Hello and welcome. I'm my favorite Murder. That's Georgia Heart Start, that's here and Kilgariff. This is the mini son. It's a mini Soo. It's the Miniso. I know it feels like a little more relaxed when we do the minisod because we don't have to think too much. That's right, we're just reading. We don't have to be charming. Everyone does it for us in the letters. That's right.
This is us floating in the in I'm literally making a list of what to get at the.
Grocery store later. This is like summer school for my favorite murder.
What a rude way to approach this gift of an opportunity we have positively, I know I didn't mean that you No, No, I meant to me where I'm just like, what am I doing?
What is the intro to this fucking show? We've only been doing it, but.
Yeah, ten and a half now ten and a half, we're over the ten year March.
Jesus Christ.
We have to stop looking back. We have to start looking forward to.
The next ten and a half years. Why don't you go first?
Why don't I in full gratitude, I read you an email with the subject line serial Killer dinner party.
There we go. Now we're back back on track.
I recently came into a treasure of a story from my aunt, let's call her e. Aunt E was a longtime dental assistant of a small dental practice in the Sacramento area in the eighties and ninetiest represent One of their frequent patients was none other than the Dorothia Plente. Yep, it says, yep, two exclamations flints. Imagine how thrilled I was to have my aunt regale me a murderino with
this thriller. So if you want to go listen to our Dorothia Pointe episode, which of course I covered because we lived too down from her when I lived in Sacramento in the very late eighties early nineties.
What episode numbers that was so long?
That was episode thirty seven that was entitled liminal Space.
Okay, look for the rewind of that, guys. Yeah, okay.
So it goes back into this email saying after a frequent and when I say it, I mean myself, after frequent appointments, they became friendly. My aunt is a lovely, warm lady who can shat it up with anyone. She even attended a dinner party at Dorothea's house. Yep, that house. She said Dorothea was an excellent cook. The dinner table was set in Dorothea's renters were all there except for one.
My aunt mentioned the empty plate, and she said Dorothea stood up and opened the door just off the dining room to reveal a man passed out on the bed and said something to the effect of him sleeping it off. My aunt said his head was hanging off the bed, but she assumed he passed out because she knew Dorothea's renters were men often struggling with alcohol. Addiction is like
the ultimate manipulation totally. You have people who it's indefensible because the worst is always assumed right and the best of her intentions.
They're the best victims because nobody takes them seriously.
Right then it says, was he just passed out? Aunt e would wonder about this later. Fast forward to nineteen eighty eight, Dorothea had an appointment and noticed my aunt wasn't her normal cheerful self. My aunt, my dad, and the rest of their seven siblings had just returned from burying their father in Oklahoma, and she was still grieving. When she explained this, she said, Dorothea grabbed her forearm with both hands and looked closely in her eyes and said everyone has to die sometime.
Chill, so chill. He says, holy shit, right right? Yeah?
I mean also, it's the grabbing. That's the one two punch intense. Once the truth of Dorothea's deeds were revealed to my aunt, she actually got subpoenaed to give evidence to the da aunt e who has the gift of gab, definitely filled them in on what she How could you not go over every minute.
Details like gossiping on the stand. You're not going to believe what she thought and said to me.
She's like, I was there, I was part of this whole nightmare. Grab my arm, she grabbed my both with her hands. And then it just says stay sexy and be leery of little old bespectacle ladies.
Heidi. You know it's so weird to me is that you can be a straight up serial killer and still be up to date on your dental cleanings. Like what it happens in your mind that you're like, oh, gotta go to the dentist, yeah.
Because they're going to take care of themselves, their teach, their comfort, their thing, but in their brain, the broken part is that they care about anybody else.
It's just so weird to me that, like, you can have such horrible, you know, actions and thoughts and still go do a normal thing like going to the dentist.
And still have clean, fresh breath.
Yeah, yeah, like I struggle going to the dentist when I mean, I mean cold case solved after twenty plus years, Dear Georgia and Karen all caps, my time has come finally. You guys are rock stars, and thank you for everything you've done for me over the years. I started listening in twenty eighteen, and I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to finally have a solid story
to share with you. Okay, so here it goes. In nineteen ninety eight, four teenagers in Medina, Ohio, about forty miles from where I live, found two suitcases off the I seventy seven inside where human remains that had been dismembered. The victim's hands, feet, and head were missing, which made identification impossible at the time. Remember, I was like, well, now we'll never know who it is. Back then, the case went cold for over two decades your favorite. Fast
forward to twenty twenty three. With new DNA technology, the victim was finally identified as Laurence a drotlift. After that identification, investigators uncovered something even more disturbing. His son, Larry Drow eighty one, had been fraudulently collecting his father's Social Security benefits for years, telling people his father had simply moved away. Do you know this one, I.
Mean, it sounds familiar, but it sounds like the beginning, kids finding like severed human remains in suitcases. There's a couple that start like this.
Yeah. Eventually Larry confessed that he came home from work one day and found his father deceased in their home. He then dismembered the body and disposed of it along I seventy seven in the suitcases. Then he went to the dentist. I'm just kidding. Oh sorry, I had to do.
I mean, that's the vibe, but this is your to do list.
Yeah, let me just stop on the way. It's like.
The idea that it's like you're trying to explain this to any authorities going And then I dismembered my father.
He was already dead, so I thought no, there's nothing I can do now.
Oh, that only sounds normal to a complete psychopath.
Here's where it gets absolutely insane. My stepdad told me he watched a documentary about this case a few years ago. He's not usually in a true crime, but was interested in the story in the close location. My stepdad is also in recovery whoo, and he said a few years back he met a man at a meeting and started giving him rides. He would pick him up from his apartment where he lived only about five minutes away from our home. Fast forward this week, a mutual acquaintance sent
over an article about this solved cold case. My stepdad read it and thought about that documentary he had watched years ago. He was amazed to hear that the case was reopened and solved. Then he realized the man he had been giving rides to and spending time with was none other than Larry Drotliff. My stepdad said he always had a weird feeling about him, but couldn't explain why. I mean, I have that about everybody, but.
That is that thing where it's like when they say you look at somebody and they have like dead eyes or there's just absolutely no kind of chemical connection to them as a and it makes you like get all freaked out, but on an animal level.
Yeah, I'm just kidding. I don't feel that about anyone. I'm friendly to everyone for some fucking reason. Anyways, Stay sexy and always trust your gut.
Sylvia Sylvia great name, by the way, such a good name. Also just like to have interacted in a very mundane way, like a dental way with a person, and.
A meaningful way, because when you're in in recovery with someone and in you know, alcoholics anonymous, like you have a bond there that is beyond just acquaintances.
Now, I want to know what the true details of the beginning of that story are.
Four teenagers in nineteen ninety eight finding a suitcase with that's some fucking horror movie on the highway and there's something so I don't know why it's like so much. This is why I like books placed in the nineties or before so much better. They didn't have cell phones, They had no way to contact with anyone. They had to run to the fucking you know, gas station and call the police. They had no like connection, yeah, no way to like reach out. It was just them and
a fucking suitcase. Yes, and that's where my book.
Gets and that's where your film kicks off. Well solved, cold case. You love it, We love those.
I checked one off the list of nine billion, and we're getting close.
Let's change the tone with the trash dog and trash dad story. Okay, it says high MFM crew and fellow mardarinas you recently asked for garbage dad or garbage dog stories, and I have a story with both. A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided to take our two young boys to Dallas to visit the Great Wolf Lodge. We were going for almost a week and needed someone to watch our two year old eighty pound Golden Retriever Nelly.
My parents were between homes at the time, living in a fifth wheel trailer and then in brackets.
It says a too bol rv.
Oh, it's fine, We're fine, And it says after moving out of a four thousand square foot home, and I thought, maybe they'd really like to stay in our house to enjoy more room ac a washer and dryer, etc. The only stipulation would be that they had to take care of the dog. They agreed and saved us a fortune and boarding fees, or so we thought. Oh Jesus, yes, we love an or so we thought.
Story.
The day we left, my sweet mom decided to take the dog for a walk. I had instructed her to only use a leash if they went walking around the neighborhood, and not on the dirt paths across the street, as our dog was used to running free on those paths. However, my nervous mom didn't want Nellie to get lost, so she put the leash on her and proceeded to walk her along the dirt path.
She did the responsible thing. I do the same thing if it was someone else's dog, right, you know, sure, Okay.
Just as they were finishing, Nellie spotted wildlife and took off after it, without regard to the lady holding the leash. My mom was yanked hard and fell to the ground. When she tried to get up, she found she couldn't as her hip was broken, fucking which unfortunately she knew from experience. She called out for help and tried to drag herself, but she had left her phone at home charging and no one could see her from the road. As she fell behind a patch of safe.
Like nineteen ninety eight all over again.
Of course, the garbage dog thought my mom was on the ground to play and get kisses, so she decided to slobber all over Mom while she cried out for help. Meanwhile, two hours later, we were at the airport when my ring doorbell notification went off. I opened the app and watched as a man informed my dad that his wife had fallen across the street and thinks her hip is broken. Our wonderful neighbor heard something from his backyard, decided to investigate and found my mom lying in the dirt, unable
to walk. He got my dad and they called an ambulance. I repeatedly called to find out if she was okay, but I got no answer, as both parents had left their phones at my house. I finally asked another neighbor to track down our hero neighbor to find out what was going on. It turns out that my dad had watched TV through the whole thing, even though my mom was gone much longer than she said she would be.
My mom was convinced that he wouldn't have come looking for her until morning, and based on his past record, she's probably right. She ended up getting her third hip replacement. Third hip replacement surgery and the first for that hip, and Nellie ended up being boarded until we got home. My lucky sister also had two house guests for the next few months while my mom recovered, as she didn't want to stay with us and chanced my garbage dog injuring her further.
Probably a pretty good call.
Stay sexy and think twice before letting your garbage Dad and Osteoporosa's riddled mom dog sit.
Bad girl. He didn't mean it bad girl, but very good girl. It was a squirrel. Look at that face.
What she's supposed to do if a squirrel comes.
I'm a perfect perm Oh gorgeous.
Yeah, that's it. That dog only wants what's best for all of us.
Remember when my dad almost killed Elvis when we were on tour. We lit in Australia, and I had had a bag of all his pills in treats, you know, in the pil pill pockets. There was his heart medication.
He had one a day. My dad left the bag out and so Elvis of course chewed through it because he was a monster, and my dad was like, it's a cat, he doesn't do that, and like, yes, he does ate all of his fucking heart pills, and Vince was like, if you killed George's cat, She's never gonna speak to you again.
He was fine, and somehow he powered through it.
He got he was a dump truck. He was like, he was three more years. Frank, Frank is Alvis's fine? Okay, this is called I wish I went to this high school. Hi, covin, Let's do this.
Yes.
I had been with my boyfriend for an unsettlingly long time before he thought to share with me two of the best stories I've ever heard, both of which occurred during the same period, the late nineties, at his high school in Oregon. The first is about a guy named DeAndre who transferred from California and immediately became a model
student and extremely popular. Everyone thought DeAndre was cool. Not only was he a basketball star at a old school in Beverly Hills, but he drove a flashy red Camaro and word quickly spread that his aunt was Diana Ross.
That's always the rumor, especially if you go to a tiny white time right and there's someone of colors shows up there, and that's that's the stuff that happened.
Totally. I forge didn't mind it. I drove a Camaro and my aunt Diana Ross.
You show up and you're just like, that's right, you should absolutely kiss my ane.
You're not denying it. Yeah. He got straight a's, rose to the top of his class and was genuinely nice and friendly to everyone, so much so that he was elected to student government that winter. He was chosen to sing a prize solo at the Christmas concert. Then two days later, choir practice was interrupted by the police bursting in to arrest him. Turns out DeAndre wasn't seventeen after all. Oh these are my favorites. Oh these are my favorite But a thirty one year old convicted felon on the run.
Oh my, he's not just doing it for fun. He made like a fucking Drew Barrymore movie out of his fucking life.
He's reversed twenty one jump streeting it right. He's like, I'm not the cops coming into your high school. I'm the robbers companist right.
He actually had attended this high school fifteen years earlier and remembered it as the happiest time of his life, hence his decision to hide out there for a while. Okay, here's my next fucking book and how it starts like how sweet is that?
But also, please write a book about any high schooler that is the best time of their life?
Is high school? True?
Jesus, get it all down well you can.
Crazily enough, he even had one or two of the same teachers, none of whom seemed to recognize him. The whole scenario is one of my absolute favorite movie tropes. So the fact that this actually happened in real life is a dream come true that has to be made into a movie. Yes, and this is from Sarah, and she put fucking links. This is all this all checks out.
She's like proof, and then she writes and then it gets even better at the same time, all caps at the same school, another popular student, this one student body president, was living out his own cinematic fantasy. Tom was charming, smart, an eagle scout, a track star, and homecoming king. Again, there's links. This sounds like bullshit, it's not. He also happened to be a serial armed robber, terrorizing local businesses throughout his senior year. When they get started out early,
it's almost impressive, like those cheerleaders who were robbing a bank. Yes, it's almost like I was just fucking ditching school to smoke cigarettes by that tree.
I always felt like I had low like iron, poor blood, you know what I mean, Like I always felt so tired and so you know.
What I mean.
I think I need peanut butter for energy.
Jobbing a planning and robbing a buck bank.
I can't finish like a book for a book report.
I can't take change out of my mom's purse without her hearing me upstairs. I'm not fucking running into a bank.
I can't sneak in or out of my house successfully. Ever, How do I rob this bank? And they're just killing it all over town?
Oh, there's so many things we could have done when we were younger. Look at us now, this is the alternative. When he was finally caught, his accomplice was arrested, but Tom managed to escape to Mexico side as a teenager. Wait, this is Oregon.
Yeah, these aren't These aren't my Remember the two guys from Grant High School? Karen and I just looked it up.
I think that this is your guy. This is this is my guy.
Remember the story of the two people in high school together that started. They were like the kings of the high school, but they started robbing businesses.
What episode is this small? It's so fascinating. This was from the live show. Yeah, remember Karen covered it in Oregon?
Yeah, in Portland's amazing. Yes, all right, I kept talking about the high school.
Yes, yes, yes, yeah, no, now I remember.
Yeah, but only only us in the Portland Murderino's note, cause we haven't done it yet.
Sarah clearly wasn't there. Yes, when he was finally caught accomplice. Side note, my boyfriend's sister tells me this arrest actually happened on prom night. You can't make this shit up. Tom successfully head out in Mexico for months, even going so far as to party with thirty seven of his high school classmates who traveled there for a graduation trip. Yeah, none of them tipped off the police man, there's no fucking rats.
That's right.
I remember this one. You have photos of them.
All right, pieces like so many of these stories are similar baseline, but then those details come up, and then you're like, oh, wait a second.
I'll just always remember the time that you were halfway through a story about Circleville on stage live when I realized I had already told that story on Drunk History, and it just hadn't come out yet because I complete I blacked it out literally.
Right goodness, because you were on drunk History. Yeah, he's a good one.
Anyways, none of them took off the police. Tom did eventually turn himself in months later after seeing himself on America's Most Wanted. I remember this. It still baffles me that it took my boyfriend over two years to share what has to be the coolest and most important thing ever to happen to him in his life. But knowing his proximity to these absolutely delicious tales made me love him even more than I already did. I wouldn't say it's the only reason we're now engaged, but it definitely
didn't hurt. Stay sexy and don't trust the popular guy, Sarah. Something in the water there getting away with it.
Yeah, someone opened a portal to hell down in like the basement, and just a bunch of weird energy came out that summer.
Eugene, It's just going crazy, Gene, Oregon.
Well amazing and look forward to that episode in the future.
We can like future market that one.
This is a follow up to minnesod for eighty two. My Mom's legendary radio contest win in honor of our beloved Banana Boys, Hello, guys, gals and non binary pals of MFM. I'm writing in as a direct follow up to the story in minnesod for eighty two about the kid who won the trip to Disney from the TV contest. Yeah,
do you remember that? Kind of It reminded me that the early two thousands were truly the wild West of local radio contest Very true, So of course I need to tell you how my mom Don entered one and became a local legend.
Don is everyone's mom's name, Don's.
She had a long in the summer of two thousand, our local radio station announced at Britney Spears listening contest at our local mall the prize front row seats to the oops, I did it again, tour Take me there. My sister and I were fully possessed by the spirit of Brittany. My dad, Dan, who had a heart of gold but is also a lifelong prankster, entered the contest every single day to get us a shot at winning tickets.
Aw the catch. He entered using my mom's name.
When the radio station called her to say that she had been chosen to compete. She was horrified. No, to make matters worse. My dad then told us kids, all caps told us kids, so we would get excited.
In pure pressure my mom to do it. It's so sweet. I can see why you married him. But no, I don't want to do karaoke in the mall, in public public.
This is a prank to a level that is dastardly and insane and hilarious. But also just think of it. Yeah, so I'm gonna put my name in one time when we were.
At Magic Mike.
Oh yeah, Oh my god. No, I was gonna do the one where I was in New York and it was Maurice's Crisis, which is where all the Broadway singers go to sing songs around a real piano, and all of a sudden they're like, Karen, get up here, and I was like, I got so mad and I just walked out where I'm just like, don't shame me in front of these talented people.
It's diabolical. Okay. So so also, you're a great singer. If I were you, I would have gone the fuck up there and say.
I appreciate it, thank you. It's it's all Annie, It's straight out my nose. Annie, and those people are like opera stars and we just don't want That's not how we have fun, got it?
Uh?
Okay, So my mom has massive social anxiety.
Oh no, okay, I don't know about this, Dad, this is town. He did. Yeah.
Dan knew, right, Dan and Dawn Dan and Don Dan knew that Don had social anxiety. But my dad knew she would be weak to seeing our tiny, hopeful faces. She decided to say fuck it to the anxiety and yes to trying to make her kids'.
Dreams come true. Oh my god.
She thrifted an aggressively hot glued a music video accurate school girl outfit. She recorded episodes of TRL on a VHS tape and watched the Baby One More Time video on a loop, breaking down the choreography like she was preparing for the Olympics. She committed to the bit. The day of the contest arrives at our classic sprawling nineties mall. This stage was, I kid you not built directly on top of the mall fountain.
Yeah.
The competition was stiff. There were dozens of contestants, including several drag queens. Oh so genius as a sheltered kid. I mean those drag queens were like, we're going to win this hands down. This is what we do as a sheltered kid. I remember whispering, look at all those other dads competing for their daughters.
Ah so sweet.
When it was Don's turn, she stepped onto that fountain stage and a pleated skirt and pigtails.
She said she.
Blacked out from nerves, but I remember the audience losing their minds. She nailed every hair flip and snap and was crowned winner of the Britney Spears lip sync.
Battle on wind On for the win.
A month later, we sat in the literal front row watching Brittany, My badass mom, who had just conquered her greatest fear atop of Mall Fountain, danced the entire night with us. Shout out to all the moms who will embarrass the shut out of themselves to make their kids dreams come true. And a special shout out to my og Murderino mom who used to tell me terrifying true stories about her childhood growing up on eight Mile in Detroit just to make sure I'd lock the doors and
fuck politeness. Yeah, stay sexy and lip sync for your life Katie.
Oh my god, what a great story.
Don On.
This one's for you, your number one. Did we tell people to send us when they won contests because I think they should.
Yes, especially if your contest got If the the battle took place at the mall, yeah, you wanted it or or you lost lost it. For sure, you shamed yourself and your family deeply, right in front of missus Field's cookies.
I want a modeling contest at them all once, Georgia, I know, I don't want to talk about it. You're ten revealed.
I don't want to talk about you. Can you just say those words again and look me in the fay? No, Georgia one, I won, she won the modeling contest.
I was obsessed with Kate Moss, so I like knew the walk and I had gotten a barber'son where trained to be a model and looked like one or whatever.
Thank god you didn't get trafficked.
Jesus you should have. There was like a guy with a fucking hook waiting to pull me out. Would you get for winning? I got? I went to this like scout camp thing and I don't want to talk about it.
That's yes, you do, and we're gonna do a whole special episode in the fan colts.
Everybody sign up. There's a reason it's been ten years and I haven't told you that this is a photo incredible, We better get the pictures. In ten years, you can get the photo. Okay, like a Ponzi scheme. Okay, this one's serious. It's the beginning of Pride months. So let's pay tribute to the amazing life of Kay Lahoson, America's first lesbian photojournalist. Nice Hi MFM gang. Back in nursing school, I had my first clinical experience at an assisted living
home in Pennsylvania. During my clinical I met a resident named Kay Lahoson, who described herself as a gay lady who takes pictures. This is one of the old ladies at the home. As a newly out twenty year old, I was intrigued. I imagine the people you meet there are just like ready to tell you their story.
But I mean, how rare that would be, at least for thinking that generationally. It's a very new thing for I think a personally be like, hey, totally yeah.
I learned via Google as she was incredibly humble that Kay was the first openly lesbian American photojournalist. While living in Boston in the early sixties, she met Barbara Gettings and they soon fell in love. During this time, they both worked for a lesbian magazine called The Latter Ledder. Barbara served as the editor and Kay was the art director.
In nineteen sixty three, the art on the cover of the magazine was, as Kay described it, quote pretty bland, little cats, insipid human figures and quote little cat, little cats.
For a lesbian magazine, and then of course ladders implied lesbianism.
Kay, a lifelong photographer, wanted to show actual people lesbians on the cover instead. The first photo was of two women taken from the back. Kay then fought to show actual faces on the cover. She stated, quote if you go around as if you don't dare show your face, it sends forth a terrible message. From the mid sixties on k photographed all sorts of women for the cover of the magazine. She went onto photograph Barber, Gettings and
others picketing at Independence Hall until the late sixties. In nineteen seventies, she was part of the founding of the Gay Activists Alliance. In nineteen seventy two, she worked closely with the GAA to push for removal of homosexuality from the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual Mental Disorders. We all know they have a chapter about us in. Kay and Barbara worked together for forty six years before Barbara passed in two thousand and seven, Kay living until twenty
twenty one. Up until her death, she worked as an activist, publishing multiple books on her photographs and fighting for the rights of LGBTQ plus people. Ky and Barbara's ashes are interned inside a stone bench in the Congressional Cemetery. The bench is in grave with the phrase gay is Good and there's a photo if you want to see it. Sweet little that's beautiful with all the bride flags. I knew Kay for a very short amount of time, but the work that she did for my community is nothing
short of spectacular. I remember that her room at the assisted living facility was full of photographs. I hope she knew just how much she had done for so many I know that this is not the typical topic that you cover, but I wanted to share a little about this woman who had a profound impact on me. She was, at the time the only older adult queer person. I had ever met ChEls. Up until then, I hadn't been able to picture growing old with a woman that I loved.
It makes my heart so happy to know that she got her love story, just like we all deserve. Stay saxy and remember that gay is good. Okay they then, yes, we have the same name. Yes, I think it's rad. I mean that it's like a movie.
I know where it's like, Oh, you just work at an old folks home and then there's one lady that you hit it off with and is so interestedary and she's a legend.
Here's a photo of her, that's all. Oh, look at her. Oh and those are her photographs. Look at the latter.
In a lesbian review, it says, yes, and sorry, the latter started like in the fifties. Is that what you were saying.
It was around? It seems like it says that the magazine started in nineteen fifty six, fifty six. I want to find those are in a state sale.
Oh my god, right, it's so good, so good. Well, that's a really nice email to end for Pride Month.
Yeah, perfect, Send us your stories whatever they may be.
Yeah, who have you discovered in your that surprised you. Yeah, that was actually turned out to be a legend totally. Uh. Well, everybody, stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Goodbye, Elvis, Do you want to Cookie?
This has been an exactly right production.
Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer is Tessa Hughes.
Our editor is Aristotle Ascevedo.
This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Follow the show on Instagram at my Favorite Murder.
Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
And now you can watch My Favorite Murder on Netflix.
And when you're there, hit the double thumbs up and the remind me buttons. That's the best way you can support our show.
Goodbye,