[Music] it was a quiet evening just a few days before Christmas I was alone in my flat enjoying my first evening of Christmas leave with my dog Max who was curled up at the foot of my couch the weather was really nasty outside and the flat that I was in at the time was a corner unit so whenever the wind blew particularly hard it created this cartoonish howling sound which if you were nice and warm inside was actually quite comforting it was about 6:00 and I was on my couch under a pile of blankets sipping
a cup of coffee when I heard a knock at my door it wasn't a loud knock but it was sudden enough to startle me it wasn't often that anyone knocked on my door because we had an intercom system for the building if someone was knocking it was most probably one of my neighbors I didn't hesitate to get up and walk down the corridor towards the front door but out of curiosity I had looked through the peephole so I could see who it was and there was a man dressed as Father Christmas with a clipboard in
one hand and one of those plastic charity collection cups in the other you know the kind with just a little slot in the top to put money in he was wearing the whole Santa Claus getup hat and fake silvery beard included so I couldn't see exactly who was underneath it but the clipboard in collection cup had me assuming that it was one of my neighbors collecting for charity I cracked the door open just a sliver keeping the chain lock in place and then said hi there and the assumption that he was about to explain what
charity he was collecting for ETC but after taking an innocent looking step towards the door and raising the collection cup the man lunged at the door and pressed his weight against it in an attempt to force it open his eyes were the only part of him that I could really see but the way they changed in that moment was absolutely terrifying they were so wide and his face turned so red but as he pushed the door chain caught with a loud metal snap it was holding but just barely and I remember how Panic rose up
in me as he continued to push the door rattled on its hinges as the man shoved even harder growling sometimes under his breath as he forced his hand through the Gap his fingers clawing at the chain everything happened in a blur I tried to push the door shut but he was too strong and when the chain suddenly snapped the door flew open and he was inside as he came towards me the smell of alcohol hit me like a wave I screamed backing away as fast as I could but the apartment was small there was nowhere
to run my back hit the wall and he was on me his breath hot and rancid as his hands grabbed my arms and he used his weight to pin me in place then I heard the low guttural growl cutting through the chaos like some blade and in the corner of my vision I saw Max leap up off the couch his hackles raised and teeth bared and I never seen him like that before he'd always been such a sweet gentle dog with people and other animals but that night he was transformed into a furious snarling Beast
Max launched himself at the man and bit the arm that he was using to hold me the man screamed and then loosened his grip as he tried to shake Max off I remember seeing skin and blood under his torn red suit as Max Held on growling loudly the whole time the man stum LED back hammering his other fist against the top of Max's head but he was relentless he bit and clawed his sheer determination driving the man further away from me giving me time to scramble to my feet my legs trembled so badly that I
could barely stand but adrenaline pushed me to grab the first thing I could reach which happened to be a very heavy wooden Buddha statue from the Shelf I hurled it at the man Point Blank too and it hit him so hard in the face that it split his forehead over open he shouted something terrible staggering backwards while bringing up a hand to his face Max let go of his arm but then chased him all the way down the corridor snapping at his legs as he staggered back towards the open doorway with blood streaming down his
face and on to that fake silvery white beard he stumbled out of my flat but Max stopped at the threshold to bark ferociously at him as the man disappeared down the stairs no no one came out of their Flats to help me most had gone home to see family elsewhere I think and anyone in those Flats either didn't hear the commotion or just pretended not to for a moment after I pulled Max in and closed the door there was silence except for Max's ragged breathing I managed to walk back into my living room and then
I sat down on the couch again trembling in a state of disbelief it all happened so suddenly and it had ended just as quickly I think that it must have been no more than 2 minutes from the knock on my door to me sitting back down on my couch again it was all surreal Max trotted over to me his tail wagging slightly as he looked up at me with this sort of I did a good job look and I wrapped my arms around him Burying my face in his fur and I started to cry eventually
I managed to pull myself together enough to call the police they arrived quickly and I explained everything and they examined the scene SE before taking a few photos of the broken door chain they were both very nice and as one of the officers knelt down to pet Max he said this one's a little hero isn't he and I couldn't have agreed more if it hadn't been for him I don't know what would have happened and thinking about it makes my stomach churn the man in the Santa suit was caught not far away still bleeding from
the bites my dog had given him the police later told me that he had a criminal record a very long one which honestly didn't surprise me but what did surprise me was how Brazen he'd been about it how he just knocked on someone's door almost at random but it wasn't at random not according to the police it couldn't have been and what they told me would come to haunt me for a very long long time and that night in bed as I laid there with Max curled up beside me I couldn't sleep the apartment felt
too quiet too dark and every little noise made my heart race but whenever the fear threatened to overwhelm me I reached out and rested my hand on Max's back feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing he was my protector my best friend and I never felt so fortunate to have him in my life Christmas came and went but the Breakin had a way of overshadowing things I asked my mom not to tell anyone about it over Christmas dinner because it was a chance for me to try and forget about it even if it
was just for an afternoon but even then it was still there in the background I felt a lot less safe back in my flat and any safety that I felt before felt like a silly little illusion but I also felt a deep sense of gratitude I was okay Max had saved me and that was all that mattered from that day onward I never took his loyalty for granted I gave him extra treats took him on extra long walks and gave him all the love I could possibly give he had been there for me when I
needed him most and I would spend the rest of my life repaying that [Music] debt it was the day before Christmas and the store was chaotic with last minute Shoppers parents rushed through the aisles pushing cards piled high with wrapping paper decorations and toys and the shelves were almost bare with only a few items left that looked like decent gifts and people seemed frantic grabbing whatever they could find I was in the toy section trying to find something for my niece and it was very slim pickings then I noticed a toy on the shelf that
seemed to be the hot item it was brightly colored and packaged to grab attention and there was only a couple left and I saw two parents reach for the same one at the exact same time one was a man and the other was a woman and they both grabbed it and wouldn't let go they started arguing right away the voices were sharp and Loud cutting through the noise of the store other Shoppers began to notice and stop to watch neither of them would back down the man pulled on the toy but the woman held on
tightly and they were glaring at each other and their faces were just red with frustration and it was clear that neither was going to give up the tension grew as they continued to fight over this toy the man shoved the woman and she stumbled but didn't seem to fall and she came right back at him reaching for the toy again and that's when it escalated the man leaned in and bit her arm hard she screamed and I saw blood starting to rush down her arm from where his teeth had broken the skin people nearby gasped
and backed away some tried to step in but the man was still holding on to the toy his grip seemingly unrelenting and the woman clutched her arm wincing in pain but she didn't let go of the either store employees came running and somewhere in the background I could hear the faint sound of sirens getting closer and eventually the man dropped the toy onto the floor he looked around his chest was just heaving as he tried to catch his breath and then he turned and started walking away like nothing had happened at all the woman was
still holding her arm and she bent down and picked up the toy and she seemed to clung to it like it was the most important thing in the world the police arrived shortly after and they spoke to both of those people and the man was taken away the woman was given first aid for the bite and she looked shaken and pale but refused to let go of that toy the crowd that gathered slowly dispersed and the store fell quiet again people whispered as they walked away avoiding that section of the store and I left the
store without buying anything my hands were empty but my mind was full of many questions how could something like that like a toy lead to such violence and as I walked in my car I kept thinking about the child who would receive that toy would they ever even really know what their mom went through to get it I hope they wouldn't when they couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that the whole scene had left [Music] behind Christmas Eve was cold I was walking through the streets carrying a bag of gifts and the sidewalks were busy and
there were lights and decorations everywhere I saw a man sitting on the curb near an empty lot and his coat was very old and torn he had a long beard and wore a beanie and I thought he was homeless and needed help I felt bad for him I reached into my wallet and pulled out a $20 bill I walked over and held it out to him and he looked at me but his eyes didn't seem thankful he didn't look happy at all he just sort of stared I thought he was surprised so I leaned down
and put the money in his hand and as soon as I did he stood up very quickly he was bigger than I expected and he moved fast I stepped back but he grabbed my coat and pushed me down my back hit the ground and I couldn't get up and he started hitting me his fist came down hard and I tried to cover my face but it didn't help my head was spinning and everything hurt and I could hear people walking by but no one stopped I couldn't call for help after a while he stopped and
he stood over me Breathing heavily and he bent down picked up the $20 and put it in his pocket and then he walked away I just laid there too hurt to move and when I finally sat up my coat was torn and my face was bleeding my bag of gifts was on the ground so I picked it up and the lot where the man had been sitting was empty now and I didn't know where he went I just walked home slowly and every step hurt the streets didn't look as cheerful anymore and the lights and
decorations didn't seem bright I just wanted to get inside and forget what happened when I got home I sat by my window and looked outside and there was snow falling my body hurt but I felt a lot worse on the inside I kept thinking about the man and the look on his face he didn't just seem angry there was something else something I didn't understand the next morning was Christmas and I opened the gifts that I had bought for myself but it didn't make me happy all I could think about was that guy and I
wondered why he got so angry and why he attacked me and I just couldn't figure it out I spent the rest of the day feeling uneasy I kept looking out the window but there was nothing there and still I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and I didn't know if I would ever feel normal again [Music] it was a Monday exactly one week before Christmas when I arrived home from work to find a package on my family's front porch I was in my final year of high school and I'd landed myself a holiday
job so I could buy gifts but since I was on the early shift and finished around 2: or 2:30 I used to get home way earlier than my mom and dad when it was still light outside it was addressed to my dad around the size of a shoe box and had Handle With Care written on the plain brown wrapping paper it didn't look like a Christmas gift but since it was that time of the year I figured that's what it was I carefully picked it up and immediately noticed that it felt much heavier than it
looked I remember thinking okay whatever's inside must have been expensive because the weight of it coupled with the handle withd care thing that made me think that it was some dish Weare maybe even a car stereo kind of thing that he was into carefully I set it down on the kitchen table trying to figure out who it might be from my dad didn't have many friends and he spent most of his time at work so I figured it was either from a client or someone from his small circle of friends I didn't put too much
thought into it though because all would be revealed come Christmas when he opened it at least that's what I thought Mom came home a few hours later then Dad was the last to get home at around 6:00 that evening we showed him the package the second that he'd stepped in the kitchen then after making coffee and asking us about our days dad took the package up to his office mom told him that he should wait till Christmas before opening it but Dad was right when he said nothing on the package marked it out as a
gift and the wrapping paper was plain and there wasn't any sort of Merry Christmas written on the tag the only distinctive marking it had was my dad's name so he figured it was something to do with work and wouldn't be particularly exciting the last thing my mom said to him was something like well if it's edible at least share some with us and he said he would and then he walked out of the kitchen seconds after my dad carried the package up to his office I finished my coffee put the cup in the sink and
then walked into the family room and flopped down on the couch in front of the TV I was flicking through the channels when I called out to my mom asking what time dinner was going to be ready I didn't get to finish that sentence though I was midway through when we both heard this very tremendous bang coming from upstairs and we met each other in the hallway mom and myself I mean and then ran upstairs to see what the hell made that noise mom made it to the door of my dad's office first and when
she opened it I didn't see what was inside I just sort of smelled this Burning of chemicals before Mom started to scream and what happened next was kind of a blur I remember looking into the office and seeing my father but then immediately slamming the door closed again because he wasn't him anymore it was a complete mess in there pieces of him were everywhere and I knew he was dead there was no bringing him back and there was so much blood and bits of body everywhere that my gut reaction was to just not want to
see him my priority was Mom and it kind of amazes me how I figured all that out in a fraction of a second totally wordlessly she saw what she saw and screamed like you might expect any regular person to do when they see their life partner blown apart in front of them but with me it was like a shutdown emotionally I mean so I could deal with the fact that my mom was having a complete nervous breakdown right before my eyes I mean given what she'd seen what we' just seen there was no telling what
she was going to do the only thing I could get her to focus on was calling 911 so that's what we did but then she told the 911 operator What had happened and then that sent her into a spiral again she wailed and cried and passed the phone over to me and I had to leave the room just to be able to focus on what was coming out of my mouth it was terrible without a doubt the single worst thing I've ever experienced and I know for a fact that I'll never get over it but
that's not because it was so sudden or violent it's because even all these years later we have no idea who sent that package or why the only clue I got is how people at his job acted in the time after his funeral dad worked for some import or export company that operated out of Los Angeles and San Diego he made them a lot of money and he was paid handsomely for a service es the company was amazing in the initial aftermath of his death they paid all of his funeral costs made sure the life insurance
and pension money came through and even offered to pay for me and my mom to head off on a vacation to Hawaii for about a month though we didn't accept that offer and when it came time for me to try and find out what D actually did for them as in what his job was they completely shut down and started stonewalling us they basically said that they were more than happy to assist with any further Financial costs in relation to Dad's murder but when it came time to finding out so much as a scrap of
information about how he actually made them their money that was against company policy they promised that they'd worked hand inand with the cops should they reach out to talk to them but then according to those very same cops the company only did the bare minimum that they were legally required to do and then their lips were sealed as one C put it they went out of their way to ensure that we only had a vague job title and description in the form of product acquisition and very little else we didn't know what his day-to-day looked
like we didn't know the names of the people he worked with and when it came to the possibility of Dad making any enemies through his job his bosses and co-workers were less than helpful it made no sense to us at the time how could they be so helpful and not get in trouble with the law for I don't know obstruction of justice or something like that well they had lawyers a lot of them who helped them stay well within the legal guidelines while at the same time keeping us and the cops almost completely in the
dark we had no idea who had sent that bomb no idea why they'd wanted to kill my father and no idea how the hell they'd managed to make the whole thing completely untraceable the only thing the cops could think of was that whoever built that bomb and delivered it to our house had been hired as a professional to do a job in other words my dad was killed by a corporate Hitman they never found the guy that did it and we never found if anyone paid to have him killed and if so who the pain
has gotten easier over the years and Mom definitely still struggles with it from time to time but in terms of being able to function as a family things have gotten a lot better the only thing I've struggled with is the resentment that I feel toward was the people he worked with the people who abandon us when we needed them most and the people I'm pretty sure have intimate knowledge of the circumstances in which my dad was murdered I've had two different therapists tell me that if I let it my resentment will be the thing that
destroys me but I disagree I think the only people who will really suffer if I let that happen are the people who know what happened to my dad [Music] Ireland is my home and I love it here but there's no denying it's a very strange place with a very violent past we love a good ghost story here and I think half the pubs and churches in County awfully are supposed to be haunted but I've got a little Theory regarding our Affinity with the maab you see when you're lush green Emerald aisle is thus because it's
been watered with the blood of countless conflicts a daff told story about some wailing Apparition is considered entertainment the story I've got for you today isn't one of ghouls ghosts or goblins it's something that actually took place in a little village named Kila in Old Gaelic Kila means the forested hill which isn't a very creative name for a place that sits on a hill with a load of trees on it but it was there for hundreds upon hundreds of years before a slow steady decline saw it abandoned and derelict being right on the border between
Great Britain and free Ireland the area around Kil mola became a hot spot for crossb arm smuggling from the 60s onwards at any one time the place was either crawling with police British army or the IRA which was naturally a lot of bother for the folks living there and so by the early '90s the place was a ghost town I know all that because my granddad grew up in Kil Mula and I thought that he'd be sad to see his childhood home a crumbling ruin that doesn't even appear on maps after about 2010 but he
once told me that Kil mola becoming a derelict was the best thing to ever happened to it he said it was a terrible place where terrible things happened and he was glad his family moved away when they did I was in my late 20s when he told me that and it stunned the rest of my family as much as it did me we'd always assumed that he'd had quite a happy childhood but it turned out our Granddad had never really talked about growing up in Kila he' mentioned old school friends here and there he'd often
spoken of his family too but he' stayed relatively quiet about his place of birth so much so that when he did finally tell us about it we could barely believe our ears according to Granddad Kila was for want of a better word cursed he wasad ly serious when he said it was a place where terrible things happened and nearly one Christmas evening once we'd all settled after dinner he told us a story that I'll never forget according to Granddad Kil Mula had been the sight of many a massacre even before 3ars of the village was
slaughtered by cromwell's Army back in the 17th century but it was the events following Kil mola's reconstruction that gave the village its reputation there were all kinds of strange deaths and disappearances people went mad or developed strange illnesses but without a shadow of a doubt the worst thing that happened during Grandpa's childhood happened during Joseph Flare's Christmas shindig the flarity family owned a small farm on the opposite side of the river Blackwater and on it they had a farmhouse a few fields and a whiskey Distillery they weren't exactly a wealthy family by any stretch of
the imagination but they had a few friends and employees and they like to throw a little shindig every Christmas to say thank you for everyone's love and hard work as you can imagine the presence of a Distillery on the land made the flarity shindigs very popular Affairs and none were so popular as their Christmas get together year after year they threw the best party in the whole of County Monahan until one year in the early 30s when the flarity family threw their final shind as November rolled over into December and festive feeling began to spread
among the town's folk people began to look forward to the annual Christmas shindig but then one night someone pinned a note to the Flare's door and roughly speaking this is what it said your reverence for the holy season has gone on long enough proceed and there will be consequences the note was evidently referring to the Christmas shindig which given the abundance of whiskey on the premises were always Rowdy Affairs where music was played long into the night but the note wasn't signed and nor did they specify what those consequences might be furious inquiries were made
with the family patriarch Joseph demanding to know who'd pinned the note to their door he asked almost everybody in Kil mola face to face demanding each of them to swear they knew nothing of the note or its author most people were horrified and told told Joseph that not only had it not been them that left the note but he'd be the first person they told if they found out convinced it was merely a lone killjoy hoping to ruin his fun old Joe flarey went ahead with planning his shind dick in fact one might say in
typical Irish fashion he redoubled his efforts as a show of defiance he organized for a full band to travel down from Monahan Town promised a festive Feast that out did anything that had come before and according to Granddad was even rumored to have purchased a few bottles of the finest French champagne from a purveyor in Dublin as the weeks went by and the date of the shindig approached Granddad remembered people getting more and more excited with each passing day people had to work very hard back then to maintain what little they had so the idea
being able to let their hair down and dance away their worries was obviously of massive appeal and and it appealed to a hell of a lot of people too usually the flarity family extended invitations to friends families and employees but that year they told their employees to bring their friends and their friend's friends and just about anyone who'd fancied a good old-fashioned piss up and then before long half of County Monahan was expecting the night of their lives in the old flarity house but not Granddad he said the Flare's Christmas shindigs were no place for
a child and with all that drink and all those unmarried young people it was safe to say that some very ungodly things occurred at those shindigs but that's exactly why my granddad's older brother so my great uncle was so excited to attend he'd had his eye on a girl from the next town over Molly or Holly or whatever and having heard that she was planning on attending he was dead set on going himself to try and Court her but as it turns out going to that shindig was the biggest mistake ever made and so on
the night of the party all the attendees head off in their finest clothes and dancing shoes all intending on having the night of their lives some weren't expect at home until the we small hours of the morning and others not until the following day so at first their unexpected absences were met with nothing but assumptions of a grand old hoot nny County Monahan's wives and mothers weren't best pleased that much is true and Granddad remembered was his mom getting in a right old narc that my brother failed to come home but after the morning and
afternoon pass with no sign whatsoever of any returning partygoers people began to worry when it became evident that not a single person that had been to that party had returned home a group of the older and more responsible men folk walked all the way over to flarity farm to see what the crack was apparently they knew something was wrong from how quiet the place was as they approached but it was only once they were inside that they saw how terrible things truly were that winter had been an exceptionally cold one and the weather had been
equally Grim on the night of the Christmas shindig so instead of heading home when suitably sof the partygoers saw fit to sleep wherever they could find a spot people slept on couches and armchairs on the floor on the table anywhere they could find a space and they nestled into their dreamless boozy Slumbers and for most of them the places they chose to sleep were the places they died at some point we suspect very early in the morning a group of men approached the flarity farm and quietly made their way into the Farmhouse there almost 30
people slept in the home's many rooms many of them in a deep and dreamless sleep from all the whiskey they guzzled down the night before then after quietly creeping among the sleeping revelers The Interlopers began to silently slaughter them one by one they sliced into their throats or drove their knives into their hearts working quickly quietly and with devastating effect when people started to wake up here and there they were set upon to silence their screams then when the killers lost control of the situation they produced pistols and open fire we know all this because
the police examined the scene sometime afterwards and were quite easily able to determine who had been killed in their sleep with a blade versus who had been shot while trying to escape or fight back we also know the killers once again pinned a note to the flarity door we warned them was all it read Granddad said that almost every family in County Monahan lost a love one on that morning and what followed became known as the Black Christmas of 1943 what should have been a season of joy and Goodwill became a season of mourning and
funerals and an awful lot of police officers had to work over Christmas when they'd otherwise thought they'd be free to enjoy their goose in their Christmas pudding with family the people who committed the act of mass murder were never found the police believed they'd found the bootprints of three men leading off in the direction of the nearby River but it's there that the trail ran cold quite literally as the river was so cold it was close to freezing over the police suspected The Killers had waited down the river in order to avoid leaving tracks as
it was too shallow in many parts to effectively row a boat but to a person it's not exactly ankled deep either whoever killed all those people were content to Wade through a freezing cold River possibly for miles in order to properly cover their tracks Granddad said that that made some people think the killers were not human but to me that just shows how psychopathically determined they were to avoid punishment the police searched high and low for them questioned every priest in County manahan to see if they knew anyone who might be capable of such a
thing but not a soul could help them my great uncle had been one of those murdered at the party supposedly being one of the last to die while trying to fight back against his Killers Granddad said that gave him consolation but their mother was distraught he could have died in asleep at peace and unaware but instead her son died terrified at the hands of Killers who never saw Justice for their crimes the grief of losing their son was partly why the family moved away to begin with but like Granddad said there was other stuff going
on around Kil mola that he called unnatural he died before telling us any more detailed stories about the bad things which happened to his old Hometown which to me both is and isn't a shame I'd have loved to have learned more about it but at the same time I'm glad he didn't have to go picking at Old [Music] Wounds on Christmas Eve of 1985 The Surreal town of Ethel Washington was a buzz with festive Spirit Christmas lights adorned houses and carolers filled the streets with songs of Joy yet amidst the Yol tide cheer a Sinister
act shattered the peace leaving an indelible scar on the small community the brutal murders of Ed and Min Morin an elderly couple known for their kindness and warmth remains one of the most harrowing crimes in the Region's history 81-year-old Ed Moren and his wife of 83 years old Min were lifelong residents of Lewis County Washington married for over half a century they were pillars of their Community admired for their unwavering dedication to their family and church despite their Advanced age the morons were independent and active spending their days tending to their farm and participating in
local events to their neighbors and friends the morons seemed to have everything a happy marriage a loving family and a peaceful life in rural America no one could have imagined the terror that awaited them just one day before Christmas on the morning of December 19th 1985 the moren's routine took a puzzling turn family members who visited their home noticed something strange the couple's car a green 1969 Chrysler Newport was missing their home appeared undisturbed yet Ed and Minnie were nowhere to be found a mysterious phone message left for their son suggested that something was a
Miss but the message revealed no clear signs of danger when their family tried calling there was no answer neighbors were reported seeing the couple earlier that morning but their whereabouts after leaving home were unknown alarmed the family contact to the Lewis County Sheriff's Office initiating what would become an exhaustive search the search for the morens ended in tragedy on Christmas Eve their bodies were discovered in a remote wooded area near adna about 15 mil from their home both Ed and Minnie had been shot execution style in the back the scene painted a grim picture the
elderly couple had been forced to kneel before being killed in Cold Blood investigators concluded that the morons had been abducted from their home evidence suggested that they were coerced into withdrawing $88,500 from their bank account at a nearby Branch earlier that day the missing Chrysler was later found abandoned in a supermarket parking lot its interior stained with blood news of the murder sent shock waves through Lewis County Ethel a close-knit community struggled to come to terms with the violent crime vigils were held to honor the morons and locals came together to support The Grieving family
the thought of such brutality inflicted upon two Beloved Community members was unfathomable they were the kindest people you could ever meet said one neighbor it's hard to believe anyone could harm them despite the outpouring of community support the investigation faced significant challenges leads were scarce and the crime scene yielded few Clues Witnesses recalled seeing the morens car on the day of their disappearance but descriptions of the individuals involved were inconsistent the lack of surveillance technology in the 1980s further hampered efforts to identify the culprits detectives theorized that the murders were financially motivated the forced withdrawal
of $8,500 indicated that the perpetrators saw the morons as an easy target however ever the brutality of the crime suggested a level of malice that went beyond mere greed over the years the case grew cold and despite their best efforts law enforcement was unable to identify any suspects the Moren family continued to advocate for justice refusing to let the memory of Ed and Minnie fade away and eventually in 2012 nearly three decades after the murders the case took a dramatic turn advances and forensic technology and renewed investigative efforts led to the arrest of Rick re
a former resident of Lewis County who had long been suspected of involvement R and his now deceased brother John R were believed to have targeted the morons for their perceived wealth the Breakthrough came after Witnesses came forward with new information cooperating earlier suspicions about the R Brothers involvement additionally investigators uncovered evidence linking Rick re to the crime including testimony from individuals who had heard him boast about the murders Rick re's trial in 2013 captivated the community prosecutors argued that R and his brother had abducted the morons forced them to withdraw money and then executed them
to eliminate Witnesses they presented testimony from over a hundred Witnesses painting a chilling portrait of the events leading up to the murders Rei's defense maintained his innocence arguing that the evidence was circumstantial and that the case relied heavily on witness testimony from decades prior however the jury found the prosecution's case compelling and after weeks of deliberation Rick reif was convicted of first-degree murder robbery kidnapping and burglary and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the mor in family Rick R's conviction brought a sense of closure but not peace it
doesn't bring back said one family member but at least we know who did this and they're being held accountable the case remains a stark reminder of the darkness that can lurk beneath the surface of seemingly idealic communities and to this day the murders of Ed and mini Morin served as a cautionary tale of the fragility of safety and the resilience of those Left Behind nearly 40 years after their tragic deaths Eddie and Minnie Moren are remembered not for the horror they endured but for the lives they lived their legacy endures through their family and the
community that contributes to honor their memory each Christmas a wreath is laid at their grave site a symbol of the love and respect they inspired while the wounds of their loss may never fully heal the Boren story underscores the importance of Seeking Justice no matter how long it takes their lives though cruy cut short remain a testament to the power of kindness and the enduring strength of a community United in the face of [Music] tragedy on Christmas Eve of 2011 the festive Spirit of Nashville Tennessee was suddenly and violently Shattered by the brutal murder of
Paul Logan a 55-year-old businessman known for his generosity and kindness of spirit and what began as a celebration of the Season turned into a chilling tale of Deceit betrayal and a tangled web of relationships that ultimately led to his untimely death this story delves Into The Life and tragic end of Paul Logan in the investigation that uncovered the truth behind his murder Paul Logan was a very popular and highly respected figure within the Nashville community and as the owner of a successful real estate company company he'd earned himself a vast Fortune through the sale of
local properties he had a reputation as a hard worker and a big spender butul has also built a reputation for helping those in need friends and family described him as a man of integrity someone who would regularly go out of his way to assist others he lived alone in a modest yet well-appointed home in the suburbs of Nashville where he often hosted holiday Gatherings for friends and colleagues on the December 24th of 2011 Paul had plans to attend a Christmas Eve service at his local church followed by a dinner with close friends when he failed
to show up concern quickly grew calls to his phone went unanswered and then by Christmas morning when he still failed to answer calls his friends decided to check on him what they discovered would haunt them forever Paul Logan was found dead in his living room lying in a pool of blood he had been stabbed multiple times and signs of a violent struggle were evident Furniture was overturned and a shattered lamp lay nearby the Christmas tree Once a symbol of holiday cheer stood a skew its decorations scattered across the floor the scene painted a grim picture
of Paul's final moments investigators were called to the scene and it was immediately clear that this was no random act of violence there were no signs of forced entry suggesting that Paul either knew his killer or had willingly allowed them into his home detectives began piecing together Paul's Final hours interviewing friends neighbors and colleagues one of the first breakthroughs came from a neighbor who reported seeing an unfamiliar car parked outside Paul's home late on Christmas Eve the description of the vehicle a dark sedan would later prove crucial as investigators delved into Paul's personal life they
uncovered a complex web of relationships while Paul was generally well-liked he had recently been involved in a business dispute with a former associate Eric Matthews the two had parted ways acrimoniously after a failed real estate deal and Matthews had reportedly made threats against Paul this immediately placed him on the radar of the police as the investigation continued forensic evidence from the crime scene provided a major lead a bloodstained knife believed to be the murder weapon was found discarded in a trash can a few blocks from Paul's home DNA analysis revealed two profiles Paul's and an
unknown individual at the same time surveillance footage from nearby homes and businesses were reviewed a camera from a neighbors's driveway captured a dark sedan matching the witness's description leaving Paul's home around the time of the murder the vehicle was traced back to Eric Matthews whose Alibi quickly fell apart under scrutiny Eric Matthews A 42-year-old real estate agent was known for his volatile temper in history of financial troubles investigators discovered that Matthews had been struggling to repay a substantial debt to Paul which had strained their relationship further digging revealed text messages and emails in which Matthews
expressed anger and resentment toward Paul accusing him of ruining his career when confronted with the evidence Matthews initially denied any involvement however in inconsistencies in his story combined with the mounting forensic evidence eventually led to his arrest during a search of his home investigators found clothes with traces of Paul's blood as well as documents indicating his financial desperation the trial of Eric Matthews began in the fall of 2012 and attracted significant media attention prosecutors painted a picture of a man driven by greed and anger who saw Paul Logan as an obstacle to his success they
argued that Matthews had gone to Paul's home on Christmas Eve under the pretense of reconciliation only to attack him in a fit of rage when Paul refused to forgive his debts the defense however attempted to cast doubt on the evidence suggesting that it was circumstantial and that other individuals with motives had not been thoroughly investigated they also highlighted Matthew's lack of a prior violent history arguing that it was out of character for him to commit such a h pous act after weeks of testimony and deliberation the jury found Eric Matthews guilty of first-degree murder he
was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole the verdict brought a sense of closure to Paul's family and friends though the pain of his loss would linger for years to come Paul Logan's murder serves as a sobering reminder of how easily trust can be betrayed and how the holiday season a time of joy for many can also be marred by tragedy in the wake of his death Paul's friends and colleagues established a charitable foundation in his name dedicated to providing housing assistance to those in Need A fitting tribute to a man who
devoted his life to helping others the murder of Paul Logan is a stark example of how personal and financial pressures can spiral out of control leading to devastating consequences it's a story that underscores the importance of vigilance even among those we consider friends and colleagues and the enduring impact of violence on a community and though Justice was served the memory of Paul Logan continues to inspire acts of kindness and generosity in Nashville and Beyond his legacy reminds us that even in the darkest of times the spirit of compassion and giving can [Music] prevail on a
crisp December morning in 1996 the peaceful calm of Alexandria Virginia was shattered by a chilling Discovery in a small Serene Cemetery nestled between the headstones lay the lifeless body of an unidentified woman she appeared to have passed peacefully yet the circumstances surrounding her death were anything but ordinary beside her an artificial Christmas tree stood as a silent Sentinel a poignant symbol of the holiday season to this day she is remembered as the Christmas tree lady it was December 18th of 1996 when a groundskeeper at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park in Alexandria Came Upon the body
she was reclining on a plastic sheet her head resting on a clear bag filled with shredded green and white Christmas tinsil her attire was unremarkable a blue trench coat a sweater and slacks all neatly arranged bes inside her lay an assortment of peculiar items a portable cassette player with two tapes a few empty juice bottles and a small artificial Christmas tree adorned with golden ribbons yet the most striking detail was the absence of any outward signs of violence authorities would later conclude that the circumstances of her death were a mystery but that she had been
killed using a combination of alcohol and antihistamines however this conclusion did little to explain the Killer motivations or the identity of their victim the Christmas tree lady was estimated to be between 50 and 70 years of age she had graying auburn hair and wore glasses her clothing while unassuming was clean and suggested the middle class background she carried no identification and her fingerprints were not in any database leaving investigators with few Clues as to who she was a note was found among her belongings cryptic and it content but revealing her intent it read deceased prefer
no autopsy please order Creation with funds provided thank you Jane Doe attached to the note was a $50 bill presumably intended to cover the cost of her cremation the bizarre request for anonymity even in death was chilling leaving investigators and the public alike to wonder who murdered her and why the lack of identification in the meticulously planned nature of her death fueled speculation why had her killer chosen this particular Cemetery why had they brought an artificial Christmas tree and was there a deeper significance to the holiday season in her decision some theorize that the victim
was a widow or someone who had recently suffered a personal tragedy some speculated that the cemetery itself might hold a connection to a loved one she'd lost yet searches of the burial records revealed no obvious links others suggested that she might have been homeless or estranged from her family yet her clean and well-maintained appearance seemed to contradict this Theory the presence of the artificial Christmas tree is perhaps the most mysterious aspect of the case it seemed deliberately placed standing as a stark reminder of the season of joy and togetherness some have speculated that the tree
was a symbolic gesture representing a longing for connection to during a time of year when loneliness can be particularly acute others believe it was an attempt to mock the very nature of the holiday season authorities pursued every lead they could find though there were precious few local and National databases yielded no matches for her fingerprints her dental records provided no answers investigators released sketches and details of the case to the public hoping someone might recognize her but no one came forward the cassette tapes found at the scene contain recordings of classical and religious music further
deepening the sense of mystery nearly three decades later the identity of the Christmas tree lady remains unknown her story has become a poignant reminder of the Hidden struggles many face particularly during the holidays when the lonely and vulnerable can be isolated and targeted during the coldest and darkest times of the year True Crime enthusiasts and amateur sleuths have kept their memory alive discussing her case in forums and podcasts advances in forensic technology such as genetic genealogy offer hope that one day her identity might be uncovered until then the Christmas tree lady stands as a haunting
symbol of an unsolved mystery her story etched into the anals of True Crime lore the year since her death the Christmas tree lady has touched the hearts of many who have learned of her story as investigators in the public continue to ponder her identity in the meaning behind her final acts her Legacy indoors wrapped in the enduring mystery of a story Untold hey friends thanks for listening click that notification Bell to be alerted of all future narrations I release new videos every Monday and Thursday at 900 p.m. eastern time and there are super fun live
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