539 - It Keeps Getting Ruined

[MUSIC] >> This is exactly right. [MUSIC] >> I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess Podcasts. The True Crime Comedy Podcasts all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. Each week I bring on an amazing guest. >> Ooh, I scammed them. >> What? >> I could talk to you for an hour. >> You're a generational yapper, like me. >> [LAUGH] >> That's why I had to make yapping a job. >> And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. >> Start listening to Scam Goddess on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. [MUSIC] >> Hello and welcome to my favorite rudder. >> That's Georgia Heart Start. >> That's Karen Killcaref. >> And we've got some surprises in store for you today. >> Slutty vacation nails. >> Hey. >> Whoa, those are the longest I've ever seen your nails. >> They're not mine, they're literally vacation nails that I'm obsessed with. >> Will you throw up those nails to your camera as we are on Netflix and show the world? >> They're gel X, and they just make you feel like a grown-up. >> Yeah, they look really nice. >> My nails have always been like junior high school. And now I'm like in my 30s, working at a law firm. >> Oh my God, congratulations, when did you get that job? >> When I got my second nails. >> They came with nails. >> Exactly. >> Wow, because my nails are the manicure I gave myself at the last minute, because I couldn't somehow get to the mani-pedi salon. >> Show your camera. >> Well, no, because it's just dire, because it now looks like a French manicure, but that's not how it started. >> That's how I look. >> I also always immediately smudge my right thumb. >> Always. >> That's so irritating. >> Hard. >> For good. >> Yeah. >> Are you having any, since you've been back from your trip to Italy, which now that you're a travel influencer, I think we should discuss all of your opinions and likes and dislikes? >> Finally. Thank you. >> Come with me. Is anything staying with you that you miss about being on that trip, or like your Italian experience? >> You know what I miss, which was really nice, which probably gets old after a while, but it was only two weeks, is dressing for dinner. >> Oh, yeah. >> Because they have that period between the afternoon and the evening where nobody does anything. You take a nap and then you have to put on like a dress for dinner. You can't wear tennis shoes, and it's just like made everything feel so much more special. >> Yeah. >> I loved that. But yeah, it was incredible. It had really good, beautiful time. Milan is like, incredible. I'd go back there immediately. >> Yeah. >> We stayed by Montex, me a thing of like, don't wear your star updated. Again, she texted me this thing, she's like, ever had a fucking piece of jewelry. She said, don't wear your star of David. Like, keep it low key that you're Jewish, as if that's not what I already do. But then we found out we were staying at a hotel where Mussolini had stayed before. >> Yeah. >> So like, I can't tell her that. >> You're like, look, I'm seeing their side of things. No, that's not good. But also, you can't get away from a city's history. You can't, you know. >> Right. But the really nice hotel was also his, what do my thoughts, lots of things are my fault, my mind. >> World War II though. I don't think so. >> Yeah, you can let yourself off the hook for that one. I mean, it must be a huge relief. >> It is. What's up with you? >> I've just been wearing a star David around, seeing what I can kick up. Not much. You know, we went on vacation, obviously, you know, at the same time. But I did a staycation and truly just tried to do nothing literally lay on the couch and pull a blanket up to my chin, like it was the middle of winter. Any chance I could. >> I love it. Did you binge widow's Bay? >> Oh, yeah. And now I'm in the watching people react to how much they love widow's Bay on social media, which is such, like it's becoming this new way that we all watch TV. >> Yeah. >> Where it's just as satisfying for me to watch people get excited to go, here's what I think that Easter egg is. >> This shot was my favorite. I fucked the whole thing up though. Here's the negative side of that. I watched a spoiler on accident and knew that last bit, that last exciting bit, I accidentally watched a fucking, like it's the whole turning point of the show, which you went in knowing it. >> When she goes about, you know, I was pregnant, I knew what happened and at the beginning of that episode before we went half and I go, I get why that matters, because I thought I was just like a regular random scene that I was going to laugh at. It was the whole point of the fucking show. >> Yes. >> And I was so bummed, like Vince gasped and I wanted to gas too and I got, but and also the danger of when we get all the stuff through social media, you can't control that someone's about to give you a spoiler as we do on this show constantly. >> That wasn't a spoiler and you should really watch it, but I mean, like you, that there's a backwards way that like I always seem to end up consuming like a TV show the way I hate the most, which is you know all the big moments before you go in, then you're kind of judging and have to see them at that point. You know the story. >> Right. >> But I would argue that with Widow's Bay, they're doing so much, they work so hard to Easter egg in storyline. I watched a woman lay out this whole idea and we will, in our social media, we'll post her video and we will give her the full credit because it's a really brilliant thing she noticed, which is that time is all screwed up in Widow's Bay. >> Like the calendar, that has a car accident on us. And that in her theory, she's like, actually, these three episodes all happened in one day, but you don't realize it. If you think about it, you can't tell when a thing is actually happening. You're not sure. And she introduced all these kind of doubts about, oh, that's right, in the time where he's got the wolves calendar, but then he opens the month that they're in and it's the car accident. >> So random. >> Like there's so many Easter eggs about you assume you think you know what's going on and how and it's going to start like. It's what's the comedian's name who plays the shaman. It's just like the best. >> Chris Fleming. >> It's just the best, you know, five minutes of TV. >> It's so good. >> Chris Fleming, he's so perfect in it. >> It's okay. Just drink it slow. He goes, I just finished it. >> So fucking good. >> So good. >> This is not a, it should be a widow's Bay rewatch podcast. >> Just for the next four years, we turn it into, you have a true crime update? There's a true crime update and it's just playing good news, which went in the 10 years we've been doing this podcast, does that ever happen? >> Seriously. >> Rex Huriman, the Gilgobie each murderer on Wednesday, June 17th, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthellamy, Amberlyn Costello, Maureen Brainard Barnes, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Kristia, and Karen Vergotta. And he initially denied these charges and he was set to go to trial, but basically he changed his plea to guilty in April and now he is in jail. So yeah, I'm glad that is over with and he can go rotten hell. >> Yeah. Wow. It's always strange when it ends and you know the reality and it is the big ghost, the big monster, the mysterious monster is just some horrible man. >> Some small little man, the coward. >> Yeah. >> I love Caucasus, it's like that's not make them this big, you know, powerful being. It's just some fucking dad from Long Island who sucks, you know. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, not good. >> Okay. Should we get into it? >> You mean talk about our network? >> Sure. Hey, we have a podcast network, it's called exactly right media. Here are some headlines. >> Here's some highlights. >> Nope. Here are some highlights. This week on our podcast, Bananas, Curtin, Scotty, Discuss whether all the water on Earth has already been peed in. They talk about a world called trophy bong that landed a head shop in legal trouble and everything between. And then over on Ghosted, Roz is joined by comedian and tarot queen, our friend Lizzie Cooperman. They shuffle the cards while discussing, yes, no, later manifestations, hermit crabs, and one lingering question, when will Roz become more famous? >> Well, we kind of have the answer to that, right? Because Roz just released her new audio book, it is her memoir, and it's entitled "Ping in an Empty Bottle" and other glamourous shenanigans of an almost famous transgender comedian on the road, and that book is out now. It blends stories obviously from her cross-country comedy tour with exclusive stand-up and behind the scenes audio. So if you want to support Roz, she is an incredible stand-up comic, hilarious podcaster. We love her, obviously, member of our family here, but also just like an entertainer to beat the band. >> Really? Roz is going to be great. >> Roz Hernandez. Find it. Then this week on Trust Me, Lola and Megan are joined by Dr. Christine Marie Lola's mom, who was also the podcast very first guest. She shares how she went undercover with the FBI to help bring down self-proclaimed profit, Sam Bateman. So if you watch Trust Me on Netflix, this is what we're talking about. You can also watch the full video episode now at youtube.com/exactlyrightmediakaren goes first. >> I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of scam goddess podcast. The True Crime Comedy podcast, all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. >> Ooh, I scam them. >> What? That's why I had to make yapping a job. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on youtube. Start listening to scam goddess on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. >> So my story today begins on March 1st, 1778. Are you ready? >> Not so long ago. >> So long ago. We're talking about an area that I truly and literally know almost nothing about, except for this story. - Yeah. - Which is the Revolutionary War era of America. - Got it. - I know that you can't correct me in any of these mistakes I'm about to make, right? - No. - That's why we do this podcast together. Again, my excuses that I changed schools, fifth to sixth grade. - No, that's gotta be, yeah, that's hard. - They learned about stuff like that and the fifth grade at my new school and in the sixth grade at my old school. - You're preaching to the choir. - Okay, Roman numerals. - I was sick that day. - All the presidents, not my business. - None of my business. - Not really. Never brought up you. - I didn't vote for them. - I didn't get to see pictures of them all around the walls all year long. - Okay, so March 1st, 1778. We are in Brookfield, Massachusetts. West of Worcester. And it's a snowy night around nine o'clock. Most of the locals in Brookfield are either at home sitting in front of the fire, or they've already gotten into bed under their thick quilts and blankets because it's so cold outside. - Yeah. - But a local, wealthy local business man, a 37 year old Joshua Spooner, he's outside in the elements because he spent the last few hours at the local tavern and now he's making the quarter mile walk home down Brookfield's main road. It's dark outside almost no moonlight. He's holding a lantern because this is old fashion times and that's required at night. - So chuggy. - Right. Any keepsing, hello. - Hello. - And for the beginning of his walk, he is with his friend, Dr. Jonathan King, who is the town's physician. The doctor splits off in the direction of his house when they come to the fork in the road. And then Joshua continues on by himself, eventually making it to his very stately two story home, which is one of the nicest in Brookfield. He climbs a set of stone steps that take him from the street up onto his property. He unlatches his front gate and then he heads back toward one of the back entrances of the house. And he never makes it inside. Instead Joshua Spooner's body will be discovered, beaten, strangled, and stuffed down his well. - What? - Yes. This is the story of the murder of Joshua Spooner, which is one of the very first high-profile murder cases in America. - Dude. - 17, 78. - Get that vintage murder. - Right, happy fourth of July everybody. - That's right. - While we are lighting off firecrackers and trying to dissociate, let's remember how this country started with extreme violence on a day-to-day basis. - True crime isn't new. - No. - The main source of today's story is the research and writing of Debra Navas and the rest of the sources are in our show notes. So it's 17, 78, only two years have passed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We're in deep, early history for us. Kind of nauseating, it feels like you have eaten lunch, but you have to listen to the teacher keep talking. - Right. - The Revolutionary War has continued and will continue for five more years. It's been going for about two and a half three. So the American Revolution is the backdrop for this whole case. The colonies are fiercely divided at this time between patriots and loyalists and Joshua Spooner, this murder victim, was a supporter of the Patriot cause. That cause is especially strong and well-supported in New England. At this point in the Revolutionary War, British leadership has been driven out of Massachusetts. The colony is now governed by revolutionary leaders. One of the highest ranking officials is Joshua's stepbrother, a man named John Avery, Jr. So the problem is Joshua has a prominent loyalist in his family, his father-in-law, Brigadier General, Timothy Ruggles. - Cute, right. - Little Timmy Ruggles, Kansas father-in-law, his wife's Bathsheba's father. So Bathsheba Ruggles is the woman that Joshua's married. - Joshua Spooner. - Bring that name back. - Bathsheba. - You're in which? - You're immediately in which? - You're which or you're the Bible lady. - Congratulations. - Like one of two things in this story, which. So before the Revolution, Timothy Ruggles was a very powerful man. He held a bunch of important political posts in Massachusetts while under British rule. So when the Revolution started, Colinists began to embrace the Patriot cause. Timothy Ruggles stays committed to the British crown. Huge mistake in Worcester. So in the mid 1770s, Timothy Ruggles goes to New York to join the British army. That's how much he commits. - Like literally wrong side of history, bro. - Read the fucking room, dude, of Massachusetts. It's as a room as wide as Massachusetts. So obviously, bad for his reputation in New England. So soon, Timothy Ruggles is considered one of the most despised political figures in revolutionary Massachusetts. - Wow. - So who would you compare him to these days, do you think? - Donald Trump. - Oh, maybe. - Sounds right. So this was not a little too fast. So all of this has created serious tension in the Spooner household between Joshua and his wife, Bathsheba. She is very close with her father, Timothy Ruggles. And there are four Ruggles daughters, but Bathsheba has always been known to be her father's favorite. She's also suspected of sharing his political leanings. So when he leaves town, basically, to join with the British, Joshua forbids his wife from having any communication with her disgrace, turn coat father, and of course, she is devastated. - We've got to discuss politics before you get married. - I mean, get on the same page before you get-- - Well, here's the best thing. - Here's the real gossip about this story, is that this relationship has never been good. - Okay. - It was basically engineered in 1766, as a political arrangement has out by their wealthy fathers. Timothy saw the political writing on the wall, and he knew his loyal assemblies could someday cause harm to his beloved Bathsheba. - When I was kidding about that, because women don't get to choose their politics or their husbands back then. So discussing politics before you get married, you decide if you want to marry them or not, is not an option. So I was not being serious. - No, no, no. - It's not only not an option, it was literally like how dare you. You couldn't suggest that. - Well, you would be backhanded and told to go make a sandwich. - Right. - And they didn't have sliced bread, so imagine that. - I mean, back before the internet, they were still doing that. - So when Bathsheba was around 20 years old, she was married off into the Spooner family who were wealthy Boston merchants, because basically Timothy Ruggles knew, his daughter would be protected socially and financially. But both Joshua and Bathsheba grew up incredibly privileged in aristocratic families. They both had generational power and Bathsheba is roundly described to be exceptionally beautiful. Josh, meanwhile, is a successful lumber man. So on paper, they were supposed to make a perfect couple, right? She brings all the gorgeousness, he's money. In reality, they're just a miserable pair. Because despite the gender norms dictating quite dutiful wives of the time, Bathsheba is headstrong, she's rash and she is free-spirited. And she said to have, quote, passions that have never been properly restrained. - Same. - End quote. - Right? - Yeah. - Meanwhile, Joshua, her husband is described in old records as, quote, frequently drunk. - There you go. - Right? He's also unfaithful to his wife. He is suspected of being physically abusive to his wife. And one of the few surviving direct quotes we have from either Spooner is one where Bathsheba describes her feelings about her husband with just two words, utter aversion. - She should have said same after, always drunk. Like, how would've been so, do it again, go again. - And he is described in old records as, quote, frequently drunk. - Same. - Oh my God. (laughing) - By 1777. - Thank you. - Thank you for indulging me. - Yeah, that's fun. - Yet, the couple has, as were the practices of the times, the couple has four children together. Spammer, only three of those children survive to adulthood. And years later, one of the adult Spooner sons will be heard calling his father, quote, old bogus. - Ooh, yeah, just like such an insult back then. - Such an 18th century dig that historians say suggests his children did not respect him very much. - So by 1777, it's been more than a decade into this miserable marriage and the relationship is as bad as it will ever be. They detest each other, but on top of that basheba is struggling terribly, personally. She's isolated because she has to hide at home because her father is such a pariah, yeah. But then hiding at home, she's there with this miserable marriage, no support, you know. - Yeah, so many kids. - So many kids. So in March of that year, a stranger is passing by the front of the Spooner home. And it's a continental soldier who's just completed the year of service in George Washington's army. And this is how cinemax starts. - This is the first cinemax kick in those saxophones from the Revolutionary War. - Two pictures, was he hot? - We don't have pictures of the continental soldier I'm about to tell you about. - Let's picture who Jacob Ellority. - Let me give you a little more information. - Okay. - And then we're gonna cast him. - Okay. - Because his name is Ezra Ross and he's 16 years old. - Okay. - Hey everyone. - So, she's 32. - Okay, that's the illegal. - It is illegal. I'm not sure a colonial law. So as we go, you can maybe think about who could be cast as a 16 year old. What do you know? - 16 years. - I feel like he would be, he's casting everything. - Yes. - He looks like a teenager. - Very true. But like, how old are your nephews? - Oh, Micah 16. Yeah, okay. - Oh gross. - Oh gross. - The reality of a 16 year old. - No. to a shallower man, right? So it's funny. Okay. So he's on break between military duties, walking by, he was in a New Jersey Army encampment and he asked a walk home to Ipswich, Massachusetts, which is essentially a 300-mile walk round trip. Bro, hitchhiking wasn't invented yet. Because the carts, right. It's too slow. Right. They just knock you off. Also, it's the winter. Right. So it's worst case scenario for this young soldier. And to complicate it even more, he's dealing with the lingering effects of what was probably the flu that he caught at camp. So he's on a long winter walk kind of getting over a bad flu. It's unclear whether he approached the Spooner House at a desperation or whether somebody in the Spooner House saw him passing and realized he needed help. Either way, the Spooner's welcome Ezra into their home. The sick young man has put to bed, Bathsheba begins to nurse him back to health feeding him and tending to him. And what side is he on? He's not on the British side. He's the American side. Great. Yeah. So it's like, it's like forbidden for her too because like her dad is super into the British. Yes. You know, she's like nuts. Well, he's 16. Fuck, man. It just keeps getting ruined. It's so ruined. But it also, it's like, it's a 16-year-old who's being asked to live like a man. Right. So that might help with a little more. Yeah. That he is actually taking on the horrors and responsibilities of being in the army and fighting a war. If only he were 20. But he does have the llama curl at the front of his hair the way all the 16-year-olds do these days. Okay. Oh, sorry. Wow. Really popped that. So loud. Okay. Taking in soldiers who are walking long distances after military stints is not uncommon in revolutionary war times. What sets this encounter apart is that the time it takes for Ezra, I almost said Timothy. Shalame. The time it takes for Ezra to recover. We don't know exactly how long it is. We can assume it was at least a couple of weeks because he has to fully recover whatever. But in that time, 31-year-old Bathsheba Spooner and this adolescent soldier develop what a tasteful person would call a uniquely strong bond. But what we can all maybe in our bravo minds assume was fucking. So the age difference, we don't want to be calling things a fairs like that, right? And also just let's not spend the time getting into all that discussion. Yeah. Here's what we know. It's unclear if they start by having a physical affair. They have definitely started an emotional affair though. And it's a secret, which makes it even hotter. No one has any idea it's going on, especially Joshua Spooner, who has actually developed his own friendship with Ezra. So. Ezra playing both sides. That's right. And getting some soup while he on his long journey home. Sorry. Doing what he's got to do. At some point, Ezra's health improves enough so that the Spooner send him back on the road to Ipswich, but he never forgets Bathsheba. Within months, 31 year old woman, some hot milk that's like, let me take care. He's like, I'll be seeing you within weeks. I'm sorry. Within months, he's called back to military service. But then when he gets leave, he comes and visits the Spooners in Brookfield. So it's a little less than a year later now, January 1778. And Bathsheba has news for Ezra on his next visit. He comes to see the Spooners and she pulls him aside and is like, I'm pregnant. Oh, shit. I want to act that out. I love that. She yanks him into the pantry and then has to push him back out because they have to act normal. So it's assumed by historians that given her like on the record, or a version with her husband, that they weren't probably having sex in that probably Ezra's the father of this baby. Bathsheba is definitely panicked and writer Debra Navas puts it this way. Quote, divorces were all but impossible for women in revolutionary America and adulterous is were stripped to the waste and publicly whipped. Jesus. So she is truly panicking. Yeah. During one of Ezra's visits, Bathsheba asks him to poison her husband with aquafortis, or also known as nitric acid. It's an extremely corrosive acid used to dissolve tough materials like metal and unlike other poisons from these old stories like arsenic aquafortis has an incredibly strong and very terrible taste. So it's a it's a bad idea to use to begin with, but Ezra is just a sophomore in love with having sex with an old lady. So he does it. He's like sounds good to me. He poisons Joshua's drink. So problem is when Joshua takes a sip of that drink, it's literally like who put gasoline in my team. He immediately tastes the poison, spits out the mouthful, dumps the drink. So then basically for the rest of Ezra's stay, he keeps trying to poison Joshua and can't get it done. Oh, folly. I mean, right? The hilarious back and forth of all the things that Ezra has to spit out and be like, I have this taste is driving me crazy. So basically by the end Ezra gets cold feet about this whole scheme. His visit ends without a poisoning taking place and he leaves Beshiba to carry out that plan for herself. So a few weeks later, February of 1778, Joshua is a way on a business trip. Beshiba spots two British soldiers passing by the front of the house. They are private William Brooks who's in his late 20s and Sergeant James Buchanan who is in his mid 30s. Okay, so we're age appropriate now. Now, yes, we're getting into some adults involving adults. Beshiba sends out one of her workers basically to intercept them and offer them a place to sleep and food to eat. And they're very grateful to come inside. And when they do, Beshiba learns they're British deserters who are trying to get home by way of Canada. So basically, they're just trying to escape America alive to get home. So sensing her opportunity, Beshiba offers them clothing and cash if they kill her husband when he comes back from his business trip. Some sources say she offers them a thousand dollars. Wow, which in today's money from 1778 to 2026, 12,000, 25,000. That's a lot of money. So they accept. And when they do, Beshiba writes to Ezra, hey, when you graduate from high school, come back here because the plan is a foot. Okay. So by the time Joshua Spooner gets back from his business trip to Brookfield, these British soldiers have been staying in their house in the Spooner house for more than a week, sleeping in nice beds, eating great food whenever they want, running up an enormous tab at the local tavern under Joshua Spooner's name, the whole nine. Joshua finds this out. He's irate at his wife for letting these British soldiers into their home. He kicks them out. But William and James don't go anywhere. They just hang around town, lurking, laying low, waiting for the opportunity to strike. And then on February 28th, Ezra Ross quietly arrives back in Brookfield and joins up with the two British soldiers. This and now we're back to the day. This all started, which is the cold dark night of March 1st and 37 year old Joshua Spooner just arriving from home from the tavern around nine o'clock that night. He goes onto his property. He approaches the back entrance. And that's where Ezra, William and James appear out of the darkness and ambush him. They beat him and they strangle him to death. Then they carry his body over to the well and they throw him down into it head first. And the idea is that because Joshua has a reputation for heavy drinking, people think he accidentally stumbled and fell into the well. I'm sorry, look at your marks from a fall. It just all of it in our forensic files know how these days, it's like you rubes from the Revolutionary War. You don't know how to murder. But also I love the idea of like the odds of a drunk person stumbling and falling into a hole smaller than really their own shoulder. Probably or the same side. Don't go through the hole. You're falling. Okay, so before they do drop Joshua's body into the well, they take his fancy watch, his ring, his silver shoe buckles, which have his initials engraved on them and like basically keep it for themselves. Then when they're done, they go into the house where Bashiba spooner is waiting. James Buchanan will later testify that she seemed quote, utterly confused, which could imply a state of shock or some historians have wondered the throws of an undiagnosed mental health crisis. That's basically kind of like at its apex with this horrible event. She gives them a thick stack of cash as well as a few pieces of clothing. Not so confused that she doesn't pay them off from killing her husband. She's not what? Catatonic. Exactly. She's like, I can't deal with this. Nine, ten, that's it for you. And she also gives them clothes from Joshua's closet. So she's in on the cover us. So confusing. You can take his best and his boots at around 11 o'clock, Ezra William and James. All wearing Joshua's clothes, riding his horses or the spooners horses. Skip Town had 20 miles out toward, of course, the star of this show, Worcester. They arrive at an in around 4 a.m. Of course, the in-keepers immediately sent some things off. Yeah, don't go at 4 a.m. Wait till nine in the morning. Middles and night with big silver buckles on your fucking shoes. And like clothes that don't fit you correctly. What? Yeah. like streaks of mud on your cheeks. And of course, acting very, very strangely. I was going to say paying in cash, but they didn't have any other way to pay back then. Back then there's no cards, no gift cards, no tabs, right? Paying in dirty, dirty cash. I guess gold. Do they pay in gold? Yeah, but I think that would count as cash. I wouldn't stand out as much. So writer Debra Navas suggests that all of these actors in this murder are dealing with their guilt and their regret, and then it's just coming out in their own ways. So Ezra is despondent. He refuses to give the innkeepers his name. He immediately isolates himself in a bedroom church. It's just the funniest eye rolled to me like she hates Ezra so much. Like fucking Ezra. Of course he does. Like you fucking did the crime. Yep. And now like it doesn't matter how horrible you feel afterwards. Yes, you got all high on like being in the murder group. Right. And then like they could have probably done it without you, bro. But you wanted to prove your 16 year old ass to your fucking 31 year old lover. Yes. He had a hot milk lover. He was willing to go the distance. But now he's despondent. And listener, we're just telling you that's how it always goes. Yeah. Whether it's murder or just taking people to weddings. Yeah. It's on your permanent record. That nerd and you spending time with them. He's in the photos. Your family talks about it. Okay. William and James on the other hand immediately go to the inn's tavern by alcohol and just start drinking their way into the early daylight hours. That's the way to deal with your regret. Except for an adult. Except for they wear the silver shoe buckles and the jewelry and the clothing. So they couldn't be drawing more attention to themselves as they're trying to have a nice escape from reality drink. So the average person in the colonies would just never have the wealth to afford silver shoe buckles with their own engraved initials on them or whatever, especially not a pair of British deserters, which I'm sure it's kind of pretty obvious right away. So by the afternoon, the men have raised so much suspicion, the authorities are notified. Meanwhile, back in Brookfield, there's already a swirl of suspicion around Bathsheba because she, of course, the very next day had morning visitors because she's a lady of the, you know, of the elite. And when they show up and ask where Joshua is, she just burst into tears. So they're just kind of like, are you okay? And they start looking for him. And they find his body in the well. Right. Ladies who were just there for some nice tea and tiny sandwiches. And suddenly they're like, we just found your husband dead. My God. They're like, is Mercury in retrograde or what? So having a bad day. So Joshua's body is pulled from the well. Dr. Jonathan King, his friend, who was walking home with him the night before for the tavern, he shows up to examine the corpse and he notes the signs of strangulation and injuries consistent with being beaten. He testifies later that Joshua hadn't seemed all that drunk when they left the tavern and walked home together. Pretty crucial element to the story. And that's of course in direct contrast to the idea that Joshua was so drunk that he walked in big circles and fell down well, almost impossible. Unless he sat down and then started singing and maybe fell backwards. But wouldn't you just kind of fold like that and stop and then start screaming? Yeah. I don't know. So less than 24 hours after Joshua Spooner's murder, his wife, Bashiba, the young soldier Ezra Ras, private William Brooks, and Sergeant James Buchanan have all been arrested as suspects in his murder. The joint trial begins. So now you're on trial with two strangers and your teenage lover. God, yeah, that's quick. That begins late April 1778. It becomes, of course, a huge sensation. First of all, it's the wealth that the scandal, the violence at play, but it truly is one of the first times, like in the official newborn two-year-old America, there has been a murder trial. The prosecution is led by a man named Robert Treat Pain. He's one of the signies of the Declaration of Independence. Find me that. Maybe you've heard of it. Ask your friend Nicholas Cage if you know now. And then the defense is led by a man named Levi Lincoln, no relation, but he would later serve as president Thomas Jefferson's attorney general. So it's not only one of the first capital murder cases tried in the United States, but because Levi Lincoln will attempt to paint Bashiba Spooner as mentally unwell at the time of the murder, it's also believed to be one of the first times the insanity defense is used. Yeah. Interesting. Given the patriotic backdrop of Massachusetts at the time, the involvement of two British soldiers and the infamy of Bashiba's loyalist father makes this trial inherently political. And of course, everybody has big opinions about it. Levi Lincoln urges the jurors to look past their "political feelings," but the evidence is overwhelming. The trial quickly ends, and four guilty verdicts are turned in. All of them are sentenced to death, and they're scheduled to hang on June 4th, 1778. And this is when Bashiba begs the court to delay her execution to spare the life of her unborn child. Right. The gallery gasps. That's not true. I put that in. I don't know when she told them or how could have been in a letter. I bet there was a gas somewhere. I bet someone gasped even if it was just someone somewhere. The secretary of the person that opened that letter. Right. So at the time, common law protects fetuses. If there have been signs of what they used to call the quickening, which is basically when the mother can feel the baby, it happens usually between the fourth and fifth month of pregnancy. So if she really did get pregnant sometime in January, which is when she told Ezra that she was pregnant, this would put her in the correct time frame. And there are theories that Bashiba is lying about being pregnant just to buy herself time. But either way, it works. The execution date gets pushed to July 2nd. And then in the interim, she is examined. And she's examined many times to determine whether she's pregnant by a panel of midwives that the court puts together. Wow. It is as bad as you are anticipating, humiliating, also needlessly painful. It's as gross as you can think of it to be. And it's described by one contemporary as quote, indecent and cruel. In the end, the panel concludes that she is not pregnant. But Bashiba appeals. And she hires her own midwife to conduct her own exam. And then that midwife concludes she is pregnant. So the court sides with their own panel surprisingly. No, it's been like this all along. And they reject Bashiba's pregnancy claims. So on July 2nd, 1788, 17-year-old, Ezra Ross, 27-year-old William Brooks, 36-year-old James Buchanan, and 32-year-old Bashiba Ruggles Spooner are brought to the gallows. Bashiba demands that they perform an autopsy on her body after she is hanged to prove the existence of her unborn child, which is like, I'll be looking down at all of you as you martyr me. Okay, so outside of that discussion, which I imagined to happen in a dark internal, but probably didn't. Five thousand people have gathered to watch this hanging. You guys, yeah, a small town has gathered, which is funny because that what was that at the beginning, was that widow's bay at the beginning when all the people are there and they're cheering for the hanging or is that just another movie I was watching? Wuthering Heights. Molly has dialed in. Yeah, she knows. She knows. Well, because we've been talking about Wuthering Heights and I mistakenly thought that Molly like loved it. And so then we watch it to be like other people hate it, but Molly seems to love it. Let's check it out. And then we were like, oh, it's good. I really liked it. People love their books. They really do. The children love the books. Okay, so outside five thousand people gather to watch this hanging. The man who signs the execution warrant is John Avery Jr., who was Joshua's stepbrother. Testimony from the execution describes the onset of quote one of the most terrified thunderstorms that occurred within the memory of anyone living. And quote, and they say that that storm quote came up in dark in the heavens conspiring to produce a scene of most dreadful horror. So as they're walking to the gallows, black cloud rolling. Yeah, my God, God is pissed. Shortly after the executions and autopsy is performed on Bashiba's body and the physician finds a quote perfect male fetus of the growth of five months. Completely correct. That's the panel lied. The panel lied. The clouds told you. Yeah, but you wouldn't listen. Okay, when word gets out that Massachusetts has just executed a pregnant woman, the public is horrified. Wow. And over time, this is a plot twist I did not see coming. Right? Yeah. Because you're kind of like, oh, she's bad. She's bad. This is the crime. They killed him. And here's the execution. It's like, yeah, but wait. Oh, but hold on. Yeah. So the real controversy most associated with this case over like history, because in the beginning, of course, it was the usual moralizing about the risks of adultery and evil women having their way and being free spirited and loud and all the things that are so terrible about sexually abuse a child, but don't. Yeah, that is very seen. The risks of adultery and evil women using dumb men. But it's actually lived on as a cautionary tale about how the biases around politics and gender seep into the justice system. Bashiva herself has increasingly been treated with more and more empathy as the years pass and sympathy I should say, but no one doubts she wanted her husband dead or that she conspired to kill him, but contemporary historians mull over the extreme circumstances of her life that led up to the crime. Her marriage was stifling and it likely involved domestic abuse. The double standard and how women who commit adultery. are treated versus the men who commit adultery, not to mention Bashi was grief around being basically cut off from her father, him going from being an incredibly respected man to an all-out pariah, and then that reverberating into her life, people judging her and her being socially isolated because of all that. In the end, the Spooner's Children end up being adopted by relatives, and it seems they most likely escape all the notoriety that is around this case. A few years after his daughter's execution, Bashi was father Timothy Ruggles dies in exile in Canada in his early 80s, and the well that they put Joshua Spooner's body into is actually still standing in Brookfield, Massachusetts, according to the Brookfield Historical Commission, although they say it's obscured by thick poison ivy, much of the year, aka, stay the fuck away from the well. And that is the story of the first murder in America, the murder of Joshua Spooner. Wow. That's crazy. That's heavy. Good job. Thank you. That's a great one for the Fourth of July. Right? It's coming up. Do your homework, everybody. I don't tell you this shit. It's cool. Mine is about a hundred years later. Not only. Okay. A little later. I think right after the Civil War, when did the Civil War end? It might be lying. 1853. 1865. We were both right. So should we get our high school diplomas again? No. In the show. I don't want to take that test in front of everyone. We're going to fucking fail. Are you kidding me? They'll be humiliating. It's a fan call video of us trying to pass the GED. Get our GED? No. Brother, talk about my modeling photos. Come on. Oh my god. The people love the fucking modeling photos. We have to talk about that. People are going crazy for that entire thing. Yeah. They've really met you at that vulnerability that you revealed for them. It's really nice. That's nice. So here we go. We're getting into the country's 250th anniversary. Okay. As you know. Right now. Definitely. Now we're going to go back to the Centennial, which is 1876, and we're going to be in Kentucky. Great. Today's story is an unexplained phenomenon that's straight out of an episode of bananas, weird news. Great. And this one is in the genre of weird stuff falling from the sky. Like when I covered the Oakville Blobs in episode 429, we're unidentified goo fell out of the sky in the 80s and Washington state. But today in our story, there's a bit more progress made in identifying the stuff that actually fell from the sky. So good. As big of a mystery. This is the story of the Kentucky meat shower. Oh, I've heard of this. Oh, no. Yeah. Meat shower. Meat shower. Let's meditate on meat shower. You're just out in a Kentucky field, roaming through hip high grass and love and life and then splat boom right on your face. There's a prime rib. The main sources for the story are articles from Scientific America and Atlas Obscura and the rest of the sources can be found in our show notes and cooks illustrated and cloudy with the chance of meatballs. So it's March 3rd, 1876 and we're in Olympian Springs, Kentucky. It's a small rural community in Bath County, about 50 miles east of Lexington, Kentucky. Great. A woman named Rebecca Crouch is in the front yard of her family farm making soap as you had to do back then. Mixing some lye with some tallow. That's right. Which is a time and labor intensive chore done by boiling rendered animal fat on an open fire and combining up with lye. How do you think I used to spend my summers? That's right. You're a farm girl. Country girl. Have you read the book yesterday or yet? No. That's great. You should read it. Okay. But there's a soap making scene in it. That's all I know about it. Is it sexy? No. Okay. Forget it. Very not sexy. It's about a tradwife blogger who gets taken back into the time when she would have to actually work as a trap like had to do the things like make soap like a make bread fresh instead and like that's genius. So good. Yesterday. It's getting me into a movie. It's like that's hilarious. Okay. So as Mrs. Crouch is working, she begins to see what she'll later describe as a substance that looks a bit like snowflakes falling out of the sky. Snowflakes is fine. It's so fun. That's no big deal. But it's sunny and warm out. There's no snow. This isn't snowflakes. It's a cloudless day. And some of the flakes are very big. She describes them as being, quote, as long as my hand and about half an inch wide. So as long as my hand, the big one's in like half an inch wide. Okay. It's a big piece of sweet. I'm sorry. It's me. It's me. Spoiler. It's fucking me. It's me. Meafflakes. Meafflakes. Oh, there's a really great drawing of the whole thing. If you just don't have the imagination for it. Great. I love this so much. Let's take a look. The artist is James Fostike. Brilliant. And it's just the James Fostike. You sure can draw Gristle. Yeah. I don't like the look of those meat clumps that are falling on her. It looks like a children's book. Yeah. So if you're watching on Netflix, you can see this. If you're not, you should be. It's good. So as everything gathers on her yard and she inspects them further, Mrs. Crouch realizes that they look not unlike the stuff she's making her soap out of animal flesh. Like meats or bits of fatty connective tissue. She said, quote, it looked gristly as if it had been torn from the throat of some animal. Good Lord. The Crouch family cat and dog are fucking stoked. They come or run in and they start going to town. Do we know the names of those pets? Oh, no, well, let's name them now for his mistakes. Snowflake. Snowflake and Gristle. Petty. Gristle. I had a friend whose dog was named Gristle. That's a great name for a dog that I just made up. Or was it in like a movie? Probably both. Okay. So they're losing their minds eating all of this. The family hogs and chickens get in on the action too and eat a lot of what was falling. And cannibalize themselves? Well, we don't know exactly what the animal is. Okay, okay. It's human meat. Right. Oh, it's not cannibalism. It's human. The chickens are like finally we get our say. I've been feeding the crows, freeze-dried chicken hearts. Oh, it feels bad, but they love it. They're going to take over. They're going to take the keys to your home. Fine. They can. Okay, a few days later, just by the by, the dog does get a bit sick, but we don't know if it's connected and it doesn't seem like any of the other animals do either. Right. Because the dog ran over and bit like ate some gristle and then they ran over there and they eat a big cow pie. Exactly. Yeah. So in all, about 200 pounds of this meat-like substance falls for about a minute. A grown man's worth. So true. Oh, the sound. The sloth. And just one lady trying to make some soap. What the fuck? It seems like this event is pretty much limited to the area around Mrs. Crouch's house. And she says that the meat smells fresh when it had just fallen. But throughout the day, it starts to go off. And by the next day, the little flakes are all dried out. So it does what meat does. The event attracts national media attention. And several samples are saved. One is sent to Louisville for analysis. Well, another is sent to Washington, DC. Also, a correspondent for the New York Herald goes to visit the Crouch farm. This reporter goes all around town interviewing people about the phenomenon asking if Mrs. Crouch is full of shit, basically. Yeah, she's full of shit. Yeah. But no, everyone is like, this is not a woman who like she's making soap. She doesn't have a lot of time for joking around. It's like pranks. She handles lies with no glove. She's a fucking farmer. Like she's not making shit up. Yeah. Do not even. And while there is some investigation going on in the article, it does seem like a lot of it. It's just a reporter making fun of the members of this very rural community. He's kind of a dick about it. It's probably pissed that he got sent all the way out there. So what he's saying, like, people are kind of dumb. Yeah. Okay. Or he's making stuff up. Because some of the conversations in the article are just don't seem like conversations people have. But you know, it was the 1870s. So what do I know? Fill it up. Fill up that article, Rusty. Exactly. We need 2,000 words. So he bargains with a railroad laborer named Jimmy Welsh to eat a dollar's worth of the meat. No. Like just so we could get some fucking color for his article. So he's saying, if you eat this lump of gristle, I will pay you a dollar. That fell how many days ago. And also, sorry, but can we do adult, what is a dollar worth back then? Oh, shit. One dollar. 1876, one dollar is going to go ahead. You go first and then Molly will. Okay. Um, would that be. I'm going to guess two. I guess you can too. We're all in this now. I'm going to say $31. Okay. I'm going to say 50. Karen is just AI overview, but it says $31. No. Yeah. That looks like I set this whole thing up because I demanded it. No. Come on. I don't believe it. Have we ever had a debt on one? I think once. And this is yours. Congratulations. Drop the streamers. Drop streamers. We're even hiding up there. Well, I guess I've tried so hard for so long to guess the numbers. I'm really bad at it. I couldn't have done it without Elvis. His necklace. I'm always like, could you please do your job? No, I love it. This is your job. This is my job. This is your job. Good job getting this job. thank you. Oh my God, thank you. - Creating the shot. - I applied and then I called back two weeks later and I said, hey, I am a bad interview, but I know I can do this. - Okay, so we're in the moment when he's given $31 for this poor guy named Jimmy to eat this meat, which is probably a lot of money. He's a railroad laborer. At this point, it's been about a week after the meat first fell from the sky. - This Jimmy's got a tummy ache. - Well, journalist writes, quote, the article was ordered and placed before him, the meat. He then hesitated and said he was not hungry. - I then told him I would give him $3 to gulp it down. - 90. - Then 93, right. He then suddenly remembered that it was the season of Lent and backed out on moral principles. So Jimmy, Jimmy, check it out. Jimmy, check it out or muttoned out. We don't really know. - You know what he did, he dumped his way in to a thing that, right, why were you ever sitting at that table, disgusting and risky? Don't do it. Drinking alcohol. There's no way alcohol wasn't involved. - Just met some guy to bar. - Yeah. - So the meat has sent to several different agencies for testing in Kentucky and also out of state. There's a man named Leopold Brandeis whose qualifications are unclear, same. - Well he has his own college, does that count? - Does he? Brandeis? - Oh yeah, University. - He analyzes a sample that's been preserved in glycerin and he publishes his findings in the scientific American 'cause I guess anyone could throw anything in there now. Saying he believes the substance is something called Gnostic. Have you heard of Gnostic? Only in the Bible or Gnostic? - Gnostic? - N-O-S-T-O-C. - No, I've never heard of that. - Basically, it's a bacteria that swells up into a jelly like substance when it rains. I went to Wikipedia and I said that quote, "The word itself is a combination of the English nostril and German nasonloch," which means nose hole or nostril because basically because it looks like-- - It's not. - That's disgusting. - Yeah, and when it lands on the ground, I have a photo of it. - Great. Here we go. - Oh! - It just looks like seaweed kind of. - That looks like kelp. - You look like kelp. It looks like, "Oh, I have a photo of Mrs. Crouch too." - Oh perfect. - We're all guessing she's 50, but that's in today's money. She's probably 27. - She looks great. - I know. Also, listener, Mrs. Crouch took a photo smartly with a parasol. - Parasol and her hand on her fucking hip. - She's doing it. - Yeah. - She's making it happen. - Yeah, come at me. - Mrs. Crouch, now she has to use an umbrella because there's fucking gnostic falling all over the place. - I bet that was the Journalist idea, that's so true. But the problem with this theory is that, of course, the weather was fine and clear. So it's not that. Other testers believe that the meat is lung tissue, either from a horse or a human infant, which is fucking insane and everyone just moves on for better than the statement. - Please now. - Like nobody's like, "What?" - Well, because there was 200 pounds of it. - Right. And actually, when Mrs. Crouch first sees it falling, she had said, she had quote, "A vague idea that my husband and son who were away had been torn to pieces and their remains were being brought home to me in this way by the wind." End quote. - Oh. - So she needed some Xanax before this even fucking happened. - Well, and after the Civil War, so maybe she saw some stuff that she was like, this reminds me of human good point. - Tragedy. - Yeah. - And then they probably still believe in God back then. So the God works, that guy works in mysterious ways. - Absolutely. - Like throwing meat through the weather as a punishment. - Go to church, Mrs. Crouch. - That's very weird though, because I think that idea of looking at something completely foreign and immediately attributing it to a certain place is meaningful, 'cause it's like-- - And also that you're being punished in some way for something. - Yeah. - That's like, we understand how that works. But multiple testers believe that meat might be human. And this is so dumb. People think that two or more men may have killed each other somewhere in a nearby knife fight. And then the wind picked up all the remains and tornado dropped, and it's just like, yes, stupid. - They slashed each other to ribbons without bones. - Oh. - They've become those car dealership guys. - You can set one of those car dealership guys that dances around to any song, and I will laugh my ass off. - That's so funny, really good. - Okay, so a humor writer back then, named William Livingston Eldon writes in the New York Times that the meat might have come from space and maybe exploded animal matter from another planet. - Boo. - Let's stop talking about dumb theories. - Let's not ask any old force grader what they think. Here's a dumb theory that is probably true. - Okay. - The theory that most locals arrive at and that most people still believe to this day is that the meat had been eaten by vultures so we're far off, partially digested. And then when vultures get scared, they vomit, they're kind of into their stomach out. So the vultures maybe had eaten something. They were in flight, something startled them, and they barfed all their meat onto this one spot. - Yeah. - That's to me, that's the only solution that isn't paranormal, that makes sense. - It makes perfect sense. Man introduced the idea that they got scared by a tear dactyl, a leftover dinosaur. - You know what? If they got scared by a UFO, then we're back. If they got scared by the Legnaz monster. - We're now, I'm interested in this story. - So actually you're right, that might be the reason, but we don't know why and what scared them. And it's probably sci-fi. - It feels good though that there's something normal that you can tell me that possibly could happen because the agitation, I feel, not being able to think of even how possibly this is. - No, 'cause your brain goes to airplane, and then your brain is like, that's stupid. It's 1876. - Yep. - And then you start going, but I saw a show on Netflix where they actually pulled those things over. - It could be, the enduring mystery, though, is that Mrs. Crouch was standing right in her yard. She didn't see any of these vultures, but who knows, it could have flown that way. She might not have seen them. They were very high, who knows. - What? - I would love to keep that list going. - She had bad vision, she was a liar. So blinded her, she had eaten some fucking magic mushrooms from her bar, the whole thing was fake. - So here's the fun part. In the early 2000s, there's an art professor, named Kurt Goad, who takes a job at Kentucky's oldest university, Kentucky University of ancient history. - So close. - Transylvania. - University of Lexington, Kentucky. - Nuh-uh. - In Lexington, Kentucky. - No, there is not a vampire college. - There's a vampire college. - No. - And he's an art professor there. And right around that time, he starts this job. He reads a book about strange weather phenomenon and it's thrilled. This guy's like an adorable weirdo. - Great. - He's like an art teacher, but seems like the kind of high school science teacher that makes you interested in science and you become a scientist, and you're like, the only reason is 'cause Mr. Goad told me that I could be anything. And so I did, and that women are in science too. And so I did, you know, like, he's just one of those. He also, he's kind of like, if Vince had an older brother who was a professor, he kind of looks like him. - Yeah. - Actually, the photo of him. - Oh. - He's kind of got a hot Zadi vibe. - Oh, hell yes. - Right? So we love him. He reads a book about this thing happening, and he's shocked to learn that like nobody from there knows about the meat showers. And he's like, this is exciting. And he kind of becomes an obsession of his. Just by luck, a few years later, in 2004, he is cleaning out a storage university at Transylvania University. When he happens upon a small, clear, very old vile filled with yellowy liquid, and the liquid is suspended a white hunk of something, and the faded label reads Olympia Springs. Kurt has found at this fucking college that he started teaching at, the last known sample of the meat. And he's overjoyed. I have a photo of it. And I have one for you right here. - Oh my God, I'll dry it. - Actually, the thing behind you kind of looks like it. For $31, you get a little bit of that. - You know what that's so gross. Here's a photo of the vile with the like gross, tendony looking. How much to drink that liquid? - I guess for me right now in my life, it would have to be roughly $3 million. - Yes, yeah. - But how much would I have to drink? - How about a sip? - Chew that shit in the bottom or drink? Chew and spit out at the bottom in the swallow or drink the liquid. Pick one. - Drink the liquid. - No, cause in your, yeah. - The chewing is what's gonna give you true trauma 'cause you're gonna be like remembering anytime you chew anything. - And then like infants and stuff. - But also when you just die. - You also don't have to do either of those things. - Well, now I want to. I am not even drinking. Okay, he's so excited 'cause he's a snored. And he, so he works with a professor in the biology department to try to test the sample, but it's too degraded. And they can't find a conclusive finding. It's 2004, so it's like the Dark Ages. But current as an artist and he's more interested in the multi-sensory experience of the phenomenon. - Of drinking and eating it. - Rather than continuing to pursue clear-cut answers. So he sends the vial to a lab in Cincinnati that analyzes flavor compounds. - Oh, okay. - And then he uses that flavor information to make jelly beans that essentially tastes like whatever it was to have people help him figure out what the meat was. - I feel like that's a very art teacher solution. - That's exactly what it is. - I feel like if I was involved with that, it would be on par with the first time I had a popcorn jelly belly. Have you ever eaten that flavor? The butter? - Yeah. - Buttered popcorn. - I mean, like the weird jelly belly flavors that came out in the like 90s, the kids today don't know. Like that wasn't a thing before. It was just like fruit flavor jelly beans. God, I sound so old. But really, when jelly belly came out with these, like crazy flavors, we were, our minds were blown. - Yes. - And then you like mixed the coconut with the popcorn one. - It's a my type. - It's a my type. - In third grade saying I just had tried a my type. But also there was some flavors that were so upsetting that like he's basically walking people into come and eat an upsetting thing with me. - Yeah. - 'Cause like, 'cause I want to learn. - For science. - For learning sake. [BLANK_AUDIO] - No, okay. - Okay, so he actually passes them out. There's a big festival called Kentucky Court Days. And in 2007, he passes them out. Responses are varied. Multiple people said the beans tasted like bacon. Another person said it was like a strawberry pork chop. - Oh, he's trying to do like everybody gets to have a vote to figure out what this is. - Yeah, like what kind of meat is this? - I see, sorry. I was thinking he was doing it scientifically, but also through jelly beans. - Oh, I'm just like, no, no, no, no, no, no. - Okay, got in fun with the whole thing. - Love it. - But nobody wanted to try a second jelly bean to find out. - That's how they were? - Yeah, and I think he still has some leftover too. - Almost 20 years later, so fast forward to now. And Kurt is still obsessed with the Kentucky meat shower. And in fact, just last, this February that just happened in 2026, it was the 150th anniversary of the Kentucky meat shower. - Oh. - And he celebrates with a little festival in town, which includes there's a meatball toss, there's hot dogs, of course, and a baloney throwing contest. Like, he's just having fun. - That's great. - So this whole festival that he creates culminates in the second ever Kentucky meat shower, he has a small airplane, drop 1876, which is the year it happened. Individually wrapped pieces of beef jerky from the sky. - I love this man. - There's video of it, they look like snowflakes, the way he wraps it. He's, it's so, it's so, um, whimsical. - Yes. - Right? - And fun. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And each package has a number on it, and then the people who pick them up can go to his website, which is called fleshfalls.com. And claim prizes based on those numbers, including a gift card to a local cafe. - Nice. - Like get me out of LA is what, I think that's what this is a plea for me. - Exactly. - And a necklace by a local artist, as well as a signed book by humorist author and journalist Dave Barry, who wrote about the event in his substack and seemed charmed by it. So the specimen is now housed in Transylvania, use Monroe, Moon Sick Medical and Science Museum. - If you work at the Monroe Medical Music and Medical Science Museum, will you please reach out to us because we wanna hear, are you real? Is Transylvania real? Is any of this real? - Can we have a private tour? - And will you send us merch? - And will you send us meat sticks? - I won't merge Transylvania College sweatshirts, please. - Dave Barry writes about it that the museum quote, "Houses many 19th century scientific and medical artifacts, including a hairball 14 inches in diameter that was removed from the stomach of a cow." Uh-huh. And a quote, "Tobacco Smoke Cluster," which is a device that doctors wants to use to try to revive drowning victims by blowing tobacco smoke up their butts. - No. - And then he writes, "I am not making any of this up." - That sounds like it's the Mutur Museum or the Mutur, I don't know. - Mutur Museum. - But like a medical history museum is a fascinating, for sure, especially a small one. - Yeah. - Specialized. - And Dracula and Transylvania. I'm gonna end on a quote from Dave Barry that he is defined a sense of humor as quote, "A measurement of the extent to which we realize that we are trapped in the world almost totally devoid of reason, laughter is how we express the anxiety we feel at this knowledge." - Yes, Dave. - And that is the story of the Kentucky Meesh Hour. - Fuck. - Auto. - True crime murder podcast. - Hell, yes. - Year 10. - Year 10. - In the fall of fascism, when the world around us has turned to living hell. - That's right, when women are getting imprisoned for taking out, we're not going there. - I mean, Jesus. - But we are there. We don't have to go anywhere. - We're fucking here. - Yes. - We've been talking about it for a while. And in the mean time of all this bullshit, we're gonna tell each other about delightful things. - That's right. - And horrible things. - Yeah. - And things we feel we need to know. - As of yesterday, we are no longer the only true crime podcast. So you're welcome to call us. - Did that just happen? - Yeah. - There's a couple more of popped up. - Yeah, we had a great run. - Yeah. - I think we're the only ones. - Yeah. - Now we're gonna be doing this weird shit. - Yeah. - So we buckle the fuck up. - People are like, we are. - We would listen to the end of this episode. - What do you want us to do? - Why are you mad at us? - How much more do we have to listen to you? - No. - We love you guys if you've listened to this point. You're a real one. - Yeah. - And we fucking appreciate the shit out of you. - You're the realest ones. - And we're all trying and you're doing great. - Stay sexy. - And don't get murdered. - Good. - Good. - Elvis, do you want a cookie? - Ah. (upbeat music) - This has been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer is Tessa Hughes. Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Leonis Quilacci. Our researchers are Mary Maglachian and Ali Elkin. Email your hometowns to my favorite murder at gmail.com and follow the show on Instagram at my favorite murder. Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeart Radio 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.