The Sasquatch Murders

Hi everyone, before today's episode, we want to tell you about What the Fact. It's a new show from Conor Tomlinson, who you know from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum, and Carter Roy from Murder, True Crime Stories. Every week they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Conor's infectious energy will make you realize history is the most fascinating thing on Earth. Follow What the Fact, wherever you listen, or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact is. This is Crime House. We are back with another episode and another round of Would You Rather. And I'm so excited for today's episode because we are talking about something that is very close to your heart, Corinne, and I brought a prop. Oh, Bigfoot is real and he is my boyfriend. That's right. We're talking about one of the world's most famous cryptids, Bigfoot. I'm not actually going to wear the hat the whole time, but there you go. I love Bigfoot. I'm going to have to keep my cool throughout most of this episode because it's like my one thing that I'm truly obsessed with. But enough about me. Today we are covering the 1993 Humboldt Sasquatch murders where three people were found mauled to death on a California cannabis farm. This is a story about murder, scandal, lies, and whether or not a Sasquatch could be responsible for a triple homicide, which we have a lot of thoughts about. Yeah. And when do we not? Especially by Bigfoot. But before we get into it, we are going to pick two shocking moments from this story. And we're going to see which one you think is the lesser of two evils. Okay. Okay. Sabrina. And all of you. We'll include you, I guess. Would you rather face off against a crazed killer or Bigfoot? Should we say our answer on three because I feel like we have the same one? You count. One, two, three, killer. Bigfoot. What? I'm shocked. I'm shocked. This is like the man versus bear question. You'd rather. Well, I'm thinking of like the murderous Bigfoot versus a murderous man. I've never seen Bigfoot in a very no way. Okay. But I'm thinking who would you rather face just like encounter in the woods? Well, then I guess. Obviously Bigfoot. I'm shocked. Because I'm sure there are plenty of good Bigfoot's out there, and that's who you are thinking of encountering. Right? That's all I'm thinking of. Yeah. Oh wow. Suddenly Sabrina is the one who is in love with Bigfoot. I'm pro Bigfoot over a man all day every day. Yeah. The case in any manner is terrifying, true, I get to truly my reoccurring nightmare, it's like the only reoccurring nightmare I have, but enough about me. And that's why you run marathons. She's training for this all the time, but years ago. Unfortunately for the victims in this case, there was no choice, and for a long time, there were also no answers. Weird, creepy stuff happened all the time out there in the California woods. And the farmers were sure that they knew who the killer was. Welcome to Crimes of the Paranormal, a crime house original powered by paved studios. We are your hosts, Sabrina Deanna Roga and Corinne Villan. Every Tuesday, we're exploring a different corner of the true crime universe, examining cases that left a permanent impact on society. This season, we are diving into cases where the evidence doesn't end at blood stains in fingerprints, but drifts into the unexplainable. And to the unknown. If you're loving Crimes of, please follow, rate, and review us for every lesson. It helps us build this community, and we also just love hearing from you. You can also catch us on YouTube where we include visuals that bring every case to life. Subscribe to Crimes House Plus on Apple podcasts for ad-free early access. And if you can't get enough true crime, go search and follow Crimes House Daily, our team's twice a day show bringing you breaking cases, updates, and unbelievable stories from the world of crime that are happening right now. Today, we're talking about the Humboldt Sasquatch murders. In the fall of 1993, three men were allegedly mauled on a California marijuana farm. Some witnesses were convinced that a Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot, was the culprit. Decades later, an investigative journalist took it upon himself to solve the mystery and find out for real if a cryptid was the killer. A warning before we begin, this episode contains descriptions of murder and violence. So for centuries, there have been whispers of terrifying creatures lurking deep in the woods of Northern California, and all throughout the forest of the Pacific Northwest. Bigfoot County, exactly. The first nation's people of what is now British Columbia, Canada called it Sasquatch, meaning Wild Man. As the area was colonized by European settlers, the legend of this massive ape-like creature grew and it became known as the Sasquatch. For years, the Sasquatch's existence was mentioned here and there. A group of gold prospectors in Oregon fighting ape-like monsters in 1924, a collection of stories from the Shehalis people in 1929, and even Teddy Roosevelt wrote about a story that he heard about a monster that he described as a half-human, half-devil, some great goblin beast. Yeah. And I totally believe Teddy Roosevelt. 100%. But for the most part, the Sasquatch was a little more than a rumor until 1958, when it got a new name. On August 27th of that year, a logger named Jerry Crew was working up in California's Humboldt County, clearing brush along a timber road in the Sixth River National Forest, and as he headed for his bulldozer, Jerry noticed some large barefoot prints scattered around the treets. Now, it wasn't unusual because he was a part of a big crew, so he was like, oh, it was probably one of the guys on my crew walking around. He didn't have shoes on, you know, no big deal. But when he climbed into his seat and looked down, Jerry realized just how massive those prints were. They were huge, they were 16 inches long, seven inches wide, and there was no way that anyone on his team, like sorry to them, but their feet were not that big. Or good for them. Well, yeah, that would be an inconvenience. True. They did not leave them, that was for sure. And when Jerry showed to the others, they told them that they had already seen other prints like this, which is so wild, and it wasn't just that they also were talking about weird things happening in the woods. There were 700 pound tires being thrown into the gullies wild, massive steel cables being dragged around, and tools going missing. So they decided to share their stories of the Humboldt Times newspaper who's columnist Andrew Jensoli gave the creature a catchy nickname. And we love Bigfoot. I feel like we've made that very clear. If you have listened to two roles. I should have worn my shirt that says Bigfoot is my boyfriend. I don't know what I was thinking. Do you want this hat? No. It's okay. After recording, I do. Because you look better in hats than I do. But you know what's wild? This was in my car. Oh, wear it again just for a minute. I feel like I'm not a hat person. I feel like, oh, here's a good question for all of the listeners out there. I feel like people feel very strongly towards a particular cryptid. Oftentimes, people's answers mothman given his chiseled facade. Yeah. Yeah. But for me, it's Bigfoot. Yeah. For you, it's Bigfoot. For me, it's Aliens, which is why I'm excited about the next episode as well. I thought you were going to say the monon and gaugh. I'm not scared of that. Yeah. But the squonk, the squonk from Pennsylvania, who's your favorite cryptid? Yeah. When the answer are better, be Bigfoot after this episode or maybe not. No, I, Bigfoot, I feel like this episode is going to give Bigfoot good cred. Yeah. Yeah. As we'll learn. But we love Bigfoot. And after that story from Jerry Crew, the legend of Bigfoot exploded, especially in this region encompassed by Humbled, Trinity, and Mendozino counties, which are all in California. And these three counties became known as the Emerald Triangle due to its popularity with the weed farmers. And that's also where majority of this episode does take place. In the 1960s and 1970s, Bigfoot was a little more than another just quirky element of the area's colorful fabric, you know, Bigfoot. You're a quirky neighbor, a quirky little big, but it's the art teacher at kindergarten. Oh my gosh. Mrs. Fizzle. It's also the area where the most famous footage of Bigfoot has ever been shot. It's this shaky camera footage from 1967 called the Patterson Gimlin Film, which everyone who has ever seen a picture of Bigfoot, which I'm sure everyone has, or at least like the silhouette of Bigfoot, you're familiar with that. It's the Bigfoot kind of like turning over his shoulder and walking with a, with a wide gate. And so Patterson and Gimlin, the two people who filmed this, they called this Bigfoot She. And they're like, she turned to look at us. You are only so lucky, everyone's in a blue moon, yeah, to be gazed upon by majestic female Bigfoot. But in a story, we have hippies, we have weed and sass watches. So what else could you want, seriously? But then things did start to get darker. In the 1980s, a California state task force called Camp, campaign against marijuana planting, targeted the small-time farmers. in the emerald triangle, which either drove the growers out or led them to fight back. All of a sudden, peace and love were out, and guns and paranoia were in. And it wasn't long until Bigfoot himself reportedly got in on the violence. In a world where swords were sharp, and hygiene was actually probably better than you think it is. Two fearless historians. Me, Matt Lewis, and me, Dr. Eleanor Janega, dive headfirst into the mud, blood, and very strange customs of the Middle Ages. So for plagues, crusades, and Viking raids, and plenty of other things that don't rhyme, subscribe to Gone Medieval from History Hit wherever you get your podcasts. It's a rainy fall night in 1993. In the remote town of Branscombe and Humboldt County, California, it's been a long day at the cannabis farm, and 23-year-old David Holthouse is exhausted. The night stretches ahead of him, like a lazy river, with a promise of little to do other than watch the farm's owner roll some joints. But this quiet moment is interrupted, when two other farmers burst through the door. They are soaked to the bone, there's mud caked all over their boots, and from his spot on the couch, David watches these three men with a mix of curiosity and unease. One of the men starts talking so fast, David can barely understand him, and the farm's owner tries to calm him down, but nothing is working. The man is shouting about how there's been a problem in the field. Three men are dead, and not just that, but whatever killed these men tore them apart. His mind is racing, and he's trying to think of some kind of explanation for this. Was it a bear attack? Was there something like crazy killer stalking his victim in the woods? And then suddenly, the dark mass of trees around the cabin start to feel much more oppressive and threatening. He's so far away from the rest of civilization. And now, three people are dead? As his mind reels, David catches one last piece of conversation. One of the farmers keeps insisting on something. And the man with him keeps shushing him, but it just makes him speak louder. Over the sound of his own terrified thoughts, David hears what the farmer has been trying to say. I'm telling you, man, a bigfoot killed those guys. Oh, I just gave myself chills. I love when that happens. Also, that was the terror and horror. I felt like I was there. The excitement. The fear. Yeah. Hopefully how David Holthouse remembers that night, two panic farmers who were convinced that bigfoot had torn apart three men, horrifying, horrifying. But he's 23 years old. He was just visiting a friend up at this farm. He's like, I'm not staying for very long. So he packs up his things and he heads out. But yeah, so he never saw the bodies. He never knew whether the police were called to investigate the murders. And honestly, he really didn't even know if anyone actually died. Right. He's like, it's a hard thing to wrap your mind around the idea of a cryptid being out there in the woods, stalking and killing people at random. It's a little bit hard to believe for many people. And I think he also was kind of like, I don't know if I believe that, but what I do know is I'm scared out of my mind. I need to get out of here. Got to go. So the next day, he packed up his stuff. He drove away from the weed farm and drove away from Humboldt County, California. And from whatever horrible thing had happened that night. And for years, David buried those memories deeper and deeper in the back of his mind, which wasn't hard to do because there was no media frenzy. There were no reports of men being murdered. There were no bodies found. I mean, it's a sort of operation, right? There's like a bunch of competing weed farmers up there. Like, people aren't openly sharing information and being like, oh, let's go call the cops. Right. There's a big foot. A murderous big foot on the loose. Sure. But also in his mind, he's like, this was never reported. So it probably, maybe it didn't ever happen. Or he's also like, maybe I made it up in my mind. It was late in the night, you know, I've been smoking some weed. So that happens a lot with the paranormal. You start to second-guess yourself. Gaslight yourself. Yeah. So David just shelved these thoughts away and went on about his life. And an interesting career pivot. He started a career in journalism. And he focused a lot of his time into really deep investigative projects. And for a while, the events at that strange night just faded into the back of his mind until 2018, when despite trying very hard to forget about everything that happened to him that night, he had to come and confront the memory of these murders. David has spent many years trying to get answers and infiltrating terrifying murderous groups. And now it was time for him to do the same, but about that 1993 night in Humboldt County. So now, yeah, he's like, I want to find out what actually happened. So he decides to do a search online, like that's his first plan. Hey, Google. I don't think it was, I think it was, hey, ask Jeaves at the time. I'm not sure. Google was around 2018. Oh, yeah. Sorry. I keep thinking about 1993 when it actually happened. Yeah. So it's 2018. He's googling and he's looking up for reports of missing persons from around the time of 1993 when he was up in Humboldt County. He doesn't find anything, no missing persons, no murder cases that took place in that same time frame. So he's stumped and he's like, okay, well, I'm going to put my investigative journalist hat on. I need to go boots on the ground, speak to people in Humboldt County. Yeah. And in that very same year, he actually was called by a filmmaker friend of his named Joshua Raffa and Joshua had this like wild idea and he was like, hey, I become super obsessed with this podcast. It's called the Sasquatch Chronicles. And I want to try to try my hand at a documentary around Bigfoot and real life murders that have to do with Bigfoot. So Joshua asked David, did he know any stories like that? Which like what are the times? The chances. Right. It's like serendipitous. One time. Maybe the worst way because David kind of was trying to ignore it for so much of his life. But now something happened in that year where it just all opens up again. He had to get answers. So together, David and Joshua began their investigation that eventually became the documentary series called Sasquatch, which we found extremely helpful for this episode. I love that documentary series. It's so delightful. It's so good. And scary at the same time. But like I said, in order to get answers, they had to find someone who remembered any detail about this night in this event that had happened. So David started calling up anyone he could find who worked in the weed industry in the Emerald Triangle area of California. He even hired a private investigator from the Emerald Triangle to help him contact as many people as he could. But one after another, no one could remember anything about three people being torn to shreds by Sasquatch back in 1993. Or at least they may have pretended they didn't. Yeah. Either way, David is realizing like, okay, this group of weed farmers may be, they're not going to be the most helpful in this case, but he's got to figure out something to get the information that he needs. So the more David researched the region, the more he learned the Emerald Triangle is full of two kinds of people. There's either pot farmers or there's Sasquatch hunters, which are known as squatters. I know. You're a squatter. Yeah. Well, I've never gone in the woods until I'm too scared. But you're still a squatter at home. Yeah. But I love it because it's like just the term, but it also makes me think of like squatters where like we're kind of squatting in Sasquatch country and get out of my house. That's true. I'm going to bang on rocks and sticks on the trees and get you out of here if you don't. It's big, but it's land. You might be killed. You know what I always think when I hear Sasquatch or Sasquatters is, or squatters, is on your wedding weekend, I stopped at a store a long little drive up to Vermont. And I found these boxers. And so I arrived to your wedding with a bag of cookies for Brian and a pair of boxers that said Sasquatch. And I gave them to your husband, right? Yeah. But it was really a gift for me because he's not into the paranormal, like I am or really at all. Okay. So these squatters, they're really happy to talk about Sasquatch, especially because they want to correct the narrative about Bigfoot. Yeah. So their adamant Bigfoot was not capable of violence. They'd only heard of Bigfoot's helping people and they didn't know about any murders from 1993, cryptid-related or otherwise. Well, because keep in mind Joshua is seeking to tell stories about Bigfoot murdering people. So these squatters are like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah. Back up. Back up. Yeah. Don't spread lies about my friend, exactly. So this is kind of frustrating because it's like, finally there's people who can talk and maybe speak for Sasquatch a little bit, but they're like, no way. Was there any involvement here? And so David's like, oh, I feel like I'm circling every time I get closer and closer to having some sort of like connection. It's slipping through my fingers. And that's kind of what keeps happening until he meets a man named Razor. And you might be wondering, is that his real name? No, it's not. It's a name that he goes by. Razor was a weed farmer who'd worked in the Emerald Triangle for decades, including during this alleged murder time. So 1993. And Razor had heard about David's search for information, and he says. he has something to share. There's so much of this in this case where it's like people coming out of the woodworks being like, "I know what you want to know. I'll tell you something." And then it's like, it's so frustrating because I feel like people often back out or those hell, I'm like a weird thing that it just keeps adding to the web of mysteries he needs to figure out. Our secret is hell and might kill you. Yeah. Okay. But so Razor tells David that he heard that there were three Mexican workers who were found dead in the fall of 1993 at a farm near Spy Rock Road. Spy Rock is an extremely isolated part of the Emerald Triangle, which is saying something because this whole area is pretty isolated. Mm-hmm. Cabin's kind of like far away from civilization. Yeah, it's either super beautiful or the scariest place you could ever imagine yourself being. It depends on what type of person you are. Right. This area is the perfect place to disappear. Whether you do it intentionally or not. So David looks up Spy Rock. And guess what? It is a 15-minute drive from the weed farm he had been staying at back in 1993. So he's like, "Wow, okay, this has to be a lead." I'm one step closer. This is like his first lead that he's had now since he was 23 years old. It's been a very, very long time. And he tells his private investigator that he hired about this lead. And David expected the PI to be as excited as he was. But he wasn't. No. Instead of being excited, this PI full on quit. There grows your lead. Which makes me think that the PI was trying to prevent him from finding things, you know? But like, to quit your own career, just to prevent one guy. I don't know. I feel like he was just really spooked. The fact that someone was looking into this, it was like this was the thing that could be untouched, sure, his whole career. And then he was hoping no one would come knocking. And when they did, it was like, "Oh, I'm in hot water. If someone ever tries to do something." Or maybe it's specifically-- I gotta run. I gotta run. About Spy Rock. He heard that name. And he was like, "I don't want to be involved with them at all." Anyway. So I don't know. I don't know. So David would take as a hint. Maybe-- They'd been-- Not far? This lead, yeah. Yeah. No. And said he goes deep down the rabbit hole. And he's trying to figure out why-- Or like what makes this story so dangerous? Why is no one willing to talk or everyone's trying to discourage him from learning what truly happened? And when he brought Razor in for an interview, David started to kind of scratch the surface a little bit. And on camera, Razor told David about the area's history of violence. So that's one of the contributing factors. So basically, after the government started cracking down the farmers who stayed, started arming themselves. And heavily. We're jogging, attack dogs, booby traps, and enough firearms to outfit a small militia. Like, this is-- This is becoming-- Wild West, a very, very violent place. Razor also explained that the three guys who were killed back in '93 were only one example of countless crimes, just like this. And according to Razor, people got killed all the time out there in the woods. And sometimes, you know, it could be a turf dispute, or someone made the mistake of pissing off the wrong person. And then it didn't really take much for-- this sounds so bad, but like for something like this to happen, because there was a lot of possessiveness and paranoia around the weed growing industry that turned into extreme violence in this area at this time. Right. So now like Razor's conversation is basically, clueling David into something that's much deeper that's going on here, that these murders did in fact happen. And there's some type of cover-up happening. No one's admitting to it. The bodies have been hidden, whatnot. So it's like kind of like a conspiracy that he's now, like, unraveling. But what Razor tells him is that he does not believe Bigfoot killed them if anyone did die that night, which it sounds like someone did, or some people did. But Razor believes that the killer was far more likely to be a real-life monster, a greed-driven cannabis farmer who wanted to protect his crop at any cost. But when it came to naming names of who was responsible or who these victims could have been, Razor didn't know anything. But he did believe that someone somewhere knew what was happening, that they knew about these crimes, that they knew who did it, and who these victims were. And luckily, or maybe unlucky, or David, it didn't take him long to find his man. It's a cold, blustery night in Mendocino County, California. But David Holt House is keeping warm at a local bar. For the last few hours, David has been trying to get the man across from him, comfortable enough to start talking about the history of homicides in the Emerald Triangle. But so far, no dice. This guy is like a locked box, he won't give his name, he won't agree to being recorded. Though David knows that there's nothing unusual about this, because lots of guys in this industry are well aware, it's a sensitive line of work, and people don't always want to have their identity shared with the world. Sure. But something about this guy feels different, and David can't help but shake the feeling that he knows something. This guy knows something big. The night wears on, and slowly the crowd at the bar starts to thin out. After a while, David and this man are the only two people left in the whole place. And that's when everything changes. With no one else to hear them, the man turns to David, with a very different expression on his face. So he says to David, "I hear you're looking into the three Mexican guys, redacted, greased back in '93." So that means he's basically, this is like, it's so clear that everyone around here knows that a murder did happen. And so the question is hitting David like a ton of bricks, because not only did this anonymous informant basically confirm that there were three homicides, but that he knew the person who committed the crime. Yeah, because in the interview, he like fully says the name, but they bleed it out. They bleed it out. Yeah. And it's also so wild, because it's like, David was clearly just trying to warm this guy up and like liquor him up. And the guy is the one that is coming and being like, you're looking into these murders of these people committed by this person. Like he just immediately offers up all the information. Which also makes me think that everyone in town is talking about it. Like they're whispering about the fact that David is doing this. Yeah. So once this guy starts talking, he does not stop. And he tells David that he thinks he knows who the killer is, tells the killer's name, that this man with someone you did not ever want to cross paths with. And maybe this was the reason that David decided not to reveal the name in the docuseries. So. Daddy doesn't know that Sabrina and me talk about him on our podcast to you are a singer performer. So the informant talks about Scotty as if everyone in the industry knows him. And as if it is widely known in this area that he committed this crime. The informant also explained that Scotty was a high level cannabis grower who was known to hang out with tough guys. Notably, the hell's angels, the notoriously violent, biker gang, I think everyone knows about them. And most importantly, that Scotty is not someone to mess with, which indicates very clearly why so many people have been hesitant to talk to David about this throughout this process. And I feel like if anyone's like, why is David doing this, we have to remember that his career and investigative journalism was looking into, oh, he's done so many dangerous things. Yeah. And his whole career has been dangerous. He's constantly singing out these really scary interviews and trying to search for the truth. So this extends to this case as well. And this is the best lead that he's gotten so far. And he was sure his head can follow it. So David starts asking around to see if anyone else can tell him anymore about Scotty, but nobody's talking. You hear Scotty's name? Do you know to shut up? Yeah. And it didn't take long for David to see why? His research on Scotty pulled up a very suspicious rap sheet. It turns out that he had already been questioned for two separate homicides in Emerald Triangle over the years, although nothing ever stuck. So he was still just out there. David manages to get in touch with Scotty, which is someone reporting from a safe chair in Salem, Massachusetts. I'd much rather stay here. But anyway, Scotty agrees to do an anonymous interview. But if David was hoping Scotty would confess to the murders, he was a surely disappointed. Scotty is like, I don't know anything about what you're talking about. And he also then gives David a warning to not stick his head where it doesn't belong. And Spy Rock Road is one of those places that David does not belong and should not investigate. Yep. So Scotty didn't give David any confessions, but still David is like, I know somehow. I had this feeling that Scotty is involved in this. It almost is a confession to be like, don't look there anymore. Like, right. It's a threat. It is. And it almost is like, I'm sure David was feeling this too, but I'd be like, okay, he was willing to talk and he's willing to be like, like, stop looking, which makes it seem like he wasn't acting alone that there were other people and that maybe he was even the lesser of all the evils, maybe, maybe. So David learns Scotty was a top level grower, but he was not the head of his cannabis farm. And David had a feeling that homicide like this would be the work of probably not a disgruntled worker. So he starts asking you around to see if anyone might confirm his suspicions about what's going on with Scotty or any other people involved in this case. Right. He thinks that there's more than one person involved. Well, it has to be if this, if this many people have clues and pieces, but no one's talking about it, it means multiple people are involved. Right. Like who placed the orders for these murders? Doesn't seem like Scotty might have acted it on it. We don't know. So within a couple of days, two more anonymous informants agreed to speak to David in private again, unrequited interviews. Like they're willing to help, but no, they don't want it getting back to anyone who they're scared of that they did help. Both of these people tell David that they heard Scotty did in fact murder those three people back in 1993 on behalf of a high ranking cannabis farmer. So like, yeah, he was the hired help. They didn't know who this high ranking cannabis farmer was, but both sources seem to think that the reason for the murder was a retribution of some kind. One of them said that the victims messed with the wrong guy's daughter, which David was like, okay, well, now I need to do investigation into that. But before he did that, he had to find out who were the cannabis kingpins back in 1993. I mean, just get an answer. And it comes from this old-timer cannabis farmer that got who went by the name of ghost dance. I love everyone's name. Razor ghost dance. Ghost dance. It's like the drug world meets hippies. Yeah. And they're all like, woo. I was tripping. And I am that name ghost dance. So he explained to David the back then, there were only a few men who really made a name for themselves back in the Emerald Triangle region. And there was one man in particular who really stood out. He was the first person to run a large scale cannabis operation around Spiroc. And he was also a very tough customer. His name was Gary. Gary needs a nickname. He does. And turns out he did have a nickname because no one ever called him Gary. Most people referred to him as bigfoot. I've been smiling so long because I've been excited to announce that reveal. Right. Even though this whole crime, unsolved crime is so devastating. Yeah. Bigfoot. Bigfoot. Yeah. So David's now like his mind is reeling. It's racing. He's trying to think back to that night in 1993 when he was there and those guys came in and said that there was a big foot that murdered three people. And he was like, well, did I miss here? It was not a big foot. It was bigfoot killed three people. So now David is certain. He has to find bigfoot Gary. It sounds ridiculous and so I'm laughing, even though it's serious because this is a man who might have murdered people all day. David got connected with Gary's wife through some neighbors and she got him on the phone with her husband who told David, I haven't killed anybody on any occasion at any time for anything. But of course, he's going to say that. Right. He's not going to be like, yeah, I'm a mature incentive to say the opposite. Right. So this is notable because if we are zeroing it on the language Gary used, he only said that he didn't kill anybody. That didn't necessarily mean that he hadn't ordered somebody to kill someone else, a third party like Scotty. But that was hardly enough for David to hang his hat on, right? So he still needed to gather as much information as he could about what happened and from big foot Gary. So he learned that Gary and Scotty did know each other. They had worked together, but there was a little bit of a snag because Gary wasn't even in the emerald triangle at the time of the murder. And David had to basically admit that big foot or at least this big foot didn't kill those people. Yeah, big foot Gary because he wasn't in town, but that doesn't mean that he didn't order someone. Yeah. Exactly. So if that's true, David doesn't really know who. Maybe Scotty, but again, he's like, I have no real answers. It's just all these threads of, that are just hanging here in the ether that have nothing to attach to. So he, it's so frustrating because it feels like everyone else knows what happened, but no one's saying anything. I know. Does everyone have the answer except for him? I love this in a way, but it's also sad. But he, at this time in the investigation, he almost, he's like, wow, I really sympathize with the squatchers because they are desperate. He is desperate. So deeply wanting to prove the existence of something, this endless game of cat and mouse, the squatchers wanting to prove that big foot is real that he does exist. And David desperately wanting to find what happened that night in 1993. One of the squatchers even said, they were all after the, in quotes, I told you, I'm not crazy moment. Which David has been trying to find that moment this whole time, he was even trying to convince himself that he's not crazy. Right. So David, at this point, decides to kind of switch tactics for so long, he's been trying to find the killer, which maybe it's big foot, Gary, who hired Scotty, the helping hand. But now he's like, let me try and learn more about the victims. Maybe that's a different route to get answers. Right. And how many violent crimes took place on the mountain, and also just like how many people disappear in this region, it seems like an appropriate direction to go. Yeah. So David wasn't hopeful. It was virtually impossible to find the names of three people who died back in 1993 because there was no record of the murder and it seemed like no one was able to provide him with any information. Yeah. He could go off of was the info that these victims were Mexican. And from David's many interviews with the weed growers, he learned that violence also wasn't the only thing running rampant in that emerald triangle. Because racism was also a huge problem. And in which all the violent crackdowns in the 80s, the emerald triangles, weed industry was still booming. There were a lot of people coming up from Mexico looking for work hoping to have a steady paycheck and a chance to send money back home. They were totally isolated in this little spot to be able to do so. But the white weed farmers did not like that. Yeah. And also interestingly enough, David saw in Scotty's rap sheet that he had been questioned for two other separate homicides over the years. Both of those homicides were Mexican victims. So David had a feeling that the rumored triple homicide back in 1993 was also racially motivated. Yeah. And it was tough too because they were talking about how many people were working there and were undocumented. So if someone went missing or was murdered, it wasn't reported. It wasn't reported. And then families were scared or didn't have the means to go and ask and figure out what happened to their loved ones. Yeah. It was horrific. But by this point in the project, David had spoken to countless people in the emerald triangle. But he had yet to talk to the owner of the cannabis farm where the crimes supposedly took place. So using all of his contacts that he had now, he quickly tracked down this man and set up a time for a call. And he had no idea that he was about to speak to his most terrifying subject he had. The second that David answered the call, the farmer spoke two words, no names. Recently, David felt the hair on the back of his neck rise because something about this guy, just even hearing that his voice, he could tell that there was something off about this guy. But David continued and he explained to the farmer what he remembered from the night back in the cabin, two guys coming in, talking about how they'd seen three bodies ripped apart in the fields by bigfoot. The farmer definitely remembered all of it. So he's like verifying this for sure happened. Having those two guys said that night was true, but bigfoot did not kill those people. But they wanted it to seem like he did. Allegedly, the old guard cannabis farmers wanted to create this sort of like sense of fear and superstition to scare the Mexican workers away. And bigfoot, like the crypt did not the present. The crypt did bigfoot was the perfect vessel for this. So the group of old-timers concocted a plan and they started to spread rumors about sightings of giant bigfoot on the mountain. And they picked those three Mexican workers to basically serve as the "victims" of this murderous cryptid. Horrible. David was shocked by how much his farmer is telling him. And David asks, was Scotty involved in these murders? Which is when the farmer claims up. Suddenly he goes from talking to no comment. I have nothing else to say on the subject. So David changes the subject and asks about the two guys who had come into the cabin that David had been in when he was 23 years old and was like, what about them? Because they were so adamant that bigfoot had killed these three men. Right. Well, and the farmer explains that was on purpose too, because one of the guys in that group was in on the plan and he had led this other guy who was known to be this huge gullible chatterbox, like the perfect person to bring with him, led him to this set up crime. It's such an elaborate crime. I know. So basically this killing was supposed to serve as this really clear message to the Mexican workers in the Emerald Triangle that something evil was out in the woods and that they could be the next victim. So you get yourself out there. So after that call, David was stunned by this new information. But still, none of it was enough to conclusively link anyone to the crimes. And David's like, I don't know what to do anymore. So he's able to put together a theory, right, where it's like back in 1993, there's this man named Bigfoot Gary and all these high-powered kingpins of the weed farming business who were racially motivated to try to prevent the Mexican workers from overpowering, taking over their farms. So they banned together. This is the theory that this group of people banned together to murder a group of three innocent men to make it look like Bigfoot did him own task watch and blame it on his task watch and terrify everyone else. But there's a monster in the wilderness. Yeah. So yeah, with no clear answers and without any bodies, David really couldn't prove that there actually was a murder even though I believe he believes that there was and it was covered up. But David did know one thing. That Bigfoot, the cryptid, did not do it. The danger posed by humans in the Emerald Triangle was the real danger. It's June of 2020 and David Holtouse rides in a car, winding up the mountain on Spy Rock Road. His investigation in the 1993 Sasquatch murders is winding down. David's getting desperate for information. And the woman he's going to meet says that she's willing to talk, but if David wants to meet, he has to go to her. And she lives deep in the woods, like beyond cell service, beyond any sort of chance of David getting help of things go awry. And his companion on this ride seems to enjoy pointing out every spot where someone has died as they keep driving. Great. Scary. David knows how often people go missing here. It's more than anywhere else in the United States, he believes. If he doesn't play his cards right here, he could easily be one of those people. The road, if you can even call it that, is narrow and bumpy and the forest surrounds them in every direction. If you didn't know someone lived there, you would never find them. And anyone coming looking for you? Well, they would never find you. It takes over a half hour to reach the woman's farm. And before they get down to business, she decides to tell him a story. A year or two earlier, a couple of drug dealers had come up from LA to make a deal with her, but things went sideways. And this woman decided that these guys were not leaving. And knowing that these guys were about to die, one of the men actually urinated on himself and fear before she killed him. The next morning, the woman was going about her business when one of her dogs ran up to her and he had something in his mouth. It was one of the men's boots. And with a smile on her face, this woman starts laughing. She tells David, like, it's a fight scene in the world that her dog could smell this guy's urine on the boot and had dug it up like a play toy. And David cannot believe how casually this woman is talking about this. So he's like, OK, I got to do the only thing I can think to do. And so he laughs along with her. But in the back of his mind, all he can think is what a mistake it was to come here. I mean, this is wild. This woman is admitting to murdering two men. Yeah. And laughing about it, to David, who is in the middle of nowhere in the woods. It's so scary. It's so scary. It reminds me so much of Ozark, that TV show if you ever watched it. I feel like everyone, yeah. But the fact that this is real and people are just murdering people with no empathy, no regard, no care. So David, and I don't blame him for this. I'm shocked he made it this long. But after this experience, David is like, I'm done. This is my last trip out here for the documentary. Yeah. He did, he thankfully. I mean, my goodness, after everything he dealt with, he made it back safely, especially after this encounter with this woman. He made it home safely, but he knew it had been a close call. He could tell this was getting too dangerous and that no one was actually going to give him definitive answers. So unfortunately, these 1993 Sasquatch murders, if they ever happened, which I think they probably did this and so many other unsolved or even unknown murders definitely have happened, they all continued to go unsolved. And this made us wonder how many other crimes in this region are just shoved under the rug. How many other victims go unknown? How many other murderers are just walking free like this anecdotal murder that this woman shared and admitted to on Spy Rock Road? How many of these people have never been held accountable? So we did some research into Humboldt County and the Emerald Triangle and we were shocked at how many crimes the vastment of murders and missing persons there are in this area. That's just the reported ones. Humboldt has the highest missing persons rate in all of California. A commonly cited report from 2018 says that it's 717 people per 100,000 people. And so that's nearly double the state's average. The region earned its nickname the black hole terrifying for this reason. And it's always had this sort of like strange mix of open-mindedness meets lawlessness. And in the 60s the region became a hub before a way of life called the back-to-land movement. And they basically wanted to live much more simply and use the earth to provide for them and get by. And it's like seems so peaceful. So yeah, yeah, right? Exactly. To respect the earth and it gives back to you. But these people still needed money and the way to generate income was basically to grow in farm marijuana, which was illegal back at the time, but also bought a lot of money in. And a lot of them did put this money to good use. They would build roads, they don't need to schools and emergency services like fire departments. It seemed like on the surface this perfect place for a fresh start. Yeah. A change of pace life was good, money was flowing until it wasn't. It is such an interesting like psychological experiment to take people who were feelings. It's like one of those things where I'm like, okay, did this become successful in weed farming and then attracted people with kind of like tough end exterior and like nefarious, sure, desires. Or is this kind of the psych experiment where you put people in a certain setting and then something else comes out of them and it basically like took these hippies who just wanted a fresh start and to be one with the land and basically showed them an opportunity to get rich and have power over others. And then it became extreme and violent. Well, I do think there's a mix. I think if you look back historically at this land and the Pacific Northwest, I mean kind of everywhere in America or everywhere, just like there is a history of violence of settlers coming in and pushing out, murdering, massacring, the native people who live there. And then like we talked about in the beginning of the episode, in 1983, the camp task force came into this area and start cracking down on the marijuana farms. And so things start to get violent because it's like the weed farmers fighting back. So maybe they were peaceful hippies. Sock these establishments. Right. But they're also like, well, I'm starting to make a lot of money. I'm going to protect this business at all costs because I like me like the money. Me like your money. So yes, now things are getting a lot more violent. But to some other people in the world, the Emerald Triangle still seems like this very peaceful place. And a lot of people were moving up there to work on the weed farms thinking they could live this very simple life, make some money, smoke weed all day. But that life didn't really exist anymore. No, because people were growing meaner and harder and more dangerous. And a lot of the workers were taking advantage of especially the women. But really it was dangerous for everyone. So I watched this documentary called Murder Mountain. It's on Netflix. And it's a lot about this region and the marijuana farms up there. There's this woman who she's talking about. She traveled up there. I don't know from where. But she was looking for a job and just wanted to work on a weed farm. She met this guy who was like, I'll hire you if you work topless. And she was like, no. But then a girl behind her was like, I'll do it. So like, there's just a lot of corrupt things happening here. But there's also a lot of people going missing. A lot of people being murdered. So for instance, on November 24th, 1984, 38-year-old Edward Bushbacher, Jr. and his friend, 39-year-old Randy Peters, were found dead in a marijuana farm in Humboldt County. Both had been killed by gunshots and the killers have never were never found. And there are countless stories like this. Whether they're connected to the Emerald Triangle weed farms or not. But tragically, so many of them go unsolved, including in other case, that of Garrett Rodriguez. And Garrett's story was highlighted in the Docu series Murder Mountain, which is a really great job of talking about the dangers in the Emerald Triangle in the Humboldt County in late December 2012, 29-year-old Garrett drove up to Humboldt from his hometown of San Diego to work on a weed farm for two years. He's really begged him not to go, but Garrett wanted to when he didn't listen. He was a very adventurous guy. He liked to serve, he liked to fish, and working on this. farm seems like a really exciting change of pace, and also there was the prospect of making a lot of money while he was there. And getting free weed, but tragically he ended up getting mixed up with the wrong crowd. So Garrett found a job on a farm in an area called Rancho Sequoia, otherwise known as Murder Mountain, which any place that has the nickname Murder Mountain, that's a problem. And it got that nickname after the 1982 murder of Clark Stevens, who was thought to have been killed there by the serial killer couple Susan and Michael Carson, who are known as the San Francisco Witch Killers. But without diving too deep because that's a whole other rabbit hole, it did give Rancho Sequoia this terrifying reputation, which was then compounded when a man named Robert Tennyson disappeared from the area in January 2009. And shortly after Garrett Rodriguez arrived on Murder Mountain, he became its next victim. Garrett did a good job of staying in touch with his family, but in the spring of 2013, they stopped hearing from him. And so in April of that year, his dad reported him missing, but the investigation was not moving nearly as fast as Garrett's family wanted. So they actually hired a private investigator named Chris Cook to go up there and look for him. And she did, she got to work and the neighbors around the farm told Chris like pretty instantly that they thought Garrett was dead, which reminds me a lot, and like echoes a lot of what David was experiencing when he was investigating this big foot murder from 1993. People confirming yes, a murder happened there, right? But then it's kind of like no one shares more or yeah. So she reported this to the local sheriff, but they didn't really look into it. But that did not mean that people were giving up fighting to find Garrett. And so after about a month, it's now May of 2013, someone called in to say that Garrett's truck had been discovered on someone's property out in the middle of nowhere, which is like most places there. It's the middle of nowhere. Yeah. Unfortunately, this didn't yield anymore leads, but the truck was clean. It didn't have any useful forensic evidence and Garrett was not inside. And this is where the story does diverge from some of the others because law enforcement wasn't able to find any helpful leads, but the local community came through. Garrett's farm was near the town of Alder Point, California. And people there were pretty sure they knew who'd killed him or at least they knew someone who knew maybe where Garrett's body was. And they wanted to help Garrett's parents find justice. So when the official investigation stalled after a few months of no activity, they took matters into their own hands. And Thanksgiving night, 2013, a group of eight men from Alder Point headed to a man's home. Things got really heated and the gang shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the legs. So crazy. After that, they forced him to take them to where Garrett was buried. And then someone anonymously called the sheriff with this information. And finally, on December 17th, almost a year after Garrett left from Murder Mountain, the sheriff's office announced that his body had been identified. Unfortunately, as of now, nobody has been charged with Garrett's murder. Even though they knew who had taken the posse, who became known as the Alder Point Eight, to the grave, this man was never charged. One reason being that a lot of the men in Alder Point Eight had committed other crimes of their own and themselves wouldn't come forward to say who had taken them to the grave. This area, I feel like this is the mentality that they kind of live by, that it's a community problem. So the community then fixes it. And they try to like leave the police out of it, which is interesting in the documentary Murder Mountain when they're going up to the marijuana farm. It's like they had reached out to the police and they thought like maybe a police escort would help them go up there. No, they are escorted up by like men who work on this marijuana farm on ATVs with massive weapons. Like, I can't even believe places like this just exist. But that's the Emerald Triangle, that's just how things work. Yeah, it's very scary. I don't want to go there yet. I do want to find a big foot. It's like this. I know. Okay, now that we've talked about this, how would you now answer that first would you rather question? Would you rather face men hunting you in the woods or a big foot? Okay, well, now big foot before I was thinking like a murderous big foot versus the murderous men of the mountain. And I was like, okay, well, and rather, big foot's are so strong like, yeah, but they cannot run me. But then if you got close to face to face with a murderous big foot, he would see who you really are. It's me. You'd meet eyes. You'd fall in love. You'd finally have your dream come true of riding on big foot to back like in twilight. I feel like I've got to show you all my favorite shows before you kill me from Bob Sperkers. I feel like this whole case, I'm glad that big foot's not the murderer. But it is shining like on this very sad reality that there is this area and probably many areas in the world where so much violence is happening. Yeah. So many murders, so many missing persons cases are happening every day and we may never have the answers. No, it does make me so curious though, like outside of the people that are running these farms and are involved in this sort of like, I guess, work, yeah, for like a broad term. What life is like and like how the squatchers can do their squatching in an area like this? Like what are the unspoken rules or are the squatchers just like viewed as such innocent little? I see the guys running into the woods going like seriously silly, trying to call for their big futs that they just leave them alone. I think, yeah, I don't know. I don't have an answer. I need the answer because I need to understand whether I can go squatching here or not. You should go with a professional squatcher from the area who can take you. Yeah. But I do wish that this story was all about big foot. I love big foot. I know. But no. It's not. Real humans are terrifying. Real humans are terrifying, but big foot is still such a big part of the culture out there. He's reclusive. He's mysterious. He's dangerous. And it's also the perfect cover for a cycle of violence and kind of also like a dark reflection on human nature. Hi, and I imagine most of you listening would much rather prefer a shadowy cryptid behind the murders because then you could understand it. The giant ape like creature who is not able to control his impulses. People, human beings, should be able to rise above that. But instead, stories like this prove that they fall prey to their darkest selves. Right. And consumed by hate, fear and paranoia, they turn to violence to solve all of their problems. And in the end, they show who the real monsters are. Thank you so much for listening. We are your hosts, Sabrina De Niroga and Karin Dianne. Join us next Tuesday for another peek inside another crimes of the paranormal. Aliens next week. And if there are any cases that you would like us to cover, let us know in the comments. Because here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. And if you like what you heard today, reach out on all social media at Crime House. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow crimes of wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. Bye, mommy. Bye, mommy. Bye, Squatchers. Squatchers. We love you. Call me. (laughs) Did you know the most feared pirate in the Atlantic, the man who terrorized an entire ocean for years, may never have actually killed anyone, or that the real Golden Age of Pirates was the most democratic workplace in the Western world. I'm Connor Tomlinson from Love on the Spectrum, and History is my thing. And I'm Carter Roy, and this is what the fact. Every week we take the most unbelievable true things in history and tell you the whole story behind them. Carter sets the scene, Connor brings the facts, the deep cuts, and the genuine belief that this is the most interesting subject in the world. It is. This is the History Lesson. You actually wished you had in high school. New episodes every Wednesday follow what the fact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or subscribe on YouTube at what the fact pod. A woman once survived a fall for more than two miles up because she crashed landed on a nest of furious fire ants. A 13th century pope once condemned black cats as the servants of Satan. A lumberjack once survived near decapitation by his own chainsaw. These aren't tall tales, they aren't urban legends, they're real events. I want to take a quick moment to tell you about the unbelievable. A new podcast from the History Channel and Rewind Studios. Adapted from the Hit TV show, every episode opens a cabinet of curiosities to uncover the strangest but true stories in human history, then digs into the historical record to show you exactly how and why they happened. To people, odd places, peculiar events. When it comes to history, the truth is always more unbelievable. than you think. Follow the unbelievable on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or every you listen to podcasts. Looking for your next podcast? Check out what the fact. It's a new show from Connor Tomlinson, who you know from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum alongside Carter Roy. Follow what the fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at what the fact caught.