339. The Billboard That Caught a Killer: The Murder of Ali Kemp

On this episode, Payton and Garrett dive into the murder of Ali Kemp, a college student who was killed while working her summer job at a neighborhood pool. Links: Netflix Video Every Monday @11am PST, 12pm MST, 2pm EST 1pm CST https://www.netflix.com/murderwithmyhusband Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: CBSNews.com - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/billboard-helps-nab-murder-suspect/ AETV.com - https://www.aetv.com/articles/ali-kemp-2002-murder-roger-kemp Oxygen.com - https://www.oxygen.com/in-ice-cold-blood/crime-news/ali-kemp-murder-ben-appleby-pool-billboards NBCNews.com - https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6672235 GallatinNorthMissourian.com - https://gallatinnorthmissourian.com/2018/04/04/81685/ JohnsonCountyPost.com - https://johnsoncountypost.com/2022/03/04/roger-kemp-death-218388/ People.com - https://people.com/human-interest/kansas-dad-roger-kemp-caught-daughters-killer/ KSHB.com - https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/roger-kemp-father-of-ali-kemp-died-thursday KMBC.com - https://www.kmbc.com/article/10-years-later-ali-kemp-s-life-leaves-legacy/3670981 LJWorld.com - https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/apr/12/ku_student_on/ Fox4KC.com - https://fox4kc.com/news/judge-denies-request-by-ali-kemps-killer-to-have-his-hard-50-sentence-thrown-out/ Medium.com - https://medium.com/@coffeecrimeandcosmetics/heartbreak-and-hope-a-look-at-the-ali-kemp-story-a73d9c787c2b KansasCity.com - https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article175899496.htm If you want to learn more about TAKE Defense, or honor Ali’s memory with a donation, you can visit TAKEDefense.org for more information Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Great meeting. Who took notes? Anyone?

• 0:04Speaker 01

  With Monday Note Taker, the meeting ends and the plan already exists. Action items, owners, deadlines. Go to monday.com, the AI workspace platform.

• 0:17Speaker 02

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 0:46Payton Moreland?

  You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Payton Moreland.

• 0:53Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm Garrett Moreland.

• 0:54Payton Moreland?

  And he's the husband.

• 0:55Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm the husband. Well, here we are. Had a crazy week, haven't we? Would you guys like to know what's been going on? We'll start with Peyton.

• 1:08Payton Moreland?

  Oh, I just got out of the hospital today.

• 1:11Garrett Moreland?

  Show them your little hospital band. Peyton just got out of the hospital.

• 1:15Payton Moreland?

  I was in a little bit of preterm labor. They stopped it. I was having lots of close and good contractions.

• 1:25Garrett Moreland?

  Basically, her gallbladder attack just put her into labor. And we're back at home. But if it happens again, more than likely, we will have a baby.

• 1:37Payton Moreland?

  Which is so, so annoying, because I've stuck to the diet and it had worked thus far. This all like started at like 28 weeks or something.

• 1:45Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 1:46Payton Moreland?

  And I just spontaneously, randomly, had a bad attack today and it just threw me right into labor, which they told me would happen, which was why they were wanting surgery, but

• 2:01Payton Moreland?

  we stopped it, I think, but

• 2:03Garrett Moreland?

  We're down.

• 2:04Payton Moreland?

  The doctor was like, it could start again any second, so.

• 2:07Garrett Moreland?

  I know.

• 2:08Payton Moreland?

  But right now, I'm good.

• 2:10Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah. So we're back, we're chilling, everything's okay. We'll keep everyone updated, but that's what we got there. I got stitches in my arm.

• 2:20Garrett Moreland?

  So that happened too. I'm okay, at least I think I am.

• 2:25Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 2:25Garrett Moreland?

  I got a pretty ginormous object removed from my arm, right?

• 2:30Payton Moreland?

  Okay, it was cyst-like. We're still waiting for the tests to come back. It was 1.5 centimeters.

• 2:38Garrett Moreland?

  It was bigger.

• 2:39Payton Moreland?

  I watched them and heard them measure it.

• 2:41Garrett Moreland?

  I'll post a picture of it. It's definitely bigger than 1.5 centimeters.

• 2:45Payton Moreland?

  1.5 centimeters is big.

• 2:47Garrett Moreland?

  That's the

• 2:47Payton Moreland?

  For something that doesn't belong in your body.

• 2:50Garrett Moreland?

  1.5 centimeters, right?

• 2:51Payton Moreland?

  Yes.

• 2:52Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's pretty big.

• 2:53Payton Moreland?

  It's big. Like for a foreign thing to come out of your body.

• 2:58Garrett Moreland?

  Dude, they were digging in my arm.

• 3:00Payton Moreland?

  He had a bump. We went into the dermatologist. They were like, can we just do it right now? Cut his arm open, full-blown surgery on this table. I kid you not, like.

• 3:09Garrett Moreland?

  He did a great job. I don't, I don't think he's listening to this, but he did a great job.

• 3:13Payton Moreland?

  It just was deeper.

• 3:14Garrett Moreland?

  It was bigger and deeper than he thought it was.

• 3:16Payton Moreland?

  Yeah. And so he ended up

• 3:18Garrett Moreland?

  I know it was, because I can tell.

• 3:20Payton Moreland?

  He ended up having to like really get his scissors in there. There was a lot of blood. He ended up having his nurse glove up because it was

• 3:28Garrett Moreland?

  It's good size.

• 3:29Payton Moreland?

  There was a lot of blood. But yeah, it kind of looked like a little mini brain that came out. So they are testing it.

• 3:37Garrett Moreland?

  So I have stitches. I'm supposed to play sports tomorrow, but I can't really move my arm like that. So just bagels, podcast, baby, life.

• 3:48Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 3:49Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I don't know. We got a crazy life, so.

• 3:51Payton Moreland?

  Like, really, think about it. An hour ago, an hour and a half ago, we were like, are we bringing a baby home?

• 3:58Garrett Moreland?

  This is, this is true.

• 3:59Payton Moreland?

  Literally, the doctor was like, who's in triage? She's in labor. Though, like, that's how

• 4:06Garrett Moreland?

  Her contractions were every like minute.

• 4:08Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 4:08Garrett Moreland?

  45 seconds.

• 4:09Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 4:10Garrett Moreland?

  And then it was like, oh, no, they were just induced contractions from a gallbladder attack.

• 4:15Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 4:16Garrett Moreland?

  Anyways, that's my 10 seconds. That's our 10 seconds. That's our crazy life right now. And we're just chugging forward.

• 4:26Payton Moreland?

  That's the thing. I was like a little nervous sitting in the hospital room, because you know, all these like, what if I have another attack? What if this starts again? What if I go home and it starts again? I'm not full term. I'm not even at my own hospital. Like, what am I going to be doing? And then I literally was like, okay, and? Like, what, what? I have zero control over this.

• 4:45Garrett Moreland?

  I was ready. If we had the baby, I was ready. Our life's already so crazy right now. I'm just like, bring it on.

• 4:51Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, I don't know

• 4:52Garrett Moreland?

  I'm just

• 4:53Payton Moreland?

  how all of this aligned to opening a bagel shop and having a baby and

• 4:57Garrett Moreland?

  And opening a second bagel shop at the same time that you're due with another baby.

• 5:02Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 5:03Garrett Moreland?

  Podcast. We also signed an extension for Netflix.

• 5:08Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 5:08Garrett Moreland?

  For those who didn't know, so we'll be on Netflix for longer, which we're excited about.

• 5:13Payton Moreland?

  We're very excited about.

• 5:15Garrett Moreland?

  They've been awesome to us. You guys have been loving watching the show on Netflix, so thank you. Thank you to all those who continue to listen on audio too. I mean, between audio and Netflix, we love you guys. We got a good little family going on.

• 5:28Payton Moreland?

  You know what's crazy is like, I remember early on, we would be like, the podcast was our whole life and it literally hasn't changed even with the bagel shop. It is such a major part of our life. Even with a baby and a bagel shop coming, it's like

• 5:42Garrett Moreland?

  And we still record weekly.

• 5:44Payton Moreland?

  You guys are our OGs. You know what I mean? Like

• 5:46Garrett Moreland?

  It's weird. I mean, when we first started recording, it was like, one download, two download.

• 5:51Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 5:52Garrett Moreland?

  Two downloads, three downloads.

• 5:54Payton Moreland?

  Gosh, remember when we hit 100 downloads on one episode?

• 5:57Garrett Moreland?

  I know.

• 5:58Payton Moreland?

  I thought, fly me to LA, baby.

• 6:02Garrett Moreland?

  And 99% of them were probably our family and friends, because they felt bad for us.

• 6:07Payton Moreland?

  I know. You know what? This is your sign right now. If you have a dream, chase it, okay? Because it was, it was a little embarrassing when we first started the podcast. I think it's less embarrassing now, but back, back then, it was a little embarrassing to be two full-grown adults being like, begging people on Instagram to listen to our, our podcast. We had no idea if it was ever gonna like

• 6:31Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 6:31Payton Moreland?

  work or not. And look, we just kept chugging. We kept our, we, we were like, we are doing this. So follow your dreams. If you needed a sign, this is your sign right now. Just do it. Nothing's embarrassing. Look at this.

• 6:46Garrett Moreland?

  No, I'm teaching a class, an entrepreneurship class next week for a college. And something that I personally have never struggled with, because I am a psychopath, is just doing something. But I feel like that's the biggest thing in dreams you're chasing or business. Like, just do it. You just gotta do it. You just have to do it. You don't have to know exactly what you're doing. You don't have to have all the answers. You just gotta do it. And it'll work out. I'm telling you, just do it. It'll work out. If you commit to something for long enough, it's gonna work out. All good vibes your way. We love you. And let's hop into this week's episode.

• 7:28Payton Moreland?

  Our sources for this episode are CBSnews.com, AETV.com, Oxygen, NBCNews.com, GallatinNorthMissourian.com, JohnsonCountyPost.com, People.com, KSHB.com, KNBC.com, LJWorld.com, Fox4KC.com, Medium.com, and KansasCity.com. Our world is oversaturated with ads. Social media, television, bus stops, billboards, billboards. Most of us pass them by without so much as a thought or a second glance. But what we don't realize is that information sits with us.

• 8:11Payton Moreland?

  It gets filed away in a part of our subconscious, ready to resurface in the moment another memory triggers it. Ever thought, I'm hungry. I actually want a burger like the one I saw on that billboard today. That's what I'm talking about. They work. And if placed in a high-traffic area, they can be seen by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people a day. And this was something Roger Kemp considered in 2003, after his 19-year-old daughter, Ally, was murdered by an unknown assailant. After putting her photo, a composite sketch, and information about her crime on billboards,

• 8:55Payton Moreland?

  trucks, ads across the country, it not only got them some really good leads, it actually ended up being the reason why her killer was brought to justice. So let's head to a quiet little enclave about 12 miles south of Kansas City, Kansas, called Leewood.

• 9:17Payton Moreland?

  This is the kind of place where people grow up and they just never really leave. And why would they? Those who've spent their lives here say it's like a modern day, quote, "leave it to Beaver." Where you'd happily show up to a new neighbor's home with a welcome basket, where you would allow a stranger to come inside your home for a glass of water or to use the bathroom. It was a town where everyone was known to be a hard worker with strong Midwest values, where supposedly a third of the locals actually had a master's degree, and where the violent crime rate was well below the national average. And it is here, in this safe little suburb with its tree-lined streets,

• 10:02Payton Moreland?

  that Alexandra Kemp grew up. Ally, as everyone called her, was the oldest of three siblings with two younger brothers named Tyler and Drew. And she was one of those girls around town that everyone had heard of. She was extremely involved in school extracurricular activities, especially soccer, but she did love poetry. She was an honors student who also happened to be part of the unofficial welcome community at school. If there was a new kid in town, Ally was quick to just take them under her wing, show them the ropes. Everyone said she was warm-hearted, empathetic, with eyes that showed just how kind she was.

• 10:47Payton Moreland?

  And she had this boisterous laugh that could be heard across the room, was pretty infectious. So you can see why Ally was so popular and she had so many friends in Leewood, many of whom she stayed close with after she graduated high school and began studying at Kansas State University, which was about two hours away from her hometown. The year is 2002, and 19-year-old Ally had just finished her freshman year of college there. She had joined a sorority, and when she wasn't studying or involved in extracurriculars,

• 11:29Payton Moreland?

  she was volunteering at the church or just somewhere in the community. All in all, Ally was the kind of young woman that any parent would be proud to call their daughter. So they were thrilled when she came home that summer. They wanted to soak up every single minute they had with Ally in between her freshman and sophomore year of college, especially since she was actually already making plans for the next few years. Ally had been invited by her church group to study abroad in Russia, where she would be volunteering with people in need. But she was also considering another opportunity that might conflict, and that was studying American foreign policy with the US State Department.

• 12:12Payton Moreland?

  But for that summer, the summer after her freshman year, Ally was just happy being back home in her hometown and living under her parents' roof again. She'd gotten a part-time job along with her brother Tyler, working at a public pool, and she was actually rekindling things with her old high school boyfriend, a guy named Phil Howes. Now, the two had decided to call it quits after they graduated high school since she was going to Kansas State and he was going to Kansas University, and they were about like an hour and a half apart. But that summer, they both move home and they fall right back into each other's arms.

• 12:54Payton Moreland?

  In fact, Phil was working at the pool with her and her brother Tyler as well. And Ally's parents seemed to really like Phil. He appeared to be a good influence on her. Ally didn't drink or do drugs. She was always focused on her future and how that could be improved. So making a little extra money that summer was the only thing she was really focused on, and it was easy. The pool she worked at was just a few blocks away from her family home. And one of those quiet days was June 18th, 2002. That was until the afternoon, when everything changed. This is Tamsin Fidel from The Tamsin Show. Fall in New York City is my favorite time of year.

• 13:37Payton Moreland?

  Crisp mornings, that excuse to layer up, walking around the city without melting. And once that shift happens, I genuinely don't want anything on my feet except Bombas. Their new suede moccasins have been my go-to for the second it cools down. Cushy soles, sheerling lining, water-resistant suede. And I have to remember, comfort this good is technically allowed outside the house. When I'm traveling, I reach straight for their compression socks. They help with the fatigue from being on the plane so much, and I feel so much better landing when I have a pair on. My sock drawer is filled with Bombas now. So I have merino wool for the cold mornings, sweat-wicking pairs for workouts, and a few dressier ones for whatever fall wedding season throws at me. My favorite part, though, for every item you buy, Bombas donates an essential clothing item to someone facing housing insecurity.

• 14:21Payton Moreland?

  One purchased, one donated, over 200 million donations and counting. Head over to Bombas.com/audio and use AUDIO for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S.com/audio. Code AUDIO at checkout. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. You know, there were many times growing up in school where I was like, when am I ever going to use this? And let me be real honest with you, a lot of those things have turned out to be true. But you know what I wish they would have taught in school? Financial literacy. So Greenlight takes the mental load of family life and kind of puts it all into one place.

• 15:02Payton Moreland?

  It keeps your whole family in sync, money, safety, and everyday life, all in one place. When you're using it, you can see what your kids are spending, right when they spend it. You can also easily send them money via Greenlight instead of like digging around for cash. And Greenlight just helps your household run smoother. Chores happen without nagging because you can do it all through the Greenlight app. There's also like a schedule that is up to date in real time. So when you're out of milk or someone needs new cleats, it just goes on this shared list that everyone can add to. Join the 6.5 million family members who trust Greenlight. Garrett has younger siblings. They've used Greenlight.

• 15:46Payton Moreland?

  And it is so amazing to watch them learn about money in the safety of their home. You've got enough on your plate. Greenlight keeps it all in sync. Get started at greenlight.com/husband. That is greenlight.com/husband. Greenlight.com/husband. Go check it out now. Now, June 18th, 2002 was an unseasonably chilly day at the pool, a bit windy with temperatures in the 60s. So Ally figured it was going to be a slow day if anyone even showed up at all to swim. Still, there always had to be someone on site. So Ally took her books with her and figured, I'll get a little coursework done this day because there's probably not going to be any swimmers.

• 16:31Payton Moreland?

  She arrived for her shift at around 2:00 PM and actually took over for her boyfriend, Phil. He hung out for about 15 minutes, but he does end up leaving at 2:15 to head to another job he had across town. But the two made plans to just meet up, like later after both of them had finished work for a little date night together. So Phil and Ally say their goodbyes as he heads off to work, leaving her at the pool. And then around 2:51 PM, Ally called Phil, but he didn't pick up. So she left him a voicemail with some more details about their date. She also had plans to leave work a bit early that day to go get ready.

• 17:15Payton Moreland?

  Her brother Tyler was working the shift after hers, so he agreed to come a little early so she could head out sooner to get ready. So Phil...

• 17:24Garrett Moreland?

  I just like hate that. I know it's, it's going to sound cliche or obvious, but I just hate that, like one second everyone, like you're having a normal life, you're just living...

• 17:35Payton Moreland?

  Making plans.

• 17:36Garrett Moreland?

  Making plans, being normal. Then all of a sudden, she's just going to get killed.

• 17:40Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 17:41Garrett Moreland?

  Like, it's, I don't know. It's just hard to comprehend sometimes, you know?

• 17:48Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, it's devastating. So this day, Phil, her boyfriend, worked the first shift at the pool. She came in after him, and then Tyler, her brother, is actually going to come in a little bit earlier so she can leave and go get ready for her and Phil's date. So she's calling Phil, saying, hey, here's the details for our date. But after making that phone call to Phil, she took her stuff into the pump room at the pool. She planned to do some tidying up there, followed by a bit of more schoolwork. Cut to now 5:00 PM. Ally's brother Tyler shows up at this still empty pool to relieve her.

• 18:32Payton Moreland?

  But when he opens up the gate and heads inside, he can't find his sister Ally anywhere. He checks the pump room. All the lights are off. He goes into all the restrooms, calls her name, still nothing. So this is when he calls Ally's phone. Again, no answer. So this is when Tyler, her brother, does start to get a bit worried, and he gets in touch with their dad, Roger, to see if he can swing by and help him look for Ally. Roger rushes over and gets there around 5:25 PM. And he also goes to the pump room, which he knows that Ally sometimes used as an office, especially on slow days for like work.

• 19:16Payton Moreland?

  This time, when he goes in, he actually finds the lights and flips them on. Because like I said, Tyler went in and called her name, but the lights were off. So now her dad goes in, flicks the lights on, and that's when he sees Ally's things. Her phone and her backpack. He sees her books are out on the table in the pump room. And there's blood on the floor. And this is when he spots it underneath a pool tarp. There is a leg sticking out.

• 19:49Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 19:50Payton Moreland?

  Now imagine being this dad.

• 19:52Garrett Moreland?

  Can't I like, I can't. It infuriates me.

• 19:56Payton Moreland?

  He walks over, he removes the tarp. Obviously, he's looking for his missing daughter. And he finds that the leg that was sticking out belongs to his 19 year old daughter. Ally's fingernails are broken. One of her shoes is on the opposite side of the room. Her T-shirt is pushed up around her throat. Her bra is pulled up to expose her chest. She's not wearing any pants or underwear. She's been beaten, strangled, and she's covered in blood. And this is how her own father finds her. This is when he calls 911. Now Roger tells the operator, his daughter has been murdered.

• 20:41Payton Moreland?

  But he's also heard over the line telling Ally to just stay with him and to fight. And when the first responders show up, it appears that's exactly what Ally's doing. Roger is holding her in his arms and she still has a slight pulse.

• 20:58Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 21:01Payton Moreland?

  So they load.

• 21:02Garrett Moreland?

  This so much. I honestly, I truly hate it.

• 21:05Payton Moreland?

  So they load her into an ambulance and they rush her to a nearby hospital. And meanwhile, the police immediately get to work at the crime scene, like realizing this has been an attack. This was obviously an attempted homicide. One of the first things they realize is that Ally definitely fought with her attacker. There are pool supplies everywhere in this pump room. Like they were knocked off the metal shelving units. There's also a puddle of blood near the pool tarp, which they collect DNA samples from. And there is a tube of antibiotic ointment that is separated from its cap. And it is lying near the spot where Ally's body was found.

• 21:46Payton Moreland?

  So they bag and tag thinking, maybe we can pick up something like prints or DNA. It looks like it's been opened or used. Now unfortunately, there are no cameras at the pool that could have caught her attacker. But there is a shopping center just across the street and a few of those businesses have cameras. So police ask them for their security footage, but it really doesn't bring anything of value to the case. Which means a lot of this is gonna just have to rely on good old fashioned eyewitness testimony. And at this same time, doctors are doing everything they can at the hospital to save Ally's life.

• 22:28Payton Moreland?

  But shortly after her arrival, it seems all hope is lost and Ally is pronounced dead at just 19 years old. This means police now officially have a homicide investigation on their hands. And the first person they want to speak to is the last person that was known to see Ally alive before her brother showed up to look for her. And that was her boyfriend, Phil House.

• 22:53Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 22:53Payton Moreland?

  Now, the reason they decide to rule Phil out first is this appears to be a crime of passion. And with Phil being the only one romantically linked to Ally, it makes sense to start with him first. When police bring him in for questioning, Phil tells them how he left the pool around 2:15 PM to go to his other job. He was literally supposed to see Ally later that night. And she even called to talk more about this date around 2:51 PM, but he had missed her call. And his alibi is actually really easy to confirm.

• 23:33Payton Moreland?

  His other job, which is all the way across town, vouches for him being there and showing up for the shift. Now they also ask Phil to give some DNA samples to use as comparison. He obviously cooperates, but talking to Phil also helps with something else. It's the timeline of Ally's death. If she last called him at 2:51 PM and her brother arrived to relieve her from her shift a little before 5:00 PM, that leaves about a two hour window where this attack most likely occurred, which can help them verify future alibis. Luckily, it doesn't take long for leads to start coming in after this, including two gardeners

• 24:17Payton Moreland?

  who were working at the pool that day and had spotted something of note. So they claimed that when they took a lunch break in their car that afternoon, they noticed a tan 1980's Ford pickup truck pull up to the pool parking lot, which was important because that was the only car that was there that day with it being so cold and the pool being empty. They said the truck circled a couple of times before leaving, but they didn't get a good look at the driver, unfortunately, or the license plate. Probably because they didn't even find this alarming until after they heard about Ally's murder. So it's not the perfect lead, but it was a start.

• 25:02Payton Moreland?

  Though the police got something even better. When one of Ally's friends came forward to say she had actually swung by the pool that day and she noticed something she thought was weird. So around 3:15 PM, this is after the call to Phil, but before Tyler has showed up for his shift of relieving Ally, Ally's friend stopped by the pool to hang out with her for a minute, knowing like she was on shift. And when she got to the parking lot, she said she started honking. She admitted she was being a bit obnoxious. She was just trying to get Ally's attention. She figured Ally would, you know, poke her head out from the pool laughing like, again, this is, there's no one there.

• 25:45Payton Moreland?

  So Ally's just hanging out, but the friend says it wasn't Ally who she saw. Instead, she saw a man peek out at the parking lot from the pool.

• 25:57Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 25:57Payton Moreland?

  She said he was wearing blue coveralls and carrying a bucket. So she assumed it was probably just Ally's boss or someone like working maintenance at the pool. And that's when her friend thought, oh shoot, I probably just got Ally in trouble. I thought she would be here alone. So she ducked down in her car in the parking lot embarrassed. Apparently, the man then walked past her toward the parking lot, waved at her, got in his car pickup truck and drove away.

• 26:30Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 26:31Payton Moreland?

  Now, the friend like was just kind of creeped out by this whole thing. So she did give him a minute to drive away. And then she gets out of her car and she's gonna go look in the pool area for Ally to be like, who was that? Did I get you in trouble? He like waved at me. He was creepy. But she goes in and she doesn't see her. She's like, okay, maybe Ally's just running an errand or something. So she actually just gets back in her car and leaves.

• 26:57Garrett Moreland?

  Breaks my heart.

• 26:58Payton Moreland?

  Without seeing Ally.

• 26:59Garrett Moreland?

  That breaks my heart because it's not her fault, obviously.

• 27:01Payton Moreland?

  No, no.

• 27:02Garrett Moreland?

  That's just so, just what a situation.

• 27:05Payton Moreland?

  Now police think, well, this, this friend's random visit might hold the key to solving this case. The man she saw has got to be their suspect.

• 27:18Garrett Moreland?

  Hmm.

• 27:18Payton Moreland?

  He's the one that was driving the tan truck. So they have Ally's friend sit down with a sketch artist because she does remember this guy's face. A few hours later, they have a composite sketch and description of their suspect. A white male around his mid 30s with short brown hair. Heavy set, kind of round in the face, somewhere between five foot eight and six feet tall. Now a few days later, that sketch is posted all over town and tips start pouring into the Leewood Police Department, but nothing that's really worth pursuing. Now around the same time, Ally's autopsy report is completed.

• 28:01Payton Moreland?

  And this gives police a clearer picture of the crime that was committed against her that day. They determine her official cause of death was blunt force trauma and strangulation. Ally also, like I said, had broken fingernails, but broken fingers, which proved she did fight her attacker.

• 28:22Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 28:22Payton Moreland?

  So they collect additional DNA from under her fingernails. The marks on her neck indicate she was likely approached and strangled from behind, though they aren't able to determine what sort of object was used to strangle her. They do however conclude that while her clothing was removed, there didn't appear to be any signs of sexual assault. Meanwhile, analysts are also working on recovering DNA from the items collected at the scene, including that ointment tube and cap that they had found. And when it comes back from testing, results say it does have DNA on it,

• 29:03Payton Moreland?

  but it isn't Ally's. It belongs to an unknown male. So not Phil or anyone else they had taken samples from up till this point. However, that sample, the one on the ointment tube also matches DNA that was found on Ally's shirt and bra.

• 29:23Garrett Moreland?

  Interesting. Okay.

• 29:25Payton Moreland?

  So not having anyone else to compare it to yet. They run these shared samples through CODIS and unfortunately, they don't come up with a match. But they do have a good enough read on the DNA that when a lead does come through, they will have a really good sample to compare it to. And actually, that first lead comes sooner than they anticipate. Four days after Ally's murder, Leewood Police get a call from the Leavenworth County Sheriff's Department saying this. They had a warrant out for a local man's arrest, and it turns out he also matched the composite sketch of Ally's murderer pretty well. And even more damning, when police approached him, he said to them, quote,

• 30:08Payton Moreland?

  "Are you here about the girl who was murdered at the pool in Leewood?"

• 30:12Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I mean, just because of how you started the story, I know it's not going to be him, but let's keep it going.

• 30:19Payton Moreland?

  So obviously, they arrest him because they have a warrant for something else. They bring him in for questioning. And when they do, they notice these scratch marks all over his arms, and the sheriff's department's thinking, "This is the guy who murdered her." Problem is, he has a very solid alibi for the time of the murder. He was at work where multiple people saw him, could vouch for him, and he has an excuse for the marks on his arms, too. Turns out, they were from a domestic dispute with his wife from just a day or two earlier, and this is something she confirms as well.

• 30:55Garrett Moreland?

  Interesting.

• 30:56Payton Moreland?

  So this is a dead end.

• 30:58Garrett Moreland?

  Maybe it's a different guy than what the friend saw? I don't know.

• 31:01Payton Moreland?

  But a couple of days later, the police get another good lead, a man who, once again, looks a lot like the person in the sketch. His name is James Schrader. The 27-year-old is an auto mechanic who lives just 50 miles or so away from Leewood. And when officers go to speak with him, he also says, "I was at work at the time of the murder, at an auto repair shop in Kansas." So detectives speak to his boss. Sure enough, it's true. He was working at the time, so police end up scratching this tip off the list as well. Which means, when friends gather for Ally's funeral, they are no closer to having someone to blame. Ally's funeral is held on Saturday, June 22,

• 31:46Payton Moreland?

  at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leewood. This is the largest United Methodist church in the world. It seats 3,500 people. And that day, every single chair was filled to honor Ally. Now meanwhile, police are taking every possible step they can to try and find who is responsible for this murder. They are combing hundreds of DMV records, looking for that tan truck. They pull every single car registered in that style in both Missouri and Kansas, and they begin looking into everyone who drives them. But over the next few months, these leads dry up, so Ally's family and friends kind of start to take matters into their own hands. Her father, Roger, put it like this, quote,

• 32:31Payton Moreland?

  "You've got two choices. You can stay in bed and pull the covers over your head, or you can go out and fight the battle. And I was gonna fight the battle. There was no way I was gonna let this guy win."

• 32:43Garrett Moreland?

  Good for him.

• 32:44Payton Moreland?

  Which is when Roger contacts the producers of America's Most Wanted.

• 32:49Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 32:50Payton Moreland?

  Gets them to do a segment at first, and then an entire episode on Ally's case, and he ups the reward for information on her case to $25,000, which is then matched by city officials for the grand total being 50K.

• 33:05Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 33:05Payton Moreland?

  He places a large ad in the magazine USA Today with the composite sketch and a photo of Ally underneath the headline, quote, "Do you know who killed me?" He even takes out ads on long-haul trucks, so people across the country can see the sketch of the man. But Roger's most successful idea is to put this composite sketch on a billboard. Okay, so he calls around to local advertising companies. He's like, "What's a billboard gonna cost me? He's gonna pay for it." But when he speaks to a local company that owns several billboards in the area and tells them, "Well, this is what my plan is", they offer to do it for free.

• 33:47Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, that's what I'm talking about.

• 33:49Payton Moreland?

  And within a few days of making that call, the first billboard goes up.

• 33:53Garrett Moreland?

  That's awesome.

• 33:54Payton Moreland?

  Followed by three more throughout the area. And suddenly, now eight months after Ally's murder, leads are pouring in again. It is exactly the boost the case needs to gain more momentum. And shortly after that, an old suspect pops back up on the police's radar. It's that auto mechanic, James Schrader. Now it turns out, the guy's been arrested in Kansas City after being accused of a string of sexual assaults.

• 34:28Garrett Moreland?

  So it's the same guy they already thought?

• 34:30Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, but he had, he had an alibi. And so they were like, "We let him go", but now he's popping back up again.

• 34:40Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 34:41Payton Moreland?

  Because he's been accused of a string of sexual assaults. All young women, some as young as 14 years old, though some sources did say younger. Now, police-

• 34:53Garrett Moreland?

  What in the world?

• 34:54Payton Moreland?

  No, he has an alibi. They've already checked this. He has an alibi for the day Ally was killed, but what are the chances you have this guy who has a string of, like, sexual assault allegations?

• 35:06Garrett Moreland?

  He has an alibi, but the friend was like, "I saw this person."

• 35:09Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, and it matched.

• 35:10Garrett Moreland?

  So someone's wrong.

• 35:12Payton Moreland?

  Right.

• 35:13Garrett Moreland?

  And so let's figure out, obviously, who's wrong.

• 35:16Payton Moreland?

  And, and the cops are with you. They can't shake that this might be the guy.

• 35:20Garrett Moreland?

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• 35:25Payton Moreland?

  We love Skims, and I'm so excited I get to talk to you about their loungewear and pajamas. If you follow me on Instagram, I just posted, but I did get one of their sleep sets that's like a deep burgundy color. So cute, so rich, so soft. And then I also got a fleece set that's like this chocolate brown. So freaking cute. I love a good matching set, and I love Skims. Again, the sleeps that I got is the Soft Lounge Sleep Set. I always get asked, like, what exactly it is.

• 36:06Payton Moreland?

  Um, so yes, the Soft Lounge Sleep Set, it has the perfect weight, the perfect stretch. The fabric will not irritate your skin. Honestly, I recommend Skims to everyone due to just the quality and the comfort that it brings. So go check out their cotton fleece sets or their sleep sets right now.

• 36:26Garrett Moreland?

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• 36:39Payton Moreland?

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• 37:22Payton Moreland?

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• 38:07Payton Moreland?

  Now luckily, they have that DNA sample they can test, but the problem is, James Schrader is out on bail, so he's not currently in custody to take DNA from. However, police catch a lucky break when he's pulled over in Utah on a traffic violation and supposedly stabbed during that dispute. Okay, he gets in a dispute during this traffic violation and is stabbed. Now, police are able to collect his DNA, and when they run it against the results found at the crime scene, they aren't a match.

• 38:47Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 38:48Payton Moreland?

  Turns out, James really isn't their guy. So he's officially excluded as a suspect, and to them, it's like-

• 38:54Garrett Moreland?

  Dang, so he really wasn't?

• 38:56Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, they're like, "What are the chances this guy has a string of sexual assaults?"

• 39:00Garrett Moreland?

  What?

• 39:01Payton Moreland?

  "He looks just like the guy from the sketch, and he's not our guy."

• 39:05Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 39:06Payton Moreland?

  Either way, those billboards are really working overtime, and they are bringing in a lot of leads that police feel are worth pursuing, including one really good one that comes in right around the one-year anniversary of Ally's murder. An anonymous caller phones the Leewood Police to say, "I recognize the sketch on the billboard", and the person they're suspecting also happens to be a pool maintenance guy. So can you imagine driving past this billboard and like, being like, "Oh, that looks like so-and-so", and then being like, "Wait, this girl was killed at a pool while working on shift, and the guy I'm thinking of is a pool maintenance guy?"

• 39:49Payton Moreland?

  She tells police, "His name is Teddy Hoover", and that makes the police perk up, because 27-year-old Teddy had actually been questioned back when this investigation started.

• 40:01Garrett Moreland?

  Of course he had been.

• 40:02Payton Moreland?

  But for one reason or another, like, he never became a serious person of interest. But this tipster seems to know Teddy pretty well. And not only does he give the police Teddy's current address, he says, "Also, Teddy's dad drives a Ford pickup, just like the one that you guys are reported, like you were reporting was seen that day."

• 40:27Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 40:27Payton Moreland?

  And this guy is like, and Teddy borrows it a lot. So not only is he a pool maintenance guy, not only does he look like the guy in the sketch, but he also has access to a car that multiple eyewitnesses saw in the parking lot. So this is when police pay another visit to Teddy Hoover. And when they get to Teddy's house, he allows detectives to come inside to ask him a few questions. They admit to him, we received a tip about you. We want to eliminate you as a suspect. Teddy apparently seems calm and collected. He says he isn't surprised because he himself had seen the billboards. He knew he resembled the sketch, but when they ask him if he was at that pool that day, he says, no, I've never done

• 41:11Payton Moreland?

  any work at that pool.

• 41:13Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 41:14Payton Moreland?

  However, he did have other clients in the area, so he could have been in the area that day. He admits, though, it's been too long. It was a year ago. He can't specifically remember where he was that afternoon. Police are like, hey, no problem. We've got a really easy way to cross you off our list because we've got solid DNA samples.

• 41:34Garrett Moreland?

  And he doesn't give it.

• 41:36Payton Moreland?

  And that's when Teddy starts acting a little nervous.

• 41:39Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 41:40Payton Moreland?

  He also can tell the police are picking up on this. So he plays it off. He's like, I just don't want my DNA ending up in like a national database. That's weird to me. He says, I'll have to get in touch with my lawyer. See if this is something I even want to do, and then I'll get back to you. So he also gives them his attorney's information because he's like, you're also going to need to contact me through my lawyer.

• 42:02Garrett Moreland?

  He had an attorney already?

• 42:03Payton Moreland?

  I guess. But by the time detectives leave his house, they are like suspicious. Now, after that, three days pass, they get no word from Teddy. So they finally get in touch with his attorney. And he says, look, the guy never actually paid me, so you don't have to go through me. Like you can go talk to him if you want, which is why detectives now go back to Teddy's house. They knock on his door again, only Teddy's not there this time.

• 42:31Garrett Moreland?

  What a surprise.

• 42:33Payton Moreland?

  His landlord says Teddy told him he was going to Las Vegas. And so they go back to the attorney. They're like, hey, Teddy wasn't there. Like, we know he didn't pay you, but did he talk to you about going to Vegas? And he's like, he didn't talk to me about going to Vegas. He said he was maybe going to go to Florida. So now police are like, oh, great. So he's on the run.

• 42:58Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 42:58Payton Moreland?

  Like he's on the run and he does a pretty good job of concealing his location. They run his name through databases in both Florida and Nevada, as well as the surrounding area. He doesn't come up. Well, actually he does, but not in the way you would imagine. Turns out when police try to dig deeper into Teddy Hoover's background, they find out he's dead. He has been for 10 years at that point, which is when they realize the man they had been speaking to had actually stolen this Teddy Hoover identity.

• 43:31Garrett Moreland?

  Gosh.

• 43:32Payton Moreland?

  And was living under this guy's alias.

• 43:35Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 43:35Payton Moreland?

  For a while. Obviously, this is only going to make him harder to track down. He's living under an alias. They don't even have his real name, but thankfully there are some people they speak to who say they knew the name of Teddy Hoover's girlfriend, like local girlfriend in the area. It was a woman named Laura Barr, but she's equally as hard to find. And I hate to tell you this, but 17 months then pass.

• 44:01Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 44:03Payton Moreland?

  Police have no idea where Teddy or his girlfriend Laura are. And so this is when they come up with an idea. They start contacting postal inspectors to see if anyone under the name of Laura Barr or Teddy Hoover has gotten mail in the states.

• 44:21Garrett Moreland?

  Pretty smart, huh?

• 44:22Payton Moreland?

  And finally, in the fall of 2004, they get an answer and they find an address. Laura is living in Connecticut with a new boyfriend named Ben Appleby. And when local detectives go to look into it, they find that Ben Appleby is actually Teddy Hoover, who isn't actually Teddy Hoover.

• 44:44Garrett Moreland?

  No way.

• 44:45Payton Moreland?

  So they are still together 17 months later and they have this guy and he's the exact same person as all these names.

• 44:52Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 44:53Payton Moreland?

  So a little bit about Ben Appleby or Teddy Hoover. His family lived in the Kansas city area. They did have a small pool cleaning business when Ally was murdered. Ben also had an outstanding warrant from the 1990s for three misdemeanor counts of lewd conduct.

• 45:11Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 45:12Payton Moreland?

  After he went around flashing high school girls. And can I just say, I know it's like, we don't judge behavior.

• 45:20Garrett Moreland?

  No, that's insane.

• 45:21Payton Moreland?

  But like whenever we have like a random murder of a girl that is sexual in nature, even if there's not sexual assault, and then you look at a guy and he's peeping Tom or flashing girls at high school or has a, you know, multiple sexual assault allegations against young girls. It's hard not to be like, okay, he escalated to murder.

• 45:45Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 45:45Payton Moreland?

  Like this just feels like a pattern of behavior we see time and time again. Not only this, he has been arrested a few times in Missouri, once for second degree robbery, which he supposedly committed with a double-barreled shotgun.

• 46:02Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 46:03Payton Moreland?

  Police are like, this guy's rough. He's got to be our guy. They have officers in Connecticut execute the warrant and they knock on the front door of the house where he's living with Laura. They ask him, hey, are you Ben Appleby? And once he says yes, they put him in handcuffs and they bring him to the station. And there, Leewood officers are already waiting, eager to question him in Ally's murder case. And almost immediately, he breaks down and starts confessing. He tells these Leewood officers, he actually was at the pool that day. He just went to see if he could get their business and he walked in, no one was there, but that's when he spotted Ally working in the pump room all alone.

• 46:47Payton Moreland?

  He said he went in, he hit on her. She wanted nothing to do with him. And he says that just pissed him off.

• 46:55Garrett Moreland?

  Holy crap.

• 46:57Payton Moreland?

  He claims he blocked the doorway. She started to feel uncomfortable and tell that something was wrong. That's when he made a move and placed a hand on her waist. Ally stood up for herself. She pushed Ben. She punched him in the chest. Ben says he snapped. He said he pushed her, laid down on top of her, ripped her clothes off with the intention of sexually assaulting her. Then he began choking her. He doesn't remember even what he strangled her with.

• 47:27Garrett Moreland?

  No, of course he doesn't.

• 47:29Payton Moreland?

  Or why he did it. They all say this, but soon Ally was unconscious. He says he just kept going. He grabbed the tube of antibiotic ointment to use as lubricant.

• 47:43Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my, what a absolute freak.

• 47:46Payton Moreland?

  But then he hears the honking in the parking lot. Now, if you remember, this honking is from Ally's friend who has showed up just to say hi to her at work and is trying to get her attention. He says he got up, he rushed out of there. He went out to his truck and casually waved to Ally's friend to try to like, make it seem like nothing was going on. Says he got in his truck and he drove away.

• 48:11Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 48:12Payton Moreland?

  With his confession signed and matching the eyewitness testimony, 29-year-old Ben Appleby is charged with first degree murder and attempted rape. His bail is set at $1 million, which he's unable to pay. Speaking of a high price, that anonymous caller who phoned in the tip about Teddy, which led them to Ben Appleby, they refused to accept the reward money.

• 48:38Garrett Moreland?

  Good for them.

• 48:39Payton Moreland?

  They're like, I'm not taking the 50K. Instead, they donate it to the foundation that had been started in Ally's name.

• 48:45Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 48:47Payton Moreland?

  Now, at first, obviously it looks like Ben's going to plead guilty to the charges, but that doesn't end up being the case despite his confession.

• 48:55Garrett Moreland?

  That happens a lot, right? They like, they confess, then they get an attorney and then they're like, oh, actually, let me try to fight this.

• 49:01Payton Moreland?

  Yeah. He backs down on his confession. He's like, I was coerced.

• 49:05Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 49:06Payton Moreland?

  So he decides to plead not guilty. And in the winter of 2006, Ben goes to trial. And on December 5th of that year, he's found guilty of all charges. He is sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole at 50 years. And as for Roger and the Kemp family, Ally's dad and her family, they've found ways to help other people in Ally's memory. Roger believes that if Ally maybe had more self-defense training, maybe she could have really fought back. So he since started an organization called the Ally Kemp Education Foundation, or TAKE.

• 49:46Payton Moreland?

  It's a self-defense program that teaches women of all ages tools on how to escape a confined attack. So like very specific to what Ally, his daughter, went through. And the program has actually since trained over 85,000 participants since it was opened in the early 2000s. So if you want to learn more about the TAKE Defense or Honor Ally's Memory with a donation, you can visit takedefense.org for more information. We will have it linked over as well. But that is the murder of Ally Kemp.

• 50:26Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh. It's just like, those punishments are just, they aren't good enough for me, man. Those aren't good enough for me.

• 50:33Payton Moreland?

  I think it's.

• 50:34Garrett Moreland?

  They just aren't. They never will be. I'm just, I'm not okay with it. I don't know how other people can be okay with it. I don't know how honestly the people can be like, yeah, just put him in jail for life. Truly, you can disagree with me. That's fine. I just truly don't understand how that's, that punishment works.

• 50:52Payton Moreland?

  I just don't understand how you show up to this pool to like,

• 50:57Garrett Moreland?

  Off with their head.

• 50:58Payton Moreland?

  To like, see if you can get them as a client. And you're so disgusting and so inhumane that when you spot that it's only just a young, single girl, like individual, working, you decide, yep, I'm just going to go rape her.

• 51:16Garrett Moreland?

  And that's what I mean. It's like off with their heads. Just off.

• 51:20Payton Moreland?

  Like how evil of a, deplorable of a person do you have to be to casually walk into this situation and take advantage of it?

• 51:28Garrett Moreland?

  It's, it's honestly mind blowing. I truly can't comprehend it. I can't.

• 51:33Payton Moreland?

  It's gross.

• 51:34Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 51:35Payton Moreland?

  And then also like just her family having to be there and go through all of this.

• 51:42Payton Moreland?

  Anyways, we have the, all the self-defense stuff linked and again, also donations linked. Thank you guys so much for watching or listening to today's episode and we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

• 51:56Garrett Moreland?

  I hate it.

• 51:57Payton Moreland?

  Goodbye.

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