8 | It Wasn’t for Nothing

There’s a new break in the case when Lauren gets new information about her mother’s autopsy report. And a huge moment arrives when Lauren testifies in front of the Rhode Island legislature on behalf of cold case victims. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of My Mom's Murder early and ad-free. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. This project contains conversations and information obtained over a number of years, and individual memories of events referenced and/or portrayed may differ. Any persons depicted in the project suspected of a crime are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

• 0:32Speaker 00

  On New Year's Day 2022, almost a year since I heard from the first random stranger, Louise, another random stranger reaches out to me.

• 0:43Speaker 00

  They'd been following my coverage of my mom's case, and they have a referral to a forensic pathologist based in New York who they think will review my mom's case and maybe even do a private examination. At this point in my investigation, I'm suspicious of everyone. Is this person trying to sabotage things for some reason? I take two months to think about it and finally decide I have nothing to lose. And that decision changes everything.

• 1:19Speaker 01

  Hi, I'm Candace DeLong, former FBI profiler and host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, we go inside the case of Krista Pike, the woman Tennessee tried to execute and failed. Listen to Killer Psyche on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:39Speaker 00

  Hi, I'm Sachi Cole, co-host of Scamfluencers from Audible Originals. Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes let a film crew see everything before she went to prison, or at least that's what she wanted them to think. In our latest episode, we dig into the documentary that has everyone asking, who's really running the con? Listen to Scamfluencers on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 2:22Speaker 00

  Episode eight, It Wasn't for Nothing.

• 2:29Speaker 00

  It's now March 2022, and I decide I have nothing to lose. I take the leap to contact this New York medical examiner. You may remember the original medical examiner in 1993 determined my mom's death was, quote, "natural," which shut down the entire investigation.

• 2:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, that just shows you how powerful the medical examiner's determination is.

• 2:54Speaker 00

  My friend Jolynn Rice, CEO and founder of Cold Case Advocacy, knows exactly how instrumental medical examiners can be.

• 3:02Speaker 02

  The hardest cases to get reopened are ones that aren't, and I have a case like this in Texas, where it's undetermined due to how the body, you know, what was found of the individual. And it was just classified in the way it was because there was no proof that any harm, you know, came to that person. But they were found not intact, right? One and one equals two, right? You know, so right now, the family is working to try to get that changed, and it's such a battle. How do you challenge a medical examiner, Lauren, and tell them they're wrong?

• 3:33Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's just like, it's astounding that we're at that point. And like, like, that that's the reality people face.

• 3:45Speaker 00

  But thankfully, this new ME changes the game entirely. He reviews my mom's original autopsy report from 1993 and says what I and the state's current chief ME have been saying all along. There was nothing to suggest that she died of heart disease. I'm quoting the end of his email here. "If possible, the availability of any residual tissues and slides should be reviewed to establish a cause of death from a perspective of forensic pathology. The circumstances of Lori's death should be investigated and/or reinvestigated by police." In brief, more investigation is needed, and the originally listed cause of death is unlikely to be correct.

• 4:32Speaker 00

  It's hard to describe just how relieved and vindicated I feel in this moment. This new finding might finally get law enforcement to pay attention and do something. I'm feeling optimistic and more determined than ever. Then, at the same time, I get another message from another stranger. A woman who prefers to remain anonymous reaches out on Facebook after listening to the recordings of Louise I'd posted. She tells me she didn't know my mom, but she did know Louise, and that Louise was lying when she said my mom died of an overdose. She says Louise talked about my mom's murder in a local bar for years. She says, quote, "Louise always said murdered,

• 5:16Speaker 00

  and now she said drug overdose? She is fucking out there." She warns me that Louise, quote, "sues anyone that she can, hence the attorney on call." That matches what Louise has told me in the past.

• 5:30Speaker 03

  Okay, so now you're in my territory.

• 5:33Speaker 00

  This is Louise, months before, talking to me about suing the state for malpractice over my mom's 1993 autopsy.

• 5:41Speaker 03

  But you're in my territory. Listen to me. Let this fucking autopsy go. Pay attention to your records. Learn some fucking legal lingo. If they come back to you and say, if they come back to you and admit, admit, it was a negligence, and you got them by the fucking balls. Now, with that being said, Lauren Lee Malloy, you are not going to deal, deal with these fucking punk-ass bitch attorneys in Rhode Island. Forget about it. Listen to me. Listen to me. You're in Rhode Island. Nobody likes to go across. Heads are fucking to pop.

• 6:25Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 6:26Speaker 03

  See, you know, I don't like to give legal advice. I've always dealt with attorneys. I know a lot.

• 6:31Speaker 00

  No, I know.

• 6:33Speaker 03

  But listen, you know, sweetheart, I'm going to say this again. I've got to give you an attorney's number. Call him. Please, I'm going to give you his cell phone number. Call him and say, [BLEEP]. Hello? You're very well spoken. My name is Lauren Malloy. Your name and number was given to me from your girlfriend Louise.

• 6:55Speaker 03

  You know, the minute you say Louise, he's going to know.

• 6:58Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'll bet. How do you know how to do all of that? Like, what, what, how did, how do you know how to approach my mom's case?

• 7:07Speaker 03

  Okay, so, I'm going to put it to you.

• 7:12Speaker 03

  I have a high school diploma. I have certification in nursing assistant. I have certification in phlebotomy. I get blood from a rock. And I have a PhD in speech.

• 7:25Speaker 00

  That's funny.

• 7:26Speaker 03

  My sister, my older sister, Janice, she's always dated, that's about attorneys.

• 7:31Speaker 00

  Oh, that's right. You said that, that's.

• 7:33Speaker 03

  Right, so I, you know, a lot of hanging out with attorneys, talking about cases. And I have always had a very inquisitive, always inquisitive personality. My favorite word is why.

• 7:48Speaker 00

  That tracks. Louise loves to ask questions, but rarely gives me answers. And it was like, wait, what? Like, this person's been talking about my mom's murder at the bar? I talked to my best friend Ramona about this woman who contacted me about Louise. And then I started hearing that from other people.

• 8:07Speaker 04

  She did. So, and people who I've heard, different people than you've heard from.

• 8:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:13Speaker 04

  But yeah, it's just weird that one person would be continually speaking about your mom's.

• 8:19Speaker 00

  It's so weird to me.

• 8:20Speaker 04

  Murder in that context.

• 8:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:23Speaker 04

  But while she'd been drinking at the bar.

• 8:26Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 8:27Speaker 04

  You know what I mean? So sometimes that's where the truth comes out, I guess.

• 8:33Speaker 00

  It's just never made sense to me how Louise knew all the details of my mom's case and of the crime scene so long before the police reports were released. As I've said before, she claimed it was her cop friend who told her in a bar. But from other people's versions of it, it sounds like she might have been the one telling the story, not him. But then, how did she know?

• 8:59Speaker 05

  Can I ask who I'm speaking to?

• 9:01Speaker 00

  Oh, yes, sorry. This is Lauren Malloy. I'm Lori Malloy's daughter.

• 9:07Speaker 00

  Around the same time that I hear from the woman on Facebook about Louise, I also get in touch with someone else whose name I found in my mom's planners, but would rather not be named here. We've also distorted her voice to protect her identity.

• 9:22Speaker 05

  Your mom didn't belong out there.

• 9:24Speaker 00

  The woman, a friend of my mom's, goes on to talk about the people my mom hung out with.

• 9:29Speaker 05

  I think she knew that.

• 9:32Speaker 05

  But she was trying to be, she was with the crowd, so she was trying to be with the crowd. I said, you don't belong here. You're with the wrong crowd and all this other stuff. And I said, these streets will take you under and won't have no regrets about it.

• 9:46Speaker 00

  I ask what she knows about Louise specifically.

• 9:49Speaker 05

  That's, listen, that's another thing.

• 9:52Speaker 00

  Like, not to spread anybody's business, but I've heard rumors that there's a lot of people who think Louise may have been involved in what happened to my mom.

• 10:03Speaker 05

  I think so too, you know.

• 10:05Speaker 00

  Really?

• 10:06Speaker 05

  Yeah. No, Louise was jealous of her.

• 10:09Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, I could see that.

• 10:11Speaker 05

  I can't talk about people, like, I can just tell you to stay away. That could be hazardous to your health.

• 10:20Speaker 00

  Do you think Lu, or do you know if Louise has ever actually hurt anybody?

• 10:26Speaker 05

  I don't know. That I don't know.

• 10:30Speaker 00

  To be clear, I have no definitive knowledge of Louise having anything to do with my mom's death. But anytime I can talk to someone who knows her, it helps me understand her outside of our mostly unhinged conversations.

• 10:47Speaker 00

  Two full years after those phone calls started, armed with these new witness statements, expert pathologist findings, thousands of Justice for Sled Dog petition supporters, and a growing media spotlight, I once again approached the state. I asked them to reopen my mom's case as a homicide.

• 11:08Speaker 00

  I am so used to getting dismissed or shot down, so what happens next blows me away.

• 11:14Speaker 00

  The chief of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General's Office reaches out to say that he's going to reexamine the case himself. He says, quote, "Different prosecutors can come to different conclusions."

• 11:29Speaker 00

  Wow. He asks me to send over the massive case file I'd been compiling over the last two years with the help of my friends from Uncovered, Cold Case Advocacy, my group Unsolved Rhode Island, and others. The file includes records, photos, notes, recordings, transcripts, and more. I talk about it on my TikTok series. Sending the file to them felt like putting all my chips on the table in a super high stakes poker game. I knew that no matter what, I wasn't going to back down until my mom got justice. But there was a moment when I worried what would happen if the AG's office said no again. In August, I finally got my answer.

• 12:11Speaker 00

  A few months after reexamining my mom's case, the chief at the AG's office agrees to meet with me to discuss where things stand. I remember you making a post on Twitter or X and gathering a tremendous amount of attention. And only then was when they actually called you to schedule a meeting. My partner Eric came with me to that first meeting. I was just there to support you and to try to provoke further questions because it was an emotional time for you and it was...

• 12:47Speaker 00

  I've never been in a meeting like that before. It was definitely a strange experience for me. I just remember being really angry walking in because it was like, I begged for help for months and months and months. And the first prosecutor was a jackass who literally just was like, meh, it's what it is. You're gonna be stuck with an unknown. And meanwhile, I've got this whole cast of characters still trying to get details from me and still saying creepy shit and me still not knowing what happened to my mom. So it was like, fast forward, all of a sudden, we had all of this media attention and suddenly they cared as soon as it was in the media.

• 13:31Speaker 00

  And it was like, what the fuck?

• 13:37Speaker 00

  Eric and I are sitting across the table from the chief of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General's Office. And he tells me they are moving forward with petitioning the court to reopen my mom's case and exhume her body for a new autopsy. I cannot believe it.

• 14:01Speaker 00

  Then, the chief tells me it's the first time in recent memory that anything like this has been done. He says it's going to be a learning experience for everybody. This is gratifying because helping people is part of why I took my case to social media. When I first started all of this, I didn't have really any followers on anything. I wasn't really like big into posting stuff. I didn't like to show my face a lot. I was terrified of being on camera or on microphone. And I had this like epiphany one day where it was like, you know, like, it was actually, there was an episode of a show, that show Black Mirror or Dark Mirror, whatever it's called.

• 14:44Speaker 00

  And there was one episode where they're talking about like social currency. And this girl, like, she's walking through and like she doesn't have like a lot of like, you know, social credits or whatever. But it shows how people who have like the likes and the follows and the stuff online had like a greater social standing than others. And I kind of started to see that that was true. Like in real life, where if you had a following, your ideas would be heard and you would sort of be elevated. And you can see the opposite of that where people who don't speak English as a first language, people who don't have access to technology or education,

• 15:30Speaker 00

  they don't get the same opportunities as people who do. I agree. Which makes me angry. I remember you building that sort of platform to be able to speak for not only your cold case, but your other victims as well, other families. It motivated me where I remember going to Twitter and going to the Attorney General's page and seeing that he had like 2,000 followers. And thinking, holy shit, that's a lot of followers. And I had, you know, I just created a Twitter and like I had four followers and I was like sending angry tweets to him and the governor like, please, like, look at this petition I made and like reopen my mom's case.

• 16:15Speaker 00

  And I remember looking at how many followers he had and saying, I'm gonna get more followers than him. And when I have more followers than the AG does, then I can like go to bat against him. And it was like this crazy idea, but in my mind, it was like, if I can do that, maybe I'll have a little bit of power. And I remember the day I finally like passed him in follower count and it was like, fuck, yes. I'm glad that you have the platform that you built because you're able to do things with the power that you've built where you can get meetings with the AG to develop this network across the world. And people are listening in and tuning in and they're genuinely interested in what you're doing. And then it was like, oh, you know what?

• 16:58Speaker 00

  All these people on TikTok seem to be getting like millions of views with the stuff that they're making. What if I made a TikTok series about what was really going on? But then I made this 13-part series and it took off, like went viral instantly where people were like, holy shit, I can't believe this is a real story. Like, what is going on here? They were chiming in, they were like pushing for the AG's office to do stuff. And I remember all of a sudden, things really took off. Where like I went from four followers on Twitter to 2,000 followers, to 10,000, to 15, to over 18.

• 17:40Speaker 00

  And it was like, then I would make tweets. And instead of being ignored, I would get phone calls from the AG's office first thing the next morning because I'd have hundreds of thousands or millions of views on my words about what was happening with my mom's case. So it was very interesting to me how an average person with, you know, no political title or, you know, I don't have a huge bank account, but I was able to build this, I don't know, just kind of like, I don't like the word power, but it was kind of like this social power.

• 18:22Speaker 00

  I would call it a power because you have a powerful force behind you. You created this wave of advocacy, not only for your mom's case, but for other families in the community. Whether it's a runaway kid or a missing person or a cold case or just a victim that needs help or anything, you're just there to support them. And I think it's amazing.

• 18:50Speaker 00

  I just feel like it was what my mom would want.

• 19:00Speaker 00

  Journalist Tristan Redman goes where no son-in-law should ever go. Deep into his wife's family history, digging up the cold case of who murdered her great-grandmother. Because, I should mention, he thinks the murderer might actually be the beloved family patriarch. For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  Do you really know the person sleeping next to you? Tanya Bales thought she did. She thought she'd married her soulmate. She was wrong. But just how wrong was shocking. You may know John Meehan from the Dirty John podcast, but there's one story you haven't heard. Now it's being told from the woman. Who knew him first? Tanya was John's wife for 10 years. She's the mother of his two daughters. In the podcast, The First Wife, she recounts the abuse she suffered from a man who was coercive and dangerous. This podcast has exclusive archival materials, interviews with the people who knew them best, and long-held secrets that finally surface. What do you do when the person you trusted most was never real? Listen to The First Wife wherever you get your podcasts.

• 20:05Speaker 00

  Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

• 20:24Speaker 00

  Three months after our meeting with the AG's office in November of 2022, I finally received the news I've been fighting to hear for so long. The court grants the motion for my mom to be exhumed. The motion itself is sealed to protect the integrity of the case, so I'm not privy to what it says or if anything additional was found by the AG's office. But the important thing is the court granted it. It takes three months for that to happen, and every day I wait feels like a year. Finally, on February 1st, 2023, at around 4:30 PM, I find out it's been done.

• 21:06Speaker 00

  They've exhumed my mom's body. I obviously have a lot of feelings. My mom is above ground for the first time in 30 years, and it's eerie. That evening, I drive down to a spot by the bay where you can see all the bridges on a clear night like this one. It's freezing, but I shut off my car. I crack the window with the bay breeze wafting in, the gentle waves lapping a few yards away. After not letting myself cry for a very long time, I finally allow myself to feel everything. I think of all the sadness and all the joy that brought me to this point.

• 21:48Speaker 00

  I feel it, and then I let it go. Eyes closed, I listen to the waves. I take a deep breath and feel grateful for being alive and for being Lori Lee Malloy's daughter, for having her as my brave, brilliant, beautiful mom, and for that bond that we share that can never, ever be broken. I feel her with me and the overwhelming comfort that comes from knowing she always is. No matter what happens next, I know that I am keeping my promise to my mom of this gift of justice, and I hope she knows how much she's loved and missed.

• 22:33Speaker 00

  While all this is going on in December 2022, one month after my mom's case was officially reopened that November, the Rhode Island Attorney General requests funding to start a statewide cold case unit. But unfortunately, the governor rejects the request in his budget. Then, after emailing the AG's office my support of the cause and an offer to help, a spokesperson asks if I would testify at legislative sessions in support of a bill to accomplish the goal. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Narone even mentions our case in his own testimony. So that people like Lauren Malloy can get justice for her mother and for herself.

• 23:14Speaker 00

  I can't do cold cases when my prosecutors are handling 300 cases each. It's not possible. We need a cold case unit. When the day comes to testify in front of the entire State House, I'm up at 6:00 AM. I record myself in my car before I head inside. And I am nervous, excited. I'm ready to go, but I'm always, I'm always nervous about public speaking. But I've got my testimony. I've got a petition that hundreds of people signed, and we're gonna do it.

• 23:53Speaker 02

  I remember we were texting before you got in there to speak, and you were nervous.

• 23:57Speaker 00

  That's my friend, Jolynn Rice, from Cold Case Advocacy.

• 24:00Speaker 02

  And I'm like, I just want her to, I don't want her to get nervous. I don't want her to feel anything but support, because there's so many people that are with her right now. And I just thought, this will be a watershed moment for you that you'll never forget. And to have your voice, and as a result of that, your mother's voice in that room, I actually had tears in my eyes, which I'm getting to again right now, just because who could have known that would happen? And what, and it's just proof that she may not be with us now, but she's still affecting things in this world in a way that's positive. And that's when I say they never really leave us. This is her just doing it in a different way. And it made me so proud. But I think for families in Rhode Island, it provides this hope. There's a beacon out there.

• 24:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, it was, it was wild to me because walking, and obviously, I was super nervous, and it was like, like terrified. But then, as soon as I got in there and was sitting down, it was like, all right, I know that my friends are watching. I know that my friends are cheering me on. Like, I knew that you were waiting to hear the updates afterwards and ready to go. And it was just like, I have everybody with me. Like, I am not here alone.

• 25:10Speaker 00

  I anxiously take the hot seat. Good evening, Madam Chair and Representative Diaz. My name is Lauren Malloy, and I'm here tonight to speak in support of the Attorney General's statewide cold case unit. I briefly go over the details of my mom's murder for committee leaders. I didn't know about her case until 2020, but when I learned what happened to her, my first step was going on Google and looking up "RI cold case unit." To my surprise, a statewide unit did not exist, and thus began a more than two-year fight for justice. On my own, I researched my mom's life and death, interviewed people she knew and who may have known what happened to her, consulted with experts, learned about modern forensic

• 25:55Speaker 00

  methodologies and DNA testing technology and more. I approached and interviewed known drug dealers, convicted murderers, and other dangerous individuals to get answers. I stood by my mom's grave and promised her that she would get her fair chance at justice. I'm aware the court has a rule against photos, but I need them to understand that Lori Lee Malloy was a real person. This law affects real people like her and so many others. So, defying protocol, I pull out a photo of my beautiful mom smiling widely, holding me as a baby. I want you to know what she looked like. This was her just a few months before she died. I begin to wrap up. I am here tonight to ask you that you give other victims and their families that same

• 26:40Speaker 00

  chance. Our state's investigators and law enforcement officers do not have the resources needed to tackle this crisis on their own. While other types of cases have special court-appointed advocates, cold case victims' families are often left to navigate this process mostly alone. This process has to change. We need a statewide cold case unit, and we need it now. So I ask you, how much is a life worth? For my family and others, you cannot put a price on what we've lost. But for around $350,000, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the state's overall budget, you can get families justice and make our community safer for all. Thank you. Ms. Malloy, thank you for your heartfelt testimony.

• 27:25Speaker 00

  I'm very sorry for the cruel loss that you suffered. Thank you. And I am overwhelmed by your strength and perseverance.

• 27:38Speaker 00

  When it's over, I step out into the sunshine and decide to record a reaction video on my phone with the majestic Rhode Island State House in the background. I think it went really, really well. I was nervous right up until I started speaking, but I found my voice. And yeah, that was just incredible. I just felt so supported and felt, it felt right. So something could happen today, and I really, really hope that we have a statewide cold case unit that comes of this. So, more to come.

• 28:11Speaker 00

  After testifying, I feel empowered to do even more advocacy work. I find a way to combine my passion for helping people with my love for dogs. I start volunteering with Rhode Island Canine Search and Rescue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding missing persons and saving lives in Rhode Island.

• 28:41Speaker 00

  Ironically, long before I started with Rickzar, utilizing dogs to help save humans, I was doing similar work on my own. Back in 2016, I see a post on Facebook about a missing dog in my town and decide I need to help. I make maps of the areas and organize search groups. And then, after a very hot July week of looking, he's found a mail carrier who'd seen all the coverage, spots him under someone's porch. I still have the thank you card and photo from his family, who appreciated my advocacy. They wrote, "Please let this picture remind you of the life that you helped save and the family you reunited." The first human life I helped save comes just a few months after I start Unsolved R.I. Do you remember that time

• 29:26Speaker 00

  a little boy went missing on Christmas night?

• 29:28Speaker 04

  Yes, yes.

• 29:30Speaker 00

  I discuss it with my best friend, Ramona. That was surreal because that was the first missing persons case that we ever supported. And like, that came from the Hispanic community. People started tagging me into stuff. And it was like, why isn't this on the news? Like, why am I not seeing flyers for him? And then it was like, alright, well, I'll make flyers for this little boy. And then it was like, I'm gonna get in touch with the police myself. And like, that started that whole search where we ended up on the streets.

• 30:00Speaker 04

  Right, I remember that night. It was cold. I remember the police officers coming over, thanking you for being there, thanking us and the team for being out there and searching on the streets for this boy, you know?

• 30:16Speaker 00

  That stood out to me too, because I remember, like, it was cold. I remember how cold it was. And like, walking around and like, you're seeing, like, used syringes on the ground. And you're seeing trash and you're seeing snow. And it's like, there's a little boy without shoes in this.

• 30:32Speaker 04

  Right.

• 30:33Speaker 00

  And like, I don't know. Like, I, I always feel my mom with me in those moments. But like, that night, it was like, please look out for him. And I just remember like, I remember us putting a poster up on a street corner. And it was like, it was not the nicest part of the city. Like, there's great people there, but it's still, you gotta watch yourself there.

• 30:52Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 30:52Speaker 00

  And like, I remember this car full of guys, like, came around the corner. I was like, oh, man, what is this? And they were like, are you guys looking for that little boy? And we were like, yeah, we're with Unsolved Rhode Island. And they're like, oh, give us some flyers. And like, they were gonna put them up for us.

• 31:06Speaker 04

  Right.

• 31:07Speaker 00

  And that was kind of a moment for me where it was like, oh, we can make a difference with this because we're empowering people to go out and do something that's positive, where like, it takes one person to recognize him.

• 31:20Speaker 04

  We were able to help, like, deep into the community that needed it. So that was cool.

• 31:25Speaker 00

  That was really cool. I knew so much about him that by the time he was found a few days later, alive, in a parked car with his coat over him and like, you know, needed treatment for weather injuries, it was like, wow. Like, I took that case so personally. And that was the first time we helped with missing persons. But it was like, this whole group started because of my mom's case. That's just so crazy to me.

• 31:58Speaker 00

  Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redmond always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived thereafter him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered. Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things that come back to haunt us.

• 32:43Speaker 00

  For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 32:58Speaker 01

  In January 1995, 18-year-old Krista Pike and two friends lured a classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, to an abandoned steam plant and killed her. At just 20 years old, Pike was sentenced to death. 30 years later, on September 30th, 2026, the state of Tennessee tried to execute her and failed. I'm Candace DeLong, former FBI profiler and host of the podcast Killer Psyche, where we go inside the minds behind the most shocking crimes. In our latest episode, we take you inside the case of Krista Pike. The brutal crime, the childhood of abuse, three decades of appeals,

• 33:40Speaker 01

  and the night an execution went terribly wrong. Follow Killer Psyche wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Killer Psyche one week early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 34:04Speaker 00

  Finding a community that's dedicated to saving lives and supporting families has meant everything to me. Desolate wilderness area, just waiting for canines to come find us. So, let's have fun. Even in the horrible moments when a life is lost, that's where I see the bond the most. We rally around the person's loved ones. Even though we never knew that lost person in life, we can connect with their family and hopefully give them some sense of comfort. We rally around one another, too, supporting each other's causes and lives, united by a shared passion for helping people.

• 34:45Speaker 00

  Now, you may think, after my very heated calls with Louise in episode seven, that I would never hear from her again.

• 34:53Speaker 03

  Hello, beautiful.

• 34:55Speaker 00

  But you'd be wrong. Louise still calls me from time to time, and we both pretend that we're friends.

• 35:02Speaker 03

  So, you put something on post? Now, now you're involved with canine, excuse me, canine search and rescue?

• 35:09Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 35:10Speaker 03

  I think that's wonderful.

• 35:11Speaker 00

  Oh, thanks. Yeah, me too. It's, um, it's working out so far. It's been interesting.

• 35:17Speaker 03

  Do you get paid?

• 35:18Speaker 00

  Huh?

• 35:20Speaker 03

  Do you get paid?

• 35:21Speaker 00

  No, that's, it's a nonprofit. It's all volunteer.

• 35:25Speaker 03

  Well, that means someone's getting paid, just not you.

• 35:28Speaker 00

  No, no, none of us do. We all, I mean, it's-

• 35:31Speaker 03

  I know, like I said. None of the help does. Only who was ever in charge of that place. Tony, don't let them, don't let them fool you. Someone's making money. What would it be happening?

• 35:43Speaker 00

  I'm not sure Louise knows what volunteer means, but her reaction tracks with what she said in the past about helping, or not helping, with my mom's case. At one point at the end of 2021, I tell her Nancy Grace wants to feature my mom's story, completely made up, but I wanna know what I can say that would make her actually agree to go public.

• 36:04Speaker 03

  You know, they really wanna do a story. People talk about this. Well, they have a budget for shit like that.

• 36:09Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 36:09Speaker 03

  You know, and I'm sorry, I will advocate for you. I think you deserve some kind of compensation. And we're helping them make a story for their ratings. You deserve a compensation.

• 36:20Speaker 00

  Well-

• 36:20Speaker 03

  Can we start it? I'll have my attorney talk to them. Don't worry about it.

• 36:23Speaker 00

  No, I appreciate it because I'm like, I don't know how to handle this stuff.

• 36:28Speaker 03

  Well, that's all you got until we, you big blue baby, you.

• 36:32Speaker 00

  As I do pretty often with Louise, I'm obviously playing dumb here. I wanna know how far she'll go.

• 36:38Speaker 03

  Allison, you're gonna get to, Allison. Blue baby.

• 36:42Speaker 00

  That's right. Louise is calling me by my Aunt Allison's name, again. The one she hates and never talks to.

• 36:49Speaker 03

  I'm busy making fucking money my whole life.

• 36:52Speaker 00

  Uh-huh.

• 36:53Speaker 03

  I don't get time to be in the thick of whatever somebody's fucking problem is. If it doesn't have something to do with me getting a check, making money, I ain't doing it.

• 37:03Speaker 00

  Well, that's evident, but I play into it. Can I have you negotiate with these people? If they start talking appearances, can I have them call you? Because I don't-

• 37:12Speaker 03

  Call me? No, what you're gonna do is you're gonna call me.

• 37:15Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 37:16Speaker 03

  And tell me they said that.

• 37:17Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 37:17Speaker 03

  I want you, okay, blue baby. I'm gonna hang up. I'm gonna make a phone call.

• 37:21Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 37:21Speaker 03

  And then that phone call I'm gonna make, he's gonna tell me, give them this particular number. I want everything above board, legit, on the table. But anyway, sweetheart, let the, let the, you know what? They got the money. Let them do the investigation.

• 37:36Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 37:37Speaker 03

  But, uh, you know, if they talk to you about any kind of, uh, appearances, offer you- Listen to me. Lauren, are you paying attention?

• 37:47Speaker 00

  I'm listening.

• 37:49Speaker 03

  If they ask you to sign any papers, you need to not sign shit. No matter what they say, you need to get that to me ASAP. I'll get it to the attorney ASAP.

• 38:01Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 38:02Speaker 03

  Because you might be signing this saying, signing a paper, because it's all legal term. I know you're very smart, but we never would- I didn't go to law school, did you?

• 38:10Speaker 00

  No.

• 38:11Speaker 03

  No. So, if they ask you to sign anything, say, give me the paper, whatever.

• 38:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:17Speaker 03

  Get that for me ASAP. I don't give a fuck if you have to text that to me in the ladies room at your job. That's how important this was. Get that paper to me. I'll have [bleep] look at it, making sure you're not releasing whatever, with, you have a compensation. If you're giving them full rights over everything.

• 38:38Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 38:39Speaker 03

  Do you see what I'm saying?

• 38:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:40Speaker 03

  And they will come at you like that because at the end of it, when you find out, well, you could have made, I don't know, $5, $9, whatever. They'll say, look, remember you signed this?

• 38:47Speaker 00

  I know.

• 38:48Speaker 03

  Don't fuck it up.

• 38:49Speaker 00

  No, I know.

• 38:49Speaker 03

  Are we clear?

• 38:50Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 38:50Speaker 03

  The paper, don't sign nothing. Did you sign anything yet?

• 38:54Speaker 00

  No.

• 38:55Speaker 03

  Okay. All right, good girl. Thank God you called me today. All right, any paper like that, get it to Louise. I'll have the attorney look at it. We'll go from there.

• 39:10Speaker 00

  After I testified for the cold case unit in March 2023, I never stopped fighting and pushing the powers that be to make the right decision. And finally, on an early morning in June 2023, as I pull into my driveway on my way back from the gym, I get the answer.

• 39:26Speaker 02

  So tell me what happened today.

• 39:29Speaker 00

  I ask Eric to record my reaction in real time. So I am sitting here crying in our driveway because I just got a text a few minutes ago that last night around 11, the House Finance Committee approves the Attorney General's request for funding for the first statewide cold case unit right here in Rhode Island. There's so many families that are counting on this. There's so many families at home. And now it really means something. And it wasn't for nothing.

• 40:13Speaker 00

  And I just can't wait for those families to wake up and know that their loved ones aren't forgotten.

• 40:23Speaker 02

  It means a lot to the community.

• 40:27Speaker 00

  I think so.

• 40:29Speaker 02

  I know your mom would be proud.

• 40:31Speaker 00

  I hope so. It's so hard to see my mom's case over and over, but it means something. And she helped start this. And I'm so proud to be her daughter. I did something good.

• 40:57Speaker 02

  Something amazing.

• 41:03Speaker 00

  The cherry on top of all of this is the Attorney General Peter Nirona himself's tweet to me. He says, "You did an amazing job then and thereafter. Your advocacy made this happen, believe it." There's so much work left to be done, but this is such a huge step forward in the right direction. Meanwhile, as I wait for the results from the new autopsy, I still hope for some other breakthrough in my mom's case. And then one day, I talk to someone who seems like they might just have a confession to make.

• 41:37Speaker 03

  That's how much I hate myself. I can't even look at myself in the mirror.

• 41:42Speaker 00

  Why do you hate yourself, though?

• 41:43Speaker 03

  For what happened. For me not doing anything in time.

• 41:57Speaker 00

  This has been My Mom's Murder, an Audible original, produced by Audible and Ayr Media and hosted by me, Lauren Malloy. Executive produced by MGM Television and Toluca Pictures. Executive producer for Ayr Media, Aliza Rosen. Executive producer for Audible, Laura Regan-Klein Schmidt. Executive producer for Toluca Pictures, Stacy Levin. Executive producers, Lauren Malloy and Chloé Grace Moretz. Produced and written by Michelle Simon. Edited and mixed by Tristan Bankston. Coordinator for Ayr Media, Andy Levine. Audio engineering and mastering by Justin Longerbeam. Theme music by Jonathan Brooke.

• 42:41Speaker 00

  Legal counsel for Ayr Media, Gianni Douglas. Head of Creative Development at Audible, Kate Navin. Chief Content Officer, Rachel Giatza. Copyright 2024 by Ayr Media. Sound recording copyright 2024 by Audible Originals LLC.

• 43:05Speaker 06

  Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce, the host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries, but he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.