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#video #The R.o.o.k.i.e - Season 8 - Episode 15: Survive the Streets
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00:177 matter 15, we're code 6 at the 9-1-1 call location.
00:21Any further contact from the distressed individual?
00:23Negative. Do you want me to start additional units?
00:25Uh, no. Give us a minute to scope it out first.
00:28You ready?
00:28Do I have a choice?
00:30That's a spirit.
00:39LAPD, we've received a distress call from this location. We are making entry.
00:47Oh, do you feel that?
00:54Feel what?
00:55Something evil's in here.
00:57Well, sure smells like it.
01:07I can't die.
01:09Inside of me, it won't let me die.
01:13It won't let me die.
01:15Police, show yourself.
01:20It can't die.
01:21It's inside of me. It won't let me die.
01:23Don't touch that, all right? Just call this in. Call it in.
01:26I need an RA to my location for a stabbing victim.
01:29So I usually sit right next to camera to keep the eyeline tight?
01:31Then I'll just sit on the other side.
01:33No, because then you'll split his look.
01:35Oh, hey, hi. Thanks again for sitting down with me.
01:38Us?
01:39What? Oh, right. Us. Why are you filming?
01:43Oh, I just wanted to document the new partnership. Abigail was very excited.
01:46It's not a partnership.
01:47It's totally a partnership. The judge was very clear.
01:49The judge?
01:50My name is Abigail Tierney. I'm currently trapped inside a secret lab at Westview Psychiatric.
01:55All attempts at escape have proven fruitless.
01:57I may have inadvertently used some of Abigail's footage in my last documentary without gaining the proper permissions.
02:03Translation, he stole my intellectual property, I sued, and the judge gave him a choice.
02:08Pay me 200,000 damages or give me equal partnership in his next project.
02:12He never said equal, but you know what? Never mind.
02:15Let's focus on the story that we're here to tell.
02:17Seat.
02:20Perhaps the most shocking case of murder and mayhem we've ever seen.
02:24Would you say that's a fair assessment?
02:27Um...
02:27No, no, no. Stay back. Stay back. Stay back. You don't understand.
02:29Okay, relax here, okay? We're trying to help you. Who stabbed you?
02:32I stabbed myself. It's inside of me. I've tried everything else. I can't kill it. I can't die. See?
02:41No, don't pull that. Don't pull it out.
02:43Oh, God.
02:46Oh, he died instantly. I mean, the wound was fatal. You can't stab yourself in the heart and survive.
02:52But the way the knife was lodged, he wasn't bleeding. Once he pulled it out...
02:59It was Blood Fountain City.
03:01Not exactly, but...
03:02As shocking as that was, it was far from the most shocking thing you found.
03:05Oh, we should get him to say that to set up the opening credits?
03:08That's not... We don't put words in people's mouths. It's a documentary.
03:14Yeah, it was, uh...
03:16Straight up crazy.
03:18You don't think...
03:19There's a body in there?
03:21Cool!
03:22I may have finally found it.
03:24Ah!
03:26Please don't kill us. We will join your cult.
03:28Yeah.
03:29Oh, God.
03:30You arrived on scene as the sergeant's supervisor?
03:33Yes. I got there before the ambulance.
03:36Not that there was any aid they could have rendered.
03:38Is there a reason you didn't want us to interview you with Tim?
03:41What?
03:42No.
03:43We're just...
03:44I'm just shaking it up.
03:45Let's...
03:45Let's stay focused.
03:47Um, were you the first to recognize the victim?
03:49Uh, sort of.
03:51Um, I thought I knew his face, but it wasn't until we ran his prints that we got a name.
03:55Rich Riley was retired LAPD.
03:58He had been with the department for 30 years and was a little bit of a legend.
04:01Mostly because he made a series of training videos from the mid-90s till his retirement in 2015.
04:08Which, by modern standards, are a little cringe.
04:12Hey, everybody. Rich Rowley here with another installment of...
04:18Now, today, we're gonna be talking about proper cuffing technique.
04:23Excuse me, officer?
04:24I hurt my shoulder at the gym.
04:27Would you mind cuffing me in front?
04:30Pretty lady like you.
04:33What's the worst that could happen?
04:38You're welcome.
04:42Rich was a trip.
04:44The life of the party, at least early in his career.
04:47Then, as the years went on, he became a little, uh, crazy.
04:52Crazy how?
04:53He was deep into conspiracy theories.
04:56He, uh, had a real thing for cults and cabals.
04:59To be fair, Los Angeles does have a pretty dark history.
05:02But Rich took it to the next level.
05:04And his training videos got more and more intense because of it.
05:07We finally got around to updating the videos this last year,
05:09but that caused quite a controversy with some of the older officers.
05:13They said we were being insensitive.
05:16Why would updating training videos be insensitive?
05:18Even three years on, a lot of his friends were still mourning his death.
05:22And saw the videos as a way to keep his memory alive.
05:25I'm sorry. I thought Rich died six months ago.
05:27Yeah.
05:28He did.
05:29I'm talking about the first time.
05:31Divers are searching for any signs of retired Los Angeles police officer Richard Rowley
05:36after a sailing trip gone wrong.
05:39Co-scar responded to a distress call this morning from Raleigh's wife,
05:43who says the 55-year-old fell overboard after the sailboat he was captaining was struck by a rogue wave.
05:50Anytime someone disappears from a boating trip, it automatically sets off alarm bells.
05:54Why is that?
05:55It's just an ideal place to cover up a crime, throw a body overboard, weigh it down.
05:59The likelihood of us recovering it before it becomes fish food is low.
06:03And the circumstances were suspicious.
06:05By all accounts, Rich was a skilled sailor.
06:08It was a calm day, and the only witness to his demise was Darla Phillips,
06:12his on-again, off-again girlfriend who he married five days prior.
06:16So you suspected foul play?
06:18No!
06:20Not necessarily, but we couldn't rule it out.
06:22Why wasn't Rich wearing a light vest?
06:24He never did.
06:25He was a strong swimmer.
06:27He must have hit his head when he fell.
06:30Why didn't you jump in after him?
06:31I'm scared of dark water.
06:33Dark water?
06:34Water you can't see the bottom of.
06:37Just blackness.
06:38With God knows what lurking below.
06:41You stand to inherit Rich's entire police pension.
06:43That's quite a bit of money.
06:45How dare you?
06:46I just watched the love of my life die in front of me.
06:51We don't know that for sure yet.
06:53They haven't found his body.
06:55Unless you know more that you're not telling us.
07:00Go to hell!
07:01This interview is over.
07:02Did it ever occur to you that Rich might still be alive?
07:05As we said, we couldn't rule anything out,
07:07but there was no evidence that he'd faked his death.
07:10Until he turned up dead again.
07:12Needless to say, we had a few more questions for Darla.
07:15Helping someone fake their death isn't a crime.
07:17I checked.
07:18You're right, but profiting off of that death,
07:20collecting Rich's pension and his life insurance,
07:23that's fraud.
07:24Not to mention the resources that were wasted
07:26trying to recover his body.
07:28He could be facing some serious charges.
07:30So, tell us.
07:32Why did Rich want to fake his death?
07:36After Rich retired, he kind of fell apart.
07:40His drinking got worse, and his paranoia...
07:44He was always a little intense, but it started to get scary.
07:48He covered all his windows with newspapers.
07:52He started writing down the license plates of passing cars.
07:56What was he so afraid of?
07:57He said there was this group.
08:00Like a secret society of dangerous and powerful people.
08:05He'd been onto them for years.
08:07He said that they found out about him.
08:09That he was in danger because of it.
08:11It was too much for me.
08:13So I broke up with him.
08:15And then a year later, he showed up on my doorstep
08:18and asked me to help him fake his death
08:22in return for his pension.
08:24I needed the money.
08:25So, we got married, and we did the deed.
08:28And I never saw him again.
08:30So you have no idea why there was a coffin in his garage?
08:34We'll probably hold this piece of the puzzle
08:36until the end of the first act.
08:37You know, hit the audience with a twist
08:39when it's dramatically expedient.
08:41Yeah, seems to manipulate him.
08:42All good storytelling is, so...
08:43Just tell us about finding the coffin.
08:46Uh, so, once I arrived and we secured the crime scene,
08:50we cleared the rest of the house,
08:51and then we moved on to the garage.
08:57Oh.
08:58Oh.
08:59You don't think there's...
09:00That there's a body in there?
09:01I absolutely do.
09:03Okay, are we gonna open it?
09:04Because I don't want to open it.
09:07What do you think?
09:08I mean, it's clearly been dug up.
09:11Given the state of the coffin,
09:12it's clearly been underground for a few years.
09:14If there is a body in there,
09:16it's likely long dead.
09:18Unless...
09:18Unless what?
09:20Unless he put a fresh victim in an old coffin.
09:26Oh, okay.
09:27Got it.
09:28Yeah.
09:28Oh.
09:30Oh, God.
09:36The body belonged to a 54-year-old truck driver
09:39named Marcus Ford,
09:41who was the victim of an unsolved homicide back in 2020.
09:45How was he killed?
09:46Uh, he was stabbed in the heart.
09:48Just like Rich.
09:50Wait.
09:51Rich murdered Marcus Ford.
09:53Did I just solve the case?
09:54Uh, no.
09:55We were able to alibi Rich out.
09:58He was hospitalized with double pneumonia
10:00the day Marcus died.
10:01Medical records say he was so weak
10:02that, uh, he could barely get out of bed.
10:04Or that's what he wanted you to think.
10:06Moving on.
10:07Digging up a body is no easy task.
10:09Why would Rich go to all that trouble?
10:10Initially, we thought it was simply
10:13the demented act of a clearly disturbed mind.
10:16And in some ways, it was.
10:18But then we found the tattoo.
10:20At first, it was a little bit difficult
10:22to make out exactly what it was.
10:24A half a decade of decomp does a number on the skin.
10:28But when we look back at the case file,
10:30there was a photo of it taken
10:31during the original autopsy.
10:33That's actually kind of sick.
10:34I wonder if there's a way to track down the artist.
10:36I've been meaning to start the sleeve on my other arm.
10:39Like, uh.
10:39To my collaborator's point,
10:41lots of people have tattoos.
10:43What was it about this one that jumped out at you?
10:45Well, something about it was familiar to both of us,
10:48but we couldn't place it.
10:50So we started asking around,
10:52and the answer couldn't come from a more unlikely place.
10:56I watched the Rich Rally training videos
10:59more than any person alive,
11:01so I recognized the symbol immediately.
11:05Sometimes citizens panic
11:06when they can't get in touch with their friends or loved ones.
11:09That is why we always advise the public
11:11to wait 24 hours before reporting someone missing.
11:15While most missing person reports
11:17stem from a lapse in communication,
11:18every once in a while,
11:20you'll encounter a true, workable case.
11:23Officer, help!
11:24My sister is missing!
11:26When's the last time you saw her?
11:27Last night at the bar.
11:28Her boyfriend said she never made it home.
11:31You always want to take a report like this one?
11:34Seriously.
11:35So Rich hid the same symbol in his training videos
11:38that was tattooed on the body of a murder victim.
11:40What did you think that meant?
11:42Uh, I don't know.
11:44I can't believe I'm saying this,
11:45but Smitty was right.
11:47In lesson 187,
11:48the tattoo symbol was hidden in the background.
11:50Although,
11:51the instructions to wait 24 hours
11:53before reporting a missing person
11:54are wildly outdated.
11:56Anyways,
11:57it got me thinking.
11:58What if Rich put messages in other videos?
12:01What kind of messages?
12:03I'm not totally sure yet.
12:04I binged every single Rich training video
12:06I could get my hands on.
12:07Yeah, it's been a fun few nights.
12:08And I did find a few other possible leads,
12:11but there's a problem.
12:12The department's archive is incomplete,
12:13and without all of the videos,
12:14I can't be sure that I'm not missing
12:16a vital piece of information.
12:17So what happened to the missing videos?
12:19So when the training topics
12:20and the videos become outdated
12:22because of new laws or protocols,
12:25the department has to make new ones.
12:26And the obsolete videos
12:27are supposed to be digitized
12:29and archived for historical record.
12:32But Rich is...
12:33were just gone.
12:35Gone and destroyed?
12:36Like a cover-up?
12:37No one's saying that.
12:39Most likely it was a human error.
12:41You know, someone got lazy,
12:42didn't archive them.
12:44I tried reaching out
12:45to the production company
12:45that made the videos
12:47to see if they had any copies left.
12:49Bad news is,
12:49they went out of business
12:51a few years back
12:51and auctioned off all their equipment.
12:54What's the good news?
12:55Well, I managed to track
12:57down the auction logs
12:59and I actually know the person
13:00who purchased
13:01the studio's old hard drives.
13:03Careful, I'm very ticklish.
13:05Like the Pillsbury Doughboy.
13:07Same.
13:07I hear it's, um,
13:09a sign of intelligence.
13:10Is that a fact?
13:11Then I am smart as the dickens.
13:14So you purchased hard drives
13:15from Speak Now Studios?
13:17Yeah, Dropout was still in its infancy.
13:19I was building the company
13:20from the ground up.
13:21We had to be smart
13:22about how we were spending our money.
13:24We bought a huge amount
13:25of equipment secondhand.
13:26Hard drives, cameras, wigs.
13:29Wait, wait.
13:30You bought secondhand wigs?
13:31Give them a little shake
13:32before we put them on.
13:33That's awesome.
13:34Do you still have that wig connect?
13:35Because I'd love a referral.
13:36My guy is...
13:38Back on track.
13:39The hard drives you bought
13:41contain police training videos.
13:43Did you happen to watch any of them?
13:43Of course.
13:45Rich Rowley, right?
13:46We were obsessed with those videos.
13:48We probably watched them
13:48like a dozen times.
13:50I'm Rich Rowley
13:51and this is Survive the Streets.
13:54That's great.
13:55Vic can do the best impression.
13:56Do you think you'd be able
13:57to make copies for us?
13:59I totally would,
14:01but I can't
14:01because we wiped
14:02all of those hard drives
14:03to use as servers months ago.
14:05Sorry, I couldn't be a more help.
14:07You'll still feature
14:08this interview, right?
14:11Yeah, probably not.
14:12Wait, you said
14:13you and the Dropout crew
14:14watched the video
14:15like dozens of times, right?
14:16Yes, sometimes on an edible.
14:18Mostly sober.
14:19I have an idea.
14:21Okay, so then he'd be like,
14:21don't forget to check the closet
14:23or you'll die.
14:23So, I don't know.
14:24I think it's a little bit more like,
14:25like, if you forget
14:26to check the closet,
14:27Freddy, Jason,
14:28and Chucky
14:29will rip off your scrum.
14:30Okay, I think there's
14:31less foot stuff.
14:32I feel like he's like,
14:34and then your crazy
14:34met the ex-girlfriend
14:35who's been hiding
14:36in the hallway closet
14:37will chainsaw your face
14:39when you get home
14:39because you forgot
14:40to clear the room.
14:42Clear the room!
14:43Check the room!
14:44I think he was so close
14:45to pulling out a gun.
14:46What are you guys doing?
14:47That's a great question.
14:48They're reenacting
14:48the police training videos
14:49since you guys
14:50wiped them off your hard drive.
14:51Oh, the Rich Rally ones!
14:52Those are so funny.
14:54I actually stole
14:55one of the hard drives
14:55so I can watch it
14:56when I'm in the tub.
14:57Can you talk about your time, man?
14:58A little self-care, you know?
14:59Trying to relax a little more.
15:01It's not working.
15:02Can we have it?
15:02If you want to borrow it,
15:04I could, you know.
15:04No, I think this is
15:05actually working great.
15:06You could.
15:07Okay.
15:07You can keep this up.
15:08We're riffing.
15:09Clearing the room!
15:10Help us.
15:10Okay, I finally finished
15:12watching all of the
15:12Richard training videos
15:15Take Lesson 277.
15:21My Azaleas!
15:22A cold case
15:23where victim
15:24Azalea Robinson
15:26was found stabbed
15:27near a ski resort.
15:28You're kidding.
15:29No.
15:29And in Lesson 290,
15:31Rich is holding a folder
15:32with a post-it note
15:33on the back
15:34with a brown star
15:35drawn on it.
15:36I'm lost.
15:36Right.
15:37So I looked up
15:38the cold cases
15:38to see if there were
15:39any victims
15:40with names like
15:41Star or Stella
15:42and there was one hit.
15:44Stella Brown.
15:45Also found stabbed
15:46in the chest.
15:47In all,
15:48Lucy found clues
15:49pointing to seven
15:50different cold cases.
15:52But why was Rich
15:53hiding the names
15:53of murder victims
15:54in police training videos?
15:55Based on what we
15:56could piece together,
15:57he believed he had
15:58stumbled upon a conspiracy,
15:59a series of connected
16:00murders committed
16:01by person or persons unknown.
16:03If that were the case,
16:04why not just report
16:05his suspicion?
16:06He was a cop
16:06for 30 years.
16:07Well, Rich had a bit
16:09of a reputation
16:10within the department
16:11for, shall we say,
16:13magical thinking.
16:14So, unfortunately,
16:17his theory was
16:17dismissed out of hand.
16:18But why did he think
16:19the murders were connected?
16:20Well, for starters,
16:21they were all stabbed
16:22in the chest.
16:23But more importantly,
16:24each victim was found
16:25with a penny either
16:26in or on their person.
16:27What do you mean in?
16:28One had a penny
16:29in her stomach.
16:30Another had one
16:31shoved up his nose.
16:33Stella Brown lucked out.
16:34Hers was just clasped
16:35in her hand.
16:36And when we re-examined
16:37Marcus Ford's corpse,
16:38the Emmy found one
16:40inserted into the heel
16:41of his left foot.
16:42Why?
16:43Did we mention
16:44that they were all
16:44minted in 1930?
16:46Okay.
16:46Well, I just got goosebumps.
16:48Rich's autopsy also revealed
16:49that he had swallowed
16:50close to 50 pennies
16:52before he died.
16:52Gross.
16:53So, at this point,
16:54was your theory,
16:55I actually have no idea
16:56what the theory would have been.
16:57Yeah, well, I would tell you,
16:59but we were way off the mark.
17:00Which we were about
17:01to discover when we got
17:03access to his cloud account.
17:05Okay.
17:07I may have finally found it.
17:09but I am so close
17:11to getting some real answers.
17:15See that?
17:28Oh, my God.
17:41A guy pretending to be dead
17:43breaking into a secure
17:45military facility
17:45doesn't seem like
17:46the best idea.
17:47No, he wasn't just
17:48breaking into any
17:49military facility.
17:51It was Area 67.
17:53What does that mean?
17:54That's where the government
17:55keeps the aliens.
18:03So, Rich broke into
18:04a secret government base
18:05on the hunt
18:06for a massive conspiracy
18:07then stabbed himself
18:08in the chest?
18:09I mean, at that point,
18:09it's obvious what happened.
18:11Is it?
18:11Come on.
18:12Remember what Rich said
18:13right before he died?
18:15I can't die!
18:16It's inside of me!
18:17It won't let me die!
18:19Yeah, I'm not following.
18:20Rich was exposed
18:21to an alien parasite.
18:23It was inside him.
18:26Were you familiar
18:26with Area 67?
18:28I'd heard of it, yeah.
18:30There's this AM radio station
18:32I used to listen to
18:33back in Foxburg.
18:34Kept me awake
18:34when I was working late.
18:36The host was obsessed
18:37with UFOs.
18:38Val's Velvet Bunker?
18:40That's the one.
18:41He was a little bit out there,
18:43but always entertaining.
18:44Area 51 is theater.
18:47Do you believe,
18:49do you really believe
18:50the most secretive
18:52military installation
18:53in the world
18:53would let itself
18:55become a tourist attraction?
18:57No, no, no, no.
18:58Area 51 is the distraction.
19:01Area 67 is the real deal.
19:03You know why California
19:04has all those earthquakes?
19:06It's not San Andreas fault,
19:08my friends.
19:09It's the sonic resonance
19:10from Area 67's
19:12underground testing chambers.
19:14Did you believe
19:15in his theories?
19:16No, no.
19:17Like I said,
19:18just entertainment.
19:19Let's hear from a caller.
19:20Hi, name's John.
19:21Long-time listener,
19:22fourth-time caller.
19:23Hey, John from Foxburg.
19:25Welcome back.
19:25What have you got
19:26for us tonight?
19:27I swear to God,
19:28I just saw a UFO.
19:32John is such a common name.
19:34I'm open to the possibility
19:36of extraterrestrial life.
19:37You are?
19:38Yeah.
19:39I mean, it's a big universe.
19:40Anything could be out there.
19:41I don't know.
19:42People who claim
19:43to have seen aliens
19:43tend to be a little off.
19:45You were friends
19:46with a corpse, right?
19:47Well, yeah,
19:47we were more than friends,
19:48but fair enough, okay.
19:50Legally,
19:51is it necrophilia
19:52if she only did
19:53over-the-clothes stuff?
19:54That's a great question.
19:55Oh, I definitely believe.
19:56In fact,
19:58I've been abducted
19:59by aliens.
20:00Really?
20:01Multiple times.
20:03Apparently,
20:04I'm a fascinating subject.
20:06I remember the last time
20:07Smitty was abducted.
20:09Turns out he partied
20:10too hard in Vegas
20:11and woke up in Wisconsin.
20:12Missing time.
20:14One of the hallmarks
20:16of alien abductions.
20:18And binge drinking.
20:18Point is,
20:19the government
20:20had little gray men
20:22in their secret labs
20:23for decades.
20:25What are they doing with them?
20:26They're implanting
20:27the aliens
20:28in unsuspecting hosts
20:29and taking over their bodies.
20:31You just never know
20:32who might be one of them.
20:35Some people in the station
20:37believed Rich stabbed himself
20:39to kill an alien parasite.
20:41But I wouldn't say
20:43that was a dominant theory.
20:44It wasn't long
20:45before we figured out
20:46Rich believed
20:47something darker
20:48and it was connected
20:49to the seven murders.
20:50Then why did Rich
20:51break into the army base?
20:53Yes, I remember
20:54the incident.
20:55Rich Rowley
20:56cut through a fence.
20:57He trespassed
20:57on government property.
20:58He was promptly apprehended
21:00and sent on his way.
21:01Do you have any idea
21:02what Rich was looking for?
21:03Uh, as it turns out,
21:05he was looking for me.
21:06But not because of
21:08any alleged aliens.
21:09So, why did he come?
21:12Uh, this part is, uh,
21:15is a little bit embarrassing.
21:17Um, before I found
21:19my calling in the military,
21:20I thought that I wanted
21:22to be an actor
21:23and, uh, I was in
21:24a few DTV movies.
21:26What's DTV?
21:27You're so young.
21:29Uh, direct-to-video.
21:30They made all these
21:30super cheap movies
21:32back in the 80s and 90s.
21:34You make them
21:34as cheaply as possible
21:35and then hope that
21:36someone was drawn in
21:37enough by the cover art
21:38to rent them.
21:40A guy can't have a side gig?
21:42Totally.
21:42How did you get into acting?
21:43Some director scouted me
21:45when I pulled him over.
21:47He said I had a
21:48bitchin' bod.
21:50Well, he wasn't wrong.
21:51But I gave it up
21:52because the people
21:53of this city
21:54needed a savior.
21:56Yeah, you are the model
21:57of public service.
21:59Right?
22:00Anyway, Rich became
22:01interested in
22:02this terrible B-movie
22:04that I was in.
22:05I played a monk.
22:06It was called
22:07300 Days of Hell.
22:13Terrible B-movie?
22:14That's what he called it?
22:15300 Days of Hell
22:16is the scariest film
22:17of the 1990s.
22:18Really?
22:18The Ring, Scream,
22:20Blair Witch Project?
22:20Which one of us
22:21executive produced
22:22a horror movie?
22:23Trust me.
22:24T-H-D-O-H
22:25is true Nightmare Fuel.
22:27It's not that scary.
22:29She made me watch
22:30at the beginning
22:30of our relationship.
22:31When he was still
22:32trying to impress me.
22:35You want to watch it
22:36again tonight?
22:37I would.
22:38Totally.
22:39I do have plans, though.
22:43Yeah, I'm not
22:44watching that crap.
22:44Even if it is for a case.
22:46I see enough horror
22:47on the job.
22:48That being said,
22:49300 Days of Hell
22:51was our first real window
22:52into the rabbit hole
22:53that Rich had gone down.
22:54A rabbit hole
22:55filled with demons.
22:56Or rather,
22:57a demon.
22:58So Rich believed
22:59a demon had killed
23:00all those people?
23:01No, the killers
23:01were definitely human.
23:02Killers, plural?
23:03Yeah, there was
23:04different trace DNA
23:05on all the bodies.
23:06All from different subjects.
23:08And none of them
23:09were in the system.
23:10Meaning?
23:11The murders were committed
23:12by a group of people
23:13with shared beliefs.
23:14A murder cult.
23:16The cult believed
23:16a demon named Malifus
23:18had been possessing people
23:19all across the city,
23:20jumping from host to host.
23:22And it was up to them
23:23to stop it.
23:32The legend of Malifus
23:34is centuries old.
23:35The first mention
23:36we see of him
23:37is 1433's
23:38lesser Grimoire of Solomon
23:40by Slovenian inquisitor
23:42Terencius Bruma.
23:44A reference text
23:45of demons
23:46and their attributes.
23:48Gnarly.
23:49Right?
23:50He's also known
23:51as the deceiver,
23:52the infester,
23:54and demon
23:54of 300 days.
23:55Why?
23:56Once summoned to earth,
23:57Malifus won't rest
23:58until he finds
23:59a human host.
24:00After possession begins,
24:02he incubates
24:03300 days.
24:04What happens
24:06after 300 days?
24:07He reaches full strength
24:08and his power
24:09becomes uncontainable.
24:12Uh-oh.
24:14Um,
24:15if Malifus
24:16was summoned to earth,
24:17how would one stop him?
24:18Bruma suggests
24:19killing the host
24:20might slow Malifus down,
24:22forcing him to
24:22regenerate
24:24before he can find
24:24a new host,
24:25a process that
24:26also can be slowed
24:27by the use of copper.
24:31It was the pennies.
24:32The pennies.
24:33It all came back
24:33to the pennies.
24:34Before 1984,
24:36U.S. pennies
24:37were 95% copper.
24:38So the copper
24:39and the pennies
24:39was meant to bind
24:40the demon,
24:41but what about
24:41the 1930 part?
24:43Are you familiar
24:44with numerology?
24:47Some ancient peoples
24:48and Taylor Swift
24:50believed there was
24:51a mystical connection
24:53between letters
24:54and numbers.
24:55Using the Chaldean method,
24:56the name Malifus
24:58becomes a digit 1930.
24:59So you're saying...
25:01We had a theory.
25:02Whoever killed
25:03those people
25:03believed the victims
25:05were possessed
25:06by Malifus.
25:07They had to
25:08reach Malifus' host
25:10before he reached
25:11his true form.
25:12A 1930 penny
25:13was the perfect tool.
25:14Yeah.
25:14Rich's talk of
25:15it's inside me,
25:16it won't let me die,
25:17he thought he was infested
25:19by this demon too
25:20and that's why
25:21he killed himself.
25:22Wait, I thought
25:23Rich didn't believe
25:24in Malifus.
25:25Isn't that why
25:25he was trying
25:26to stop the cult?
25:26Yes, but I mean
25:27years of obsession
25:28and paranoia
25:29can do a number
25:30on a person's psyche.
25:31I mean, it seems
25:32as though in the end
25:32Rich could no longer
25:33distinguish fantasy
25:34from reality.
25:35And you got this theory
25:36from Rich's files?
25:37Well, I mean,
25:38we actually got it
25:39from Lopez.
25:40And they say
25:40watching old horror movies
25:42isn't a good use of time.
25:44I never said that.
25:54Are we safe, brother?
25:56Is Malifus banished?
25:58His sigil is drawn.
26:00The rite is spoken.
26:01We have sealed
26:02his last human vessel
26:04with copper.
26:12heaven forgive us.
26:14Indeed.
26:16For hell will not.
26:19Midnight.
26:21The 300th day.
26:24Our task was done
26:25none too soon.
26:53Yeah, that was me.
26:57Do you guys want a glass?
26:59Oh, you got anything stronger?
27:02Fine, I'll just
27:02take the glass.
27:04Okay, I'll just
27:05I'll have nothing, actually.
27:07No fun for me.
27:08Yeah, that was
27:09my first big movie role.
27:12Well, my only one, really.
27:16Rich was so excited
27:17when I told him
27:18I booked it.
27:18He helped me run lines.
27:20Did Rich buy into
27:21the Malifus mythology?
27:23No.
27:23Weirdly, given all the
27:24conspiracies that Rich
27:25believed in,
27:26he was a total atheist.
27:29But I wouldn't have blamed him
27:30after everything
27:31that happened on that shoot.
27:32Like what?
27:35Before production wrapped,
27:37the DP was paralyzed
27:38driving to set.
27:39A stunt person
27:40had his leg amputated.
27:42There were divorces,
27:43bankruptcies,
27:44careers ended.
27:45One of the actors
27:47even died
27:48in his hotel room.
27:49People say
27:50the production was cursed.
27:52What about you?
27:53What do you believe?
27:54I believe the real curse
27:55was the director.
27:58He was a reckless maniac
27:59that didn't know
28:00how to run a set.
28:01Cuts!
28:02Cuts!
28:04Arthur!
28:04Arthur!
28:06Your strangulation,
28:07it has to be
28:09real.
28:10I want to feel
28:10the life draining from him.
28:12You!
28:12You!
28:13You cannot
28:14move from your position,
28:16not even an inch.
28:17Guys,
28:18this ritual
28:19is extremely specific.
28:22Okay?
28:23Let's go again.
28:24Okay.
28:24I thought I was choking
28:25you pretty well.
28:26I'm sorry.
28:26Okay?
28:27I'm going to choke
28:27you a little harder.
28:28Ready?
28:28Douglas was real touchy
28:30about the religious stuff.
28:31I guess he had grown up
28:32in some sort of commune,
28:33and this was all based
28:34on stories he was told
28:36growing up.
28:37Okay, but what I heard
28:38is that they accidentally
28:39summoned Malifus for real.
28:41The director found
28:41some ancient tome,
28:43and inserted the incantation
28:45and rituals verbatim.
28:46Ooh, I love that.
28:48And that's what got me
28:49thinking about
28:49the penny killings.
28:50We found the first victim
28:52just a little under
28:53300 days after
28:54the summoning ritual
28:55was filmed.
28:56We knew Rich was aware
28:57of the Malifus legends.
28:58It was only natural
28:59to link them.
29:00So Rich thought
29:00that penny victims
29:01were killed by people
29:02trying to stop Malifus.
29:03Was he able to identify
29:05any of these killers?
29:06We know he tried.
29:08Hi.
29:09Hey, how are you?
29:10Jared.
29:11Hello.
29:12Wow.
29:13It's a pleasure
29:14to meet you, gentlemen.
29:15Pleasure to meet you, too.
29:17Why don't you tell us
29:17about yourselves?
29:18Yeah, we co-starred
29:21on a TV show together
29:23for 15 seasons
29:25called Supernatural.
29:27Yeah, we played Sam
29:28and Dean Winchester,
29:29brothers that, you know,
29:32tracked and fought
29:33Supernatural beings.
29:34Like K-pop demon hunters.
29:36No, no, not like that.
29:38I mean, you look
29:39kind of like that.
29:41Okay.
29:42Can you tell us about
29:42your encounter
29:43with Rich Rowley?
29:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:45Rich Rowley.
29:46He came to a fan event
29:48we did last year
29:51at MonsterCon.
29:52Yeah, you know,
29:52most people show up
29:53and they just want
29:53the autograph
29:54for a photo.
29:57But Rich was
29:59a different beast altogether.
30:01Yeah, yeah.
30:01He was super fixated
30:04on this one particular episode
30:05where we fought a demon.
30:07Malifus.
30:08Yeah, that one.
30:10Anyway, he seemed to think
30:11we, like, knew more about it
30:15than we were saying.
30:16More about what?
30:17Demon hunting.
30:18He kept, like, asking
30:19these super pointed questions
30:21like he was, I don't know,
30:24testing us or something.
30:25Did you have an answer?
30:26No.
30:27No, I mean, we didn't come up
30:29with these stories, you know.
30:30We just did what the writers wrote.
30:32It's called acting.
30:33There's no actual demon hunters
30:35in real life.
30:36Exactly.
30:36Uh, that's not exactly true.
30:39There is at least one.
30:41And it actually connected
30:43to the movie.
30:44We heard the director
30:45brought a priest
30:46named Father Simon McCabe
30:48to bless the set
30:49every day before filming.
30:50Well, it was either that
30:51or the whole crew
30:52was going to walk.
30:53Does that name mean
30:54anything to you?
30:56About 15 years ago,
30:58Lopez and I had just
30:59finished our rookie years.
31:00We responded to a,
31:01call it a house
31:02of a priest doing an exorcism
31:04with a 16-year-old girl.
31:05It had been going on
31:05for three days.
31:10Police!
31:12Help her!
31:14Please!
31:17Please!
31:21Get away from her!
31:25Father, forgive me.
31:27Father, forgive me.
31:35Did you feel like
31:36you'd seen the devil?
31:37The only thing in that room
31:38that belonged in hell
31:39was Father Simon.
31:40He kept saying he had to.
31:42The whole way to the station.
31:43I'm sorry I had to.
31:45I'm sorry I had to.
31:46Because he believed
31:47she was possessed.
31:48She had a brain tumor.
31:50That's what they found
31:51after the autopsy.
31:52She needed a doctor,
31:53not an exorcism.
31:54And he wasn't a man of God.
31:56He was a killer.
31:56The courts agreed.
31:58So Father Simon
31:59was convicted
32:00of first-degree murder.
32:01When we processed him,
32:02we found a penny in his pocket.
32:04Nothing else, just a penny.
32:05Didn't mean anything at the time,
32:06but after Rich connected
32:07those seven murders,
32:09it seemed likely he was involved.
32:11Involved?
32:11Like he killed them?
32:12No, Simon was already in prison
32:14when five of the murders
32:15took place.
32:16And his DNA didn't match
32:17any that was found
32:18on the corpses.
32:19But he could have been part
32:21of whatever group
32:22Rich was so afraid of.
32:23Which means he knew more
32:24than he had told us,
32:26so we had to go back.
32:28Officers,
32:29I remember you.
32:31You were the ones
32:31who tried to stop the ritual.
32:33I wish we would have
32:33gotten here sooner.
32:34Becca Scott might still be alive.
32:36Oh, she was long gone
32:37before you arrived.
32:38The demon saw to bat.
32:40Malifus?
32:41Shh.
32:42Do not say its name
32:44in my presence.
32:45Boy, are you afraid
32:45we might accidentally summon it?
32:47You may scorn me
32:50and my beliefs,
32:51but I have fought this evil.
32:52I know enough
32:53to fear its power.
32:54What's more evil
32:55than murdering a child?
32:57I took no pleasure
32:58in the act.
32:59I'm grateful I had the courage
33:01to do what was necessary.
33:02Courage?
33:02Tell us about the penny
33:04that was in your pocket.
33:05In the movie
33:06300 Days of Hell,
33:07Malifus is sealed
33:08inside his house with copper
33:09before he can be killed.
33:11Uh, banished,
33:12not killed.
33:13What's the difference?
33:15The demon is a parasite.
33:18It needs a host.
33:19Once you kill the body
33:20that inhabits it,
33:22find a new one.
33:24Becca Scott was just
33:24a single battle
33:25in a larger war.
33:27If you're in here,
33:28who's doing the fighting now?
33:31The Knights of Avila.
33:34Los Angeles has a long history
33:36of spiritualism,
33:38esoteric religions
33:38that go back
33:39over 100 years.
33:40So think Aleister Crowley,
33:42Jack Parsons,
33:42L. Ron Hubbard.
33:43He freaking loves this stuff.
33:45I do.
33:46Anyway,
33:46a lot of these groups
33:47started out as fraternal orders,
33:49similar to the Freemasons,
33:51where people would gather
33:52and share.
33:54Well, yeah, yes,
33:55and some women,
33:56and they would share new ideas,
33:59explore philosophies.
34:00They also liked partying,
34:02doing drugs,
34:03and performing weird sex rituals.
34:05Sign me up.
34:08For the intellectual exchanging
34:10of ideas, obviously.
34:11So the Knights of Avila
34:12is one of these groups?
34:13It was.
34:14Like a lot of the similar
34:15organizations of the time,
34:17it fell apart
34:17when the founder died.
34:18It hasn't been active
34:19in 60 years?
34:21Then what was
34:21Father Simon talking about?
34:23Based on Tim and Lopez's
34:24conversation with Father Simon,
34:25we began to believe
34:27that the group,
34:28or at least the name,
34:30had been revived
34:31sometime in the late 90s
34:32to the early 2000s
34:34and rebranded
34:36as some kind of
34:36demon hunting cult.
34:38So Rich was actually right.
34:40There was a murderous
34:42cabal after him.
34:43It seemed that way,
34:44and we were getting close
34:46to discovering
34:47who their ringleader was.
34:50I found him.
34:51Found who?
34:52Doug Roberts.
34:53I want to fill a life
34:54training for him.
34:55Oh, you mean the director
34:56of the sad little demon porn?
34:58Where?
34:58I was going through
34:59some old industry trades
35:00from around the time
35:01THDOH was slated to come out.
35:03One of the articles
35:04mentioned that Roberts
35:05was a client of Stuart Wynecliffe
35:06at the Golden Talent Agency.
35:08The guy hasn't made a movie
35:09in 26 years.
35:10I doubt they still rep him.
35:11Not actively, no,
35:12but I called their offices
35:13and I bribed her, like,
35:15I talked one of the assistants
35:16into giving me the address
35:17where his residual checks
35:18are sent.
35:19It's downtown.
35:20Let's go.
35:20Uh, hold on.
35:22You just want to go
35:22doorstep the guy?
35:23If that means go knock
35:24on a door while also
35:25filming, then yes.
35:26Yeah, I'm not in the business
35:27of gotcha journalism.
35:28What about the business
35:29of making that paper?
35:32The guap?
35:33Money, guy.
35:35Come on, the doc business
35:35is oversaturated these days.
35:37We need footage that P.O.Ps.
35:39And what pops more than
35:40blindsiding a potential cult later?
35:43Come on.
35:44What's the worst
35:45that could happen?
35:47This is it.
35:49Okay.
35:50Um, uh, here.
35:51Here's your camera.
35:52Um, I don't operate.
35:54Oh.
35:55Okay.
35:58Now you do.
36:01Let's go.
36:04What floor is it on?
36:06Eight, but, uh,
36:07there's an elevator.
36:08Don't worry.
36:14Are you sure it's that way?
36:16Yep.
36:18Nope.
36:19You know,
36:20at the risk of being called
36:21a scaredy cat,
36:22you do understand
36:23that this is inherently
36:25neither a wise
36:26nor safe activity?
36:27You're asking a woman
36:28if she understands
36:29that it's inherently dangerous
36:31to go anywhere
36:32or do anything?
36:33When you put it that way,
36:35I sound like an ass.
36:36Truly.
36:38Well, that's a new one.
36:39Do you doubt me?
36:40Maybe we should
36:41come back?
36:42Hey, hello,
36:44Douglas Roberts.
36:45We're here to question you
36:45about murders and demons.
36:48That should get his attention.
36:50Oh!
36:52I am just an intern.
36:57So,
36:59clearly we're not deceased,
37:01which means...
37:02We saved you
37:03from certain deaths?
37:03I'm not sure
37:04how certain it was, right?
37:05Oh, it felt
37:06pretty certain to me.
37:07Please don't kill us.
37:08We will join your cult.
37:09Is there a membership fee
37:10or a secret handshake?
37:11I love a secret handshake.
37:13Ignore her.
37:13She's not right in the head.
37:14In fact,
37:14she has short-term memory issues,
37:16so if you let her go now,
37:17she won't remember any of this.
37:18Just shut up.
37:18No one's going anywhere.
37:19I mean,
37:20technically we're all
37:20going somewhere.
37:26All right,
37:26let him go.
37:27Get your hands up.
37:28Up against the Jeep now.
37:30Let's go.
37:37Oh, my God.
37:37Hey.
37:39Thanks for trying to save me,
37:41even though I'm the one
37:41who put us in danger.
37:43No problem.
37:44I was about to do the same thing,
37:46but you just beat me to it.
37:48I can be noble, too.
37:50No doubt.
37:50Yeah.
37:51I get very claustrophobic.
37:53Can I just point out
37:53how claustrophobic I get, please?
37:55So when did you and Douglas meet?
37:57In the movie.
37:58He was, you know,
38:00so commanding and driven
38:02and everything I wasn't.
38:04When did he start talking
38:05about killing the demon?
38:06It was at least a year after that.
38:09He would call me late at night
38:11and talk about the demon
38:12and how scared he was for the world.
38:15And eventually,
38:15it started to make sense.
38:17And he told you
38:18that someone was possessed?
38:21Correct.
38:21Her name was Cynthia.
38:24She cried when I tied her up
38:26and she kept saying
38:27that she was not a demon.
38:29She begged me to believe her
38:35and at that point,
38:36he was very deep in my head.
38:39And then tonight,
38:40you know,
38:41all the lies he was spewing
38:42at the end,
38:43it was like somebody
38:44turned on a light switch.
38:45I could just see him
38:46for who he was.
38:48So pathetic.
38:52We'll need you
38:53to write up
38:53a detailed confession.
39:00I would like to make a deal.
39:03We have already located
39:05your co-conspirators.
39:06You don't really
39:06have anything to offer.
39:09You don't want to know
39:11what an alien spaceship
39:11looks like?
39:13I am all that stands
39:15between the world
39:18and damnation.
39:19So all of the people
39:20that you had targeted,
39:21they had to die
39:22for the greater good.
39:25Yes.
39:25And my heart breaks
39:27for each of them.
39:28But I will not let
39:29innocence fall to perdition.
39:32Okay.
39:32Have you had your fill of BS?
39:34God, yes.
39:35Okay, me too.
39:36So, uh, first victim.
39:39Cynthia Green.
39:40You dated for two years
39:41before she cheated on you.
39:42Marcus Ford.
39:43He worked as a teamster
39:45on your movie,
39:45then later sued you
39:47for non-payment.
39:48Pamela Jones
39:50wrote a scathing review
39:51of your movie.
39:52Really?
39:54I had no idea.
39:55All seven victims
39:56were people who
39:57wronged you in some way.
39:59You don't even believe
40:00in the demon.
40:00You just used it
40:01as a tool to get people
40:02with weak minds
40:03to do your dirty work
40:04for you.
40:07Exactly.
40:09I was the director.
40:10I think you'll find
40:11I never laid a finger
40:13on any of the victims.
40:14And I think you will find
40:16that Manson died in prison.
40:21All right.
40:22Uh, anything else?
40:24No, I think we got everything.
40:25Okay.
40:27That was a crazy one, huh?
40:29Tell me about it.
40:30And look, thanks so much
40:31for all of your time
40:32and for saving our lives.
40:33Anything from my favorite
40:34documentarian?
40:35Actually, the only documentarian
40:36I know.
40:37Not true.
40:38I'm a documentarian, too.
40:39Of course.
40:40Yes.
40:40Oh, speaking of,
40:41how did this whole
40:42working together thing go?
40:45Is this the start
40:45of a beautiful friendship?
40:47I don't know.
40:48I mean, we have
40:49very different styles
40:50and instincts
40:51and, well,
40:52basically everything,
40:53but I'd be open
40:54to another collaboration.
40:57Oh, um,
40:59it's just I, uh,
41:00I kind of signed
41:01an exclusive three-film deal
41:03with Hulu.
41:04What?
41:05Yeah, I, um,
41:06I sent them a sizzle reel
41:07of this project.
41:08Just the me parts
41:08and, uh, they freaked.
41:10Said I'm gonna be
41:10the new face of true crime.
41:12Their words.
41:13Wow, I mean,
41:14you'd probably be able
41:15to bring him along,
41:16though, right?
41:17Oh, totally.
41:19Totally.
41:22I gotta go.
41:23But, uh, thanks again.
41:24Hello?
41:25No, I said Toronto
41:27and then camp.
41:30She'll probably call you.
41:32Yeah.
42:08Dammit!
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