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My Favorite Murder

April 19, 2016 by Karen M. Peterson 14 Comments

My Favorite Murder

I’ve mentioned once or twice that I recently found a new podcast that I just love. It’s called My Favorite Murder and it’s about…well…murder.

The basic premise of the podcast is that hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark are fascinated by murder mysteries, serial killers, strange disappearances, all that kind of thing. Most weeks they have a theme and each week they each share a story that fits in with the theme. There are some seriously messed up people out there, friends.

They also have a closed Facebook group full of really awesome people that share all kinds of additional stories, thoughts, etc. It’s closed so that the posts don’t show up on your feed and prompt questions from friends as to why you’re in a Facebook group about murder.

One of the things Karen and Georgia have encouraged is for listeners to share the stories of murders from their hometowns, and more recently, the stories that first got us interested in this morbid topic.

I grew up watching Dateline and have always had a soft spot for Forensic Files.

The first serial killer I distinctly remember hearing about was the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, who terrorized Southern California when I was a kid. Things got so scary, in fact, that Punky Brewster had a Very Special Episode in which Punky was afraid that Henry would be murdered if he went out bowling at night.

I remember when Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested, and when I lived in Utah I ran into all sorts of weird connections to Ted Bundy.

There was a time when I could not get enough of the Sigourney Weaver movie Copycat.

But the case that had the most lasting impact on me, that started my fascination with this weird world–

(Which, PLEASE be clear, does NOT mean I am the least bit interested in actually murdering anybody. Because I really am lazy and it just sounds like a lot of work.)

–was a case that happened in 1983 in my hometown of Chino Hills, California.

In 1983, a man named Kevin Cooper escaped from what is known as Chino Men’s Prison. It’s official name is something like California Institute for Men at Chino or something like that. But we always just called it Chino Men’s.

So this guy Kevin Cooper escaped through a hole in a freaking fence on June 2, 1983.

On the morning of June 5, just three days later, this man named Bill Hughes went to the neighbors’ house to pick up his son, who had been spending the night. When he got there, he discovered that three members of the Ryen family, and his own son, had been murdered during the night and the family car had been stolen.

One member of the Ryen family was left for dead, but would end up surviving the attack: the 8-year-old son Josh.

Over the subsequent weeks, it was determined that escapee Kevin Cooper had been holed up in a guest house next door during the days before the Ryens were murdered. On the night of June 4, he hitchhiked to Mexico and caught a boat up to Santa Barbara, where he was eventually arrested seven weeks later.

He went to trial for the murders and was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. He’s been on Death Row in San Quentin since 1985, and was actually scheduled for execution a couple of years ago, but the execution was stopped when a judge put a hold on executions in California because of some issue with the lethal injection drug cocktail. I believe he’s still next in line for execution if California ever actually starts them up again, which is doubtful.

So I grew up knowing the terrible case of what happened to the Ryen family. Josh was sent to live with relatives far away, which I’m sure was the best thing for him. I can’t imagine if he’d had to grow up in our town, constantly reminded of what happened to him and his family.

In 2005, he issued a statement about his experiences, and it is absolutely heartbreaking.

But here’s where things are a little bit weird.

It’s *possible* Kevin Cooper didn’t do it. Or, at least, that he didn’t act alone.

I mean, there is a ton of physical evidence that implicates Cooper. A button from his jacket was found. There was blood discovered in the drains of the house where he’d been hiding. That kind of thing.

But then there’s the fact that multiple murder weapons were used, which is not unheard of, but definitely strange for a single killer.

Witnesses said they saw three white men fleeing the area in a station wagon.

There’s some confusion about what Josh Ryen actually saw. He at first said it was three white or Mexican men, because three men had come to the house earlier in the day looking for work. He never actually identified the killer, however, until a long time after and did later say that he just saw one man killing his mother.

A woman called the police on June 9, 1983 to say that she thought her boyfriend might have been involved because he had stopped by home in an unfamiliar station wagon and had changed his clothes. She threw the clothes away, but was pretty sure they were splattered with blood.

So, it’s a strange case. There are some unanswered questions.

But it has always stayed with me. Always been there in the back of my mind. It’s what keeps me turning on lights the second I walk into a dark room. What keeps me locking all of my doors every night, and locking things up extra tight when I’m home alone.

And it’s what started me on the path of being fascinated by this crazy, sick, twisted world.

No, I’m not one of those crazy people that writes to death row inmates or anything like that. I want them to be far removed from me.

But I find myself drawn into trying to understand what has to go wrong in a person’s mind that causes them to do this and to live with themselves afterward.

What about you? Are you fascinated by murder? Or is your weird curiosity about something else? Because I know we ALL have something.

And if you ARE interested in murder, you should really check out this podcast. You’ll feel a little less weird about it. Or at least more accepted.

 

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Filed Under: Pop Culture and Politics Tagged With: I Support the Arts, Proof that I'm Insane, The Blogoverse

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  • Michael Mckinley

    I also grew up in Chino and was at the time staying at my best friends house Gary Pratt jr. As for my mom was having a house built in Skyline Fullerton O.C. So meantime I would stay with Gary and his family.
    Gary’s dad Gary Pratt sir. Was the Lieutenant of Chino Prison at the time of
    Kevin Cooper . Me and Gary were on restriction for sneaking out in our cars at night and partying drinking. We finally got off restriction and Gary’s dad said we could go to the Chino High dance but that he would drop use off . That we would have to find are own ride home after the dance. So we walked home on our way home we stopped at Riverside Drive and Ramona Avenue at the 7-Eleven got something to drink and eat this guy walks up to us and asked us for some money so he could get something to eat. We give him some money he asked if he could stay are garage we told him no I don’t think your dad would like that. So we started walking then we started running and then we heard someone yelling hey come back here it was him Cooper not Kevin Cooper but Richard Cooper . Richard UC was the man that would go up to the dairy houses act like there was an accident and it and asked if he could use the phone because somebody was injured in a car accident they don’t answer the door and on the phone and he would go in and kill the whole family and begum up by the door you did this to multiple families but this night he chased me and Gary as we ran I couldn’t run anymore my boots are too heavy. Carrie said that he would come back with his dad to save me so I hid in the bushes Kevin walked past I came out of the bushes when he was about a block away behind yelled back at me have you seen two boys run this way I said no and then he realized I was one of them he wanted to know where my friend you are my brother went I told him he went home to get our dad but he insisted on following us or following me home as we approach the door to the garage I opened the door and he showed me and yelling that he was going to kill me at that time Gary’s dad Gary Pratt senior 6 foot 5 big man with handcuffs and a gun come out and throughs Richard to the floor handcuffs him . Richard says Mama mr. Mr. Pratt Lieutenant Lieutenant Pratt then Gary singing bends down and Whispers in his ear Richard Richard Cooper dumb son-of-a-bitch you came to the wrong house tonight is this family you will not kill you’ll be going back to jail you Xscape on my time. You see my name is Michael McKinley. About 25 years later I was working at the church I was clean and sober and the I called Gary’s dad Gary’s mom answered she said Gary come here it’s MyKey on the phone Gary she never gets on the phone and he says Mikey do you believe in God I said yes because he believed God was with you that day that night that you were all alone with that with that murder do you believe God was watched over you? I said yes, both Gary were talking about me the week before wondering if I was dead or alive they just figured it was probably dead he was so happy to hear that I was alive and well and clean and sober

  • Lawfrog

    OMG, this was MADE for me!! I love this kind of stuff. Totally getting the podcast now and joining the FB group. Thanks for this!

  • Beth

    I am TOTALLY fascinated by murder. I don’t think it has anything to do with your morality, but with your curiosity about psychology. Something so outside the realm of acceptable behavior, of course you wanna know who did it, and why. I live in Washington, which has the highest per capita instance of serial killers in the nation, so I feel like it’s a plum spot for it. But now I need to start listening to that podcast! The freakiest ones, to me, are the ones where the killings just stop. It feels like a pause, you know? If serial killing is a compulsion, assuming they’re still alive and functional and not in jail…why did they stop?

    • Beth

      Hey, small world! Karen Kilgariff has been on The Dork Forest twice! I’m guessing dorking out about murder. 🙂

  • Holly Grass

    Just subscribed. I am fascinated about murder. I minored in Criminology in college not because I really wanted to do anything with it, but because it was so interesting.

  • Christina

    Creepy! I’m gonna dl the podcast! I love this stuff too and used to watch Unsolved Mysteries all the time as a teen. I’ve never seen Copycat though! I was so afraid of The Green River Killer when I was in kindergarten and wouldn’t sleep with my window open in the summertime. I didn’t know anything about him, but when you hear the word “killer” in passing on the news it would freak any kid out! My parents obviously weren’t going to tell me that he only murdered prostitutes. Haha! They did assure me that we lived 50 miles away from the Green River though. Once, while getting my hair done, another lady at the salon said she met him and he totally did the fake broken leg situation. I read Ann Rule’s book right after that hair appointment. There are a lot of serial killers from the PNW (including the DC snipers). Maybe it’s the weather. Ha!

  • Misfit Librarian

    Did you send it in to them? I keep meaning to send in my hometown murder.

  • Misty, Handbags + Handguns

    I need to listen to this. I’m obsessed with all things murder.

    Also, I love Copycat!

  • Allena Gurley

    I have always been fascinated too – I read books (like Helter Skelter and one I can’t remember that had a chapter on a bunch of serial killers – John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, etc.), watched Dateline, etc. But ever since becoming a mom it can be too much. I used to DVR Dateline ID on this channel we had called Investigation Discovery that was all about crimes. Now if I catch one, I’ll watch it, but I don’t seek them out. I still watch Law & Order: SVU, but a lot of times I just don’t have the stomach for it anymore. I definitely think I’d like that podcast and will have to check it out!!

  • TexErin

    So. When I was a teenager and started reading paperbacks, I remember the day that my mom said “are you reading what I think you are reading?” I was reading “Helter Skelter” about the Manson family murders. I think that started my own fascination…from the mindset of a criminal to the impact on community and victims; the legal time and the police investigation.
    I studied Sociology in college, and when I graduated, I worked as a caseworker at a juvenile prison. I intended to go back into criminal justice, but life happened, and I never did. The stories still interest me.
    I’ve mentioned several times how I’m not a big tv watcher, but when I do watch, I’m watching The First 48, Homicide Hunter, and shows like Dateline or 48 hours. We get a program from the UK called Britian’s Darkest Taboos. I watch that too. So, similar shows. (They don’t require me to commit to a whole series.)

  • Mattie @ Northwest Native

    I totally agree, I’m definitely fascinated. I will Wikipedia serial killers when I hear about them so that I’ll know. Same with crimes that happened when I was too young to know, like the Oklahoma City bombing and the Waco siege…I swear if homeland security checked my search history they would think I was plotting something.

    But I also have to say I would NEVER write to a prisoner or anything. I would keep far away. And I am shocked and appalled by what people do.

  • Charlotte

    Okay. I’m going to have to check this out. It sounds riveting. Also? I have a weird fascination with murders and ghosts (not necessarily in that order) but yes–this is TOTALLY up my alley 🙂 Thanks, Karen! XOXO

  • MilitaryWifeandPugLife

    I used to love this kind of stuff too until I worked in criminal defense firms. Now I only see the legal side of everything. I guess it lost its “charm” so to speak. I did work on a pretty gruesome capital murder case. The guy is serving life currently. He was a highway killer….worked truck stops and killed prostitutes.

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