The Internet is a fantastic place to find debates. Many are, of course, not necessarily worth a time, but occasionally you find two sides of a story that just draw you. In the story of John Lang is one of them. John was a man who found himself uncovering the truths of corruption in his city. Some say he was just paranoid, and they didn't really believe him, but when he seemingly predicted his own death, it became almost impossible to deny that he may have been on to something.
My name's Ben and I'm Nicole and you're listening to Wicked and Grim.
A true crime podcast.
The following podcast and material in our audience listener discuss.
So I didn't get that memo?
What memo?
That memo?
Ohkay? Well's you're up opening that one? Thanks? Sounding good?
Yeah that was probably my best one.
Yeah, probably. So we're chilling down in Victoria. This episode is a little bit late because we did all the research everything while on vacation. But what's really cool is we're staying in an airbnb right now. And do you want to tell.
Them no, your own a role? Keep going.
We just started. How am I on a roll?
I don't know you sound good.
Okay, Well, this airbnb we're living in for the next few days here was built in nineteen twelve and chilling on some farm property. This is an old farmhouse.
Yeah, that's kind of been they've redone it.
They have it's quite lovely, but there is a very mysterious and odd looking basement door to like the underneath area. I'm pretty sure there's at least four or five bodies buried in the walls of this home potentially.
I thought you were gonna talk about the lizards.
Oh, there's a lizards fucking everywhere here. Anyone from Victoria? Since when have you had fucking lizards here?
Yeah, they're everywhere. I didn't know that, even apparently downtown.
Yeah, apparently I didn't realize that anywhere in Canada had legit like lizards. Sure, salamanders and like amphibians and shit and snakes, but lizards.
And they've invaded. They're all over there.
They're invasive species. So it's it's interesting.
But bends in like lizard Heaven.
I fucking love lizards.
And I'm just like, please don't touch me. But they're too fast, you wouldn't. You can't even get to them.
Really, Oh they're so quick. Yeah, so quick. I think like, if you're going to actually like try and catch one of these lizards, you need like a butterfly net.
Or something something. Yeah. But we've actually really I was just gonna say, really lucked out on all of our are Airbnb's hotels this trip, Like we have, we've done good.
We stayed stayed in like a heritage place in Vancouver that again is probably like early nineteen.
Hundred yet least, and they were just so lovely and nice and accommodating and.
Uh yeah, so and places some cool places.
Yeah. The place that we were in Colemos wasn't. It was like a converted garage made into an airb It was still really nice, but not really like the heritage to it.
But no, ac that fucking sucked.
Yeah, but it was our northern asses, couldn't hap.
No, we were melting, that's for sure. So do you want to just like dive right into this one? Yeah? Okay, we got we got patrons to thank first up before we and then we'll dive in. Okay, so we're gonna thank patrons. So we have Dawson, I'm going to butcher your last name, but I'm going to try you got this Zaya Joson Zaya Okay, Lexis Costa, Kato Cato full Kato fll Zindia hair Rara. You guys are like, I
swear you're putting me to the test. You're like, my name is gonna be difficult for him to pronounce because he's terrible at this. So I'm gonna sign up for Patreon. I'm pretty sure that's what they do every time. Oh my goodness, we have Janine Wilson and Sarah Joe Larson.
Awesome, thank you so much.
So much for joining us over on Patreon. They're gonna be able to have access to that that after show post chat that we're gonna have with this one.
And then it's the end of the month soon too, isn't it.
It is so there's gonna be an extra case coming up. H okay, so under the case.
So I do know full disclosure a little bit about this one. It's very bizarre, but I'm excited to like kind of do a bit of a deeper dive because I don't think I know all the dates.
So there's I mean, there's so many details with this one. I had to omit some because if I were to be talking about all the details I would be talking about, for example, police history for like two whole episodes, So we can't be doing that. That's just far too much. So I'm kind of skimming over talking about the main ones, some top one sort of thing. But other than that, I definitely do go into some pretty deepcare depth on this one too as well. So hey, let's do it well.
This case is the case of John Paul lang So. John was a fifty one year old former US marine. John resided in the beautiful, warm city of Fresno, California. He was a hard, hardworking individual and made an honest living working at payless breaks and tires.
Okay, right on, John, Yeah.
Doing his thing, you know, blue collar job, you know, a little respect in his life sort of thing, getting a little dirty, just doing his thing. And I mean it may not have been the most glamorous job, like I said, a little bit more blue collar, but he earned an honest living and he was happy. So John unfortunately had been divorced. He was previously married to a woman by the name of Almah. But as some relationships go, they begin to grow apart, and they officially separated in
twenty eleven. So between the two of them, they did have a child together, and the child would go on
to live in with the mother after the separation. I didn't really go in to figure out if it was a daughter or son, A little irrelevant for the story, but they did have a child together, so before their separation, though before the divorce did eventually kick in, John was living his life minding his own business and would go about his days at work and returning home during two thousand and nine when this all began to start, So he was out doing his thing one particular day when
something peculiar caught his eye. Now, perhaps what happened to John in the coming few years and this day would be the catalyst for eventual divorce in twenty eleven.
Oh, okay, it's already something that I didn't wasn't really quite aware of it's.
Potential, Okay, But what did happen was this one day John was at the grocery store. He was coming out into the parking lot and he noticed something odd with police cruisers in the parking lot. So he actually eventually left the parking lot and he got pulled over outside of the parking lot, a routine traffic stop and he got a a citation, okay, And John was a little bit perturbed by this. He's all like, well, who whoa, whoa, whoa.
Weren't you guys just like cruising through the parking lot and didn't you just follow me out of the parking lot? And how is this a routine traffic stop? Seems like you're kind of stalking me or something like. This isn't very fair here. So after he got home, he started doing a little bit of online digging and what he discovered that this situation was that the police cars were
in fact illegally stalking citizens. The patrol cars were going into parking lots and running the license plates of vehicles that were parked, and they would do so until they found someone with something on their record, say an outstanding parking ticket, an expired license, an arrest warrant, who knows whatever, right,
and then they would target that individual. They would wait for them to leave the parking lot, get back into their vehicle whatever, yeah, and then the police would follow them a few blocks and then pull them over for you know, a routine traffic stop.
Wow.
Really yeah, and this is of course illegal entrapment.
Yeah, yeah, that would be.
Because, for example, you're sitting there saying, this person has an expired license. Okay, but they're not driving yet, but I'm going to sit here and wait and wait for them to drive. You can't. You technically can't be doing that.
It's almost like kind of doing the easy route, like kind of it's any like the easy button for their job kind of it is, but it's.
It's entrapment, is what this is. So it's highly illegal. Police cannot be doing that. So the police, sorry, the Fresno Police actually worked on a quota system. The more arrests that they made, the more money they would make in return.
Oh wow.
So essentially they are trying to raise their quota. Like you say, an easy button, an easy way to get higher numbers, aka an easy way to have our money come. So John, figuring this out, began making posts that he witnessed this so again posting on Facebook.
I just have to say, though, that's almost a little bit like he's kind of things outside the box a little for him to even like realize and notice this and take note.
Yep, he does. Yeah, So he was on Facebook telling everyone that he, you know, he did notice this. He's like, hey, you know, I figure this out. This is what they're doing. It's kind of basically a scam that the police are running. And he also took to the Fresno B website. Now, the Fresno B is a local newspaper, and he was commenting on many of their articles saying, Hey, you know what, this is what I discovered. The Fresno police are kind of running this quasi scam. You guys should run a
story in this, look into it, research it, what ever? Right, trying to get like the voice out there. Wow. No one however, took John seriously, and his comments and Facebook posts all fell on deaf years.
Really, Okay, I'm a little bit surprised by that. Well, that no one would kind of. I mean, I feel like nowadays, lots of times people see stuff like that and just take it and run.
And that's true. But I do want to play Devil's advocate here, and I'm going to do it a couple times in this case, potentially with people not liking my opinions or not even opinions, but Devil's advocate here. Okay, so bear that in mind. I'm simply playing Devil's advocate with this one. As far as I could find John had no proof to back up his claims that he was seeing officers stalking people in the parking lots, So I can't really blame anyone for necessarily not taking him seriously.
All he's saying is I saw this. Okay, where's the proof?
Right?
How do you know this is actually happening?
So it could it could almost have just been like a coincidence.
It could have been maybe there was an officer who on his lunch break was going in and buying a bag of bread because he or beggels for the morning, right, Yeah, And then John pulls out of the parking lot and two blocks later got pulled over by maybe a similar looking officer.
And it was just completely random o sorts.
So I'm not saying John is lying. I'm not saying John is wrong, but I'm saying John doesn't have evidence to back up his claims.
Okay, So it's not like he had at that point seen this prior to or or something. At this point, he's kind of just pissy that he got a ticket.
Potentially, John could be right, This could be exactly what's happening. He just doesn't have the evidence to show anyone else this is factual.
Okay.
So in the same breath, though, the Fresnel Police Department didn't exactly have the greatest reputation, so it's not surprising if they were to do something like this. Okay, So many actually believe that the Fresnel Police Department is one of the most corrupt police departments in the United States, really one of the most corrupt. It's been plagued by corruption and police brutality throughout much of its one hundred and thirty year history. According to federal and state investigators.
Up to the late nineteen seventies, Fresno police chiefs so successors after another made a habit of connecting and dealing with Vice Lords, which were a notorious and infamous street gang that was started in nineteen fifty. So they made connections with these guys, and they made dealings with the gang, and they were able to make a massive amount of money by turning a blind eye and being a part of the gang operations.
Yes serious, Yes, so much so.
That these police officers were able to buy huge vineyards, horse ranches all for their own personal properties.
Okay, that is like super fucked yes wow, I mean some people listening and would probably not be super surprised by that. But that's bad.
It is very bad.
Wow.
One chief, for example, would eventually find himself in federal prison for tax evasion. In the late nineteen eighties, one officer, officer Jerry Dyer, had allegations against him of raping a teenage girl while being employed with the department.
Okay, that's that's quite the allegation there.
I don't know if the allegation was ever gone past a simple allegation or if there was any proof to back it up. But after the allegation, he was promoted to sergeant shortly after and eventually became chief in two thousand and one.
Oh my gosh. So if that's true, that is so disturbing and so disgusting. Yes, wow, you mean you hear about it? Dirty cops, right, that's like basically what this is.
Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent.
That them being at a higher power and thinking that their king shit and do whatever.
They want, right exactly, so, taking bribes, taking money, dealing drugs of course, taking advantage of individuals. It seems to be like countless stories of this sort of stuff involved with the Fresnol Police.
That's so sad.
There's also police brutality. Over the past decade or so, there have been an ungodly amount of lawsuits filed against the department. There's been nearly two hundred lawsuits filed for excessive force used. Now almost half of them were dismissed by the judge too.
So maybe the judge isn't in on this too.
Potentially, well, there's potential of that. But I'm going to play devil's advocate here. This is particularly the one where I think people may not like what I have to say. Okay, but bear in mind, it's not necessarily my opinion, it's not necessarily fact. It's just I'm trying to get I'll explain myself here shortly, and I'm going to play devil's advocate and I'll explain because it'll make better sense that way. So excessive force is not something that's justifiable, you know that.
I'm going after the other half here, But the just judge sided with the officer saying it was not excessive force. So Fresnel crime rate is at five hundred and ninety four point four per one hundred thousand of the population, and the national average in the US is three hundred and ninety five point seven per one hundred thousand of the population.
Okay, so they actually have more crime there.
Yes, at higher crime rate, higher crime rate above the national average in Fresno, California. At times, appropriate force may be needed for a situation, right, we can understand that appropriate appropriate force. Now that's a very subjective term appropriate force is, but appropriate force may be needed for a situation. So appropriate force is easy to judge in hindsight. But in the heat of a moment, an officer may come
close to that line of excessive force. Right. It may happen even I'm assuming here it's not a corupt officer. Think the perfect police officer, okay, cookie cutter, exactly what a citizen would want. It could potentially be easy for him to come close to that line in a heated situation.
Oh yeah, Well, I mean their jobs are scary at times too, and like their lives and stuff are on the line.
Right, So they have someone coming in swinging out watching him a weapon of some sort, force is going to be necessary, and that excessive might like not say it's right to do so, but it could be reasonable to think that you might get close to that accidentally in
the heat of a moment. So we have higher crime rates, which means a higher potential for higher numbers of coming close to that excessive force okay accidentally, and we're also going to have a higher number of lawsuits actually being filed. So what I'm trying to basically say is that those ones that the judge may have very well been situations where the officers use force and was not a corrupt asshole.
It may not be a corrupt judge. Maybe it legitimately was simple force was used, a little bit more force had to be used, and it was appropriate. And then we have individuals that are fighting it saying, hey, it was excessive, but it's like, no one actually really was necessary in the situation. Yeah, So assuming all these excessive force pieces that the judge throughout, let's assume those were not actually excessive force. I'm going to assume that the
judge is not corrupt. Okay, That's what I'm basically trying to say.
Well, and I was also see my mind went somewhere a little bit differently. It was just basically like if there's an allegation against a police officer, that's like a really big deal on a big can kind of being open too right, and so I don't know exactly where I'm going here, but like the judge could be not
wanting to like open that can. For each one of these they have a problem where they have a higher crime rate and in the heat of the moment or adrenaline or whatever, they're you know, they're they're having to do things that maybe they could learn from or change in the future. But the judge isn't wanting to like go there, you know what, do you know what I mean?
Kind of well, and I know exactly what you mean. And there's a reason why, a specific reason why I really wanted to touch on this. I think it's really important to talk about this, especially with conspiracy cases, because conspiracies get out of control. Generally, when someone really believes in one side, they will skip over or purposely misinterpret information on the other side to really paint their picture. Oh yeah, Okay, So there's no allegations even of a
judge being corrupt here. Okay, So that's what I want to say. I'm like, don't make that assumption that it's a corrupt corrupt judge. It's a difficult situation, difficult town.
The higher crime rate, higher cases going through him, like, you know, higher allegations, like, yeah, we kind of I get what you're you're totally saying.
So I think it's really important to consider the facts basically on an unbiased opinion. So that being said, the police did some serious shitty stuff.
Yes, there was still some people in there that were not peer yes one to put it nicely, yes.
So back off that here, back onto some more shitty stuff the police officers, actually we know they did.
Okay.
Police officer Brian Ridner was arrested in a sex working staying in June of twenty ten, where he quote will be placed on modified duties pending the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.
Okay, so what does that even mean? Like he was caught with a sex worker?
No, like he was operating a sex ring, Like he was like pemping people basically for a lack off. Yeah, that's bad. Yeah, so it was like a whole online type thing.
That he had going whoa Okay.
Former police detective Darren Kumaggie pleaded guilty in February of twenty fifteen on charges of accepting a twenty thousand dollars bribe from a drug trafficker.
Oh my, gosh, I mean, twenty thousand dollars a way in front of her. It would be hard to turn down. But there is an ethics there, there's an asshole.
Would there be corrupt as fuck? O?
Heay, No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying twenty thousands a lot of money.
But you just outed yourself.
You gotta consider the ethics.
So no, yes, nice safe, nice safe the ethics. No that that's definitely bad that you don't accept that.
No, no, bride.
In March of twenty fifteen, Deputy Chief Keith Keith Foster peddled heroin and marijuana. He was sentenced in twenty seventeen to forty eight months in prison. October twenty fifteen, Officer William Wyatt received probation over prison time for raping a woman who was unconscious. Whoa The list goes on. As I mentioned, I admitted a lot of this because there is far too many to talk about.
And well a lot of those are quite bad too, yes, And the fact that, like, I don't know, the one mit you mentioned was like forty eight months, that's not very long. No, I feel like they should almost get well. I don't know if I should say that I was almost thinking they should get longer sentences.
Almost because they're an officer.
Well yeah, because they are the ones like they should be held at a higher.
Standard almost they're supposed to be upholding the law.
Yeah, so geez, so yeah, it's kind of a problem. Yeah, this is a problem there.
Yeah. So basically, in short, the Fresno police officers are absolutely so corrupt, but that like they're like one percent less corrupt because of that argument made earlier, Okay the judge maybe not of necessarily being corrupt. I don't it's such a small portion, but it's I just feel like it's important to still talk about those one percent pieces.
Ah well, I mean there, Yeah, I'm sure there was some police officers in that force that were amazing.
Oh definitely. Yeah. So moving forward, as you guys continue to listen to this, I do want you to kind of keep an eye open or an ear open, and really pay attention to not trying to be biased on certain things, because that is really important in this case. Yeah. So John was certain he found them doing, of course, more shady stuff, the whole license plate running little scam they had going on, but no one believed him. This, however, is where the story really takes a bit of a
nod turn. Since he had basically blown the whistle online about the police allegedly potentially with their operation, he found themselves he found himself being targeted by the Fresno Police Force. Okay, so what he'd do is both to basically offer proof and to watch his own back. John would install security cameras around his property, and over the course of a total of almost seven years, John was able to accumulate
footage of the alleged police harassments. They would to quote him, harass and intimidate him.
Oh my goodness, that's scary, it is.
Yeah, I can't imagine having that situation. And I understand there's so many people in the world today who feel very much so like John. They don't have the police to turn to, and that is such a scary thought.
Well yeah, because then it's like, well, who else do you have to turn to? Right, right?
It's terrifying. Oh yeah, And so this is what happens if you are dealing with corrupt individuals in a authority figure, police force sort of position.
Yeah, or you'd kind of have a lack of trust or something there.
Yeah, yep. So John basically decided to take this all online right, trying to blow the whistle on Facebook where he could. And what he would do is he would create a YouTube channel for himself called lang Marine and the YouTube channel is still up today and this is where he would upload a total of seventeen videos from his home security footage. The first video he posted was from January thirteenth in twenty fourteen, where it shows a silver or kind of a white pickup truck. Some people
say white, some say silver. I'm pretty sure it's silver, but anyways, it drives by his house and like slows down and then kind of picks up and drives away again. And then moments later it returns again to drive by. It doesn't slow down this time, but it does drive by a second time. So John would write and believe that this is an unmarked police vehicle and he'd actually
seen this vehicle follow him around town many times. He also received a phone call shortly after the drive by, and as soon as he answered the phone, the person on the other end click hung up.
Okay, that's a bit alarming, a little for sure. Okay, I don't mean I should probably save this later, but I'm just gonna throw one tiny little tidbit out go for it, so I don't forget is basically it kind of also seems like the police department had friends in scary places too, so that when I think, when I what initially popped my head is it was like it could be you know, like the they had like drug trafficking relationships or whatever, and it was like them just
like trying to scare this guy that was like going off online kind of thing.
That entire time you were talking Garth Brooks was playing in my head. Why I've got friends?
Okay, that's why.
But no, I definitely agree there is a very high potential of it. Yeah, not necessarily being the officers, but yeah, being there they're friends.
And yeah, so that's what I was kind of thought when I heard like this truck going by sort of thing. So yeah, but let's see what else happens here.
Well, each one of his uploaded videos does contain a lengthy written explanation in the description, Okay, basically in what John believes is going on in the clip. He's got seventeen videos, so I'm not going to sit here and describe to you each and every one of his videos, right, But basically, some clips show police vehicles driving by. Others show suspicious unmarked vehicles driving by. Some are more than just drive bys. Really. There are clips of police making
arrests outside his house. There's videos of individuals attempting to break into his property, oh wow, and alleged gaps in his security footage where he claims the cameras were tampered with or hacked.
Okay, that's I don't like that.
Yeah, there are all allegedly as far as John is concerned, coming from the Fresno police.
Okay, so he's very convinced.
He's very convinced. Now, many people who heard John's story at this time played him off as paranoid or even potentially schizophrenic. But one video that John captured may may very well be so convincing that it may be even able to change the mind of someone who's super skeptical.
Ok So, this video, in particular, the caption begins by saying this, This is quoted right off his YouTube channel, his writing, this is the same Fresno, California sheriff crew that has been illegally entering my property and home when I leave my house. Here they are using an infrared thermal imager to see if I am home. They then phone a waiting second party with information as to whether
or not I am home. Fresno Police Department fails to fully investigate my complaint on this incident, which I fully detailed in my Fresno Police Department internal affairs complaint. If anyone can identify any of the Fresno Sheriff personnel in this video, please forward their names. So the video was taken on April fifteenth, twenty fifteen, and again his channel
is up. The video is there, you can watch. I'll put in the description below, and it shows a black van on the street on the other side of John's house. The side door of the van is slit open, and you can see a man holding an elaborate camera rig pointed directly at John's house. This is no question that
it's a camera rig. This is plain as day. So after a few moments, the man shuts the door of the van, talks to someone in the front driver's seat who is clearly also talking to someone on the cell phone, and then they simply drive away. Oh man, the van or men inside the van have never been identified.
Hmm, okay, well, I mean especially if that's happened. Okay, I feel like I would notice that, be a bit alarmed, for sure, But that if that was really the only thing, you kind of probably you know, you'd make up, Oh it's this happened, it was because of this, right, You always make up different scenarios in your head or make it seem okay. But if there was a bunch of other things already happening and then that happens, shit, right, like shit, I.
Mean it like shit, for sure. It's sketchy as fuck. I do want to say one thing though, for sure, because I know quite a bit about cameras, and so do you. I'm almost positive this is not an infrared camera, Like I am like ninety nine nine percent sure it's not an infrared camera. It does appear to be like a DSLR of some sort. Its like a digital like a cannon or a Nikon camera, a high end one, don't get me wrong. But it does seem to have
like a kind of a lower end cinema lens. And it's all on a gimbal, so like a two handed gimbals and steady, easy footage.
And they're not filming the neighbors and stuff it's just literally his.
House pointed directly at his house, and that's it.
Yeah, Like, how can you justify that? I guess because I mean if it was kind of this van was driving and getting his neighbors too, then then you could justify it. But just his house is kind of odd.
Well, there was a comment, and I didn't copy copy it off Reddit, but I did find this one individual talking about it. It's not a fool proof idea, but it's not a bad potential explanation. They said, well, he's been contacting news sources, right, what if it is a local news source who is maybe getting clips of his house or something to report the story. I mean we just don't know. Yeah, but no one's come forward to say it's them.
Well, yeah, because even if he has this YouTube channel and people are kind of aware of his allegations and stuff, there are people out there that just like to fuck with other people too. Yeah, and they and they, if they found on his address, they could just be doing shit to like scare him more.
Not just anyone has this camera gear though, especially we're looking at twenty sixteen, I mean nowadays, yeah, but even still even five years ago.
Yeah, that's true.
I did just want to mention though, because I'm pretty sure this isn't infrared. I'm like ninety nine point nine percent censure. John did say it's infrared, which to me says John is jumping to conclusions in this incident. Oh Okay, he's making.
Assumptions because he thinks it's it's there to check to see if he's home.
Yes, I mean what if. What if it's a real estate agent who's maybe making a video for houses in the neighborhood and they just like the architecture in his house and he went into this real estate agent's video.
Yeah. I mean, I've honestly taken photos of people's houses and stuff before because I'm like, oh, I like the design of that. Yeah, and if they see you doing that, they'd probably like what the fuck.
Yeah, But in this defense, this was like a crew. There was like three.
Yeah, that's a bit more than just some chick walking by with a camera.
Yeah. So yeah, he's to me, kind of jumping to conclusions potentially in a little bit of at least this video, potentially more.
But he's also scared at this point too.
Oh yes, thoroughly.
Yeah.
So the sum of his content posted it seems to be that the police were not only stocking and intimidating him, but also trying to set him up to be arrested on charges. So he alleged in one of his online posts that he believed the police had entered his home while he was away one day and copied his hard drives. His theory was that they were potentially wanting to set him up on child pornography charges to get him arrested.
Okay, did he have that, No, but that that's what.
He's sitting here saying. He's like, they're probably trying to do this. He's like, so if you see me like this is going to come down here soon, I bet you this is what could be what's happening. He's not outing himself saying I'm like, I.
Got child are almost planting something just to get okay.
He's trying to stay one step ahead of the cops. He's basically got like, I've got a copy of my hard drives. They now have a copy, and they're planting shit in my heart drives and when they arrest me, they're going to say these are my heart drives.
To say that the police entered his home without you know, a warrant or anything.
Is quite that's a heavy allegation.
Yeah, that really is.
Yeah, And I do want to say that, like John wasn't certain on like saying, oh, they're definitely trying to get me rested on child pornography charges. He's just saying, like, it's probably gonna be something like this. They might be
trying to get another way. There was another one where he saw a garbage truck drive by and his wife had just recently been had her ex wife now by this time, had had her purse stolen, and so he's like, well, maybe check the neighbor's garbage cans and stuff like this, right, because maybe like someone stole out of your car and like dumped it and stole cash and dumped it in a garbage can down the house, right, Yeah, And so
he's thinking his phones, all that sort of stuff is tapped. Now, this garbage truck is driving by, which by the way, did have police officers not far behind it, drive in front of his house. He was thinking that what they were going to do was plant the purse in his garbage can with this garbage truck and the police were going to come up and then catch him on that. But he didn't have his garbage can out that day, not yet, and he missed it.
Oh my god.
So he's coming up with these different theories on potential things that they might be trying to do.
Okay, that, okay, I can kind of understand that one a little bit. But it also seems like it's kind of like an overactive imagination too. Potentially.
Yes, definitely, I agree. He's really reaching for a lot here, and many people believe the same sort of thing. Many are like, he's like, something's going on, maybe mental health, potential schizophrenic, as I said earlier, a severe paranoia, something's going on, like this stuff isn't happening. But he's basically their attitude. So one day, though, John's Facebook post became
much darker than anything he had posted before. John knew that if the police weren't able to set him up for a false arrest and get him on some charges or whatever, there would only be one other way to silence him. So on January fourteenth, twenty sixteen, he said this in a Facebook post. Just wanted to give you
guys a heads up. If anything happens to me in the next day or two, it will be the result of the Fresno Police Department, my neighbor and an employee yet my pay less breaks and tires on Blackstone, basically saying something's gonna happen. These are the people responsible.
So wow.
He believed other people were corroborating and helping the police with information on him and gaining access and stuff.
Okay, sorry, is he saying I just need to clarify something that his neighbors and his employer are also in on this?
Well, he said, my neighbor and an employee at my job.
Okay, okay, so specific individuals, right, okay.
The next day, on the fifteenth, he reached out to a reporter named Corn Hogard from Action News and on Facebook he said, this, Cooran, you want some news. Corrupt Fresno cops are going to try and kill me this weekend, possibly tonight. This is no joke. Please follow up on my story regardless of what happens or what version the cops and the Fresno be come up with. Please check out Jody Murray dot com and my YouTube site. Thank you. Oh, I want to brush up on who Jody Murray is.
Jody Murray is from the Fresno b the police. I'd sorry the newspaper. Okay, he was an individual who worked there, and John believed was responsible for supplying his IP address and many other people as well who would comment and because I'm und okay, So when he originally approached the Fresno b he's like, hey, you know, this is what's
happening with the little scam they're running. He believed this individual was the one responsible for telling the police department who he was via his IP address, and then they re routed and started harassing him that way.
I wonder why he thought that, Like there had to been a reason, you know. So that's interesting.
Yeah. On the sixteenth, he posted his last YouTube video. It shows a white van parked in front of his neighbor's house just right beside him. The van has a business name across the side, Guarantee Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning. A man can be seen standing next to the van and glancing towards John's house a few times before shoving a flyer in the neighbor's mailbox and driving away.
Okay, I look around a lot oddly, though, So I'm just saying, like me, if someone were to watch me, they'd probably think I'm up to no good.
Sometimes that's true. And I mean there is like a phone number and a whole business thing on this and people have tried to dive into this business. Apparently it was absolved shortly after this case occurred. The website seemed very like sketchy, like very little information on.
It, like it didn't exist.
Almost Some people have said it is legit business, maybe just not a very well put together one or something. Others are saying no, like not really, Well did.
They not give John a fly er too? Do they just literally give it to the neighbor and.
That's it just the neighbor.
Oh okay, that's really weird. That's weird.
One neighbor too, that's a bit odd. Yeah. So John posted that security footage with that guy in that van on his YouTube video that was his last one posted, and it went along with this caption, if I turn up missing or dead tomorrow, remember this van. I think I seen a couple guys sneak in the side door and into the building where it was parked in the carport this afternoon. I've been causing the city of Fresno
a lot of problems recently, which I now regret. Sign on the door said guarantee carpet cleaning Fresno.
Oh my gosh, he should almost leave if he literally thinks that he's about to die here. He needs to like go on our little vacation and get the shit out of there.
Well, he did kind of reach out for help a little bit, like he's saying this sort of stuff online, right, right, And he also posted and asked for some help from friends and family on Facebook. He posted and said, anyone want to crash at my pad tonight must be a legal gun owner. I think the bad guys might come and get me tonight, Oh my gosh. And then someone responded on that post saying wtf, and he went and
commented back, totally serious, Any serious patriots out there. I've seen a couple of guys sneak into the vacant building next to me. I've been under some threats recently because of my activism lately.
Okay, he's so scared, he is, but he maybe he doesn't. He literally doesn't have anywhere else to go.
It's possible. Well, four days after that post, on January twentieth, John was found dead in his home.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, he basically predicted he.
Did so death he really really did.
Yep.
Wow.
So on January twentieth, twenty sixteen, Fresnel Fire Department responded to a fire at six four eight North van Ness Avenue in Fresno, which is John's house after having to force their way inside due to John securing the home very well because.
He was scared shitless exactly.
Yeah, firefighters found John laying on the floor in the kitchen of his home. John did not burn to death, however, he did have multiple stab wounds. There were medical personnel who did attemptal attempt medical attention on John, but he was eventually pronounced dead a short time later at the Fresne Community Regional Medical Center.
So he was locked in his house with stab booms.
Correct, that was on fire.
Okay, that's a lot to kind of just like process. It is like a lot, it really is. Okay, I need to hear a bit more about these stabs. Okay, I'm trying to hear.
So.
Lieutenant Joe Gomez of the police Department's Public Information would speak publicly about the incident and told the press that John had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen and back and that his house was set on fire. It seems like John had been attacked and of course murdered, which is where all of our minds are going. Yeah, but not only that, he of course predicted his own death. He saw this coming.
Yeah, he really did. Like there is a lot to look back on there to see that.
The next piece, though, is really interesting. The story was released to the public and then it suddenly changed. So Tony Body was a spokesperson for the Fresno County Sheriff and Corner. He said John had three superficial self inflicted stab wounds to the chest and no cuts on his back, despite what was initially reported to by law enforcement.
Oh wow, okay, so that really changed because before it wasn't like the abdomen in the back, correct, and now there's superficial.
Three superficial ones to his chest.
But like, if he was trying to kill himself, what would be the point of him doing that? Yeah, like three superficial stab wounds to his chest. Yeah, that doesn't make sense, it doesn't.
I mean everyone was literally confused, just like you are. You're staring at me with a blank ster right now, You're like, what the fuck been? I'm pretty sure that's it's the same stare everyone had when they were watching some TV and looking at their phones, like what the fuck president?
Well, yeah, yeah, uh so.
They're basically, why was it reported that he had stab wounds on his chest and his back and all of a sudden, now it's changed to three superficial wounds on his chest.
It's not really something even just take away one percent.
So Lieutenant Burke Farah, who's the head of the homicide unit, said that it was incorrect information that was released at the scene by Lieutenant Joe Gomez and he basically just made a mistake. It's a pretty significant mistake to make.
Yeah, is that did that lieutenant get fired because he said the wrong thing? Though, Like he's probably is getting some heat because he didn't cover up something that he was supposed to cover up.
Potentially, Yeah, but they changed. It's fine. Well, on May sixteenth, which was four months later, the Corner's report would be released, and I do have the full Corners report available, Okay, so that's gonna be the show.
I also feel like a private autopsy of sorts maybe needed to be done.
Potential, but the report stated manner of death suicide, cause of death inhalation of smoke and soot, due to fire with multiple stab wounds as a contributing factor. So when John's body was brought in, police also brought in two kitchen knives with John. One was a bread knife, so a serrated bread knife, and the other was a Japanese style kitchen knife. So the report said that it was
possible John used the bread knife to stab himself. However, however, the other knife was inconsistent with the size of the third stab wound in his chest. What's interesting in this report is that it does not make any mention of the stab wounds to the back, but it does, however, detail the stab wounds to the chest, which penetrate through the sternum and one even making contact with a ventricle of his heart.
Oh my gosh, So those aren't really superficial that No, Oh my gosh, could you imagine doing that to your.
With abserrated bread knife?
Holy shit, Because I mean, if you was suicidal, I feel like I don't know that he might have done it a different way than that you.
Would potentially think. I can't imagine anyone even trying to consider potential mental health situations. I can't fathom someone being able to do that with a serrated bread knife that has a blunt tip. Usually yeah, breaking through their sternum into their.
Heart, because that's like that would be like a lot of force. Oh you bet, But I mean sometimes like the sometimes mental health illnesses do make you like do almost I can't think of the word.
Like superhuman sort of very goal. Yeah, no, I totally gotcha, But I I just I don't see a way. I don't see that being able to happen because he would have had to have light the fire first. He would have lit the fire and then stabbed himself and then succumb to the exphyxiation from the fire, right, so he would have been in a rush probably adrenaline. You're right, but I think it would have taken like some serious thought.
Your first attempts probably going to fail, guaranteed fail, But there was no such failure found.
Well yeah, and then too, like if he did a first attempt, though, you might be like, what the what the fuck am I doing here? And you know, kind of wake up and realize, oh my gosh, like I want to live.
So to me, they either did not get the correct knife or weapon or how he did it or something is superfishy.
And if he did it himself though, it would be very much so obvious what the correct weapon would be, yeah, because it would be right there, right yeah, So that wouldn't be something you'd mess up.
Correct. So of course his death was ruled a suicide, meaning John did this to himself. The knife is now identified as this bread knife. He apparently stabbed himself in the chest three times with it, hard enough to break through his sternum and rate one reach towards his heart gosh.
The report also mentioned John had cameras inside his home and on the day of his death, the report claimed John walked in front of the cameras twice with a knife and in his hand, sorry, knife in his hand, before shutting the cameras off, But no such footage has ever been released really correct, so, no such footage has ever been shown of John walking in front of a camera twice with a knife before shutting off the footage, because.
You don't think that he would shut it off for himself.
Which actually, now that I think about it, I do have the crime scene photos for this as well, and I do recall them showing the case every single camera on his house. I wonder if they do show any camera inside his home. I never even thought to look at that until just now. No, Okay, okay, we're gonna look that up in the post show. We're gonna look that up in the post show. For show.
Ben's is like, now he's you've already gone down a rabbit hole, but you're continuing to go down.
Oh you know it. So so many people call bullshit in this whole Corner's report. In the story on what actually happened, basically, the matter that death is just like not the fuck, no way, No one really realized that it was potentially true. John was just paranoid, but he did potentially predict his own murder. Yeah, so maybe he was actually onto something.
Oh yeah, this okay, this is just such a bizarre story, and it really is because it's also just like, okay, yeah, he could have predicted his own murder or was this all just like some sort of crazy ass story that he went about doing and then and then did commit suicide.
Potentially because maybe he was trying to frame the police. There is a potential of that maybe he was has struggling with mental illness to such a degree that he did this to try and bring down the police, saying if I frame them, then maybe I can get some shit going on. There is a potential of that. I'm not going to deny that.
Yeah.
So, after John's suicide or potential murder or whichever one you potentially think it, cause of course a lot of outrage among his now social media followers and everything. However, media outlets barely touched the story at all.
Really, really, I thought the media would be literally all over this.
Nope, hardly touched it at all. What the fought And his online diary that he kept basically kind of like a like a blog sort of thing where he documented many of the incidents and stuff was immediately taken down after his death as well.
And who took that down? Then?
Whoa?
I mean, well that could do that. Could probably have been the police of sorts that took that down.
It also could have been the fire that took it down. Yeah, maybe he stored it all in a hard drive in his home and the fire it got damaged.
I guess. But if it was like literally online, you wouldn't think once it's online, it's online.
Maybe it was not online, it was stored in like a hard drive. And then when you go to this website to access is the hard drive. Maybe he didn't actually stored it on the internet. Okay, so there is potential of that that might explain it.
You're really looking at all angles, you're playing Devil's Advocate it.
I think it's important to do that with it.
It is no, it is Yeah, where.
Did I find myself here? Oh right. One thing that is really interesting is the group Anonymous, you know, the activist group. They publicly targeted Fresno police and representatives with this really basically saying that like, shit's going to go down. I'm going to play you guys the video because the video disc does still exist, So I'm going to play you what they said directly to the Fresno police and city representatives. Okay, okay, So here we go, Hello.
And welcome, brothers and sisters of the world. Today we have a very important message one of our deceased brothers, John Lang. It has come to the attention of the collective that the murder of our brother has gone without a whisper from the Fresno media. John Lang was an activist doing what most of us have set out to do. Exposed option, bring lies to the service for all to see, stand up for people who have not yet learned to
stand up for themselves. He was exposing the Fresno Police Department for running a ticketing scam, scanning parts civilian vehicles in parking areas and using the gathered information to pull the vehicle over shortly after departing. He repeatedly reported this find to the local media. The Fresno b unemployee named Jody Murray from the Knight gave the Frasno Police his IP address and information. That is when the harassment began
that eventually led to our brother's death. Jody Murray of the Fresno be claims he gave John's information away because he was mentally ill, an overuse tactic used by most mainstream media outlets. Attack one's character and people will no longer care you were wrong. If you look into the alternate media reports of John Lang, you can see and judge for yourself, and in fact, I encourage al.
To do so.
This is a call to action, Brothers and sisters. We cannot let this go without further investigation. Since the people John Lang reached out to investigate this have failed to launch fun, including the FBI he also reached out to for help, then we will This is a call for Operation Fresno and Operation John Lang. To kick off the operation, the Fresno city website got taken down today. Consider this a taste of what is to come. John Lang will have justice to Jody Murray and the City of Fresno.
We are anonymous, we are a legion. We do not forgive, we do not forget. Expect us.
Wow. Yeah, they took down the city's websites.
You bet you well.
I mean they usually mean like business they do, and like I don't know a lot about them.
I don't think anyone does. I think that's why they're called anonymous touche.
But they generally seem like they for them to go and do something like that, that like there's some backing behind it, do you know what I'm saying?
Yeah, there's usually reason.
Yeah. So like they've like they've done their their research in a sense. Yeah, and they really do believe this.
Yes, So so that's that that holds some weight.
Yeah.
There is another little strange tidbit here I want to mention, and it could be potentially again John being paranoid. Many people act this way for their own reasons. But strangely enough, John does not have a single picture of himself on the internet, not one. We do not know what John.
Looks like, really, correct, We have no idea.
No, I mean, we have descriptions from his coronary report, his autopsy, and there are technically two photos that do exist. One person from Reddit who claims to have gone to high school with John and has this old, blurry kind of photo from a high school.
Well you think someone out there does not have loved ones would have photos of him.
Well, potentially, but not online. There's nothing online. No confirmed photos of John exist online.
Does John exist?
There is his driver's license in the corner's report again, okay, however it's a photocopy and it looks absolutely terrible. You can barely see what he looks like at all. Wow, barely. So it could be like a male and that is basically what that's right, Hey, that's a dude. I think Maybe I don't know, but there.
Could be a lot of people out there, like say, if they didn't they haven't had a job where they have had to have their photo out on like the website, on the company's website, or they haven't done any sort of social media things like it. It might not be super rare that they wouldn't have a photo o.
Yeah, and some people decide, you know, IM just going to take photos offline or something. Yeah, it's potential. So this is the end of John's story. His death was officially ruled as suicide, and it's believed that he both stabbed himself three times in the chest with a serrated bread knife and set fire to his own home. Little to no evidence has been brought forward to show that this is what was done on his own and little to no evidence has been offered to disprove anything about
his claims either. So whether it's true what John says or true what the police say, we really don't know because no evidence has really been brought forward either way.
It's almost kind they're hoping it to just get swept under the rug. But the fact that the media has not really said anything, like the Fresnel media is really bizarre. It is this is that's a big story.
Especially if it is a corrupt police force. Right.
Yeah, but it's I mean unless the police are just.
Wrapped up in it, paying them off, not letting them do it.
Yeah, right, it has to be something like that, because why would they not be sharing this story?
So many people believe that John was of course attacked murdered by the police, But then many believe that it was paranoia and health and he did take his own life. It's hard to say one way for another for sure, but I mean, which other side you do land on? It's kind of hard to refute much of the things John was able to do, like predict his own death jeez.
But then the other question is why, you know, why would they have really? But we can talk chat about that more in our pay drum post show.
Yeah, our post show over on Patreon. If you want to join in the description below, there's a link there. If you don't want to do it, that's totally cool and you could be here with us just like you are right now.
You just turned into an announcer.
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Wicked and Graham. Wow, I need another drink.
Don't quit your day job.
Already did too late? Now, mother Park that was good.
Yeah, maybe we'll switch over to some wine and chat a little bit more about this.
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Next week and there's always next week until then, Stay wicked.
Do do do Do do do.
Oh? I was going to do that. Do That's okay, next time, Okay,