0:01

This podcast details true crime

0:03

cases. It contains adult themes

0:05

and may contain descriptions of violence. It

0:08

is not intended for children. Listener

0:10

discretion is advised. Thank

0:21

you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon

0:23

a Crime. In June in the

0:25

United States, we set a Sunday

0:27

aside to honor our fathers or father figures.

0:30

We honored them for their love and devotion, wisdom,

0:33

strength and protection, and

0:35

many other things they bring to our lives. But

0:38

not every dad is a shining example of

0:40

eternal love. Some are downright

0:43

nightmares. I'm sharing

0:45

these dad stories this month in

0:47

a series titled Deadly Dads. Christian

0:50

Longo portrayed himself through his family,

0:53

friends and community as a devoted

0:55

husband, loving father, and successful businessman.

0:58

In reality, he was none of those things.

1:01

He lived a life of lies and deception.

1:04

When he could no longer keep up the facade,

1:06

he disposed of his old life in favor of

1:08

a new one by destroying his

1:10

entire family. This is

1:13

Chapter 2 of Deadly Dads, Family

1:15

Annihilator Christian Longo. On

1:34

the morning of December 19, 2001,

1:37

a body was found floating on the

1:39

base shore of Waldport, a town

1:41

located in coastal Oregon, about a mile

1:43

inland from the Pacific Ocean. It

1:46

was the body of a young boy clad only

1:48

in a pair of underpants. First

1:50

responders estimated the boy's age to be

1:52

between four and six years old. There

1:56

were no missing persons reports in the area of

1:58

a child of that age or description. Divers

2:00

were called in to search the water around the

2:02

area where the body was discovered. Three

2:05

days later, a pillowcase was found printed

2:07

with characters from the Rugrats television cartoon.

2:11

Tied inside of it was a large rock. Not

2:15

more than a couple of hours after this discovery,

2:17

a second body of a child was found. It

2:20

was that of a girl, even younger than

2:22

the first child. She was estimated

2:24

to be about two or three years old. Tied

2:28

to the little girl's right ankle was

2:30

a floral printed pillowcase. Inside

2:32

was a rock that investigators concluded had been used

2:34

to sink the body to the bottom of the

2:36

bay. The boy's body must

2:39

have broken free of its pillowcase anchor, leading

2:41

to the discovery of both children. This

2:55

still had not received a report of a missing

2:57

child, let alone two. In

2:59

an attempt to identify them, a retouched

3:01

photograph of the little boy was released to

3:03

the media. They soon received a

3:05

break in the case. A

3:08

woman named Denise Thompson came forward to

3:10

report that she believed the child was

3:12

four-year-old Zachary Longo. She

3:14

was a co-worker of Zachary's father, Christian

3:16

Longo. She had last

3:19

seen Zachary when she had babysat him

3:21

and his sisters, three-year-old Sadie and

3:23

two-year-old Madison, on the night of December 15,

3:26

four days before the body was found. She

3:29

said their father had asked her to watch his

3:31

children so he could take his wife, Mary Jane,

3:34

out to dinner and a movie. Thompson

3:37

described the Longos as a friendly, young family.

3:40

They were devout Jehovah's Witnesses. Mary

3:42

Jane was a stay-at-home mom devoted to her

3:45

three children. Christian and Mary

3:47

Jane had been married about ten years and

3:49

had only recently moved to Oregon. sisters

3:53

asked Thompson if she'd seen Christian Longo or

3:55

his wife since the night she babysat the children.

3:58

Not Mary Jane, she said, but But she'd

4:00

had lunch with Christian on December 19, the

4:02

same day his son's body was found in

4:04

the bay. She

4:07

explained that she worked with Christian Longo at

4:09

Starbucks, and they had taken their lunch break

4:11

together. That is when he had

4:13

dropped a bombshell. Her co-worker told

4:15

her his wife had just left him for another

4:18

man. He said Mary Jane

4:20

had taken the children and flown to her home

4:22

state of Michigan. Thompson

4:24

said she was surprised to hear this news,

4:26

since she hadn't noticed any tension between the

4:29

couple, and Longo had never mentioned

4:31

having marital problems. He had

4:33

also said he now wasn't sure if he was

4:35

the father of his youngest child, Madison. Investigators

4:39

wondered, where were Mary Jane

4:41

and Madison? They needed to

4:43

track down Christian Longo. But

4:45

Longo had skipped town right after the body in

4:48

the bay was reported by the local media. On

4:52

the surface, Christian Longo appeared to be an

4:54

ideal family man and loving husband. But

4:57

he had been living a double life for years. Longo

5:00

had a history of financial crimes and at

5:02

least one warrant for his arrest. Now

5:05

two of his children were dead, and

5:07

his wife and youngest child were missing. A

5:11

week later, divers retrieved two large suitcases

5:13

in the Bay Harbor directly in front

5:16

of the Longo's rented condominium in Newport,

5:18

Oregon. In the first

5:20

one, the nude body of Mary Jane Longo

5:22

was found folded into a fetal position. In

5:25

the other, two-year-old Madison's body was found

5:28

clothed in only a diaper. The

5:31

medical examiner conducted autopsies and concluded

5:33

that Mary Jane and Madison

5:35

had died by manual strangulation. Zachary

5:38

and Sadie were determined to have been

5:41

killed by a quote, asphyxiation by unknown

5:43

method. The Longo's

5:45

condominium was searched. It had

5:48

been cleaned out of all their possessions, and

5:50

Christian Longo was nowhere to be found. He

5:52

would be added to the FBI's 10 Most

5:55

Wanted Fugitives list. But by

5:57

that time, he'd be on the run and would

5:59

soon flee the run. the country. Christian

6:10

Longo was born on January 23, 1974, and raised in Ypsilanti

6:12

Township, Michigan. His

6:17

mother Joy, and adoptive father Joe, raised

6:19

their children as Jehovah's Witnesses, a

6:22

Christian movement founded in the 1850s. Brothers

6:25

or Witnesses are encouraged to evangelize

6:28

new converts through door-to-door ministry. As

6:31

a young man, Christian was trained and served the

6:33

church this way. Longo

6:35

met Mary Jane Baker, who was also a member of

6:38

the church when he was still a teen. Mary

6:41

Jane was six years older than Christian. They

6:43

married when he was 19, and she was 25. At

6:48

age 22, Longo was hired to work for

6:50

a company that distributed the New York Times.

6:54

Longo became a fan of one of the

6:56

Times's writers, named Michael Finkel. Finkel

6:59

wrote a travel column with colorful

7:01

stories about far-flung destinations Longo had

7:03

only dreamed of. He

7:05

read his column religiously, and would later use

7:07

the information he'd stored away while on the

7:09

run from the law. But more

7:11

on this later. At

7:14

the age of 25, Longo quit his

7:16

job to start a business called Final

7:18

Touch, a cleaning service that catered to

7:20

contractors. Because

7:22

of the Longo's church congregation wondered how

7:25

the family could afford their lifestyle. They

7:27

always seemed to drive new cars, and Christian

7:30

took his wife on expensive vacations. Christian

7:33

claimed that his business was booming, but the

7:35

truth was, he was drowning in debt. Longo

7:39

had been deceptive about his finances since the beginning

7:41

of his marriage. Not only

7:43

had he lied about how much money he had,

7:45

but he'd committed theft to cover up his lies.

7:48

He couldn't afford a wedding ring for his new

7:50

bride, so he stole money from an employer to

7:53

purchase one. Longo

7:55

was clean-cut and polite, and had a

7:57

boyish charm. He easily convinced

7:59

people to live. to believe he was well off

8:01

financially, but he was paying for

8:03

his lifestyle through criminal means. He

8:06

took out loans under false or stolen identities,

8:09

printed counterfeit checks, and used them

8:11

to purchase items and withdraw cash.

8:14

Mary Jane was unaware of the elaborate means

8:16

her husband took to keep her in the

8:19

dark about their precarious financial condition. When

8:21

their car was repossessed for lack of payment, he

8:24

created a fake driver's license, took it

8:26

to a car dealership to test-drive a

8:28

new van, and drove off committing grand

8:30

theft. He gifted the stolen

8:32

van to his wife for her birthday. Needing

8:35

a big cash layout to hold off creditors

8:38

and maintain his lifestyle, Longo counterfeited

8:40

checks from a client in excess of $30,000.

8:44

He was caught and prosecuted. Under

8:46

Michigan law, Longo could have received up to

8:49

14 years in prison for each of the

8:51

seven counterfeited checks. But

8:53

he explained to the prosecutor that he was

8:55

his family's sole provider and had panicked over

8:57

his growing debt. He had taken

8:59

desperate measures to keep his family afloat, he claimed.

9:02

Longo was sentenced to three months probation in

9:05

order to pay back the $30,000 he'd stolen

9:07

in lieu of a jail sentence. Mary

9:10

Jane was shocked to learn about the theft,

9:12

but believed her husband when he told her

9:14

it had been a one-time thing and that

9:16

he'd learned his lesson. But

9:19

when Longo couldn't keep up with the payments to the court,

9:21

he instead packed up his family and

9:24

left Michigan for Ohio. Things

9:26

would soon go from bad to much

9:28

worse for the Longo family. Christian

9:40

Longo left Michigan for Ohio with his

9:42

family, violating the terms of his probation.

9:45

A warrant was issued for his arrest. In

9:48

May 2000, Mary Jane called her sister

9:51

Sally Clark. She was distraught.

9:54

She told Sally she discovered through emails that

9:56

her husband was cheating on her. She'd

9:58

confronted him And he had admitted the affair.

10:02

Tearfully, she told her sister that Chris told

10:04

her he no longer loved her and that

10:06

she was, quote, no fun since the children

10:08

were born. He complained that she

10:10

spent all her time and attention on them and neglected

10:13

him. Her

10:15

sister told Mary Jane to come home to Michigan. But

10:18

although Mary Jane was devastated at the

10:20

discovery, she didn't want her children to

10:22

grow up without their father. She

10:25

was determined to make her marriage work, she said. Besides,

10:28

she still loved Chris. In

10:31

2001, the family moved often for

10:34

supposed opportunities, though Longo

10:36

was actually avoiding creditors. They

10:38

settled in Ohio residing briefly in

10:40

a warehouse where he maintained his

10:42

facade as a prosperous businessman. He

10:46

continued to cash forged checks and eventually

10:48

drew the attention of local police. Longo

10:51

went on the run again, and in

10:53

September they settled in Coastal Oregon.

10:56

Mary Jane's family was in contact with her

10:58

until the late summer and early fall of

11:00

2001. When

11:02

her cell phone service had been cut off, they

11:05

felt something was amiss and reported her missing

11:07

to the police. After

11:10

receiving the report, officers visited

11:12

the Longo's previous residence at a

11:14

warehouse in Toledo, Ohio. Although

11:17

the family had left, investigators discovered

11:19

personal items such as Mary Jane's

11:21

wedding dress and photos. Additionally,

11:24

they uncovered books on identity change

11:26

and a Spanish phrasebook. Christian

11:29

Longo had run his family's

11:31

finances into the ground by

11:34

living above

11:37

his means for years. They were now on the run from

11:39

his outstanding warrants and investigations

11:43

into his financial crimes when they landed in Newport, Oregon

11:47

in September 2001. Longo

11:51

took a part time job

11:53

at a Starbucks coffee franchise

11:55

located inside a Fred Meyer grocery

11:57

store. On November 1st. he

12:00

rented a room for his family of five at

12:02

the Newport Motor Inn. Still

12:04

trying to save face, Longo told the

12:06

motel manager that the Starbucks Corporation had

12:08

sent him to set up a new

12:11

location in the area. He

12:13

immediately began planning his final escape from

12:15

the law, his financial woes, and the

12:17

life that had never lived up to

12:19

his expectations. In

12:21

mid-November, he printed out the obituaries of

12:23

four men of his approximate age found

12:26

in the local newspaper. Social

12:28

security numbers were handwritten on these pages.

12:31

While working his shift at Starbucks on November 20,

12:34

Longo stole a credit card number from a

12:36

customer transaction. On

12:38

November 30, he moved his

12:41

family into a high-end condominium on Newport's

12:43

Yaquina Bay. He passed

12:45

himself off to the condo manager as

12:47

a subcontractor hired to work for a

12:49

high-speed internet company. Two

12:52

weeks later, on December 15, Christian

12:54

Longo took the night off of work, hired

12:56

his co-worker to watch the kids, and took his

12:58

wife Mary Jane out on a date. They

13:01

returned about 10.30 p.m. It

13:04

was the last time anyone saw Mary Jane or

13:06

the children alive. Detectives

13:09

picked up the investigation from this

13:11

point, tracking Longo's movements. Between

13:14

midnight and 2 a.m. on December 17, he

13:17

returned to the condo after ending his shift at work.

13:20

Around 2 a.m., an upstairs neighbor

13:22

heard dragging noises coming from downstairs.

13:25

The neighbor lived directly above the Longo's unit.

13:29

These sounds lasted about 15 or 20

13:31

minutes, detectives were told. Later

13:33

that morning, at about 4.30 a.m., a

13:36

construction worker saw a red minivan stopped in the

13:38

middle of a bridge, a few

13:40

miles north of the Longo residence. He

13:43

stopped to see if the driver needed help. A

13:46

man-fitting Christian Longo's description thanked him but

13:48

said he'd only pulled over briefly because

13:50

his check engine light had come on,

13:52

but he declined help. That

13:55

night, Longo worked his scheduled shift at Starbucks

13:57

until 11 p.m. The

14:00

following day, the housekeeping staff at

14:02

the Newport Motor Inn, the Longos

14:04

former residence, found trash bags containing

14:06

children's clothes and books and

14:09

a wallet containing Mary Jane's driver's license

14:11

in the dumpster behind the motel. That

14:14

afternoon, a green-dodged Durango was stolen

14:17

from a dealership in Wilsonville, about

14:19

two hours north of Newport. A

14:22

maroon-colored van was left behind. The

14:24

license plates had been removed, but the

14:26

foam material that the plates had been mounted

14:29

over was found to have an impression that

14:31

read, Kid Van, the personalized license tag

14:33

issued to Mary Jane Longo. Christian

14:36

Longo attended a company Christmas party that

14:39

night. A coworker recalled

14:41

that he arrived in a green-dodged

14:43

Durango. The

14:45

next day, Zachary Longo's body was being

14:47

pulled from the bay at about the

14:49

same time Christian Longo was telling his

14:51

coworker that his wife had left him.

15:05

Douglas is one of many who found a

15:07

new life through Seattle's Union Gospel Mission. I

15:09

was living on the streets when I heard

15:12

this guy talk about how he got clean

15:14

and sober at the mission, so I decided

15:16

to give it a try. I could feel

15:18

something working inside of me, and I knew

15:21

I was getting better. Today, my number one

15:23

goal is to stay clean and sober. And

15:26

grace will lead me

15:29

home. To hear more,

15:31

volunteer or donate, visit ugm.org.

15:35

We're feeling the squeeze of high

15:37

inflation. Today's record inflationary report means

15:40

more economic pain ahead for Americans.

15:42

Costs are up on food, rent, and used

15:45

cars, and of course, gas, which is up

15:47

almost 50%. Ohioans

15:49

are struggling, but Senator Sherrod Brown

15:51

voted multiple times to spend our

15:53

tax dollars on illegal immigrants, voting

15:56

to give illegal Social Security benefits

15:58

for work done illegally. and

16:01

Brown voted in favor of taxpayer

16:03

funded healthcare for illegals granted amnesty.

16:05

While many Ohio families can't get

16:07

in to see a doctor, call

16:09

Senator Sherrod Brown at 216-522-7272 and

16:14

tell him to support S3578, the Protect Medicaid

16:16

Act, and

16:18

start voting against taxpayer funded

16:21

giveaways to illegal immigrants. We

16:23

need cheaper gas, food and housing,

16:25

not handouts to illegals who don't

16:27

play by the rules. Pay

16:30

for by One Nation, www.1nationamerica.org.

16:35

Using a stolen credit card from a Starbucks

16:37

customer, Christian Longo made his

16:39

way first to San Francisco before flying

16:42

to Texas and then crossing the border

16:44

into Mexico. Longo

16:46

arrived in the resort town of Cancun with only $200

16:48

in his pocket. He

16:50

drank and partied with other tourists. Two

16:53

weeks after he arrived, he met a German

16:55

tourist named Janina Frank. Frank

16:58

was a photojournalist who traveled to the area

17:00

to explore and photograph the Mayan ruins. Longo

17:03

introduced himself as Michael Finkel, the

17:06

travel writer whose column he'd followed in what must

17:08

have seemed a lifetime ago at this point. He

17:11

said he was a writer for the New York

17:13

Times and was also interested in the Mayan culture.

17:16

He turned on the charm and suggested they

17:18

collaborate on a story. He would

17:20

write it and she could take the photographs. Frank

17:24

quickly agreed to travel with him to the

17:26

ancient city of Tulum, about two hours south

17:28

of Cancun. She was

17:30

just beginning her career as a photojournalist and

17:32

was excited by the prospect that her photos

17:34

may potentially be published in the New York

17:37

Times. On the

17:39

drive to Tulum, Longo, AKA Frankl,

17:41

told Frank he was divorced and

17:43

had no children. Back

17:46

in the States, Longo was being sought by

17:48

the FBI as the prime suspect in the

17:50

murder of his family. In

17:53

early January, Canadian tourists recently

17:55

returning from Cancun saw

17:57

a news report about the wanted fugitive. They

18:00

immediately recognized the photo as a man they'd

18:02

met at a campground in Mexico. They

18:05

phoned the FBI and shared this information.

18:08

On January 13, Christian Longo was

18:10

arrested at a Tulum campsite. FBI

18:13

agents arrived in the middle of the night,

18:16

accompanied by Mexican police. On

18:18

the trip back to the States, an FBI agent

18:20

asked Longo about the murders of his wife and

18:22

children. Longo reportedly

18:24

answered, I sent them to a

18:27

better place. Christian

18:38

Longo was extradited to the US after

18:40

being convinced by the FBI that

18:43

it was better to take his chances with

18:45

the American justice system than end up in

18:47

one of Mexico's notorious prisons. Because

18:50

Mexico is a country that does not impose the

18:52

death penalty, authorities in that country

18:54

generally will not agree to extradite fugitives to

18:56

the US unless prosecutors agree not

18:58

to seek the death penalty. Whether

19:01

Longo was advised of this detail would

19:03

remain in question. On

19:06

March 10, 2003, Christian Longo's murder

19:08

trial began. He took the

19:10

stand in his own defense. He admitted

19:13

that he killed his wife and two-year-old daughter,

19:15

Madison, but he claimed he did not

19:17

murder his two other children. He

19:19

explained his actions with an implausible story.

19:22

He said that one night in late December 2001, he

19:25

sat his wife down and told her the truth

19:27

about everything. He admitted to

19:30

all his lies and deceptions over the

19:32

years and explained in detail their true

19:34

financial situation. They were broke,

19:36

he said, and were living on borrowed time. The

19:40

following night when he returned from work,

19:42

Longo said his older children were missing

19:44

and Madison, quote, seemed lifeless. His

19:47

wife was behaving erratically, he claimed, quote,

19:50

She was literally on the floor, curled up

19:52

in a ball, bouncing back and forth, hitting

19:54

her back against the wall, end quote. Longo

19:58

accused his wife of killing four-year-old Zachary

20:00

and three-year-old Sadie in quote, a fit

20:02

of rage after learning about their financial

20:05

problems. When he discovered what

20:07

she had done, he said he snapped. Quote,

20:10

I grabbed her with both hands and I

20:12

continued to squeeze. I didn't stop for

20:14

a long time. I didn't stop

20:16

until I couldn't hold her up anymore. After

20:20

he realized what he'd done, he panicked

20:22

and began stuffing the bodies of Mary

20:24

Jane and Madison into suitcases. As

20:27

he did so, he said he noticed Madison

20:29

was still breathing. Things had

20:31

gone too far, he said, and there was no

20:33

coming back for murdering his wife. In

20:35

an act of self-preservation, Longo admitted that

20:38

he ended the life of his toddler.

20:40

Quote, I put my hand on

20:42

her throat and squeezed. Longo's

20:45

defense depicted their client as a

20:47

man thoroughly defeated by his bleak

20:49

financial situation and excommunication from his

20:51

church. The defense argued

20:54

that Longo was not responsible for the murders

20:56

of Zachary and Sadie, citing their

20:58

cause of death as drowning. They

21:01

highlighted that he had strangled his wife

21:03

and younger child before disposing of their

21:05

bodies. The defense urged the

21:07

jury to question why he did not use the

21:09

same method for the other two children instead

21:12

of leaving them alive before placing them in

21:14

the water. It just didn't

21:16

make sense, they said. But

21:18

the prosecution countered this argument

21:20

stating, quote, Longo's two older

21:22

children showed signs of asphyxiation,

21:24

but autopsies could not determine

21:26

exactly how they died. Asphyxiation

21:29

could include drowning or smothering. End

21:31

quote. The

21:34

prosecution argued that Longo considered his family

21:36

a burden and murdered them to gain

21:38

freedom. They presented evidence

21:40

suggesting premeditated killings. Longo's

21:42

computer search history included topics on

21:45

identity change and methods of murder.

21:48

They also pointed out to the jury that

21:50

Longo committed more financial crimes after killing his

21:53

family. He then spent three

21:55

weeks in Mexico partying on the beaches

21:57

and even started a relationship with a

21:59

female photojournalist. journalist. The

22:02

prosecution presented a witness who remembered spotting

22:04

a red minivan near Lintz-Lau bridge on

22:07

Monday, December 17th in the early morning.

22:10

The witness informed the jury about a

22:12

conversation with a solitary male driver beside

22:14

the van. He confirmed

22:16

no presence of a woman or

22:18

others near the vehicle, contradicting the

22:20

defense's argument against Mary Jane's alleged

22:22

involvement in her children's deaths. Sally

22:26

Clark, Mary Jane's sister, testified next.

22:29

She explained to the jury that Mary Jane found out

22:32

about her husband's affair 18 months prior

22:34

to her death. The family lost

22:36

contact with Mary Jane after they fled

22:38

and her phone was deactivated. After

22:41

only a brief deliberation, the jury

22:43

convicted Christian Longo of killing his

22:45

four family members and decided on

22:47

the death sentence. Before

22:50

handing down the sentence, the judge spoke

22:52

directly to the defendant stating, quote, the

22:54

facts of this case reach a level

22:57

of perfidy beyond anything I have ever

22:59

experienced. It is impossible in my judgment

23:01

for you to either atone for these

23:03

crimes or expect absolution. He

23:05

sentenced Longo to death. Prior

23:08

to his sentencing, Longo confessed in

23:10

court that he had been self-centered

23:12

during his three-day testimony discussing untrue

23:14

negative aspects of Mary Jane. He

23:17

expressed newfound remorse stating, quote, I

23:20

take full responsibility for my actions. Mary

23:23

Jane's sister Penny stated tearfully that she

23:26

believed the death penalty was a fitting

23:28

sentence for her brother-in-law, quote, Chris

23:30

deserves his punishment and so much more

23:33

and yet it will never be enough. He

23:35

murdered and then threw away those he

23:37

should have protected and cherished, end

23:40

quote. Sally Clark added

23:42

that the only thing her sister was guilty of

23:44

was trying to be a good wife and mother.

23:47

After his verdict, Christian Longo said, I know

23:50

I will never be able to do anything that is

23:52

going to bring anybody back. I

23:55

know that you have cried, the community

23:57

has cried and wondered how anyone, much

23:59

less a dad, could do anything so

24:01

horrible. I can't answer

24:03

that. Christian

24:14

Longo's defense attorney filed an appeal of

24:16

his death sentence, stating that the FBI

24:18

had misled their client into returning to

24:20

the U.S. from Mexico, denying

24:22

him his right to have the death

24:24

penalty waived before being extradited. In

24:27

2006, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld

24:29

Longo's death sentence. In

24:32

2011, Longo admitted unequivocally that he'd

24:35

killed his wife and four children.

24:38

In an attempt to make amends for the horrific

24:40

crime he'd committed, he told the

24:42

New York Times that he was working to

24:44

overturn a law that forbade inmates from donating

24:46

their organs. In

24:48

that same year, the state of Oregon

24:50

issued a moratorium on executions. Longo

24:53

and 17 other death row inmates,

24:56

including serial killer Dayton Leroy Rogers,

24:58

were moved off of death row

25:00

and placed in the general prison

25:02

population. Longo's sentence was

25:04

committed to life in prison without the

25:06

possibility of parole. Oregon's

25:09

governor, Kate Brown, decided to abolish the

25:11

death penalty because she

25:13

opposed it, stating that she

25:16

found capital punishment, quote, immoral,

25:18

inequitable, and irreversible, end quote.

25:22

Michael Finkel, the journalist Christian Longo had

25:24

impersonated while on the run in Mexico,

25:26

reached out to him while he was awaiting trial. The

25:30

writer and the prisoner began a correspondence,

25:32

and Finkel traveled to meet him. They

25:35

struck up an odd friendship that

25:37

was later chronicled in a book

25:39

written by Finkel titled True Story,

25:41

Murder, Memoir, and Mayocopa. The

25:43

book was made into a feature film in 2015, starring

25:47

James Franco as Christian Longo and

25:49

Jonah Hill as Michael Finkel. That

25:54

will do it for this episode of Once

25:56

Upon a Crime, and we'll conclude our series

25:58

Deadly Dads. You can also watch

26:01

accompanying videos of our episodes on YouTube.

26:03

Look for Once Upon a Crime podcast

26:05

on YouTube and click Subscribe. There's

26:07

a link in the show notes. We'll

26:10

be off for a brief summer break for the next two

26:12

weeks. New episodes of Once Upon

26:14

a Crime will return on July 15th. You

26:17

can get extra episodes of Once Upon a Crime

26:19

by becoming a Patreon member. As

26:21

a member, starting at just $5 per month, you

26:24

can listen to every episode of Once Upon a

26:26

Crime ad-free and hear them before anyone

26:28

else. You'll also get other

26:30

perks like goodies sent to you in

26:32

the mail, bonus episodes, bonus videos, and

26:34

sneak peeks behind the scenes of the

26:36

podcast. You'll also earn my

26:39

undying gratitude. Go to

26:41

patreon.com/Once Upon a Crime to find

26:43

out more and join. Or

26:45

click on the link in the show notes. Once

26:48

Upon a Crime is written and produced by

26:50

me, Esther Sanchez-Lebot. My executive

26:52

producer is Lorena Garcia, and

26:54

research for our episodes is provided by Emma

26:57

Bataglia. Until next time, be good

26:59

to one another. Douglas

27:28

is one of many who found a new

27:30

life through Seattle's Union Gospel Mission. I was

27:32

living on the streets when I heard this

27:35

guy talk about how he got clean and

27:37

sober at the mission. So I decided to

27:39

give it a try. I could feel something

27:42

working inside of me, and I knew I

27:44

was getting better. Today, my number one goal

27:46

is to stay clean and sober. And

27:49

grace will lead me

27:51

home. To hear more,

27:54

volunteer or donate, visit

27:56

ugm.org.