He Went to Jail but His Crime Didn’t Stop

04-30-24

Episode Transcription

Hey, welcome to Things I Learned last Night. This is a educational comedy podcast where every week Tim teaches me something and we laugh a lot about stuff. So, you know, if you're like, oh, I want just a straight educational video, this is not it. This is the one follows through. This week's episode is about the Circleville Letters and town in Ohio who just keeps like a bunch of people keep receiving letters that's kind of alluding to all of the dirt and the secrets in their lives and threatening to expose them all. So we explore the theories of who it was and what happened and what the consequences of these letters were. But anyway, here's the episode. Man, what's up? Have you ever heard of the Circleville Letters? This? Circleville Letters, Circleville Letters? All right, I have not heard of the Circleville Circleville Circleville. Okay. So first of all, that shirt on purpose, no happy accident. It's a happy accident, all right, It's unrelated, but it is a happy accident. Okay, this is a tattoo shirt, I know. Okay. Uh No. Circleville is a town in Ohio about twenty miles south of I know where Circleville is. I did a show there. Did you really what outside of Columbus? What place? Like? What was the show? Well? You know another think about it. I don't remember. I think it was like a I remember was it the stage lights or was it like other bright lights? And there was a doctor Hello, good day to you this day, this day. Have you seen that guy on TikTok I showed you. I need to send you his profile. Yeah, a guy who's like yeah Bushaw comes and speaks for me, you know, and like and that's what's hard to me, So quit doing that crap. Just insane hands throughout the whole thing. Insane handwriting, insane spelling. I can't get over much with the test. That isn't the craziest they've kind ever seen. Huh correctly spelled, Gilaspie cannot spell much. I saw a guy at the airport whip out the black Amex the other day, and I almost followed him to lug him. Things I learned last night circle down at Ohio, about twenty minutes twenty miles south of Columbus. I'm aware you already said that. But here's Circleville. Do you remember this? They got a big pumpkin water tower because apparently, Oh I don't remember that pumpkin fest is really big. Yes, they have a big pumpkin festival in water Tower. Yeah, a big pumpkin festival. So they got a big pumpkin water I have. Is this close to where there's an EDM music festival that happens, Oh called the Neverlands. No EDM, just google dina sort EDM festival, Ohio, okay, lost Lands? Lost Lands. Yeah, look at the pictures of that. Oh gosh, I already want to go to this. So here's the thing. Those dinosaurs are up the year round, so they leave those giant dinosaurs there, so and you can see them from like the highway. Really, there's just dinosaurs out in this field. And my aunts live close to there. Oh what what I want to go? Yeah? I don't like M at all. I would go as far as to say I don't like the agent is like, oh really, really, well, what about these dinosaurs? Huh? These are pretty freaking real, aren't they pretty real? To me? Maddie? Yeah, so let's let's see this is. Hey, you don't have the PTO to go to that, so don't worry about it. This is I could not imagine. I'm seeing so many people in their thirties and stuff. Were you listening to our talking? Pretty far from Okay, let's do this. Let's just do the episode Circle Fill has got a pumpkin for a water tower. That's the whole episode. What do you? What do you? What do you? What are you saying? No, I was gonna say, I can't, like, I'm I'm I'm on the side of TikTok with a bunch of you know, people our age who are old. Yeah, and uh and everyone's always complaining about like their PTO and you know, oh, I admitted PTO requests, my boss requests, Like listen, I I can't about to say something a little out of touch. I can tell you I'm for sure, but no, I'm I mean not really. I mean it's like it's like, dude, I remember being in all of my twenties, I made less money than my friends. Yeah, you know, and now I'm rolling it. No, but uh so it's not like you know, I I just couldn't imagine that having I'm saying, if I admitted pt it's not a PTO request, it is a PTO notification, it's a it's a pto. Hey, I'm doing it. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, and then getting it denied, I'm just quit. Yeah. To be fair, yeah, I'm never I've never had a job where it was like you request and there's even the possibility of it being that maybe the church, maybe the church was that way. Yeah, but yeah, every other job I've had because you requested off on Eastern Friday, I have off really observing our Savior. And they were like, that's the only week you can't take that, that's the I was like, okay, what about Christmas? Like that's the other only week, the other only month. I mean, I was like, I was like, okay, what about August ninth? And they were like, oh, that's the other old Why did you say August ninth? It's just a random date, okay, Because they won't let you take any day. What happens in Circleville. Oh it's warming here. That's a little touch on the toast, but the toast okay, Circleville, Ohio circles of town. Hey, I didn't even do that on purpose. Oh hey, that's right pronounced Ohio. Oh sorry, oh hey sorry it's Ohi Ohio, Ohio. Okay. Starting in the late seventies, this town in Ohio, I guess starting in the mid seventies to seventy six, I believe this town in Ohio started receiving letters, Like people in this town started receiving letters, okay from either a past either the letter was like on there was no return address, but it was postmarked from Columbus, or there was a return address that was some variation of five point fifty Ridgewood or Wedgewood or Redwood. It was just suff similar to that drive. So there's a person writing letters to the town to just handle people throughout town. Oh okay, not just like men of the people of Circleville. We might as well call it to the town because it was it was pretty much everybody in the town had received one at one point. It was a small town, like a seven hundred people all the time. Yeah, you gotta start feeling a little left out if you don't get one. Yeah, the guy, the letter, the letter boy isn't writting me, then you're starting to fake it. You're starting to like write your own letter. A letter. Yeah, it's like me, you I got a letter, Yeah, she wrote me. What did your letters say? My letter said, you're a wizard. Harry, that's nothing like the letters all of us mine said be sure to drink your oval tee or we're gonna kill your family. Yeah, that's crazy. Ours did mention ovalte Actually, now that you say that, tonight in Circleville, Ohio, the whole family has been slaughtered in the name of brought to you by. This is your first episode. There's no other kind of It doesn't get better. So this so people throughout the town, we're getting these letters. Sure, but even the ones that had the address of a place in Circleville, it was still postmarked Columbus. That's important, Okay, So it still went through Columbus. It still went through Columbus. And there is a five point fifty Ridgewood Drive, but there's not Wedgewood, there's not Redwood, and so there's I don't know what the deal is with there. It looks like they might have been trying to pin it on someone. Well, that's what I'm saying. It's like either the person writing the letters just forgot. Yeah, it was just like what's my address? No, no, no, not there. They were using a fake road and they were like Ridgewood, red Robin whatever, Red Robin Drive. Yeah, yeah, that's close. But these letters, well, these letters would go to specific people and they would outline like dirt that they had on that person. Sure, and then sometimes they would have demands, but sometimes they'd just be like, we know you, but you don't know me, like that sort of concept. So it all started with this guy. This guy received the first one, at least as far as we know. His name is Gore and Massy like the wrong person to get a fun little letter. This guy looks like he's just a fun little letter. He just looks like he sucks. Man. Yeah. I don't know if you can tell by this, uh this photograph, but he is the west Fall superintendent. You're listening. The photo says Gordon Massy is the west Fall superintendent. Oh yeah he is. Which is a local high school? Is the local high school west Fall? Yeah, and so he's the superintendent, which does sound like a fake high school out of like a cartoon. Also, also it's interesting that he's the principal, right, superintendent. That's that's my that's my point because like the district intendent. You don't know what that means. The district has a superintendent school district. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, he's just the high school though, so he's not the district superintendent. West Fall is just the high school, and he's the superintendent of high school, which tells me he became the principle and said we're calling it superintendent. Now that's what I think is happening. Now, Okay, sure, he's like, he's like, I'm the superintendent advice. It's it might be because look at the guy, like you already said it, like, this is the guy who comes in and is like, don't call me principal. I am superintendent, don't call me principal. Yeah, that's the guy. So this guy gets a letter, and here's what this letter says. Okay, You're discretion is advice. It says. That's how it opened. That's how the letter opened. Dear sir, dear viewer, discretion advice, sir, Dear sir, According to my GF, you have asked her to go out on many times, and I've asked the other female bus drivers too, due to your position and their jobs with you. This guy's type is a bus driver. Hey, bus driver, we're bus drivers hot in the seventies. Uh, google it, you tell me this is a bus driver question. I have just got good tea. Yeah, we could leave it that sure, Sure, I mean she's pretty pretty lady. Yeah, her name is Mary Gillespie. Anyways, we'll continue the letter, he says, GF though, yeah, from my GF. He says, due to your position and their jobs with you, you should not do this. Good point. This must stop at once for the good of the school and families. If they are not stopped, I will be forced to write the school board, and I'd hate to do that. To prey on another man's girl is untouchable, especially when they're out trying to make a living. There's also talk of you dating a married woman and taking advantage of them. Do you need the time and the name? Again? And so it's interesting that they said again, it seems like this might not be the first letter. And then he says, please think, I suggest you find yourself a pimple faced deep Yeah, censor in that word and start up with her and leave my girls alone. Uh. And so this guy gets this letter, and remember we've already looked at him. This guy gets this letter, and he now that I see him, he's a handsome man. You know, now that now I see him, that light show the bus driver again this is Mary Gillespie. Okay, she's got a couple of pimples on her face. You know I did that, mystery writer. Here's the thing. Here's the thing, Gordon. We know for a fact that this is the bus driver the writer is talking about, Yes, because she received a letter as well. What is her letters? So we I don't have her first letter, but I do have a second letter, and so this will give you a perspective what these letters look like to So these letters big block letters. So they're like, this is your last chance to report him. I also like that writer. Literally just address this lady. I know you are a pig. Lady, Oh, I like that lady. This is your last chance to report him. I know you are a pig, and will prove it and shame you out of Ohio. A pig sneaks around and meet other women's husbands behind their backs, only lots of like Colon's. I know, it's very weird. They end a lot of sentences with colon's causes, families spelled wrong, causes, families, colon holmes, and marriages to suffer Colon. You are such a pig, and I will prove it. Why doesn't he come to your rescue or has he too much to loose his wife underlined in which pigs like you take advantage of his twenty eight thousand, five hundred dollars a year job. I love just exact salary. I don't know. I expected this and his kickbacks. How's your little girl? Will she grow to be like you? And then he spends a lot of time on that question super bold question mark like the boldest questions. It's all yeah, big block letters, big block letters, a lot of spelling errors, a lot of grammar errors, a lot of punctuation errors. Which I didn't realize was the comment. Okay, and here's the deal. So this guy is just or this person is just. They call him the writer stirring up drama in Circleville. Yeah, so this writer knows dirt on people in Circleville. Uh and yeah, is throwing it in their face with the letters and writing them multiple letters. Mary. For example, I had received about twenty of these Oh my gosh. They throughout from the mid seventies, ever bothered a learn her name, lady, Lady Colin. From the mid seventies to nineteen ninety four, there were over one thousand of these letters that went to people all throughout Circleville, so over like almost twenty years. Yeah, they're sending letters to people throughout Circleville. This writer, okay, and so Gordon gets this letter, and then Mary gets this letter and Mary Mary is like, I don't want to say covering it up, but just ignoring it. Gordon's doing kind of the same. Gordon's like, this isn't legit because Gordon Gordon, how many letters over one thousand throughout twenty years? Twenty years is like how many months? Whatever? Twelve times twenty four hundred yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, forty what now undred and forty months eagle Scout. I was trying to think of the weeks for a second, and then I went, okay, yeah, yes, two hundred and forty months. So he's writing five a month, one a week, yeah, pretty much. I was trying to think of how many weeks earlier. It's like it's quite a bit of weeks. Yeah, yeah, that's probably about right one a week, yeah, because I mean that's yeah, that's about a thousand weeks. Yeah. And they're they're showing up to people throughout the town and it's not just these people, this is yeah, that's commitment you got to say something about the commitment to the craft. Committing to your craft, you know, they say, they say you want to if you want to get good at something, you got to put ten thousand hours in. And so the the writer was telling Massy the supermendent. He's like, he's like, confess your crimes. I don't know if crimes is kind of I mean, an affairs not a crime, is it? It's not good. It's not a legue legal crime. Yeah, I guess if both people are it's a crime against but what both If it's a consensual affair, then yeah, it's not a crime. What are you talking about. I'm just trying to figure out if it's legal or not. It's legal your spouse, Yeah, it's just messed up. Okay, So he said, confessive your your actions or I'm gonna I'm going to write to the school board. Now what actually might be illegal is if she's an employee of the school district that he is. Yeah, that would be yeah. Then yeah. Mary is trying to ignore this. She keeps getting letters being like I'm gonna, I'm gonna out you for this. And the big threat to Mary is like, your daughter's gonna find out, right, And and I mean Mary's also Mary, and so Mary's got a husband named Ron. Okay, Massie's got a wife. I don't know if Massie's wife is ever named in any of these documents. And a son. I'm pretty sure this is like a we look at the statistics for this, But while Boomers are the highest divorced generation, right, is it just because they Yeah, they got all kinds of issues. I'm serious, they have all kinds of issues. So boomers are the highest divorced generation of any like any before them or after? You're the highest divorced. Do you think it's because it's the first one that was like, yeah, this is fine. I don't know, that's what I'm saying. But Gen X and millennials aren't divorcing at that at that rate. I mean, I guess we'll see over time, I guess, But I'm wondering what the rate of affairs were with different generations. I wonder if that is an interesting question. Obviously it's hard to I guess calculate, but yeah, especially if we talked about how Gen Z is more idiots on the Internet than boomers are. Yeah, yeah, interesting, full offense to you. Guys. But so Massy is getting these threats, and so MASSI gets another letter that basically basically says, hey, like you're you're not moving fast enough, and it's like the next day, and so it's like, what do you what do you expect me to do? But also tweet about this. Here's the next day. How the writers send it that quick? Yeah, it might have been like they had any and then the next day with boom, not even in time for this person to come out and acknowledge it. And yeah, and and to be fair, like, if you're in that position, it's kind of like a catch twenty two because what he's telling Massy to do, what the writer's telling Massy to do is confess or I'm gonna tell the board. The results the same either way. And so it's like, if you're in Massy's shoes, you might as well just hold and see if they because there's a level of like, oh, you got a random letter in the mail from a psycho. Yeah, they're telling the truth. Yeah, And if you're Massy, you probably like I mean, I guess we don't know for sure, but like I don't think that anything was actually happening, Like I don't think Massey was actually doing the things he was accused of. So Massy's just like this is a baseless claim, right, That's what I'm saying. Yeah, and so so MASSI doesn't do anything. Mary buries this, and then I don't think Mary intentionally buries this. But Mary's husband, Ron gets a letter, mister Gillespie, Okay, hold on, you're doing a lot for her. No one cares that much for anyone these days, as much as spelled super wrong, m usc ch why is there all right? Make him come to her rescue? But he won't. He's being awful good lately. He knows what he must do, but he won't make her admit the truth. Call the school board. His affairs must stop. Everyone will know soon. Think of yourself. And so Ron was like still random. Colon's thrown in just insane hands throughout the whole thing. Insane hand ritting, insane spelling. I can't get over much. I can't get over much with an s. That is the craziest thing. Huh, correctly spells. Gillespie cannot spell much. Yeah, that is insane to me. And Nicoleon's who taught you that? I need to know? Anyways, huh so uh. Glasspie sees this and he's like, what what is this? And so he talks to Mary. Mary's like, oh, yeah, I've been getting these letters. Mary, I received the strangest things today. It's really the only thing I can think about. I'm I'm so parent of about what this could be. I have no idea what's going on. It's I had to come home earlier from work. I can't finish the birthday. I got this very odd letter. It's so scary to me. Yeah, look at this, and she goes, oh, yeah, I have like twenty of them. Yeah. They're all like, oh, I'm going to ruin your life and stuff. And I just kind of kept throwing away. I thought they were junk maw. I thought they hurt credit card. I thought they were Imagine that Express. It's like, mister Gillespie, I'm gonna expose your affair. Lets you sign up for an American Express right now? Spending too much? Think of yourself, mister four interests. Mister Gillespie, your wife has access to your credit card. You need a secret card. We know what you've been we know you've been up to sign up for Chase today. I'm gonna buy my next car on a credit card. I tell you that what. I'm gonna buy my next car on a credit card, but for the points. Yeah, I'm just gonna go to the Toyota dealership. I must say, run that platform. I'm trying to get myself a Centurion car? Did they even do that? I saw a guy at the airport whip out the black Amex the other day and I almost followed him to mug him. I was like, I'm sure he's got you one of those show me the money. No. But I saw that, and I was like, it's like when you you know, there's the Modern Family episode where he's like, yeah, we're on the top floor of this very fancy hotel. Yeah, you know and the sixty third floor. Yeah, and he's getting he's getting shaved by the butler. Yeah. He goes, hey, I saw someone a fish in the elevator. Where are they taking that room? Do you know? Is that an option? Can I order some of that? Hees, oh, sorry, sir, that is for our Diamond Elite members on the sixty fourth floor. And he goes, what and he's just outside going sixty three sixty four. And I've never related to a character in a show more because at the end of the show there's another thing where he gets the sixty fourth floor and they're like, sorry, so that's actually for our diamond elite elites. And then he's outside sixty sixty four sixty five what and that's I have never related to a character more than that episode. And then that guy whipped out that black Centurion card and I was like, I want to be him. I'm going to write you a letter in your life and take your card. I've counted hotel floors for that same reason before, not that same reason, a similar reason, but there's only three four. Oh, this sounds like a psycho plan. Yeah. No, I've counted hotel floors. I just like to know what I'm getting into and my escape routes. I'm sorry. Hey, thanks for being part of this episode. If you want to help us do more of this, you want to help us grow our show, one of the easiest and best ways to do that is to join our Patreon. It's a way for your financial to support this show, and you get a lot in return. You get access to our discord channel, you get bonus content that comes out, you get exclusive merchandise, and like live Zoom hangouts where we're both just hanging out, eating pizza, just getting to know each other. The biggest thing is is we want to know you more as an individual and as a friend. So thanks for supporting our show. If you don't supports financially, we're not pressed about it. We're not like mad. But I'll find you. So text till into six six eight sixty six to keep yourself from being found, all right, because if you don't, I will want you down. No. That was at that haunted hotel in Albuquerque. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yah, yeah yeah, where where there was no third floor. Yeah, they said there was no third floor, but it was like it was like almost like a pyramid. There was two floors. We were on the same floor, you know how you know, like there's no third floor just means there's no access to the third floor. There's clearly a third floor. No no, no, no, no no no. There was two floors that you could see from outside. Okay, the third floor it was like a pyramid. The third floor was in like a stepped pyramid. It wasn't as big, but you couldn't see it from the ground level, like unless we actually went out and drove out to a nearby hills so we could shure the third floor. I saw the craziest thing in Waynesville today. What look up Alpine House way in Saint Robert, Missouri. Alpine A L P I N E house like the German one h A or h yeah h A U s this? Yes, look at that it do you have a side angle of it and you see the signing. Because this looks like this is insane. What is like, is this a hotel? It's abandoned. Now it's for sale? Oh shut up? How much buy it? I don't know. Yeah, a dollar at least in so new studio. Yeah, I mean this looks crazy to me. Yeah, here's the side I mean, yeah, it doesn't look like this anymore. Yeah, because there's an open sign on all that stuff. No, it's it's for sale. This looks like literally the hello neighbor house. This looks like, yeah, this is insane. This just kind of keeps Was this all built at once? You think, surely not. No, they had a building, they put the pavilion on. They're like, okay, we got a little driver, let's just put another thing on top. I like the idea that the house at the top was first, and they kept raising slowly, they slowly built. I like the idea that the house of the top was first, and then through the mud slides, the rest of this has been uncovered. And then they're like, there's a doctor Pepper machine. Now there's you know that that's pretty crazy. I can't believe that that's all covered in the mud slide. Doctor Pepper existed before the flood. So, yeah, this is the craziest look at Yeah, that is wild. No, we were we were at the hotel and it was supposed to be haunted. We tried to go to the third floor and you go up the stairs and it was boarded up, like literally boarded up the third floor. Yeah, and then we were like, okay, that's crazy. We didn't know there was a third flour. So we like went out and we went up a nearby hill and you could see it from up there. It was like stepped in. And then we get in the in the elevator and we get in the elevator and we like kind of gave up. We were trying to find our way in and we like we actually took the service elevator and it wanted to let us up. You need a key, you know, obviously, and we hit two and it hit ding ding, and the doors open to the third floor and the lights were out. The exit sign was like dangling, and obviously it's Albuquerque and like the summer so hot, the heat. The air wasn't on up there, and so the doors opened. We just get blasted with this heat and it's dark. The exits signs like dangling and flashing. There a demon all running down the all way. Yeah, a glitter monster, yeah, the glitter monster. And never went back to that hotel. I start a little closed or that we were and hold elevator. I've been here. Yeah, that's probably what it was. I lost someone to die of heat exhaustion. Random, Yeah, just still stuck up there. They poured me up either shame. Yeah, he's up there for he was up there for a mister beasts, Uh competition. I can survive ninety nine days on the first floor. Yeah, and they forgot about him. Yeah, they're doing so many videos, They've got so much going on anyway anyways. Uh so, yeah, so I don't remember how we got got a letter, that's what it was. Ron got a letter. Yeah, and he was like, hey, this is pretty crazy and his wife was like, that's not pretty normal for me. Actually, yeah, So I got these every week, so run And then I was like, oh what if they were like credit card things, you know? And then it's like oh yeah, and I was like, I'm gonna use my credit card to buy a car, like what? Then I was like, I'm gonna get the Centurion card, you know, I want to get that because I want to get that guy all right. Then and then it went like, oh, you know different floors, you know, speaking of floors, you see the Alpine House. And then you told your story again, which you for sure told the podcast one and then it's not and then uh, it's like, oh it's not. And then we joked around like oh yeah, the Glitter Monster, it's a call back. Uh. And then we go on to mister Ba's challenge and now we're here, Okay, good, I'm crazy that my brain can do that. I'm going to call, uh, Dave Ramsey and you're thinking about buying the car on a credit card? Can we make a show that's us in our studio calling Dave Ramsey. I've actually thought about that. I thought about trolling Dave Ramsey a lot. I think about it. Every day. Actually, I wake up and I write them letters. That's pretty great. We should do that. Can we create it? So my counselor suggested I do instead. Counselors like, just write them letters. Hey, if you support us enough on Patreon, we'll build a dude that looks exactly like his studio and I'll start shave our heads. And that what you want, you can shave your head. I need a reason to live. No, I need a reason. I need to So Ron gets a letter. Ron gets a letter. Ron is very invested in this. His wife doesn't seem to care. Massy doesn't seem to care, but he is. He does. Does does Mary know about Massy receiving letters at this point? Do we know? I'm assuming they do, but I don't know for sure, Like I am, I assume. So okay. Ron is very interested though, and so Ron uh is like trying to piece this guy's actually super nice to me. He said that I'm providing for you, saying I'm doing a lot. Think of yourself. Nobody tells me to think of myself. Everybody tells me to think of everybody else. Oh yeah, I'm Mary. Okay, Well I'll tell you what. For years I have gone to my twenty four five hundred dollars sound job with kicks, and I have works provide for this house. And it's time that I start thinking for myself. You listen to me, Ron, Ronnie, you starting to who's telling you? That? Is that a thought you had? I thought you had her at the letter man? Is it the letterman talking? It's letter boy? Think for yourself, you little week spineless ron Boy. Well, I think you're a pig. Who told you that? Who said that? Who said that? I know you don't think that. That's the letter boy talk. That's the letter boy. Letter boy, which start called is written like maybe a seventh grader is doing this. It could be a seventh grader. So Ron starts trying to dig into this and figure out who's doing it. Well, uh, he is hot on the trail. Uh. The letters kind of I don't want to say stop, but they slow a little little bit, okay. And then one day Ron gets a phone call and on that phone call, it's like a lot of the same similar things that are being said to him about the letter. We don't know exactly what's said, but whatever it is, it fires him up a lot, and so he hangs up from that phone call. His daughter's home is only the only other one home, and he says, he says, I think that's the letter guy. I could tell who it was. I'm gonna go get him. And so he takes his handgun and he runs out the house. Yeah, he runs out the house, takes his handgun, gets in his truck and it's late at night and like speeds off, like peels out of the driveway and it's gone. Well, Ron never comes home that night. He ends up wrapping his car on a tree, and the corner came back and said that he had a blood alcohol content of one point one six, and they said that it was just a drunk driving accident and he crashed into a tree. Here's the thing, though, that handgun was not there. Well, it had fired, there was a round missing, and there was a casing in the car, but there was no bullet that could be accounted for. And so some people think that he got into a chase and he had fired that round when he was in that chase, and somehow in that as a result of that chase, he crashed into that tree. We don't know for sure if he was drinking that night, but it does seem a little strange because everybody in his family said he was not like a heavy drinker, and a strange that he would have just been hanging out at home and got up to a point one six just by himself, because he wasn't a heavy drinker. It wasn't like he was an alcoholic. It wasn't like he would do that. They also thought it was seemed like an alcohol like a like an alcohol driven response. It does to go I knew who that was. I'm gonna kill that guy. I'll be right back. I'm taking the gun. I'm taking the gun. Your mom's cheating on me. Do your homework. I'll be back at fifteen. It does seem like that for sure. So that's definitely that that's that's warranted. Don't do your homework so conflicted. I want you to have good grades. But also if you score a low on the scores, then he'll lose his job as a superintendent. I can destroy the life of the man who's destroying our family to lose lose situation. I don't know what I want you to do, but a lot of a lot of family said too like they did not they would not expect him to even leave his daughter home alone like that, and so they were he had to be very confident he knew who was. Yeah, they were like there, like this had to be something where he thought it was a very serious situation for him to leave or he had a point one six and his daughter's the one recounting what happened. Holds his daughter at this point right now, she would have been thirteen. If I'm a police officer and I show her a thirteen year old, here's happened. Please stop talking, Please don't play with your blocks. That does the neighbors that they heard anything. Yeah, that's a reliable account. Yeah, kids says she saw a guy stab him and run away. But you know how reliable they are. The body we found a knife that's covered in blood and fingerprints. I don't know. Thirteen year old said that we can't do it. The body said he had been drinking tonight and just crashed. Excuse me, the body, Hey, it's me the body. I've been drinking tonight, I just crashed. Yeah, throw out the testimony from the thirteen year old. I've got it from here. I think guys solved it. What coroners were they just listened to the body. He's a dead guy. Whisperer. Yeah, they'll tell the body will tell you. Why are we talking about so many dead people in our last few episodes? Why are you doing this? I'm a big fan of the dead. Okay, I don't know. You know how Google works? Dead? I know. I want you to get out of this algorithm. Do something fun. You take it out to Little Caesars again, you know? All right? Yeah, I guess I got to google Little Caesars more. It's because I've been on this diet. I haven't been eating like that. Oh I've been eating Luigibles pizzas. Okay, I have a problem. Can I convince something now? Okay? The sky key's writing me letters telling me ton I et Luigibles pizzas for lunch today, three of them, three three oh three times. I was like, yeah, dude, it comes with three of them. You ate nine Luibles pizzas. Think about that's all the same time, I'm saying, the same time, sure, this is the third time this week I've done this, three of them, So you've had twenty seven Lunchibles pizzas this week. Think about it. Do the math to him. I can't stop. I can't start doing it. I know that's a lot of it's a long of yourself. Here's the deal. Here's the deal. It's only nine hundred calories personing, so it's like better we're sitting no. One hundred cats eat. Yeah, if I go out to eat, I'm getting fourteen hundred. It's still better than going out to eat somewhere, so it's not that bad. I'm a denial I know I am. You don't have to look at me like that. I just had to get this off my chest. I can't stop doing it. They're so good. It's the last time you had a lunchables pizza. December twenty eighth, two thousand and twenty two. I remember like it was yesterday, three days after Christmas. All the chocolates are gone. I open the fridge. I go, sane, Nick, there's no leftover food. And then I see two lunchables in the back of the fridge. One a turkey and cracker sandwich kit. Yeah, and I said that tastes like crap. And then I saw the pay Now one of them was moldy. Yeah. I didn't realize that until I had already eaten half of it. And at that point I'm already. You know, once you already got half a MOLDI pizza, and it's the other the other mold. You know. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point, so we'll keep going. Okay, So they have Mary's brother in law. I guess I don't Ron's brother. No, so Mary's brother. I think I don't know if it's Mary's or Ron's sister's husband, one of their sister's husband. I guess that was an option. Yeah, that was my bad. Yeah, that was an option. So but I'm pretty I don't know. In the uh, Danny car salesman episode whatever, his last name is Carsalo whatever. Yeah, I said, oh, those are my brother in law, and you went brother in law. You know I have two brothers in law. Brothers in law? What are you talking about? Wait? When I said, when did that happen? It happened on June tenth, twenty twenty three, is when I got I got two brothers in law. Yeah, I know that. I was like, what was the the law? What was the quest? So I went, oh, you should have pictured Danny, And I was like, oh, yeah, it looks just on my brother in law. And you were like brother in law? Did I say that, Yeah, that's pretty funny. I have two brothers brother, brother in law. He's the thing in law. I what I was confused because I was thinking your brother who his wife would be your sister in law, not your brother in law. And I think that's why because I was like, I was like, what do you mean brother in law? So I was just I was confused. So her brother in law, and I think at this point, I think at this point they're it's strange. So it's like ex brother in law because him and the wife first split up. So sure, so this is getting too complicated. I know it's complicated. Paul fresh Hour is his name, and his wife, I think, but also be Mary. So maybe it's Ron's sister. He might not be married. Ron's sister's name is Mary, Ron's wife name is May, Rod's mo name is Mary. Everybody's name is how's the seventies for you? Yeah, it's true. They weren't creative, so uh. Paul is pretty upset about the way that the police handled this case because he's very confident that this was a murder and not an accident. He's like, there's no way that this happened. The way that they're saying this happened, and so he starts kind of like campaigning in the town for the police to do more about this, but they're just kind of ignoring him. All the while. The letters are continuing to hit random people in the town, okay, mentioning anything about Ron. I don't think they're mentioning Ron anymore. They're just lifting up random dirt that different people have sure saying if you don't do whatever, we're going to bring this dirty. Well, it's not like there's any gain for the person writing the letters. It does seem like they have like it's because most of the letters. I shouldn't say all of them, but most of the letters. There's kind of three themes in the letters. One, it's your your having an affair and that's not okay, and come forward about having this affair. The second thing is you're abusing a child in some way and that's not okay and you need to quit doing that. Or three and this is a little weird, but three you are getting in the way of the sheriff in town, and that's okay. And three this is a little weird, but you're getting in the way of the sheriff. What does that mean? So there's a sheriff. I don't know, I'm crazy that sounds to just say there's a sheriff. Oh, there's a sheriff in town. And whoever this person is, they really like this sheriff and they they seem to be defending them and on the side of the sheriff. That's pretty much it. Like they just they're a big fan of the sheriff. Okay. And so a lot of these letters are like, hey, you're getting in in the sheriff's way or this you need to not you need to vote for the sheriff to continue doing what they're doing. You know, stuff like that. Support your local sheriff is kind of what these letters are. It's weird, okay, Okay, So, uh, Paul is Paul is kind of campaigning against the sheriff, got it. You need to do more? Yeah, like you need to solve this case. And the Sheriff's likeff case. Yeah, he's the head of that campaign. And the letter writers like the sheriff knows what he's talking about. Uh, And so people are getting their letters. Mary doesn't receive a letter for a while. One day, Mary, on her bus route, drives around this corner and sees a sign on a fence post, and that sign is we don't know what the sign actually says, it's never been released, but apparently the sign said something about her daughter, and it was very explicit about her daughter, her and Massy, And so she pulls over and is like, I'm going to take that letter down or that signed down. So she pulls over, she goes over to take that sign down, and then she's going to pull it down. She noticed that there's a piece of twine attached to the sign. So she follows that sign and on a post right next to it, there's a box, and so she looks in that box and there's a handgun held up by a piece of styrofoam pointed out the box with the twine wrapped her on the trigger. So if shelled, it would have pulled the trigger and it would have shot her, like point blank in the head. Was where it was lined up right at where her height would have been, so it was like perfectly lined up to her height to hit her in the head if she would have pulled that sign off the off Okay, why did you do all that boring stuff first? Because the boy stuff was the first part of the story. So the police, the police find out about this and they're like, okay, this is like an They find out she told them no, she put it with all her other letters. Yeah, run is that important? Here's this and this box that was an attempted murder attempt on me. But I mean I handled it. I handled it. What do you mean to handled it? This is the height of the movement too. It's like, yeah, they don't even have the right to credit cards at this point. Actually, do you know that this is true? They like in the early seventies, they couldn't get a credit card. Serious, Yeah, women couldn't have heard that happened nineteen seventy four. Holy cat. Well no, they just got them seventies six. Yeah, so they just got credit cards. Yeah, well that's what I'm saying. Yeah, she feels very empowered. I guess. Geez, that's crazy. I did not know that in that while. That is really wild. Yep. Wow. And that's why when people are like, we should just go back to the sixties, that's why a lot of women are like, I don't. I couldn't buy some I don't think we should do that. That's crazy. I didn't know that. Okay, So the ployees get this gun. Yeah, and they start investigating the first thing they noticed is that the zerial number has been scratched off of the gun of the gun, which is pretty typical. But luckily forensic pathologists they're psychopaths. So then they so they were able to figure out what the Yeah, okay, if you arrange the letters of forensic psychologists or pathologist pathologist, I mean, yeah, you could psychopath the psychopaths. Uh. They looked closer at the guns and they were like, hey, we figured out the serial number. And so I don't know, they looked under an extra or something. They were able to figure out what the serial number actually was. I don't I don't know. I don't know how they do it, but they did it, and they traced it back to a manager at the Anheuser Busch plant in Columbus, Ohio. And the manager was like, oh, yeah, I sold that to my supervisor like three months ago. And he's like, he's like, I didn't I didn't scratch the the VIN off or anything like that. I guess it's not a VIN the serial number, i'mscssed serial number off. But I sold the to one of my managers a few months ago, and they're like, like, who's your manager, and he's like Paul fresh Hour, Okay, which Paul. This is Paul. Which this first of all a very professional headshot. Yeah. I don't know if he was like an actor. This looks like right when I remember when the new iPhone cameras came out and people were posting headshots of their dads on Twitter. Yet quality, this is oh good, this is yeah, that's what this looks like. Portrait mode, That's what I'm saying, first came out. It's a very very very good shot, very good shot, no pimples at all. Maybe one maybe one guy, this guy, but he looks like he looks like an Ohio dad, you know, like a like a later forties mustache. Yep, maybe fifties. I wouldn't even tell you this picture was from the seventies. If I saw it, honestly, yeah, I'd be like that that's a guy who exists today. Yeah, that guy's here, Sure, he's here. That guy, he's here, he's here. In my Oh, that's Jesus. Scientists have put together this composite photo of what they think Jesus looks like, and it's this guy. Pretty wild it's pretty crazy. Oh wow, us so Paul. So they called Paul and they were like, hey, hey, buddy, Hey, we got your gun that was used to attempt a murder on somebody. And he's like, oh, I sold that. He was like, Ron dead run that guy. Yeah, you bought it. He called me and I was like, I was like, well you're dead and he's like, that's what you think? No, he said, he said, here's the thing he said. He said, I haven't had that gun a couple of months. He said, I haven't reported it. I know that was wrong. I shouldn't have done that, like I should have reported it stolen, and he said, but I was pretty confident my sixteen year old son sold it and I didn't want him to get in trouble for that. So I was just trying to work it out with him, just between us. And they were like, yeah, likely story, Bud, you're coming with us. And so he gets arrested. Yeah, and they bring him in for questioning, and while questioning him, they said, hey, here's one of these letters that people have been getting lately. Do you want Tom, do you mind like copying it real quick for us? And he was like sure, what do you mean punishment, like, am I is this kind of like where you like, I will not attempt murderer. I won't I wanted that's a crazy punish When you were thinking about it, you had to write like a full sentence two hundred times. That's like that's a crazy punish. Yeah, that hurts your wrist. Yeah. Yeah. So he copies the letter and uh. After he copies it, they look at it. They put him next to each other and they're like, this looks pretty similar. And he's like, well, you asked me. He'sa liked, yeah, you told me to copy it. I don't think that's a missible incord. So that's at that time I had you copy of someone's signature and you just didn't do it. You looked at you were like yeah, I could do it. You looked at it, and then you went and it looks nothing. I lie. It's like they're not gonna check. Yeah, So they it is my court documents to the Department of Justice. So they took him to court and they were like, look, how some of these are. It's his gun. That guy attempted murder, didn't he see And the court was like, yeah, I think he did it. They actually brought like thirty other of these Circleville letters to be like, this was him writing all these letters in court, but they had the only thing that they had to time to the letters was the copied letter that they asked him to copy while he was in question. Here's the thing. If police ask you questions, do not answer those questions. Yeah, okay, I'm not even this is not like this is life lessons. Okay. Police are not there to solve your crime. Yeah, right, there there to put you close their case. That's their only job. Yeah, so don't trust him. Yeah, but do tell paramedics everything you can tell them that you plead the second at any time, I plead the city is my second event. Rect to not do this. Though he doesn't do that, there's no reason, there's no way to take him court. They probably can still take him to court, but they have much less of a case. This was. This was I think that his handwriting. It's I think that that made their case for them. So they find him guilty of this attempted murder base on the letter, based on the letter. Yeah, crazy, and he also gets counts of I don't remember what the count is, but like I don't know freaking people out with a written letter on the on the charge of the charge of attempted murder. The court finds the defendant guilty on the charge of being a little weirdo and freaking out the public. The court finds the defendant guilty, so he gets a he gets a twenty seven years sentence. Oh my gosh. They lock him up. And here's what's interesting about this. He goes into jail and the letters don't stop, and so I would lose my mind. He maintains his innocence to the whole trial. Even after going into jail. He's maintaining his innocence and the letters continue being sent. So the sheriff in town calls the warden. He is now at a prison on the other end of Ohio. He's like six hours away at this prison on the other end of Ohio. Yeah. He calls the warden and he says, hey, we're still getting letters from your guy. And he's like, no, you're not. And he's like he's like, yeah, we are, and he's like look. He's like he's like, look your letters because they talked about it a little bit and he's like he's like, your letters are still postmarked. From Columbus. There's no way they're gonna get marked from Columbus. We screen everything that leaves this prison. He's like, we know what's written in these letters, and none of those letters have been have left our prison, and we only provide them with prison letterhead. And so he's like, these they cannot be coming from within the prison. And so the sheriff I don't know what happens, but he like basically appears all right, thanks, we already got a guy in jail and we're the police. Why would I open a case again when I could just mark this and salt Market done? And so moving on, he talks to the warden into moving him into solitary confinement and taking away his ability to write letters and stuff like this, and so they lock him up in solitary. This stuff makes me so irrationally angry. Oh my gosh, Hey, thanks for checking out this episode. If you like this, We've got a lot of great ones. Let me recommend a recent one. Hitchpot. Basically, some Canadian scientists said, what if we made a robot that hitchhiked across the country. You think it could make it? Spoiler alert, it's a fun I like it. A lot. You need to check it out. One of my favorite recent jokes is in there, so check that one out. But if not, thanks for being here. And the letter is continued. Would you imagine, oh yeah, this is your biggest fear, right, this is my biggest fear by far? Yeah for sure. So letters continue, people still, I would fight for you. Would you to stay in jail? I would. I would be the biggest public advocate. I know there'd be people out here with free Timstone hats, but I want you to know that I would be lock him up, lock keep locked up, locked up, locked timy? Can we locked? Can we make that? Can we have freeckdown? We have arrest Stone, lock up tim Stone. That's pretty funny. And we can see which one sells more. It's free Timstone or locked him him up? Yeah? Locked him up or free tim Stown. Yeah that's pretty good. All right, those are on the Merge store. That's great. So he uh, when does this come out? This one? I don't worry about I'll do later. I get fine, So this episode, what do you comes out? What did you want me to actually check? You said, don't worry about it, I'll do it later. Oh my gosh, no, it's okay, I'll do that. Okay, I'm looking it up. No, I want me to do you want me to do it? Now, I'll look it up. But don't tell you, Okay, now I know, Okay, you gotta guess. I'm a little scared too. Oh my gosh, that was the worst thing you've ever done. April twenty fifth. April twenty fifth, pretty close. What is it April thirtieth? Oh? So? Uh. He he's in prison, all right, the letters and he gets put in solar solitary. He's in solitary and they'll let keep coming. So the sheriff calls the warded and he's like, hey, shot ahead, kill him. Let's see what happens. Your guy keeps sending letters. And he's like literally impossible. He's like, I know for a fact he's not sending any more letters. He's like, a matter of fact, I'm gonna let him out of solitary. This is ridiculous. He's like, he's like, you got someone else out there. You need to find him. I'm gonna let him go. Now, I'm not gonna let him go, but I am going to leave the jail door open and just see what happens. Yeah, I'm gonna leave the jail door open, and I'm gonna open up our t rex exhibit that we have in the jail and just just maybe see what happened. Maybe he trades him, who knows, He comes back in town writing a t Rex ready for his vendetta with a lass. That's the whole basis of the Last Lands Festival. Yes, it's the story of the guy who came back on Anosaur and saved and saved the city, saved the city, the guy with letters. It's gonna doom doom dum boom doom doom, dum duom dum dum mum. Jud that was just stop the letters, dude, I can't imagine whatever. I just if you listen to that kind of music, No one who listens to that music listens to our podcast. There's no not a single chance. So the letters continue, and I want to highlight one of the letters that happened in this period, just because here's sho he this guy is inslitary. This is different handwriting, though, do you think? So? Here's the thing. Here's the thing. The letters are always coming on different things. And I read this one. Forget Circleville, Ohio, do nothing to hurt. Sheriff Radcliffe, Colin, if you come to Ohio, you you were trying to set me up for that one. You were trying to set me up for that one. It says if you come to Ohio, U L. Sikos will pay the circle bill writer L. S. Is one of the funniest things I've ever heard U L. S. Okay. But this is what I'm saying, is that like the original handwriting, let's could you have one of the other letters handy right now? So look, I mean, this is not those block letters a little different. It doesn't seem a little different. Look at the W and women's right. That's clearly the curve right or well, I don't know, dude, look at this because look the W in will I know you're a pig and will prove it is. The peaks changed it. And then there's a curve W down here. It looks like it looks like but it's a curve W down here as well. And then their peak. Man, they see they keep going back and forth between the peaks and the curve. I hope if they're an audio listener, you're following the writing. The writing is definitely not their their hand right. They're clearly trying to do trying to make it look like it's not. Well, I'm looking at that A on a round that looks more the style like the a's that he's using that block A and I go back to the new one. Ah, well wait, go back. So the why is what I was looking at like your and you down here see the see the why looks like a field goal post. And then yeah, field goal post post. It's very similar, but it is a little different. One person has suggested that at some point they switched to writing with their left hand. Yeah, so to make it less obvious. Yeah, but who knows. So this this letter, I just want to highlight one one. It's supporting Sheriff Radcliffe to the ALSA because it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. But while right after uh, and this person has embraced the name the Circleville writer that is signing it now that weren't signing before. That is true. Paul receives a letter while he's in prison right after he gets sentenced to solitary. You got me to read this one. Read it? Okay? Which fresh? This F is the lowercase F that's like the only lowercase fresh hour. Now when you are going, now, when are you going to believe you aren't getting out of their colon? I told you two years ago when we set them up, they stay set up. Don't you listen at all? No one wants you out, no one. The joke is on you, ha colon, Ha, Colin, tell no one of this letter. Well, you sit it to a prison that's probably not I saw the paper. Great news, great the sheriff loved it. Ha ha. Do you believe it now? Do you? So? Fresh hour fresh hour is up for parole in nineteen ninety. They're still not letting him out, even though the literal writer is sending him letters. Yeah, so fresh hours, no fresh hours up for for parole in nineteen ninety. This is crazy, And they they the parole board you're in jail because they're like, you've been writing letters and you're threatening people when we know you're trying to murder this person. Also, the person who's writing the letters is now sending them to you in jail for the thing that you're in jail for. And we know for a fact that you can't possibly be the one writing these ones anymore, but we still think it was you. Well, the parole board, here's his parole. Hearing comes because his parole is up in nineteen ninety The parole board, here's it. And they say, while you're still writing all these letters and terrorizing the public soclude, haven't learned your lessons. They deny his parole. The warden comes out to bat for him and to the parole board and says, that's nonsense. He is not writing these letters. We know for a fact that he's not writing those letters. It's impossible, and like demands that they rehear him, and they refuse, and so he gets denied his parole and he stays in for four more years. In ninety four he's finally released, which coincident. At least the the letters stop. But how long have you spent in prison from I think it was seventy eight to ninety four. Yeah, doesn't make your blood boil? Isn't that insane? He maintained his innocence throughout the entire Really, the letters continued, The letters kept going to different people. Here's what's interesting. A lot of those letters ended up years later being found out that that was whatever they were claiming was legitimate. The affairs the child there's people who were like being accused of child abuse that got convicted later, like years after the letters were sent to them, and so the stories were lining up with whoever this person was. They knew a lot of dirt on pretty much everybody in this town and they were accurate with it. Another interesting thing is remember Gordon Massey and he's the west Fall superintendent and then Mary Gilaspie. Yeah, they ended up the whole thing started from their supposed affair that they weren't actually having, but they ended up actually having an affair after bron died. Yeah, was so married. Yeah, so they ended up bonding over the whole getting threatening letters thing like can you believe these letters are talking about having an affair? That's so crazy. That's I know, it's crazy. It's crazy, pretty crazy, isn't it pretty crazy? You know this is so crazy. How many letters have you gotten? Me too? I've got them in a box too. I have a gun in a box also. Actually, I've got four letters right here l O V. That's her And he's like, I've also got four letters A R M YDY. And she's like, He's like, I don't think you know what I'm trying to do here. Shut up, and he's like, teach me that I'm basic. Sorry, I'm really strong. So so after all this happens, like a lot of this stuff comes out to be legitimate. Here's the thing, uh Uh. Paul had always maintained his innocence, and uh maintained his innocence until his death in twenty twelve. But throughout the time from his release to his death, he continued out there saying like, none of this is the JIT, and I think there's a pretty good case that it wasn't him, obviously, Like the letters continued while he was in jail. But the one of the things we noticed right off the bat from these letters is the grammar and the spelling is insane. Right, Paul has two master's degrees, and he was like a director position at Anheuser book Bush a very educated person. And I know what you're about to say, right, I know what you're saying, Bush, b U s c H. Was it a clue or was it just I'm used to spelling Bush. That's interesting. But it's constantly there's constantly the wrong, like the wrong to the wrong, there the wrong, you're wrong, the wrong to the wrong, they're the wrong, your Alex am I stupid. Yes, that's that's not how you say that word. You spell it t h E I R there. I'm in physical pain right now. I don't know if it's that word. You say that word. No, that's t h e y already, that's there. They're what's what sound is? I R make er? They're they're quit. I'm gonna freaking hurl. Anyways. See, this guy was really smart, just like me, knows how to spell and pronounce words really well. You know, it's there, I know there is there, But they're why are you doing this, Alex? Is you think or what old on? Alex? Is the air dropping me something? There? Yeah? Not do the man voice. You just chopped off. You just chopped off the air. They are it's the same thing. That's British. Yeah, that's the British pronouncing. Okay, okay, okay. So there's there's reason to believe that it wasn't him just off that sure, but the motive is interesting as well. So take it back so that we haven't talked about yet. The very reasoning of the story is he gets a divorce before any of this starts happening, and his wife had an affair with the superintendent. His wife is a bus driver at the school, and his wife loses the divorce for in terms of like she doesn't get the kids, she doesn't get the house, she doesn't get the money, like she gets nothing in the divorce. Uh, and she is writing letters. It's her brother. Ron is her brother. That's right, Ron is her brother that died. Okay wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait okay, So Ron's sister is married was married to Paul fresh Hour. Yes, so when Ron calls Paul or when the letter writer, Yeah, calls Ron, it's his sister. But are you suggesting that he would then take a gun and go kill his sister. I don't know if that's what's happening here. I don't know if that's what's happening here, because I would guess his sister is writing the letters. Then I think his sister's writing the letters. Yeah, yess what you think. I think his sister's writing the letters. But I don't know if she's doing it alone because she uses we a lot. And then she seems to really be on Sheriff Radcliffe's side. Here's the thing. Sheriff Radcliffe also leaven around Sheriff Radcliffe was up for like a city seat, like not a city seat, like a county seat at the same time. Uh. And so the theory is that she got close with Sheriff Radcliffe, she started learning a lot of dirt about a lot of people. She has dirt, Yeah, and she has like a vendetta against Paul. She starts to believe that because Paul's gun was the gun that was uh discovered, she starts to believe that Paul was the one behind the murder. Hold on, back it up. So she's not the original letter writer. Hold on, let me, let me, let me rewind this, let me rewind. Yeah, I know it is. So she she is mad at Paul because Paul won the divorce. Yes, so she starts writing letters. She starts writing letters, she gets close to the sheriff. She's trying to help the sheriff get to his position and like defend the sheriff. Okay, but she's also one of the bus drivers and she she has like the dirt on Massie. I think she's got some vendetta against Massi as well. And so she's using this against everybody that she's got an issue with in town and she's like a very clearly a very angry individual. She seals Paul's gun. She so Paul is pretty confident that his son stole the gun and set up the booby trap. Well, Paul's son in two thousand and two takes his own life, and so a lot of people have thought that he had the guilt all those years from helping his mom in this and that's what led to that. So it looks like Paul's son stole the gun. But there was a moment where one of there was a witness, one of the other bus drivers had witnessed just before Mary drove past that bus stop where or that sign and saw that sign, that there was a guy with an el Camino, a yellow el Camino, standing by that post like setting something up on that post and wouldn't let the driver see his face, Like he turned along with the car so she couldn't see his face. But she said it was a large man with like blonde curly hair. Paul is not a large man, doesn't have blonde curly hair. And so but one of do you think I did it? It wasn't me, me the whole time, whole time, and so but one of her friends was a large man with blonde, curly hair, and another one of her friends drove a yellow alchemino, And so there is some circumstantial evidence that could point to that she prevented that witness from going forward. That witness years later like told the news like, yeah, I was going to come forward and say this, but she told me not to. Uh. And when you look at the letters, like they they're very clearly like happy that he's stuck in jail and him to stay in jail, because if he's in jail, if he's in jail, custody de faults back to her for the kids, the house to faults back to everything that faults back to her God, and so she ends up winning the divorce again. So there's pretty good reason to believe that it was actually her, but we don't know for sure. Uh. Paul, on the other hand, has since started up a website that's still online called Circleville Letters dot WordPress dot com and on that the show could give him a domain, what domain does he want by Circleville letter dot com, go to I Own that kid dot com to help solve the crime of who's writing the letters. And he's got a bunch of documents on there, but one of them is a letter to the FBI he wrote, handwritten. No, it's fully typed up with all of his evidence, one hundred and sixty four pages. Holy cow, and I've skimmed this. And his his theory is that the sheriff was behind all of this and was like writing all this to help make sure all the dirt behind him and any of his constituents that would vote for him would not keeping them Yeah yeah, yeah, and what he's keeping them on his side so that way he could get voted for and so, and that's why he was put away in jail and the evidence was hardly looked at because the case of whenever Ron died is very strange too, like this whole thing. He argues a lot that they need to reopen the case of Ron's death because when Ron died, they didn't seem to care much about the fired shot. They didn't look into that at all. They also took his truck to impound and crushed it two days later. They didn't investigate anything on it, they just crushed it. And then they sent his body off that and we're like, yeah, he had a blood alcohol content, but his whole family is like, that doesn't sound right, that doesn't him. And so there's a lot of things going on that seemed like the police were in on it. Yeah, at least obstructing some stuff, if not involved in some of this at a high level. Also, like I said, I don't know how the forensic psychopaths figured out the serial number, but they did. They just automatically like, yeah, we know what this is. So they've figured some stuff out that it's like and then they keep him in prison, even though the warden himself is like, this is not him. They were like, yeah, it's him. So it seems like some dirty stuff. And then that letter that's like, once we decide you're in, you're in, you're not getting out. Yeah, And so it seems like there's some stuff on the inside. It could be his wife, it could be or it could be his ex wife, It could be the sheriff, it could be a few people, it could be could be both of them together. But at the end of the day, it could be him, could still be him. There's a lot of people who are still convinced he's trying to frame all those people. Yeah it could yeah, very well, could still be him. But it's I mean there was over a thousand letters written. They were written until he got out of jail, and then I got out. Once he got out of jail, they stopped. So but that's all we know about him. The Circleville letters might have been Paul, might have been Paul's ex wife, might have been literally who knows. I can't imagine spending sixteen years in prison with letters still coming. Yeah, I'd had to write it on my own letter, Judge Colon, Colon, let me out, or else I will make up lies about your family. Fiddle off. Hey, thanks for being here for this episode of Things on last night. If you like that episode, we also have a different one on the Watcher of six y five seven Boulevard. So it's a house that these people bought and they start receiving mysterious letters in their mailbox from someone who claims to be the Watcher of that house. It's a really creepy story. We talked about all the theories and maybe what happened, what didn't happen, what should have happened. It's a great episode that is linked somewhere in the description here somewhere around there. Also, if you want next week's episode right now you're like, man, I'm all caught up. I want more tillan. You can join us on Patreon and you'll get next week's episode ad free. You'll get in our Discord channel, a bunch of other perks. We'd love to see you there. Thanks for checking out our show. We'll see you next week


This episode of Things I Learned Last Night is about the mysterious Circleville Letters that terrorized the small town of Circleville, Ohio, starting in the 1970s. The letters contained damaging information and threats and were sent to hundreds of residents over nearly 20 years. The first recipient was the local high school superintendent Gordon Massie, who received a letter accusing him of having affairs with bus drivers. More letters followed, threatening exposure of affairs, abuse, or obstruction of the local sheriff.

One letter led resident Ron Gillespie to his death in a car crash after he raced off with a gun following a threatening call. Ron’s brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, was accused and convicted after police matched his gun to a booby-trapped sign left for bus driver Mary Gillespie. However, letters continued even while Paul was in prison, leading many to doubt his guilt. Theories point to Paul’s ex-wife, the sheriff, or others, but the true identity of “The Circleville Writer” remains unknown.

Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning and laughing a lot while you do, you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!

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Sources

The Circleville Letters – All That’s Interesting


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