Oct. 15, 2024

Halloween Horror: The Liske Family Murders

Show Notes
Transcript

Halloween Horror: The Liske Family Murders

In this episode, we unravel the chilling events that shook the small town of Martin, Ohio, on Halloween night in 2010. What started as a seemingly ordinary day of tricks and treats turned into a nightmare for the Liske family. William and Susan Liske, along with their son Derek, were brutally murdered in their home, and the prime suspect was someone they knew all too well. Join us as we delve into this tragic story of a fractured family, long-simmering tensions, and a gruesome discovery that no one could have anticipated. We'll explore the haunting details of that fateful day and the investigation that led to a manhunt, an arrest, and a tragic conclusion.

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WEBVTT

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Maybe picture this Halloween morning and Martin, Ohio. The streets

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are lined with pumpkins, kids are plotting their candy raids,

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and one family's house holds a secret that no costume

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can disguise. It's supposed to be a day of tricks

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and treats, but what's brewing inside the List household is

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far more terrifying than anything you'd find in a haunted house.

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Blended family tensions, fights that escalate beyond words, and then,

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on one fateful morning, a discovery that sends a small

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town spiraling into horror. A missing brother, a locked room,

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and an alibi that involves choir robes of all things,

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and the deeper you dig, the darker it gets. Today

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we're diving into the Lisk family murders, a story that

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turns Halloween into a true horror show. Buckle up, because

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the scariest part of this tale isn't the tricks, it's

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the truth. Welcome to ten minute Murder. This was the

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most disturbing murder scene I'd ever seen over the course

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of my career. A state prosecutor would later describe the

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case he had just been a part of. I can

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still see it to this day. The case in question

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was one that would shake the small, close knit community

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of Martin, Ohio and would spread unprecedented fear through the

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hearts and homes on a day that is supposed to

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be filled with tricks and treats. It all started when

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a couple named William and Susan Lisk married back in

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two thousand one. This wasn't the first time down the

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aisle for either of them, and both of them were

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bringing their own children from previous marriages into this new

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blended family. Susan had two sons, Devon and Deryck, and

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William had one whose name was William Junior, although he

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usually went by his nickname b Jay. Devon and Derrick

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seemed to adapt well to this new life and having

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William Senior in their lives, but unfortunately the same could

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not be said for William's son b Jay. B J

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didn't take too well to having a stepmother, and continuous

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fights between him and Susan would often leave William Senior

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having to pick between his new wife and his son.

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All of this tension would come to a head on Sunday,

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October thirty first, two thousand ten, when one member of

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the Lisk family would make a gruesome and earth shattering discovery.

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William's sister, Laurie Morse and her husband had asked twenty

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three year old Derek to come around that morning to

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do some work for them. Derek had agreed, but when

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he didn't show up, Lourie called Derek. When Derek didn't answer,

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she called Susan, and when Susan didn't answer, she called Devon.

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When Devon answered, Lourie had finally managed to get through

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to someone in the List household, but unfortunately, Devon didn't

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have much information to give her. Devon had spent the

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night before at his father's house and had only come

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home on Sunday morning to grab his choir robes and

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head straight back out to perform in a concert at

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the local church. When he returned from that concert, he'd

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headed straight into his room. The house was unusually quiet

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for Sunday, but Devon didn't think much of it at

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the time. He had actually welcomed the opportunity to sit

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in his room and play video games undisturbed for a

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few hours. But as the day drew on and no

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one else seemed to come home or to even start

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getting ready for the trick or treaters that were sure

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to come around later that evening, Devin began to feel uneasy.

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He went into Williams and Susan's room and found them

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in bed, sleeping, the covers pulled up over their heads.

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He put a hand out to Susan and gave her

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a shake, and Susan didn't wake up. Concerned, Devon then

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pulled the covers down to find something that no child

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should ever have to see. Immediately, Devin started screaming, then

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screaming and crying. He ran straight out of the house

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and took off down the street. It took him a

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good few minutes just to calm down enough to think

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about what he should do next, and then, still completely panicked,

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he called his aunt and told her everything he'd just seen,

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Shocked and concerned about her nephew. His aunt then called

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the police on Devon's behalf and told him to sit

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tight and wait for first responders to arrive. Within minutes,

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law enforcement had secured the scene, and they began the

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long and gruesome task of piecing everything together. At some point,

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either the night before or during that very morning, while

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Evan was either with his father or at church, someone

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had attacked the Lisk family. William had been shot in

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the head and face multiple times, leaving blood spatter on

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the walls and soaking the bed underneath his body. Susan's

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fate was even worse. Susan had first been sexually assaulted

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before she'd been shot in the head too. Both victims

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would be found side by side in their bed. The

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question then turned to Devin's older brother, Derek. He'd also

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been in the home the night before, and it was

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very unlikely that he wouldn't have heard the gunshots from

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William and Susan's room. The investigators then approached Derek's room

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and found the door locked. It had been locked from

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the inside, suggesting that Derek had locked himself in. Maybe

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he'd done so to hide from William and Susan's killer.

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Maybe he was the one who'd actually attacked them and

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now he was hiding from the police. Law enforcement broke

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down the door and forced their way into Derek's room,

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but instead of finding the person who'd killed William and Susan,

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they found that Derek was actually another victim. He was

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on his bed, curled up, almost like he'd been trying

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to protect himself, and he'd been murdered too. This time,

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the killer struck with a blunt object, leaving a sizeable

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wound on Derek's head that ended up killing him in

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one fell swoop. Devon had lost his mother, his older brother,

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and his stepfather. Distraught and visibly shaken, Devon was then

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brought to the station to give an interview. This talk

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with the investigators had many motives behind it. The first

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was that Devon had actually been the one to discover

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the bodies, and therefore was the closest thing the investigators

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had at the moment to a witness. Devon was also

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a suspect. Yes, he'd been at his father's house the

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night before, but the Lisk family home had given the

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investigators more than one reason for them to believe that

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the killings had been an inside job. The home itself

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showed no signs of century, meaning that the killer more

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than likely had their own way of getting into the

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house or had already been inside it. There were no

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signs of a struggle or that the home had been burglarized,

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suggesting that the killer had known their way around and

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had come there for the sole purpose of killing them.

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Another discovery was quickly made that seemed to support that theory,

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despite the fact that one of the murder weapons had

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been a gun. No bullet casings were found at the scene.

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Whoever killed William, Susan, and Derreck had cleaned up after themselves,

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suggesting that they had at the very least put some

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degree of thought or planning into the killings themselves. The

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investigators first turned to Devon to try to figure out

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if he was capable of killing his own family, but

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Devon's version of events and his alibi remained consistent. He'd

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been at his father's the night before and had only

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come home Sunday morning to pick up his choir robes

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and head straight back out to the concert. He had, however,

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seen one more person at the house that morning, and

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he was the unexpected HouseGuest. William's son, BJ, had spent

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the night at the Lisks. In fact, he and William

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had just come back from a week long hunting trip

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together at the family cabin out in the woods when

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he and William came home that Saturday night. William and

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Susan invited BJ to stay after a get together they'd

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hosted that night. After it turned into a bit of

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a party and then led to some drinking. BJ himself

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was not actually a member of the list household anymore.

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He had been at first, but the relationship between him

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and Susan had deteriorated to the point where BJ had

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been asked to leave the house. The paper trail to

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prove that started back in two thousand and four, when

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a police report indicated that BJ had hit his stepmother

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with a coffee mug. Two months after that, he'd punched

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her in the chest. A short while after that, he'd

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stolen the car keys and attacked her with them. After

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one of these violent outbursts, the local police came in

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and then physically removed BJ from the house. He was

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then sent to a mental facility, where he stayed until

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William's senior came in and agreed to be BJ's guardian.

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After that, BJ wasn't allowed back into the house, but

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William was doing his best to rebuild his relationship with

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his son and to keep their blended family together. That

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was actually why he and BJ had gone out on

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that hunting trip, and that was another reason why William

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offered for BJ to sleep on the sofa after they'd

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all enjoyed themselves at the party. Afterward, the following morning,

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while Devon was at the house picking up his robe,

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he saw BJ out on the front of the house

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putting something into his white truck. Devon explained that he

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was on his way to church and told BJ that

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he would be back soon, but when he came back afterward,

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BJ had already left. This piece of evidence and the

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long and difficult relationship that BJ had between his father

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and his stepmother led to a countrywide man hunt. While

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the investigators back at the scene were busy finding the

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claw hammer that had been used to kill Derek, law

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enforcement were at the Lisk family can arresting the man

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who had used it. BJ didn't put up a fight,

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and around him was only one more piece of physical

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evidence to prove that he had actually been the one

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to kill his father, stepmother, and stepbrother. All of their

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DNA was found on BJ and in his truck, and

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so was the twenty two caliber rifle that had been

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used to kill both Susan and William. BJ agreed to

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a plead deal which spared him the death penalty. He

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agreed to plead guilty to the three murders in exchange

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for a life sentence without the possibility of parole, his

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life would be spared, but he would actually only serve

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a year of his sentence. In twenty eleven, bj took

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his own life and was found dead in his prison cell.

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That is ten minute murder for today, brief and bingeable

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true crime. I'm Joe the host, and thank you for listening.

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Let's get to a quick email. Hi Joe, I have

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a question. Do you read aggressive? Right from the beginning,

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sounds like it could be hate mail, but let's continue

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the way you tell stories on your podcast. I like

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how they're detailed, almost like a novel. It makes me

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think that you probably read a lot if you do.

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What are you reading now and what can you recommend?

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Big fan Noel Well, First of all, Noel, Merry Christmas. Seconds.

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Yes I read sometimes I read with my eyes, other

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times with my ears audiobooks, and yes that still counts.

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In case you're wondering, I've just started a book called

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The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. It's too

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soon to say if i'd recommend it because I just

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started it, but I would recommend The Housemaid by Freedom McFadden.

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It's a psychological thriller with a bunch of twists. Some

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of them you see coming, but overall a super good book.

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And the reason I'm recommending that is because it's currently

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being adapted into a movie starring Sidney Sweeney and Amanda

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Seifer's how you say that it's a movie based on

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the book. I always like to read the book first

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and then see the movie afterwards. So I've read the book.

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It's good, so I'm really interested to see the movie.

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And again, Noel, thank you for your email. If you

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would like to email me, you can do that Joe

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at ten minute murder dot com. You can go to

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the website ten minute murder dot com. There you'll find

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the way that you can email me, links to every

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place that you can find this podcast, and a blog

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is there. If you're a brand new listener to the podcast,

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couple things I need you to do. First of all,

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very important. Subscribe to this podcast wherever you like to

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listen to podcasts, and then follow on social media. That's

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step one and two. Now, if you want to advance

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to the next level be an og listener, catch up

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on all the back episodes, and share this podcast with

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your friends and family. And that's it, and that is

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your episode for today. Thank you. So much for listening

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Halloween Horror: The Liske Family Murders

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