MFM Minisode 513

This week’s hometowns include a crime against the Mayor of Flavortown and vigilante justice with the Skarsgard brothers. For our sources, please visit https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/episodes. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g. Head to social media to share your favorite moments from this episode. Instagram: instagram.com/myfavoritemurder http://instagram.com/myfavoritemurder Facebook: facebook.com/myfavoritemurder http://facebook.com/myfavoritemurder TikTok: tiktok.com/@my_favorite_murder http://tiktok.com/@my_favorite_murder Send your hometown stories to [email protected]. Join the Fan Cult to access ad-free episodes of My Favorite Murder. Members also receive merch store discounts, exclusive audio and video content and more! Visit www.fancult.supercast.com http://www.fancult.supercast.com/ to join. Shop for My Favorite Murder and other Exactly Right merchandise here:www.exactlyrightstore.com https://www.exactlyrightstore.com. Rate, review and follow My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This is exactly right.

• 0:06Speaker 01

  Cash Flow Crunch. OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 0:36Georgia Hardstark?

  In New Orleans, truckers kept getting sideswiped the exact same way.

• 0:40Karen Kilgariff?

  When a man is found murdered under questionable circumstances related to these accidents, that's when the rubber hits the road.

• 0:46Georgia Hardstark?

  And what the feds uncover is a complex scheme of staged wrecks, financial fraud, and a pair of conspiring lovers behind it.

• 0:53Karen Kilgariff?

  This is a story about fake accidents that led to real consequences.

• 0:57Georgia Hardstark?

  Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:01Karen Kilgariff?

  Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now.

• 1:05Georgia Hardstark?

  Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Goodbye.

• 1:27Karen Kilgariff?

  Hello.

• 1:29Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow.

• 1:30Karen Kilgariff?

  And welcome.

• 1:31Georgia Hardstark?

  To my favorite murder.

• 1:32Karen Kilgariff?

  The minisode.

• 1:33Georgia Hardstark?

  We read you your clapbacks.

• 1:36Karen Kilgariff?

  And your hot takes.

• 1:37Georgia Hardstark?

  That's right.

• 1:39Karen Kilgariff?

  Smash that like button.

• 1:40Georgia Hardstark?

  Ew.

• 1:42Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, we might as well. Let's do it.

• 1:45Georgia Hardstark?

  Let's do it. Let's get horrible.

• 1:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Let's.

• 1:48Georgia Hardstark?

  You want to go first? Yeah, I have a follow-up, actually.

• 1:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, shit.

• 1:54Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay.

• 1:55Karen Kilgariff?

  For a kickoff?

• 1:56Georgia Hardstark?

  For a kickoff. I have a follow-up to our Houston Astros cheating a scandal story.

• 2:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, shit.

• 2:01Georgia Hardstark?

  That video, it's on Instagram if you want to see what I'm talking about. You guys had a lot of thoughts about it. It was so much fun. So, the person who originally wrote the email wrote back.

• 2:14Karen Kilgariff?

  Thank God.

• 2:15Georgia Hardstark?

  And said, I know, right. "Hi, Karen and Georgia. Georgia read my story on Minisode 510 about my polygraph experience, and I genuinely didn't realize how much I wrote about my dislike for the 2017 Astros. Oops." And then we get into baseball. "A quick summary of the whole scandal. The story came to light in an article from The Athletic in 2019. A former Astros pitcher, Mike Fires fears, I don't know, blew the whistle on the operation which involved an unauthorized camera in center field at Astros stadium to film the opposing catcher's signs."

• 2:50Karen Kilgariff?

  Hmm.

• 2:51Georgia Hardstark?

  And then she explains baseball, although I have seen Major League clearly so many times in my life, so I know baseball. Okay. The story is, "Catchers signal the pitchers which type of pitch to throw, typically by holding down a certain number of fingers on their non-gloved hand. It's not as simple as one finger for a fastball and two for a curve. It's usually a lot more complicated."

• 3:10Karen Kilgariff?

  This is so condescending. I'm more furious than I was for the original conversation.

• 3:15Georgia Hardstark?

  This is like double shit list here. A monitor was, so basically, they're saying, "A monitor was installed in the tunnel near the dugout where staff and players watched the feed, decoded the pitches, and banged a trash can, example, once for off-speed pitch silence for a fastball, to signal the hitter."

• 3:33Karen Kilgariff?

  So it's all provable and kind of out in the open?

• 3:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 3:37Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 3:38Georgia Hardstark?

  And it's like blatant. It's not like we got a piece of paper that says like what this means or that means, you know?

• 3:44Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, they're banging a trash can. You can, it's play back the tape.

• 3:47Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally. "As a result, Astros batters would know what type of pitch was coming their way. This may not seem like a huge advantage. Hitting a 100 mile per hour fastball is very difficult, even when you know it's coming, but it makes a difference. Many pitchers across the league have stated they would much rather face a batter on steroids than a batter who knows what pitch is coming, because you can at least try to outthink the guy on steroids."

• 4:10Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 4:11Georgia Hardstark?

  "Major League Baseball fined the franchise and handed down one-year suspensions to the general manager and the manager of the team. The players were granted immunity from discipline in exchange for their cooperation with the investigation, meaning no players were individually suspended. Whether or not the 2017 Astros cheated is not controversial. It was investigated by MLB and confirmed. The controversy exists between players and fans on either side of the scandal who disagree on whether or not the punishments were sufficient."

• 4:38Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh.

• 4:39Georgia Hardstark?

  "Apologies for making you air all my grievances about baseball on the podcast, and now doing it a second time. Story was really supposed to be about a polygraph at work. SSDGM, Sarah."

• 4:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Sarah, thank you for participating in the content churn with us.

• 4:54Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 4:55Karen Kilgariff?

  Every, whatever people intend, the way they're going to interact, we can't control it. We just go with it.

• 5:01Georgia Hardstark?

  No, and every view on Instagram counts, so technically, you've helped us. So go smash that like button.

• 5:07Karen Kilgariff?

  Smash that like button. We're doing a collab with MLB where people explain the most basic rules to us. Hello.

• 5:14Georgia Hardstark?

  We're going to throw you a fastball of fucking hometowns now.

• 5:19Karen Kilgariff?

  They hold out fingers to represent plays and different types of pitches. Okay.

• 5:28Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, we're keeping it hometowny.

• 5:30Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay.

• 5:31Karen Kilgariff?

  The subject line of this email is "Trouble in Flavortown," so you know I had to pick it. And it starts, "Hey, best friends. I'm from Marin County," and then a parentheses, it says, "Trail side killer territory and neighbors with Karen's hometown Petaluma. Hey," closed parentheses. "In high school, I was running with the wrong crowds and loving every minute of it."

• 5:50Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 5:51Karen Kilgariff?

  "One day when I was 15, I was having dinner at a friend's house with this guy I was super into at the time. We were talking about the food when someone brought up cooking shows. He turned to me and told me that he had a great story for me, and of course, I'm always down for a great story. He told me that his good friend was planning to steal a really expensive car from a famous chef in San Francisco. Remember this?"

• 6:13Georgia Hardstark?

  Yes, totally. That sounds familiar, yeah.

• 6:16Karen Kilgariff?

  "This guy was older than me, 16 at the time, and didn't strike me as a sexy James Bond grand theft auto type, even though I was a blossoming murderino, and I didn't care about anything other than getting guys to buy me cigarettes and getting my belly button pierced. So some months later, I'm in the car with a friend, and she shows me an article her mom just sent her with a headline, 'Celebrity chef Guy Fieri's Lamborghini is stolen from dealership lot in San Francisco.'"

• 6:45Georgia Hardstark?

  I remember this.

• 6:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes. It was 2011. Just want to let that settle in for a moment. He stole Guy Fieri's Lamborghini. And then it says, "Guy Fieri, restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award-winning TV personality, Mr. Flavortown. My friend wasn't lying. This kid literally rappelled off the roof to get down to the car in the middle of the night, impersonated a worker, and then drove that shit right off the lot."

• 7:12Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, let him keep it. At that point, you earned it.

• 7:16Karen Kilgariff?

  And also, maybe he doesn't come off as like a sexy James Bond type, but he just earned his James Bond stripes by rappelling anywhere.

• 7:24Georgia Hardstark?

  Rappelling anything.

• 7:25Karen Kilgariff?

  I mean, if you went to like a rock climbing place.

• 7:28Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 7:29Karen Kilgariff?

  And you were rappelling, it would be hot. But that's like where you need it most.

• 7:32Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally.

• 7:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay, so it says, "The thing was bright fucking yellow, and he drove it over the Golden Gate Bridge."

• 7:37Georgia Hardstark?

  [laughing]

• 7:38Karen Kilgariff?

  He was literally 16 years old. "I honestly couldn't even drive at that age. They hadn't found the car yet, and they didn't have a suspect in mind. I was like, there's no way I can get involved in this, but I know more than the cops about this crazy heist. After a few months without running into him, though, I once again started minding my own business. The bummer for this kid is that he actually was kind of a huge asshole sociopath. A year later, he caused a massive scene by shooting at his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend from his motorcycle outside a bar."

• 8:12Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my God.

• 8:13Karen Kilgariff?

  That's insane. "The police tracked him back to a storage unit, and then, boom, there's the bright yellow Lambo waiting for them, along with a shit ton of fake IDs, drugs, and guns."

• 8:25Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow.

• 8:26Karen Kilgariff?

  "He stole that car and then went and parked it at a rent-a-center," or whatever, not a rent-a-center, "at a..."

• 8:32Georgia Hardstark?

  Storage center.

• 8:33Karen Kilgariff?

  At a, yes, storage center. And just left it there.

• 8:36Georgia Hardstark?

  And his own stupidity got him caught. Like, they wouldn't even have caught him.

• 8:40Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, but he's clearly reckless.

• 8:42Georgia Hardstark?

  When you get away with stuff, you're just like, I get away with stuff.

• 8:45Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah. When they caught him, Guy Fieri actually had to testify against him in court, and I can't help but giggle when I think about that. In a news clip, Guy said, "Brave kid," and laughed it off as he was walking out of the courthouse. So badass.

• 8:59Georgia Hardstark?

  That's a straight-up Gwynn Paltrow. I hope you enjoy your life.

• 9:02Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes. Be blessed, or whatever the fuck.

• 9:05Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 9:06Karen Kilgariff?

  "The kid got 25 to life for attempted murder."

• 9:09Georgia Hardstark?

  Whoa.

• 9:10Karen Kilgariff?

  "And is in San Quentin as we speak. Anyways, thanks for reading this, ladies. I hope the facts are accurate, because in true MFM form, it's a little fuzzy."

• 9:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Well, hey.

• 9:20Karen Kilgariff?

  "That's old us. Anyway, stay sexy and don't fuck with Flavortown. C."

• 9:24Georgia Hardstark?

  [laughing]

• 9:25Karen Kilgariff?

  The initial C.

• 9:27Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow. That's one of those stories you like, have heard of. That's what I love about these hometowns. It's like, I remember that.

• 9:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes.

• 9:34Georgia Hardstark?

  And then it's like, yeah, that was my friend's buddy, or whatever.

• 9:36Karen Kilgariff?

  Just the idea of like, you rappel in to steal the most obvious car.

• 9:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 9:43Karen Kilgariff?

  And you get away with it.

• 9:44Georgia Hardstark?

  I had a lot of hope for this kid until he became a fucking piece of shit, but like, the kind of kid at school where you're like, the teachers are so frustrated because they're like, this kid is so freaking smart, and he refuses to, you know, he needs to find the thing he loves and do it, like stealing cars.

• 9:58Karen Kilgariff?

  I know. It makes me go, did your dad start a second family?

• 10:02Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 10:03Karen Kilgariff?

  What pain are you processing as a 16-year-old boy that's coming out in the way where you're rappelling in and stealing Lamborghinis?

• 10:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally, totally.

• 10:13Georgia Hardstark?

  Send your story about that to my favorite murderer Gmail. Send us stories about second families. We haven't had a lot of those, have we?

• 10:19Karen Kilgariff?

  What, other families?

• 10:20Georgia Hardstark?

  Second family stories, secret, secret families.

• 10:23Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, secret families are good.

• 10:24Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 10:25Karen Kilgariff?

  I think we've asked for like ancestry.com.

• 10:27Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, but I want someone who's like Graham, who's like closer to it than.

• 10:32Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay.

• 10:32Georgia Hardstark?

  You know?

• 10:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Either that or repelling stories. But it has to be over 30 feet.

• 10:38Georgia Hardstark?

  If you could combine the two, great.

• 10:40Karen Kilgariff?

  That would be ideal.

• 10:41Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 10:43Speaker 04

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A plus by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five star Trust Pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 11:12Georgia Hardstark?

  The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.

• 11:16Karen Kilgariff?

  Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.

• 11:22Georgia Hardstark?

  That's why now is a good time to think about home security with SimpliSafe.

• 11:25Karen Kilgariff?

  Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break in starts, SimpliSafe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town, and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone and SimpliSafe is going to show you not only the video of like it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.

• 11:51Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, I really think that's invaluable peace of mind that just like relying on your neighbors, paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplisafe.com/mfm.

• 12:08Karen Kilgariff?

  That's simplisafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you and it really helps the show.

• 12:16Georgia Hardstark?

  SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time.

• 12:18Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 12:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay, I have another follow up, actually. This one's called Marfa Ghost Lights. Pick me, I know this one. Starts during Georgia's story about the Marfa Ghost Lights, episode 555, Live at Bass Concert Hall, Austin night two. I was jumping up and down with my hand raised like the insufferable know it all I have always proudly been. To tell this story, I need to take you back to the early 1980s in a suburban Milwaukee town of New Berlin. Not pronounced like the German city Berlin, but rather Berlin. Okay. I was eight years old and my BFF Cheryl was sleeping over in my basement bedroom. I don't know why my parents put the youngest child in a dark damp basement that was filled with centipedes and spiders, but it was the eighties and kids didn't matter.

• 13:05Georgia Hardstark?

  Also, the name Cheryl with an S H is so eighties.

• 13:08Karen Kilgariff?

  It's so deeply eighties.

• 13:09Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah. Suddenly, in the very wee hours of the morning, Cheryl and I both woke up and sat bolt upright. Neither of us spoke. Our eyes were drawn to some strange red lights in the far corner of my bedroom, hovering just below the ceiling. They were small orbs, not illuminating the room, but glowing. There were five or six of them and they were orbiting around each other in a small circle for maybe a minute. Then one by one, they shot to the opposite corner of my bedroom and disappeared. Poof. Cheryl and I looked at each other and started freaking the fuck out. We jumped out of bed, ran upstairs to tell the adults, who immediately dismissed our screaming and panic as overactive imaginations and told us to go back to bed as it was still dark out. Childhood trauma unlocked. Cheryl and I never forgot.

• 13:52Georgia Hardstark?

  As we grew up, we grew apart to the point where we'd see each other maybe once a decade, but every time we'd reconnect, we'd talk about what we coined as the red ants. Today, I'm a staunch atheist, a hard skeptic, and am pretty intolerant, perhaps to a fault, some might say, of the supernatural. I don't believe in ghosts or general mumbo jumbo or essential oils as anything other than something, as something that kind of smells good.

• 14:18Karen Kilgariff?

  Essential oils taking the hit.

• 14:22Georgia Hardstark?

  I think we all dismiss, those are not woo woo anymore. Though I've said time and time again that I'd love to be proven wrong because it's nice to believe in something, but this one thing, these red ants had left that door to the supernatural ever so slightly ajar until. Flash forward several weeks ago when my forever curious and science minded 19 year old son came to me and said two words, ball lightning. He remember this story that I told him 15 years earlier when we visited New Berlin? He said he had some extra time when he was at the college library, so he decided to look into it. And just like that, he solved the mystery that had been dogging me for almost half a century. Ball lightning is a rare and atmospheric phenomenon,

• 15:04Georgia Hardstark?

  described as a glowing, floating orb or spear that typically appears during thunderstorms, but not always, and lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. It can appear both indoors and outdoors. It's also one of the theories behind the mysterious Marfa Ghost Lights, and I believe this to be the absolute and definitive truth. See above reference to insufferable know it all. Mystery solved, science wins. By the way, thank you for the shout out to the El Paso Times newspaper, where I worked as a copy editor for several years and it was one of my favorite places I've lived and worked. You'll never find a city with nicer people, better food, a more vibrant culture and jaw dropping landscapes. Love your show, love you guys more than you know. You've been the voices in my head throughout the ups and downs of my life

• 15:47Georgia Hardstark?

  and I couldn't ask for better parasocial besties. Stay sexy and tell your kids all your mysteries because someday they might solve them. Sarah.

• 15:55Karen Kilgariff?

  Ball lightning. Did you bring that up?

• 15:58Georgia Hardstark?

  I don't think so, but I, doesn't that sound like?

• 16:02Karen Kilgariff?

  Bullshit?

• 16:05Georgia Hardstark?

  No, what's the other one? Spontaneous human combustion.

• 16:08Karen Kilgariff?

  Oh, yes.

• 16:09Georgia Hardstark?

  Doesn't like, that could spark something.

• 16:11Karen Kilgariff?

  Right, there's all kinds of, yes, I, here's what I like about that email. I like a person who's like, I'm a staunch atheist kind of non believer, but I have to keep the door open.

• 16:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 16:22Karen Kilgariff?

  And, well, I guess until, but to me, I'm like, you also have to keep the door open because why in the world would you have four balls of ball lightning? Or whatever they call it in your basement?

• 16:33Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally. Like the one time happened to, like no one else in your family, no one else you've ever spoken to has seen it. It's just like a fun eerie thing that doesn't need to be.

• 16:42Karen Kilgariff?

  Well, right, because there's other versions of it.

• 16:45Georgia Hardstark?

  Also, the shit we don't know, like.

• 16:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes. Give it over, give it over to the shit we don't know.

• 16:51Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 16:51Karen Kilgariff?

  For real. Okay. Sarah, I hope we haven't upset you terribly. Okay.

• 16:59Karen Kilgariff?

  This story is insane. I'm not going to read you the subject line. This is a great hero's story. So it says, hi ladies, thoroughly enjoy the podcast. I've been a loyal listener from the beginning. If you're reading this, I'm probably listening on the NYC subway crying with happiness. I wanted to share a story about my father, who was a legit cowboy and was straight up in a shootout in 2012. Sadly, this isn't a happy story for some involved, but I'm so proud of my dad and I think he's the most badass person alive. So I wanted to share a story of the man who is my true hero. It was move in weekend, 2012 at Texas A&M. And my dad was helping my stepsister move into her sorority house with my stepmom.

• 17:41Karen Kilgariff?

  As they were pulling up to the house, my stepmom's car is sprayed with bullets. Immediately, my dad springs into action. He gets my stepsister into the house, tells her to get everyone into the back and calls 911. He then pulls out his handgun and then a parentheses, it says, he has a license, it's Texas. And then it says, and gets my stepmom, who has now been shot twice in the back, out of the car and onto the ground. He runs down the block, gets behind a tree and begins to fire back at the guy shooting. And he's doing it to distract the shooter so that people on the street can take cover as the police are showing up.

• 18:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh my God.

• 18:21Karen Kilgariff?

  At the time, I lived in New York and I'm reading live updates of this happening on the news, thinking maybe I should call my family and make sure everyone is okay. Naturally, no one answers. Finally, my brother calls me and tells me what happened and I'm on the first plane to Texas. And so basically what happened was this. Constable Brian Bachman had gone to the house of 35 year old Thomas K. Fall, or Kefal, to serve him with a notice to appear in court due to his failure to pay rent. And Kefal shot Bachman point blank and killed him. He then takes Bachman's semi-automatic pistol and goes up and down the block, shooting people. All in all, he had three different types of rifles, plus Bachman's pistol.

• 19:06Karen Kilgariff?

  He discharged around 65 rounds of ammunition. And he did end up killing a civilian and wounding three additional police officers before being shot and killed by police. Thankfully, my stepmom was okay after multiple surgeries. In parentheses, it says, she's also superwoman. And then it says sidebar, she is, she's famously known for drinking Dr. Pepper. And when she woke up after all of her surgeries, the doctor asked what she needed and she said, the only doctor I need is Dr. Pepper.

• 19:38Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, man, the doctor quit right there.

• 19:40Karen Kilgariff?

  The doctor's like, this, I have been standing here for 18 hours.

• 19:45Georgia Hardstark?

  I did a 29 hour surgery on you.

• 19:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Only these hands, he goes right into the Alec Baldwin monologue. These hands, okay, but the final, very important line of that paragraph is, she was also up and walking three days after being shot.

• 20:01Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow.

• 20:02Karen Kilgariff?

  My dad was named citizen of the year in College Station and multiple police officers came to us in the hospital to shake his hand. Many of them told us it could have been much worse if he hadn't provided the distraction that he did.

• 20:14Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 20:15Karen Kilgariff?

  I asked my dad what he was thinking when it happened and he said, it was something I just knew I had to do. There were college kids and people outside and I knew I needed to do something to distract the gunman, end quote. Seriously, the most selfless thing I've ever heard. Anyway, that's the story of my dad, a literal fucking Texas cowboy who no one should ever fuck with.

• 20:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow.

• 20:37Karen Kilgariff?

  And then it says, thankfully, I inherited that quality. SSDGM Allison.

• 20:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Allison, wow. That's, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to be like, make him shoot this way.

• 20:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes.

• 20:48Georgia Hardstark?

  Distract him from his target.

• 20:51Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes, very, like, just random shooting into crowds and basically, yeah, give him the gunfight he's asking for.

• 20:58Georgia Hardstark?

  Right. And you're like, you're safe. You're not, maybe you're not even aiming at him. It's just like, get his attention away. That's incredible.

• 21:07Speaker 04

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 21:36Georgia Hardstark?

  The holidays are coming, which means we'll all be spending more time away from home.

• 21:40Karen Kilgariff?

  Whether you're visiting family or doing something actually fun, you want to know your home is protected while you're away.

• 21:46Georgia Hardstark?

  That's why now is a good time to think about home security with SimpliSafe.

• 21:49Karen Kilgariff?

  Unlike traditional security systems that alert you after a break-in starts, SimpliSafe is designed to help stop intruders before they get inside. These days, you're worried about your house, you're out of town, and then something comes up and you get to look on your phone and SimpliSafe is going to show you not only the video of like, it's a raccoon at your front door, but also that they have staff that's sitting there, they already know. And if it was something different or worse, they would have already been on it.

• 22:15Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah, I really think that's invaluable peace of mind, that just like relying on your neighbors, paying attention is not going to give you. We've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer our listeners their biggest savings of the year. 70% off your new system with professional monitoring when you visit simplisafe.com/mfm.

• 22:32Karen Kilgariff?

  That's simplisafe.com/mfm. And when you order, write in MFM at checkout and it tells them we sent you and it really helps the show.

• 22:40Georgia Hardstark?

  SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time.

• 22:43Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 22:45Georgia Hardstark?

  Okay, my last one's called, How A Cat Saved My Bloodline. This one's pretty crazy too. Hello, MFM team. I recently discovered your podcast on Netflix and have been binge watching all your episodes.

• 22:56Karen Kilgariff?

  What? We have so many questions to ask you. You're a brand new demographic.

• 23:00Georgia Hardstark?

  I know. I didn't know there was a thing that someone was going to find us there. Were they like, hey, who are those fucking hotties?

• 23:05Karen Kilgariff?

  What are they?

• 23:05Georgia Hardstark?

  I've got to watch that.

• 23:06Karen Kilgariff?

  What are they thinking? Going in from the eyeballs first?

• 23:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 23:12Karen Kilgariff?

  Everybody else is like, what?

• 23:14Georgia Hardstark?

  It's like going in from, into the pool slowly headfirst.

• 23:17Karen Kilgariff?

  What?

• 23:21Georgia Hardstark?

  Well, we have a lot of uneyeball ones that you can find on podcast apps.

• 23:25Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, that's right. There's this whole thing called podcasting where your eyes aren't involved and you can do it while you drive. You're gonna love it.

• 23:30Georgia Hardstark?

  It's easier for everyone involved.

• 23:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Especially us.

• 23:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Thank, yeah, exactly. Thank you. I was born and raised in Edmonton, Canada, and of Chinese heritage. I live a good life and I am lucky to be a descendant of badass immigrants, but I am fortunate to realize that the unlikeliest of scenarios ultimately led to where I am today. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese imperialist forces occupied China, my paternal grandfather was a doctor having a successful medical clinic in Zhongshan in the Sichuan residential district. He was secretly part of the underground guerrilla resistance, fighting against the atrocities of the Japanese forces. The commander of the Japanese imperialist forces brought his son into the clinic, having exhausted other medical professionals, and was still unable to have his son cured. Despite my grandfather's

• 24:17Georgia Hardstark?

  involvement with the guerrilla, he cured the commander's son. The commander was so grateful that he posted a notice outside the clinic ordering any imperialist soldiers passing the clinic to salute. My grandfather used this newfound status to hide a register of all the members of the guerrilla inside the clinic.

• 24:35Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 24:36Georgia Hardstark?

  I know, because suddenly he's just like on a different plane and he is a legit doctor.

• 24:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 24:43Georgia Hardstark?

  My grandmother, a badass army medic instructor, yelled at him, obviously because of the inherent danger of having this list in their possession. If found, they would undoubtedly have been executed. My grandfather ignored my grandmother and hid the register in a pot of rice husks used for fuel under a pile of dried husks. The family cat also used this pot as a litterbox.

• 25:09Georgia Hardstark?

  One day, the Japanese soldiers got wind of the list and went to the clinic to search for it. They tore the clinic apart in their search. A Japanese soldier put his hand in the pot of husks and touched cat shit. He pulled his hand out in disgust and abandoned any further search into the pot. Had he gone past the cat poop, he would have found the register and had my grandparents executed.

• 25:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Holy shit.

• 25:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Thanks to a pile of cat shit, my grandparents and all the members of the guerrilla survived the Japanese occupation and had my dad shortly after the war.

• 25:40Karen Kilgariff?

  Wow.

• 25:41Georgia Hardstark?

  Stay sexy and listen to grandmother and maybe look where you're putting your hand. Priscilla.

• 25:47Karen Kilgariff?

  Priscilla, incredible story.

• 25:50Georgia Hardstark?

  That's like one of those literal cats, the cats saved lives.

• 25:55Karen Kilgariff?

  Yes. And I wonder, did the grandfather, was that the idea?

• 26:00Georgia Hardstark?

  Right.

• 26:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Was it the ultimate, perfect camouflage of no one will go past this layer? Because it's so disgusting?

• 26:06Georgia Hardstark?

  That's a great idea.

• 26:07Karen Kilgariff?

  Happenstance. Yeah.

• 26:08Georgia Hardstark?

  If I had a plastic baggie, put a bunch of whatever in it, sealed it up.

• 26:13Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah.

• 26:13Georgia Hardstark?

  And you, yeah, no one's going to check the fucking cat box.

• 26:16Karen Kilgariff?

  No, no.

• 26:17Georgia Hardstark?

  That's pretty brilliant.

• 26:18Karen Kilgariff?

  It's really good. Okay. I hope you're ready for my last one because it's kind of a mind bender. I'm not going to read you the whole subject line, but it is a celebrity encounter, which you know are my favorite.

• 26:30Georgia Hardstark?

  Really excited.

• 26:31Karen Kilgariff?

  Okay, great. It says, my very favorite podcasters.

• 26:35Georgia Hardstark?

  That's nice.

• 26:35Karen Kilgariff?

  There's millions, millions out there.

• 26:37Georgia Hardstark?

  So many to choose from.

• 26:39Karen Kilgariff?

  We made it. I've been listening since episode six or seven.

• 26:42Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow.

• 26:44Karen Kilgariff?

  And have been patiently waiting years to have a story worthy of one of your prompts. And I think celebrity encounters is just that opportunity. Buckle up because I think I have one of the most MFM-coded celebrity encounters outside of those Hawaiians terrorized by Ezra Miller in 2022.

• 27:02Karen Kilgariff?

  In 2017, my husband and I were in Paris with our two young children, who were five and seven at the time. We were coming from a nice dinner and stopped at a Les Mosquetais, is a guess of the pronunciation. It says essentially a mini French grocery store. We don't want to hear from French people about how bad that pronunciation was, by the way. We understand how much you hate us. There's nothing we know better.

• 27:25Georgia Hardstark?

  I think they're a little busy defending their whole society.

• 27:30Karen Kilgariff?

  Their freedoms, yeah.

• 27:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Against violent authorities. So hopefully they don't hear this.

• 27:34Karen Kilgariff?

  We're for you and, and my inability to speak foreign languages with any kind of grace has nothing to do with the respect we have for, for you.

• 27:42Georgia Hardstark?

  That's right. Now that we got that out of the way.

• 27:44Karen Kilgariff?

  Anyhow, shut up. So they're at Les Mosquetais to grab a six pack for my husband and some ice cream for the kids. The line was insanely long, like 25 people easily. So I was waiting at the little table by the window with the kids while my husband waited in line. Out of nowhere, a completely unhinged, screaming Frenchman stormed in the door, pushed through the lines of people, jumped on the counter and started punching the ever-loving shit out of one of the cashiers. It devolved into an insane brawl and everyone was panicked. I was pushed against the glass with both kids as people started backing away from the fight while my husband maintained his spot in line because you can't just walk away after waiting that long. Am I right?

• 28:28Karen Kilgariff?

  That's so genius.

• 28:30Georgia Hardstark?

  I don't know if it's super American or super French. I can't.

• 28:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Or just like, yeah, you're, you froze in place, but you also, this is my spot. I was terrified and had zero idea what to do when all of a sudden two insanely tall, insanely hot beacons of safety marched in the door. It was none other than Alexander Skarsgård and his younger brother, Bill, swooping in to save the day.

• 28:52Georgia Hardstark?

  Stop it right fucking now. Are you kidding me?

• 28:56Karen Kilgariff?

  It's what the email says. Now, people are allowed to lie to us in these emails, but.

• 29:00Georgia Hardstark?

  That's true. That's, this is not a lie.

• 29:02Karen Kilgariff?

  This isn't a lie. And here's how we know. And I mean, this is the story. They stood, this is hilarious, and this is just for you. They stood Skarsgård at the door. And it says in parentheses, sorry, at the door where it seemed like they would jump in and protect us all if the fight moved into the crowd, like two very handsome overdressed bouncers. So it says, very crappy photo attached. I was trying not to be the dick snapping a picture during an act of crime. It's not my finest work. So I'll show you that after.

• 29:34Georgia Hardstark?

  Oh, my.

• 29:36Karen Kilgariff?

  So basically, like a fight breaks out where a guy gets onto the counter, they're just watching the fight. The Skarsgård's run in to make sure no one gets hurt.

• 29:45Georgia Hardstark?

  Right.

• 29:45Karen Kilgariff?

  And then we all thought that was the end, but just as they got the guy outside, the clerk literally leapt over the counter, ran outside and attacked the puncher, eventually trying to choke him out on the ground.

• 29:57Georgia Hardstark?

  Holy shit.

• 29:59Karen Kilgariff?

  I'm pretty sure they also broke up that fight. And then it says, my memory's a little fuzzy. And then Alexander ushered the rest of us out of the store to safety. As I was passing through the door, we locked eyes. He was dazzled by my half-motherly instincts and we fell madly in love and ran away together to live one, as one big blended family in southern France. Okay, in reality, my husband paid for his beer.

• 30:23Georgia Hardstark?

  Hero, hero of the story.

• 30:25Karen Kilgariff?

  You stepped the landing, got that beer.

• 30:28Georgia Hardstark?

  Totally.

• 30:29Karen Kilgariff?

  Came outside to meet me and the kids and we walked back to our flat. But on the way, we passed those very same scars guards eating at an outdoor cafe and we all recognized each other and had an amazing what the fuck actually just happened back there discussion for a few minutes before we went on our merry way. It seems that they had heard the ruckus from their restaurant and swooped in to help. I mean, could they be any more dreamy? It was truly the highlight of our trip and perhaps my life. I am also very grateful that you all have given me the opportunity to share. Also grateful for the many hours of entertainment and parasocial camaraderie that you've provided as we are totally best friends in my head. You all bring so much joy into the world and I hope you receive it back tenfold. Oh, that's so lovely. Yeah.

• 31:14Karen Kilgariff?

  Stay sexy and don't go to Paris without a scars guard. Allison.

• 31:20Georgia Hardstark?

  Wow, I'm sweating. I'm so excited.

• 31:22Karen Kilgariff?

  Right? It's crazy.

• 31:23Georgia Hardstark?

  And then let me open it. Molly sent me the Bill's the hot scary look, kind of like scary looking in a hot way.

• 31:29Karen Kilgariff?

  Bill's got a cowboy vibe to him.

• 31:31Georgia Hardstark?

  Damn, gentleman.

• 31:34Karen Kilgariff?

  Alexander back there just standing by.

• 31:36Georgia Hardstark?

  Look at that furrowed brow. Oh, that is, that's crazy.

• 31:41Karen Kilgariff?

  Here's the other thing, I would love to know, because they're from Sweden?

• 31:45Georgia Hardstark?

  I think so, or something like that, yeah.

• 31:46Karen Kilgariff?

  I just wonder what the, what the fist fight vibe is in Sweden where it's, you know what I mean? Like if you.

• 31:52Georgia Hardstark?

  It has to be polite.

• 31:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Right? Or they're not litigious, like they let people fight it out. Obviously that was like somebody's.

• 32:00Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 32:00Karen Kilgariff?

  Ex, there was some sort of story.

• 32:03Georgia Hardstark?

  I feel like it would be very gentlemanly, the fight in Holland or Sweden.

• 32:08Karen Kilgariff?

  I like to think so. Or it's like, you know, Petaluma where it's like, hey, if they start fighting when the bar closes, you just let them fight it out. No one calls the cops and there's no crying. Just let people fight. You know what I mean?

• 32:19Georgia Hardstark?

  Well, that was, that was incredible.

• 32:22Karen Kilgariff?

  I mean.

• 32:22Georgia Hardstark?

  Glad you saved that this long. It was totally worth it.

• 32:25Karen Kilgariff?

  Allison, thank you. Thank you for finally giving us this gift.

• 32:29Georgia Hardstark?

  I love that, yeah, the scars guard are now in MFM lore and like, what more could we want? At a like.

• 32:34Karen Kilgariff?

  She's basically like, my dream happened and now it's your dream too. And it's like, hell, yes, it's our dream.

• 32:39Georgia Hardstark?

  Yeah.

• 32:40Karen Kilgariff?

  We're in.

• 32:41Georgia Hardstark?

  Once, when someday when someone makes an MFM Wikipedia, like a Wiki, they're in. Um, all right. Well, thanks for sending those in. You guys send us any fucking story you want or don't want to tell us.

• 32:53Karen Kilgariff?

  Yeah, just search your heart and stay sexy.

• 32:56Georgia Hardstark?

  And don't get murdered.

• 32:57Karen Kilgariff?

  Goodbye.

• 32:59Georgia Hardstark?

  Elvis, do you want a cookie?

• 33:08Karen Kilgariff?

  This has been an Exactly Right Production.

• 33:10Georgia Hardstark?

  Our managing producer is Molly Smith.

• 33:12Karen Kilgariff?

  Our consulting producer is Kate Schellbach.

• 33:14Georgia Hardstark?

  Our creative lead is Allison Agostino.

• 33:16Karen Kilgariff?

  Our associate producer is Tessa Hughes and our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

• 33:20Georgia Hardstark?

  This episode was mixed by Leona Scolacci.

• 33:22Karen Kilgariff?

  Email your hometowns to [email protected] and follow the show on Instagram at myfavoritemurder.

• 33:28Georgia Hardstark?

  Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 33:33Karen Kilgariff?

  Or watch new episodes every week on Netflix. Search for My Favorite Murder, add us to your list and hit the double thumbs up button. Goodbye.

• 33:48Karen Kilgariff?

  Vacation planning should feel like a breeze, not a deep dive into countless travel sites searching for the best deal.

• 33:53Georgia Hardstark?

  With Cheap Caribbean's Budget Beach Finder, you can search every destination and every date all in one search.

• 33:59Karen Kilgariff?

  You'll save time and money with the Budget Beach Finder.

• 34:02Georgia Hardstark?

  Say goodbye to endless scrolling and tab hopping and hello to Budget Beach Bliss at your fingertips.

• 34:07Karen Kilgariff?

  Go to cheapcaribbean.com to try out the Budget Beach Finder and see just how stress-free vacation planning should be. Goodbye.

• 34:15Speaker 05

  Football Sundays are at my house this year, so I've been making a Total Wine & More run before every kickoff. Cold beer for the group is a given, but this time of year I like to bring in some fall flavors, a bottle of maple whiskey and a salted caramel whiskey that even my friends who don't drink whiskey end up trying. I get everything I need at the lowest prices at Total Wine. Discover your new favorite fall flavors at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly, must be 21.

• 34:40Speaker 06

  This is Iris Palmer from Against All Odds with Iris Palmer. You know, it's the holidays when somebody in the family starts cooking before the sun comes up. The babusas are grilling in the pan, everybody's sneaking bites and somehow there's always room for one more person at the table. And nothing goes better with that first holiday plate than a delicious Coca-Cola. That crisp, refreshing taste makes everything that much better because the best holiday traditions aren't just about what we're eating, they're about who we're sharing those moments with. So check that shopping list twice, stock up on Coca-Cola for all your family fiestas y disfruta Coca-Cola.