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The Maniwauk Caves is intended for mature audiences.

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It contained strong language and depictions

0:05

of bullying, violence, and sexual assault

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that some may find disturbing. Listener discretion

0:09

is advised. Also, this is an extremely

0:11

immersive experience and headphones are recommended.

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You're listening to The Maniwak Caves, a

0:19

production of iHeartRadio, Blumhouse

0:22

Television, and Psycopia Pictures.

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I drove to Nashville with tears in my eyes.

0:35

I knew my father loved me.

0:38

I didn't know he was the love of a monster.

0:50

Come on, come on, pick up, pick up, pick

0:52

up, pick up, pick up.

0:53

Come ontill Campbell,

0:55

j.

0:57

Julian, where are

0:59

you?

1:00

On my way to meet LeBlanc and ask her.

1:02

Where are you?

1:06

I have something something new?

1:09

What do you mean, I

1:12

have some new evidence? I know who did it?

1:15

Okay, Chilien, Just slow down.

1:17

Now what are you saying?

1:22

I know who killed them?

1:40

The beasts of dough to

1:45

the tree.

1:51

To leave.

1:57

Ye,

1:59

the dread saw.

2:01

You know we got your bunny Tyler here too, right.

2:05

Yeah, he's right across the all and

2:07

he's already told us the truth. So

2:10

what's it gonna be?

2:11

Your story or his?

2:13

Now?

2:14

Talk James Venture

2:16

wanted to take them out to the caves, didn't.

2:19

He

2:24

for me?

2:25

Maybe

2:33

so.

2:59

Maybe those dark evil games,

3:02

even God go near their.

3:03

Small desperate voices going out.

3:06

But I believe someone else did hear, and

3:10

I imagine, but he

3:12

made miss O'Leary an offer.

3:19

This is the same scarf

3:22

here in my hand, I believe, And

3:25

you see here why it's been

3:27

stretched and torn.

3:27

Missus solas, I have a little hunched

3:30

matches the fabric found at the crime scene,

3:33

red won fibers, just

3:35

like the ones found under Thomas Hedley's

3:37

fingernails, sturt

3:40

around.

3:42

Face the scene. You

3:46

gonna shoot me?

3:46

Paul Finch

4:07

was going to be executed in a matter of

4:09

hours for a crime he didn't commit.

4:15

I drove to Nashville, and

4:18

as I looked at the red scarf on the passenger

4:20

seat, it triggered something

4:24

just lodged a memory.

4:34

Dad.

4:40

It was a memory of the day my father broke.

4:45

The fog retreated in the memory of it slammed

4:47

across my mind hard and pointed

4:50

a perfect reprisal of his backswing.

4:55

This is your fault.

5:00

I remember.

5:01

The impact felt

5:03

wet when he did, it smelled

5:06

metallic, and when I touched the back of my lips.

5:08

My fingers came back red.

5:11

Dead, edible,

5:15

Have I bleeding?

5:17

That's not your blood, boy,

5:23

I'm your father. Use my

5:25

job to protect you. This

5:28

is all because of that boy. If

5:30

he hadn't shown up right after your

5:32

mother died. Now

5:37

I have nose how any boys, was unfortunate

5:40

mistake, horrible,

5:43

horrible accident.

5:45

Sure, sure.

5:50

Good.

5:51

I should have taught you better, but

5:55

I was. I was too soft and

5:58

let your mother stop me. But

6:00

it was a mistake. If

6:04

someone hits you, you hit

6:06

that harder. If

6:09

only you would have told me, If

6:12

only, if only I knew

6:14

they were beaten, my

6:17

boy, I

6:19

could.

6:19

Have stopped it.

6:21

I would have.

6:23

I would have pulled Bobby Hadley out of his

6:25

fucking yukon, get the living shut out

6:27

of him in.

6:27

Front of his tool rad face, little fucking cat.

6:31

Damn.

6:33

But I didn't. They

6:36

want to take you away from me?

6:37

That just you just sit down.

6:47

What am I supposed to do to you? Can

6:55

listen to me. You

6:59

were gonna step up, step

7:02

right up on that stand. You hear me, and

7:05

you're gonna tell them exactly what

7:08

they want to hear.

7:10

What you tell.

7:12

Them under oath James

7:15

Fincher killed Deacon and Thomas Hadeny.

7:19

What what do you say now?

7:21

You saw it happen to James Fincher

7:24

killed Deacon and Thomas Adney, But

7:27

he didn't

7:28

didn't What did I just say to you?

7:32

They wanted to be James

7:35

Fincher, hold down Hooper's

7:38

begging for it, and you

7:42

you are gonna give them what they want. They'll

7:47

take you away. They'll

7:49

take you away from me. So better

7:52

him than you

7:55

say away what

8:00

they want to Men't

8:03

do that

8:06

for me, for your mother?

8:12

Please, I'm

8:15

begging you. Don't

8:20

hear what I just said?

8:23

Do you hear me?

8:28

This memory had been so perfectly,

8:31

so neatly hidden, my

8:35

father stepping into the doorway from my room,

8:38

hesitating, reaching down

8:40

and picking it up. The red

8:42

scarf, the

8:44

same red scarf, now tattered and

8:46

kate to a dirt, lying here in the

8:48

passenger seat beside me, and

8:51

my father held the scarf to his nose. Still

8:57

smells Lacker, he said,

9:00

it still smells like your mother.

9:05

And as I remember this, this image

9:07

of my father silhouetted in the doorway,

9:10

wearing coveralls and cradle in the red

9:12

scarf, delicate lane is cracked in galowstands.

9:15

I knew that he's

9:17

never left, not completely.

9:20

No, he's still here.

9:23

Or what remains of his tortured soul, A

9:27

gray man who lurks in

9:29

the fog of Manawa County, or

9:32

at least in

9:35

the long shadows of my mind, watching

9:40

trying to make contact, trying

9:43

to tell me something.

9:57

Of your behind now more

10:00

until the out of school.

10:02

Good morning, LeBlanc.

10:03

I need to see him.

10:04

He's expecting me.

10:08

Yeah, that looks let's let's not over there, mister

10:10

LeBlanc.

10:11

I uh, Jesus,

10:13

Julian, where are you covered

10:15

in dirt? Mister LeBlanc?

10:17

And Julian, I was just explaining

10:19

to Ed that you may have found something.

10:21

The hell is that a scarf?

10:23

That's a scarf.

10:25

Just listen, Alsole,

10:33

you were under arrest. You

10:36

have the right to remain, Okay,

10:45

I'm sorry. That's my dad.

10:48

I'm not like you. That's my father.

10:54

I won't do anything I have to do.

10:56

My boh,

10:59

my god,

11:02

to take the Smith's car was found in the gorge

11:04

down below Orlon.

11:08

It wasn't Fincher, it

11:13

was my father.

11:14

Julian, I think you should.

11:16

Have sitt out.

11:17

I'll get some water.

11:21

It was my father.

11:26

My God.

11:27

I don't need to get these to the lab.

11:30

We don't have much time.

11:51

LeBlanc and Joe Campbell pairing materials

11:53

for the governor's review. So I left LeBlanc's office

11:55

and headed for the River Been Maximum Security

11:58

Prison.

11:58

It's only thirteen.

11:59

Miles from the Blunk's office. I

12:02

went to tell Finch everything

12:05

that I'd found new evidence that could save his

12:07

life, to tell him that I'd uncovered the truth

12:10

once and for all about who murdered Thomas

12:12

and Deacon Hadley.

12:15

Julian hey man, listen,

12:18

thank you for putting me on the list today of old

12:20

days, Finch.

12:22

I am here to tell you something, something

12:24

big.

12:28

Come on, man, No, no, no,

12:30

I'm not kiddings, Sonny

12:32

or as a folk.

12:35

You're my last visitor after

12:37

this. They're moving me where.

12:42

The death house, and

12:45

I'm looking forward to the ride over because it will be

12:47

the last time that I get to see the light of day.

12:49

So I

12:52

was hoping for some shine.

12:55

It won't be your last. There is

12:57

still time for a petition for a

13:00

of execution, and we.

13:01

Have enough evidence now we

13:04

can stop this.

13:05

Oh no, okay,

13:08

listen.

13:08

I went to my old house and what

13:12

I found.

13:12

I mean, I'm still trying to understand it.

13:14

Finish backed red scarf.

13:17

It found it under the old oak tree, right.

13:22

You talked to Dina. No, how

13:26

do you know about that.

13:29

Shit?

13:30

Man?

13:32

You had that fucking scarf on the day I met

13:34

you.

13:36

I don't remember. You really

13:38

don't remember the red scarf.

13:41

My mom made it from my father.

13:43

Not exactly.

13:47

I guess that's part of the deal.

13:53

What deal?

13:53

You're not making any fucking sense.

13:55

Finished deal.

13:57

It's a deal.

14:00

As old as mankind,

14:03

remember, miss o'larry Finch.

14:06

I don't want to talk about that mail deal

14:08

for a.

14:08

Daughter, please Finch.

14:09

We don't have much time.

14:11

And all their bloodline to protect

14:13

her family treat from extinction.

14:16

She sold it.

14:18

She sold it to that devil in the caves, and.

14:21

Every poor soul

14:25

descended from that line as

14:28

forever more old a debt

14:31

to him.

14:34

I don't understand.

14:37

Yeah, well you

14:39

will. You

14:41

will remember.

14:44

That scarf too.

14:51

The first time I saw you in the red scarf, I

14:54

thought you was a poser.

14:59

I want to or some shit. BETI.

15:04

I used to laugh and pick on you for it, because

15:06

I used to wear that red ass thing every day,

15:09

even that hot ass summer.

15:16

You were nice to me. No

15:21

one else would even talk

15:25

to me, hated

15:28

me before I even said a word, But

15:33

you were nice to me. Why

15:37

were you.

15:38

Nice to me?

15:43

All of a sudden, all

15:45

of my fear and confusion melted away

15:48

urgency too. The whole

15:50

world seemed to stop, and the

15:52

past and the future stretched endlessly

15:54

outward.

15:55

From this point.

15:58

For the first time since we were just.

16:01

I dropped into the present moment with them,

16:05

just the two of us, momentarily

16:07

protected from the inevitability of time

16:10

itself.

16:13

Why were you nice to me?

16:17

Because you were alone, you

16:20

were suffering.

16:23

I know what that feels like, when

16:26

the whole world is cruel to you and

16:28

you feel like something is wrong with you, and

16:32

like you don't belong, like

16:35

you are unlovable.

16:39

You had someone, though, someone

16:42

that loved you.

16:45

More than anything. Strange.

16:50

I forgot all about that scarf, but it's

16:53

coming back to me now.

16:58

My mother, that's right. I

17:01

thought she made it from my father, but no, she

17:03

made it.

17:03

For you,

17:06

maybe while she was dying.

17:09

You know, it's interesting how an

17:11

object can travel

17:13

through time and come

17:16

to represent something completely

17:18

different than it once did.

17:20

For you.

17:21

That scarf was a gift from your.

17:22

Mother, Laura.

17:28

Her hands almost

17:31

skeletal, they shook

17:33

so bad from the little mind.

17:36

She could barely hold the knitting legal. She

17:42

couldn't grab through the back of the stitch with her

17:44

forefinger and her thumb, so she used her teeth.

17:49

That's why it smelled like her lip bomb, the

17:52

only thing she had to keep her lips from cracking.

17:57

She was so frail there at

18:01

the end, it's.

18:02

Gone pale,

18:06

all skin and bones and

18:09

ball, but

18:12

her lips they were

18:14

still shining, and

18:17

she still smiled wide. She

18:25

finished the scarf though something

18:29

I remember it bout. She did something

18:31

to keep her boy warm after she was gone,

18:33

to shelter you against all the cold and

18:35

all the darkness in the world, and

18:38

most of all, to

18:41

shelter you from the devil from

18:46

him.

18:53

She was tough, though your mother. When

18:57

the devil came to collect his debt from Laura Solace,

19:02

she refused, you know, but

19:04

that she refused. She

19:10

refused, and

19:14

the devil took her instead. But

19:17

he didn't take her right away. He took his time.

19:20

He made her suffer. And

19:24

now that

19:26

same red scarf has traveled through time.

19:30

Now it's something else.

19:32

Now it's evidence,

19:38

torn pieces of it were found near the bodies

19:40

by the cave, wool fibers

19:43

underneath Thomas's fingernails, but

19:47

the prosecution could never find the article

19:49

of clothing. Those fibers belonged to him.

19:54

They never knew about the red scarf. Poor

19:57

Thomas Hadley. His legs

19:59

didn't work anymore because of the fall, but

20:03

he clawed with all the strength he had left in him,

20:06

his fingers grasping

20:08

desperately, blindly catching

20:11

hold of that scarf and

20:13

hanging on for dear life. Anyway,

20:19

what once represented everlasting love and

20:21

warmth and protection is now just a emblem

20:25

of death.

20:28

But right before she died, your mother, right

20:32

before she closed her eyes for good, do

20:37

you remember what she told you?

20:40

No, tell me, Please

20:42

tell me.

20:42

I don't remember.

20:44

Forgive him,

20:47

forgive Your father said

20:51

he's got the darkness inside

20:53

him too, said

20:57

you all did though, said it

20:59

was in your blo uh, the

21:01

family curse. But for

21:05

kif him,

21:07

because.

21:09

He loves you.

21:13

It was him, Finch, it

21:17

was him, It

21:19

was him.

21:20

Your dad.

21:23

Yeah, yes, you

21:26

do that, didn't you?

21:29

You've known all along well.

21:31

I thought you might say that. I

21:34

dreamed you thinking it.

21:37

It's true, isn't it?

21:38

I've said too much already.

21:41

Besides, that's for you to figure out, Julian, And

21:44

when you do, you'll

21:47

you'll know what you need to do, what.

21:51

Exactly do

21:53

what I need to do?

21:55

Remove yourself, remove

22:02

yourself from the situations.

22:07

If you know the truth. And why have

22:09

you never said it?

22:11

Why are you waiting in this fucking cell until

22:14

they put you to death?

22:16

Why keep it a secret?

22:19

Why give them what they want?

22:21

Why do you want to be their monster

22:23

when you know that you're not.

22:27

You're not a monster, Finch, You're my

22:29

friend.

22:41

And it it's taking me a long time to forgive you

22:44

after you betrayed me. What

22:47

did you I don't have a choice.

22:51

Those feelings of betrayal are never gonna help.

22:55

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. It

22:57

is the most powerful thing. I

23:04

can almost see her now, your mama sitting on her

23:06

death bed, devil

23:09

binder. You

23:13

had to lean into her speak because she

23:16

was too weak to sit up herself. And

23:20

she placed that red scarf around your neck, and

23:22

she looked you in the eye. Do

23:27

you remember what she said? Forgive

23:40

yourself too?

23:55

Mm

24:00

hmm, Dina,

24:09

Dina.

24:12

Yeah, I'm here.

24:15

What is it?

24:18

I don't know exactly. It's a package. Just

24:21

got home and found it here my front steps. It's

24:24

for you mey're

24:28

Julian for you?

24:29

Wait, who's

24:32

it from?

24:34

That's from Dollar.

24:39

I'll light over right now.

25:17

Hey, Tina, Julian,

25:21

you look really nice.

25:24

I do.

25:25

Yeah.

25:26

I actually haven't wont to dress, probably since

25:28

I was a little girl. It's

25:31

Grandma's half a century old or something,

25:33

got a few mouth holes. But I

25:36

thought i'd wear it for the observance. I

25:39

mean, what are

25:41

you supposed to wear to your brother's execution? I

25:47

do not know when it's the last time you'll ever see

25:49

me again, so I figured I should wear something

25:51

pretty,

25:54

just my abode dress.

25:56

There's still a chance.

25:58

Have you heard from.

25:59

Jill or talk to her twenty minutes ago?

26:01

The governor has the letter.

26:03

Has he said he wouldn't consider the request.

26:05

Hasn't said anything, hasn't

26:07

responded at all.

26:08

There's still time.

26:10

Six hours, thirty five minutes

26:13

either way, I gotta be prepared, don't. I'm

26:16

gonna no you ate religious hub,

26:18

but he please

26:21

say a little prayer for James.

26:23

Yes, come

26:27

in.

26:31

Hello, Wait,

26:35

what are

26:39

you for real? Are

26:42

you really telling me this right now?

26:48

Oh? My god? Oh, my god. What

26:51

okay, okay, what do I do right

26:54

now?

26:54

What?

26:55

What channel?

26:56

Okay?

26:56

Thanks Jill? What there's

27:00

that been in? They're gonna delay the

27:02

execution? Is there

27:04

not the TV channel? Nun?

27:11

As Christians, we can't let a man be put

27:13

to death when new evidence has come to light they

27:15

could prove his innocence.

27:18

Next question, the appeals

27:20

have all been denied?

27:21

Is there a.

27:22

President for all appeals

27:24

have been tonight? Those appeals and

27:26

court decisions were made before this new

27:28

evidence, and we need

27:30

to open this thing back up and go.

27:31

Okay, I

27:34

guess I could take this dress off.

27:37

Yes, ma'am, it's

27:39

a nice dress.

27:40

Though.

27:41

You look.

27:46

Really nice, he thinks,

27:48

So I don

27:54

you like.

27:57

Sult me just

27:59

for.

28:03

I held her for a long time, standing

28:06

in her living room.

28:08

Outside, the wind began to blow and the rain

28:11

began to fall.

28:13

A storm was coming.

28:17

She gave me the package from Tyler, my

28:20

name with her address. He'd overnighted

28:22

it, a small

28:24

white box with only his initials and no return

28:27

address. Finch

28:32

wasn't a free man, but we'd want a huge battle

28:35

gotten the noose off from around his neck at

28:37

least for a little while.

28:39

Even if the war was still raging.

28:42

It felt like a victory.

29:04

I drove back to the cemetery. There

29:07

was something I needed to do. I

29:12

should have done it when I first arrived in Pottsville.

29:16

I needed to pay a visit to someone.

29:20

Mom and Dad are buried at the top of a rolling

29:23

hill in the middle a plot

29:25

reserved for our family. I

29:28

took Tyler's package and walked up. The

29:30

plot was overgrown with grass and weeds.

29:33

Laura Solace.

29:34

The letters engrave that my mother's stone

29:36

were worn away from the harsh winters. I

29:39

sat down beside Mom's gravestone, leaned

29:42

my back against it. I

29:44

could look out and see all of Pottsville. From

29:46

here, the white steep over the first Baptist

29:49

Church stretching up above the small

29:51

town, clutching its crucifix

29:53

high in the sky.

29:54

Toward off the devils and the demons.

29:57

Off in the distance.

29:58

I could see where the swirling gray light in storm

30:00

had settled into the valley, where the caves

30:03

were like a vortex

30:06

lighting in arcs flashing across the sky.

30:13

Okay.

30:19

I peeled open the package from Tyler. The

30:22

first thing I found was a handwritten note,

30:27

Julian, Julian, I've had.

30:29

This thing hidden away all these years.

30:31

But I been here in my house because

30:34

they're going to search the place after they find me. But

30:37

it ain't for them.

30:39

Almost burned it. But it's

30:41

not really Minded's or either. It's

30:45

yours. It's your truth,

30:48

and it's your decision about what to do with it.

30:50

No one else.

30:52

This has all the answers you were looking for.

30:57

Good luck, body tie.

31:05

It was a video camera, Sony

31:08

handycam Mini DV. I felt the

31:10

weight of it in my hands, less

31:12

than a couple pounds, but I could barely lift it.

31:15

My mind was instantly flooded with memories

31:18

that summer after we met Finch, all the videos

31:20

we made. It

31:24

was the video camera, the

31:27

one Tyler used to record everything, everything

31:31

that happened in the caves, the night that the Hadley

31:33

brothers died.

31:37

Hey, Jill, congrats,

31:40

it looks like we could.

31:41

All take a breath.

31:43

I mean, not the doubt

31:45

come I expected.

31:49

Well.

31:50

I was trying to hold on to hope for Finch, but it felt

31:52

like a losing battle, so I didn't expect something

31:54

to actually go right for a change.

31:57

I guess the universe is full of surprise.

32:00

It's uh huh.

32:03

Well, I have.

32:04

Another one for you.

32:06

Oh yeah, what's that?

32:09

If you are driving? I need you to pull

32:11

over before I can tell you.

32:16

I'm not driving.

32:20

James Bencher just confessed to killing

32:23

Dincon and Thomas Hadley.

32:39

M uh

32:44

wait.

32:50

Sleeve so so.

32:56

Off, so as I.

32:57

Go, Man,

33:00

you're gonaterry

33:02

your house down O

33:05

the first Thomas Darling

33:08

Corey she

33:11

was sing Banks

33:13

service Fanow

33:17

for the four rounder

33:19

bally E

33:22

Bangel.

33:24

On The

33:29

Manwalk Caves stars Jonathan Tucker as

33:31

Julian Sawace, Eddie Gaftheggy

33:33

as James Fincher, Clark

33:36

Peters as Detective Solomon Smith, Nick

33:38

Cercy as Sheriff Kirby Hooper, Justin

33:41

Welborn as Tyler Wilson, Jill

33:43

Jane Clements as Jill Campbell, Brad

33:46

Carter as Dooley Tappert, Scott

33:48

Poethrus as Reverend Perkins, Samantha

33:50

Ashley as Dina Fincher, Justin

33:53

Matthew Smith as Paul Sawace, Tara

33:56

Oaks as Laura Sallace, Jonathan

33:58

Horn as Deacon Hadley, Alden

34:00

Karanovitch as Thomas Hadley, Mike

34:03

w Anderson as Griff Washington,

34:06

Body, Walterroff as Jimmy Fincher, Brian

34:09

McClure as Ian Speinks, Larry

34:11

Clark as Bobby Hadley, Paydon

34:13

Fallis as ed LeBlanc, Vic

34:15

Palisis as William Fowler, Nick Takosky

34:17

as Richard Rydell, and Aileen

34:20

Loy as The Darkness, with

34:22

additional performances by Clint McGowan,

34:25

Dina Dill, Edward Howard,

34:27

Henry Foster Brown, Jamie

34:29

Joseph, Juan Monsalvez, Christopher

34:32

Curry, Bailey Hineman, David

34:34

Mitchell, and Bernard Sataro

34:37

Clark. Created by Connell

34:39

Byrne and Dan Bush. Written by

34:41

Dan Bush, Zoe Cooper and

34:43

Nicholas Dakosky, featuring our theme

34:45

song Killer Inside, written

34:47

produced and performed by Lear Lynn.

34:50

Our executive producers are Matt Frederick,

34:53

Alexander Williams, Michael Monty,

34:55

and Courtney de Frees. Our

34:57

executive producers at Blumhouse Television

34:59

are g Jremy Gold, Chris Dickey, and

35:02

Noah Feinberg. Produced by

35:04

Dan Bush, music

35:06

by Ben Lovett. Additional music by

35:08

Alexander Rodriguez. This episode

35:10

features the song darln Corey, performed

35:12

by Helena Rose, Edited by Dan

35:15

Bush Chris Childs, Stephen Perez

35:17

and David Chen. Sound design

35:20

by Benjamin Balcom, Additional

35:22

sound design by Alexander Rodriguez. Dialogue

35:24

editing and sound mixing by Juan Campos. Recorded

35:27

at Studio Awesome in Los Angeles, sound

35:30

Byte Studio in Atlanta, and Echo Mountain

35:33

in Ashville. Casting by Sunday

35:35

Bowling, Kennedy and Meg Mormon. Our dialect

35:37

coach is Linda the Sesti, Assistant

35:39

director, Michael Monty, second

35:41

assistant director, script supervisor

35:43

and production coordinator Sarah Klein.

35:46

Supervising producer Josh Thain. Special

35:49

thanks to Mary Ellen and Jason Davis, Jonathan

35:52

Dieter, and Joe Rickman. The

35:54

Manowak Caves is a production of iHeart Radio,

35:57

Blumhouse Television and Psycopia

35:59

Pictures.