh happy, cheerful, he played guitar, uh got along with people, no history of violence, um, very personable. Darius's wife didn't want to see the body. So the police brought in his mother, and she confirmed it was him. Where had he last been seen? He had last been seen leaving his business. He had left in the afternoon around four PM, if my memory is correct.

um and then was seen leaving the building. He didn't take his car a Peugeot, which was un unusual for him,'cause he he normally when he was going to run an errand or do something, he always took his car. He did not take his car with him, and that was the last time he was seen. What what what did his family think? I mean what when they reported him missing what What did they think had happened?

And the only clues was the mother had reported that somebody had called the office um in kind of a demanding state, uh asking to speak with Darius. for business and she had then given him uh her son's cell phone. Um and then later when Darius came back into the office. uh sh the mother asked him, you know, did you speak with this client, this customer who called and he said, Yes, and I'm going to see him this afternoon And that was really the only kind of

clue that possibly he had gone to meet this person and then disappear. But nobody knew who that person was. There was no sense of motive. The police were able to trace the phone call to a payphone, not far from Darius's office. But they were unable to find out who the caller was. You know, the authorities kind of considered almost a perfect crime because there were so few clues.

Um and eventually out of frustration and being stymied, uh the case was closed and it gradually became the coldest of cold cases.

About three years went by. The case was eventually passed along to a 38 year old detective named Yossik Robleski. He was a a really interesting figure. Um he had had many uh professions. He had been a mechanic, uh, he had been a municipal clerk. Um, but then after um the fall of communism he joins the police department and he kind of finally found his calling.

He was um a large man, but he was very unthreatening and uh people said uh they trusted him because they didn't think there was anything to fear him, and he was able to solve many cases. Interestingly enough, his his first name, uh Yassik, translates to Jack, and his last name

Of Roblesky. Uh the first part і is is sparrow, so people called him Jack Sparrow after the Hollywood movie uh Pirates of the Caribbean. And um uh rather than being a sprout he says, I'm an eagle Did he have any suspicions about When he first began looking at the case, he had very little, but he kept reviewing the file over and over. He put it away, he'd pick it back up. One thing that occurred to him, he he had one suspicion.

which was when he was looking at the way the body had been um abused, the way uh this kind of cat's cradle, the way the body had been positioned, made him think that there was some kind of personal animus that drove the perpetrator or perpetrators. He did notice one clue or was the absence of a clue, which was Yasek had a uh had a cell phone, but there was no report of a cell phone in the file.

So he began to say, can we trace, can we figure out what had happened uh to that cell phone? Um at that time in Poland, telecommunications and that kind of technical investigation was still pretty primitive. But he was able to get a serial number of the cell phone from the widow. And lo and behold, that cell phone turned out to have been sold on an internet auction just days after the murder.

And not only that, he was able to s tell from the the that the person who had sold this was somebody who had identified themselves as Chris B. Chris B turned out to be a man named Christian Balla. And Yasik is aware that it's a very tenuous uh lead. I mean, in the sense that He doesn't know how this Christian Bal obtained the phone. He may have found it on the street, he may have bought it at a pawn shop, but it is the only lead he has.

And he he has to he has to figure out who is this person. He realizes that Christian Bal is out of the country, so he has to be a little bit careful about the way he investigates. He doesn't want to tip anyone off.

and he begins to read about him and try to learn about him. Um one of the things he does is he learns that he was this kind of very young, bright uh philosopher student, had been the equivalent of his valedictorian in high school, had gotten a a scholarship to get a PhD in philosophy, which he eventually dropped out of um uh in order to work. He had been married, although was not divorced, he had a child, and he had also written a novel called A Muth.

Yossik Robleski learned that Christian Bala had published a mock in two thousand three, several years after Darius had been murdered, and not long before Yossik began investigating the case. Yossik decided to get a copy of the And he begins to read through the novel at first almost kind of casually, almost out of curiosity, as who is this person? How can I learn about him? Um

And i the novel's a bit of a shock to him. I mean, uh, Yassik is a very kind of straightforward person, uh, you know, very very Catholic, uh, very strong kind of view of good and evil. And the book is very blasphemous, it's very creepy, it's very sadistic, it's pornographic, it's very, very postmodern. And this character who happens to be also identified as Chris, the same

Chris, like the way the phone had been auctioned off. The narrator's name is Chris, who goes on this grisly uh kind of rampage in the novel, uh indulging in sex. and eventually ends up murdering uh the girl his girlfriend in the novel. Um and so as Yasik is reading the novel, He suddenly notices certain details that catch his attention. One of those details is that the the victim of this murder, the girlfriend, had a noose around her neck.

And then he finds one other detail that really strikes him, and that is that the murderer, Chris, in the novel, had also not only put a noose around his girlfriend, had also stabbed the girlfriend and then sold. the knife used in the killing in the novel on an internet auction site. The fact that Darius's cell phone had been sold on an internet auction site had never been made public.

Detective Yassik Robleski decided to make copies of Christian Balla's novel and hand them out to his detective squad. He assigned everyone chapters and asked them to look for more similarities between the plot and Darius Yanishevsky's murder. I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal. David Grant says Christian Ball's novel didn't get very much attention when it was first published. And out of the people who did read it, Some who knew Christian were surprised.

Because Christian was very charming, very bright, and so like his philosophy teachers and philosophy friends were quite quite shocked by it. But it is important to understand that many people found Christian mesmerizing. I mean, he there was something very alluring about him. I mean he was brooding, smoking cigarettes. He kind of created this character. And so even in his own life, he would kind of tell these stories that you never were quite sure what was true or what was false.

Um, he would tell people he'd gone on some adventure, had some romance, or he was at a brothel where he'd debased himself. And if people would repeat it several times he would say, ah, it's become true. It was always in Christian, both in the novel, but also in his own life, this play between what is real and what is false is what is true and what is a fiction and in the character in the novel. Was that Christian or was that just a character he created in a novel?

David says once after the book came out, an interviewer asked Christian Some authors write only to release their Mr Hyde, the dark side of their psyche. Do you agree? Christian responded, I know what you were driving at, but I won't comment. It might turn out that Christian Bala is the creation of Chris, not the other way around. Christian had also posted excerpts of the book on his blog, and would respond to reader comments under the name Chris.

But David says Christian would dismiss suggestions that parts of the book had been drawn from his own life. He he said at one point, somebody asked him after the novel came out, you know, a friend said, You know, this novel makes you look really bad and he said, Well, it's you know, it's fiction and he s she says, Yeah, but

for you to have those thoughts, you know, you y you must have had those thoughts. And so well anybody who would think that is a fool. Still, as the detectives combed through the novel, they found more similarities.

And they create like almost like a checkboard. I mean, you know, where they're like, okay, this is true, this happened in Krishna Bala's real life, this didn't happen, we could confirm this. I mean there's a scene of a theft in the novel. It turned out that theft had really happened in real life. In the novel, the narrator Chris gets drunk one night with a friend, and they decide to steal a figurine of St. Anthony from a church.

Yassik Robleski discovered that Christian Balla had once been caught by the police doing the exact same thing. The friend he'd been with had told a judge they stole the statue because, quote, we wanted a third person to drink with. And there were other things. Christian had been left by his wife, so had the narrator Chris. Both men loved philosophy, both drank a lot, and both owned businesses that had gone bankrupt.

One thing that is also present that is of suspicion, at least to uh Yassick, uh, was that um Chris, the narrator, not only confesses to murdering uh his girlfriend in the novel, The narrator in this novel gets away with it. There's no repercussions, no stain from the murder, no penance, no punishment, no redemption, just But he hints in several places that there was another murder of a man who had done something to him. He never speaks about what it is, but it's kind of moved throughout.

Chris alludes to the other murder in a conversation with a girlfriend. After she questions the truth of his stories, he asked her if she didn't believe that he quote, killed a man who behaved inappropriately toward me ten years ago. He adds, Everyone considers it a fable. Maybe it's better that way. Sometimes I don't believe it myself. So, was there an actual other murder of a man that is being hinted at in the novel? Um, and could that have been? Darius. We'll be right back.

To listen without ads, join Criminal Plus. Support for Criminal comes from Stitch Fix. Shopping for clothes online, it's easy for things to go wrong. Even if you carefully check all the photos and reviews, you might still end up with a pile to return or donate.

Stitch Fix makes shopping online much easier. All you need to do is take a quick quiz where you share about your style, size, and budget, and you'll get matched with a real human who gets you what you're looking for. They'll be your personal stylist and send you people. try. No guesswork and no stress. You get a personalized fixed box delivered straight to your door so you can try everything on at home. Shipping and returns are always free and easy. No subscription required.

Plus, with your first fix box you can try everything on for free and return whatever you don't like. Get started today at Stitch Fix. Slash criminal to get twenty percent off your first order, and they'll waive your styling fee. That's stitchfix.com. Slash criminal. Support for criminal comes from Mint Mobile.

If you're trying to reconsider your spending and find places to cut back this January, your phone bill is a great place to start. Mint Mobile can help. Right now they're offering 50% off unlimited premium wireless. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text on the country's largest 5G network. You can keep your phone and number. We have a friend who's tried Mint Mobile. He says he's still saving money years after switching. His coverage is just as good for a lower price.

This January, quit overspending on wireless with fifty percent off unlimited premium wireless. Plans start at fifteen dollars a month at mintmobile.com slash Phoebe. That's mintmobile.com. Slash Phoebe Limited time offer, upfront payment of forty five dollars for three months, ninety dollars for six months. or hundred and eighty for twelve months. Plan required for fifteen a month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only.

More than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See Mintmobile.com.

To try to better understand Christian Balla, the police reached out to a criminal psychologist. She examined the character of Chris in the novel and wrote that the character showed features of psychopathic behavior. Quote, he is testing the limits to see if he can actually carry out his sadistic fantasy. She agreed that there were similarities between Chris and Christian, but that quote, basing an analysis of the author on his fictional character would be a gross violation.

even um Yasek would acknowledge that the case was extraordinarily thin. I mean, all they had at that point well they had the cell phone. They knew that the that Christian Bala had somehow obtained um Darius's cell phone within a few days and sold it on a internet site. And that

kind of uh you know, all they have at that point. So they they have a very thin case. And and on top of that, you know, even people around the department are looking at Yassick like, I think you've lost your mind. Like you're looking at a novel as a roadmap for a crime. Um, so Yassak knows he needs more evidence, but he's also a bit hamstrung because um at that point uh Christian Bala is out of the country and with extradition treaties, he he couldn't just call him back to question them.

Yassik also didn't want word of the investigation to reach Christian. Then he might never come home. And so he couldn't interview his closest family members or his uh ex-wife. So he's somewhat limited learning about him through these um different sources. He still has no sense of a motive for the crime. Yassik decided to look through the profile for Chris B on the internet auction site that Christian had used to sell Darius's cell phone.

And they looked realized that sh very shortly, like a week before, ten days before um Darius was murdered, that Crispy, Christian Bala, have been looking for a police manual on criminal hanging. And now, again, it's suggestive, but once again, they're also stymy because

There's no evidence that the book itself was actually purchased. They don't know if that book was ever found. But at least in Yasick's mind, again, it's suggestive to him, why is Crispy looking at a police manual, detective manual, about of criminal hangings ten days before a noose is found around Darius' neck.

And then they learn that Christian is gonna return to Poland, that he's coming back uh to visit. And so they've decided they're gonna bring him in uh for questioning. Christian Bala returned to Poland about two years after Jasik had begun investigating the While he was out of the country, he'd been traveling, writing for magazines and teaching English and scuba lessons. Officers arrested Christian on September 5, 2005, as he was coming out of a drugstore in a town near Wrocław.

Christian later wrote an account of what he says happened. He said that three men attacked him, forced him into the back of a car, and put a black plastic bag over his head. He wrote that the men beat him and then called someone on the phone. He said he overheard one of the men say, He's still alive. And what about the money? Will we get it today?

He said that the men drove for a while and then stopped, and one of them said, We can dig a hole here and bury him. Christian wrote, I thought that this was going to be the last moment of my life. But then he said the men started driving again and took him to a building where he was stripped and beaten some more. When they started to interrogate him, he realized he was in police custody.

Yassik said that none of this happened. He said they did arrest Christian outside of a drugstore, but without violence. Quote, we use standard procedures and followed the letter of the law. What do you think about that, you know, do do you have any suspicion that that Christian was in some ways threatened, tortured by Yassick and his detectives? Or do you think that that was another one of Christian's tales? When you read the tale I'll just say this, it strains credulity.

Um, I wasn't there. I wasn't a witness. I do know and then that it was investigated uh for a long period of time by authorities and they found no evidence of it. And there's no evidence ever in uh Yasik's career of of doing anything like Um, but it is the one time where suddenly you have um Jasak saying this story, this story, this thing that Krishna Bala is saying this time is definitely a fiction. He is making this story up.

According to Yassick, he questioned Christian in his office, starting with simple questions about his work and relationships. When Yasik brought up Darius Yanishevsky's murder, Christian said he didn't know it. Ayasick doesn't yet reveal the one kind of trump card he has, which isn't that much, but he knows about the phone, that that Krishna Bala had somehow sold. the murder victim's phone on uh this internet auction site. And so he starts to ask him some questions and

um, Christian about amok, about his life and and Christian just kinda denies thing. Um and then he asks him about the phone. And and that's the one time where Christian was a bit evasive. Um, he said, I don't remember um where I got that phone. Now it was a while back. This is many years before. And he said, Well then later he said, Well, maybe I got it at a pawn. Um and so by the end, there really isn't any evidence.

to hold him or to continue holding under Polish law. He does agree to submit to a uh to a polygraph test. The polygraph er thought that at certain points during the polygraph that a Christian who was a scuba diver might have been using certain breathing exercises. Um it's hard to say. I mean uh uh these uh polygraphs are notoriously unreliable and the results were inconclusive in any case. Um and in the end, the case seems to be unraveling and Christian is let let go.

The police were able to charge Christian with selling stolen property, the cell phone. He had to hand over his passport. and stay in the country.

And he begins to tell people that he is being investigated and persecuted because of a novel he wrote and it creates a sensation. I mean, the human rights organization start writing letters to the Polish ministry of justice, you know, delusion them with letters. Saying, how can you be doing this? You're violating his rights. One of Christian's girlfriends organized a committee to bring attention to his case.

In an online post, she wrote During his brutal interrogation, they referenced his book numerous times, citing it as proof of his guilt. And let's you know, I think anyone hearing that someone's being investigated for a novel they would wrote would say this is outrageous. And Yansik

I need corroborating evidence. The novel is a roadmap to a crime. It is giving us some clues and insights. He knows it is not evidence. He cannot present the novel uh as a piece of evidence in court. He's trying to use the novel though So Yasek then begins to now he two things happen that are very important evident.

One of the things they try to do is they keep trying to figure out from the payphone. In those Polish payphones at the time you would kinda insert this card and that would allow you to make the calls. And with that card you could then insert it into other payphones and use it again. they're able to finally crack that and figure out what the card was that was being used. And when they figure out and crack this card that was being used, they realize the same caller had placed a lot of other calls.

Who were those calls to? There were two Christian Bala's family members and friends and colleagues, everybody in Krishna Bala's circle. So that was the first really strong piece of evidence, not suggested. That Christian Bala was the one from the payphone who had placed the call to the advertising firm that lured uh Darius out. The next question though is, what is the what is the connection? The detective started to question Christian's family and friends.

David says many people had nice things to say about Christian. A past employer from a teaching job called him easy to get along with, and said, with no reservation, I highly recommend Christian Bala for any teaching position with children. But a babysitter who worked for him and his then wife said he drank a lot, and he often gave his wife a hard time and accused her of sleeping around. Christian and his wife separated in two thousand.

One person reported that at one point he had been in a bar and he had seen his uh wi ex-wife uh flirting with a bartender. This was uh just a few weeks after Darius uh was killed. And he was screaming drunkenly that nobody can talk to my wife that way. Witnesses said Christian shouted quote I've already taken out a guy like you with a rope. Five people held Christian back from attacking the man. Then, the detective spoke to a friend of Christian's ex wife.

Who says that one time at a bar, uh she had seen Christian Bala's uh ex wife talking to somebody. And it was none other than Darius Yanitcheski. We'll be right back. Support for criminal comes from Bombus. This new year is the perfect time to upgrade your sock drawer with bombas. I can't think of many better ways to motivate yourself to go on a morning walk before work or on a run or to the gym than a new pair of comfortable thick high-quality socks. put on before you head out the door.

Bomba socks are made to support your feet for any activity. The new Bomba Sport socks are engineered to be the perfect sock for all kinds of. They're pairs meant specifically for running, golf, cycling, hiking, yoga, and more. Also, compression socks for after your workout. And they've got socks for dressier occasions and slippers for errands or wearing around the house.

I still wear bombus socks I got three years ago. They've lasted incredibly well and somehow still don't slip down. You can head over to bombus dot com slash criminals. And use code CRIMINAL for twenty percent off your first purchase. That's B O M B A S dot com slash criminal, code Criminal.

Support for Criminal comes from NetSuite. If you own a business, you might be overwhelmed with all the discussion about the right way to use AI to help your company. If you're wondering what exactly applies to you and your business, NetSuite by Oracle has answers. NetSuite is a top AI Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning Software, or ERP, trusted by more than forty-three thousand businesses. It brings together your financials and

Inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into one place. And its built in AI can automate routine tasks, give you insights. And help you make informed decisions quickly. NetSuite's AI Connector service also lets you connect whichever AI you'd like to use to your business data and ask it every question that's on your mind. No matter the size of your company, can help you get ahead.

Right now get the free business guide, demystifying AI, at NetSweet.com slash criminal. The guide is free to you at Net Com slash criminal. That's netsuite.com slash criminal.

Yassik Robleski had been trying to get Christian Bala's ex wife to agree to an interview. So she had been very resistant uh to be interviewed uh for a long time. Um, and I don't know the reason why. You know, perhaps it was.

I mean I only know what um uh Yassik, you know, wondered, you know, could it be because she was afraid of Christian? Was it because she thought he was innocent? Was it because they had a child together and she didn't wanna uh incriminate him but eventually um yassik goes to speak with her. and she had never read the novel amok, but then he shows her portions of the novel in these very, very sadistic descriptions of a woman in the novel who

It very much mirrors her, the the ex-wife. And at that point she's willing to talk. And she says for the first time that she had met Darius Yanachesky in a bar. This was in the summer of 2000, the same year she and Christian separated. They had later gone on a date and they had gone to a motel. She says they didn't have sex because she learned that he had been married. Um, but they were together and and they had gone on this date. He had left. Um they never went on a date again and that was it.

but that Christian had showed up not long after, at her apartment or at her home, broke down the door, hit her, Screaming, says I know you had an affair, I know who with, I I know the hotel, I know the room. Christian's ex wife said he also mentioned that he had visited Darius's office and described it to me.

After this, Yassik decided he had enough evidence to charge Christian Balla with murder. And so a Krishna Bala is indicted. Um it creates a sensation. He continues to claim that he is being persecuted for a novel he wrote, that he compares himself to Samon Rashti, that he is being crucified uh for his literature. It was reported that at one point before the trial, Christian confessed to prosecutors that he had killed Darius.

But he immediately retracted the confession, and had a quote, fainting spell. The trial began on February 22, 2007. On the first day, the courtroom was packed. One Polish newspaper wrote Killing doesn't make much of an impression in the 21st century, but allegedly killing and then writing about it in a novel is front page news. What what did the prosecution argue? That it was kind of cut it was a cut and dry case?

presented it as um you know if you take away the novel and you you know this was a man allegedly who out of a fit of rage kidnapped or abducted uh somebody who had gone on a date with his ex wife and then and then murdered him in this very barbaric way. Christian was found guilty of planning and directing the murder. There wasn't enough evidence to prove that he'd committed the murder himself. He was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. He later appealed.

He did get a new trial, but he was found guilty in a second trial as well, and he's still in jail to this day.

In 2007, David Graham traveled to Poland to meet Christian. at uh you know really tough prison, kinda post communist prison. There'd been a uh a riot there. I mean it was a you know very harsh conditions. And I remember going into the um uh the visitors room

Um, I was surprised I was able to get in and able to see him. And um as I walked in, you know, it was this very dismal place and I see someone kind of standing in the visitors room wearing a a a sweatshirt that said, I think it said University of Wisconsin on it. and had dark hair and the hair was kinda standing up as if the person had kinda been rubbing their hand through it. Very handsome, but they looked like a grad student. And I realized I was looking at Christian Bala.

David remembers Christian shook his hand, and as they walked to a table to sit down, Christian said This whole thing is farce, like something out of Kafka. While they were talking, Christian would occasionally point to David's notebook and say things like put this down or this is important.

When we spoke about the novel he was very excited when we talked about different theories and truth and even when he Um when I asked him about some of the very specific evidence about the cell phone where that you know, why how did he get hold of that and some of the other like why on the public telephone did

had you know, did it look like he had made the call to the to the to the advertising firm and he he on those points he was a bit evasive and um kind of conspiratorial and I didn't feel like I ever got clear answers. But he maintained his innocence And he kept saying, I'm the author, I'm the author, I know what I meant, I know what I meant. David says at one point during their conversation, Christian accidentally said me instead of him, when talking about the narrator, Chris.

Do you think that this There's any part of him that wrote the book because he wanted someone to figure out the puzzle. Well one of the questions that always kinda haunted this case was and you know, and for me as someone who spent, you know, many months researching it was, you know, why did you write why did you write the novel?

And, you know, had the novel not been written, I don't think Yassik ever would have had his um suspicions raised to the extent that he did. And it did give him to some extent a roadmap. Um, you know, the the character in the novel is somebody who is um dealing with guilt and and a guilty conscience. I mean, that is kind of one of the themes of the novel. So was the author dealing with a guilty conscience? Was this his confession?

After Christian was arrested, his book started selling out in bookstores all over Poland. He thought, and he still thinks, or at least when I met him, you know, that his novel, while it was obscured at the time, would one day be recognized for the masterpiece it was. And then I'll never forget this. He at one point he said to me,

He said, I'm working on a second book and he said, But the investigators had confiscated it and so we hadn't been able to finish it yet. And at one a point he leaned towards me d as if to make sure that the guards couldn't hear him and he said David Grant is the author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon. And his article about Christian Balla is contained in his collection, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.

Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Katie Bishop is our supervising producer. Our producers are Susanna Robertson, Jackie Sejiko, Lily Clark, Lena Sillison, and Megan Canaan. Our engineer is Veronica Simonetti. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com. And you can sign up for our newsletter at thisiscriminal.com slash newsletter.

We hope you'll join our membership program, Criminal Plus, now on Patreon. It's the very best way to support our work. You can listen to Criminal, This is Love, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery, without any ads. Plus, you'll get bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and you'll be able to talk directly with us and other criminal listeners. Learn more and sign up at patreon dot com.

We're on Facebook at This is Criminal, an Instagram and TikTok at Criminal underscore podcast. We're also on YouTube at youtube dot com slash criminal podcast. Criminal is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more great shows at podcast.voxmedia.com. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. This year's first time. Bigger refunds at Jackson Hewitt and right now get a hundred. Dollars from Better at