American Monsters: Robert J. Moody & Walter Leroy Moody
"After being declared dead, the extrasensory biological entities will bring me back to life to speak through me," he further insisted that his involvement in these crimes was involuntary. Space aliens were in control of his body, and he was merely an unconscious observer of the murders.
Say what now? Find out. Only on Kinda Murdery.
Sources:
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-court-of-criminal-appeals/1401686.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/25/man-gets-life-sentence-for-killing-ex-girlfriend/
https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/tag/walter-leroy-moody/
https://buffalonews.com/news/murder-conviction-rejects-blaming-space-aliens/article_21c30df0-f243-5ec6-b644-f1905e39d3bc.html
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-08-me-9546-story.html
https://www.newspapers.com/image/579473752/?terms=Michelle%20malone%20murder&match=1
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/101619_moody_death/double-murderer-robert-moody-dies-arizona-prison/
https://apnews.com/article/7807abb6db457768f004140582971fc0
https://casetext.com/case/state-v-moody-64/
https://tucson.com/opinion/letters/local-issues/letter-re-the-feb-1-article-2-life-terms-for-killer-of-2-tucson-women/article_97da6464-516a-11e9-93be-6768b2114384.html#tracking-source=article-related-bottom
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Zevon Odelberg is a true crime podcast host and disability advocate. Zevon has cerebral palsy and he wants Kinda Murdery to be welcoming community for people with disabilities and for people living with challenges of any kind. Life can be hard, but being together makes it better.
Speaker 1: Warning. Kind of Murdery contains adult themes, explicit language, and
Speaker 1: descriptions of violence. It is not suitable for anyone, and
Speaker 1: we recommend you stop listening. Now. True crime with a
Speaker 1: dash of the paranormal, the garish, the strange in the
Speaker 1: darkly comic, a podcast that's about more than just murder.
Speaker 1: It's my very own pocket dimension, home to a curated
Speaker 1: collection of bizarre and compelling stories, the unsolved, the unsettling,
Speaker 1: and the unbelievable. I cover it all just so long
Speaker 1: as it's kind of murdery. Although he acknowledged that it
Speaker 1: sounded quote truly bizarre unquote, Moody would say during his
Speaker 1: trial that cocaine pushing space aliens took control of his
Speaker 1: body and forced him to murder Michelle Malone, a friend,
Speaker 1: and Patricia Magda, a neighbor, in November nineteen ninety one
Speaker 1: three to prove that aliens existed. The aliens told him
Speaker 1: that their mission required that he be convicted and sentenced
Speaker 1: to die, but that he would survive a lethal injection.
Speaker 1: Said Moody after being declared dead. The extra sensory biological
Speaker 1: entities will bring me back to life to speak through me.
Speaker 1: That his involvement in these crimes was involuntary, is Moody's assertion.
Speaker 1: He says that space aliens were in control of his
Speaker 1: body and he was merely an unconscious observer of the murders.
Speaker 1: A name's just a name, right, I mean, it doesn't
Speaker 1: dictate who we are, does it. If your last name
Speaker 1: is Moody, it doesn't mean you will be moody, and
Speaker 1: it certainly doesn't mean you will be murdery, does it.
Speaker 1: Juliet in Shakespeare's Legendary to the point of cliche, that
Speaker 1: most basic of beautiful tragedies, so famous as to practically
Speaker 1: be the Pumpkin Spice Latte of shakespeare plays, Although to
Speaker 1: be fair, the Pumpkin Spy Latte is probably Midsummer Night's Dream.
Speaker 1: But you know the drama to which I refer Romeo
Speaker 1: and Juliet, Yes, well, in that play, Juliette famously says
Speaker 1: of Romeo, and his last name 'tis but thy name
Speaker 1: that is my enemy? Thou art thyself though not a Montague.
Speaker 1: What's montague? Is it? Not hand, nor foot, nor arm,
Speaker 1: nor face? Oh be some other name belonging to a man?
Speaker 1: What's in a name that which we would call a
Speaker 1: Rose by any other name would smell as sweet, which
Speaker 1: basically means a name is just a name. It doesn't
Speaker 1: make you who you are, well respectfully and with no
Speaker 1: offense meant to any listener who may share the last
Speaker 1: name Moody, even a cursory googling will reveal that Moody
Speaker 1: is apparently a super murdery last name. The Moody seem
Speaker 1: to have moods that migrate toward the murdery. It's such
Speaker 1: a murdery name, in fact, that it made researching today's
Speaker 1: EPI so challenging, because every time I was looking for
Speaker 1: information on one murdery Moody, I was apt to find
Speaker 1: many murdery Moodies, sometimes with the same first and last name,
Speaker 1: even and so I spent a fair amount of time
Speaker 1: untangling Moody Gordian knots. Here is a brief and by
Speaker 1: no means all inclusive list of murdery Moodies I had
Speaker 1: discovered while looking for information on just one of them.
Speaker 1: Robert J. Moody, double murderer who claimed he killed to
Speaker 1: prove the existence of aliens, Scott Moody and the Moody Massacre.
Speaker 1: Another Robert Moody, who went to the mall in Florida
Speaker 1: to tell his girlfriend he was going to take his
Speaker 1: own life and ended up murdering her instead. Raymond Moody,
Speaker 1: who killed Brittany Drexel Walter Leroy Moody, the tri State terrorist. Frankly,
Speaker 1: the list goes on and on. Now, please understand that
Speaker 1: I don't mean to sound flippant or light hearted in
Speaker 1: the face of all this death dealing. But Moody turned
Speaker 1: out to be such a murdery name. And keep in mind,
Speaker 1: researching murdery names almost daily, so I've got some context
Speaker 1: for this observation. Anyway, the general murderiness of the name
Speaker 1: Moody surprised me so much that I felt I had
Speaker 1: to mention it. I hope you'll all forgive me for
Speaker 1: what probably feels like a lighthearted observation about a series
Speaker 1: of tragic events. So the point is, I went into
Speaker 1: this episode expecting to tell one story, but once I'd
Speaker 1: settled on my first Moody, which was entirely by accident,
Speaker 1: in mind you, I did not set out to tell
Speaker 1: a murdery story about a Moody, but once I'd sawcted
Speaker 1: my first story and then encountered so many more Murdery Moodies.
Speaker 1: I decided I had to tell two stories today about
Speaker 1: murderers with the last name Moody. My sources are in
Speaker 1: the show notes, by the way. Who knows. Maybe I'll
Speaker 1: keep it going, Maybe we'll have a whole bunch of
Speaker 1: Murdery Moody episodes. But I confess that feels unfair to
Speaker 1: all the upstanding, good Moodies out there who I'm sure
Speaker 1: would never murder. Pop culture observation has done such a
Speaker 1: number the name Karen. I'd hate to be the reason
Speaker 1: that the Moodies of the world become a meme. And
Speaker 1: so on to today's story. First up, we'll cover Robert J.
Speaker 1: Moody in a tale that features crack, cocaine, extraterrestrials, and
Speaker 1: an appearance on America's Most Wanted. And then I'll bring
Speaker 1: you the story of Walter Leroy Moody, the tri state
Speaker 1: terrorist kind of murdery. The Murdery Moody's starts. Now our
Speaker 1: first Murdery Moody is the protagonist. Well, actually, I suppose
Speaker 1: since he's a vile murderer, he's the antagonist in the
Speaker 1: case of the State of Arizona versus Robert Jay Moody.
Speaker 1: On November fifteenth, nineteen ninety three, Robert J. Moody awoke,
Speaker 1: put on his best suit, picked up some flowers, and
Speaker 1: drove to the home of female friend Michelle Malone. Seeing
Speaker 1: her husband's car in the driveway, the defendant went to
Speaker 1: have breakfast. He later returned, parked his car, went to
Speaker 1: the front door and knocked. After first checking to see
Speaker 1: who it was, Malone let the defendant into her house.
Speaker 1: Moody gave her the flowers, then sat and talked with
Speaker 1: her at the kitchen table. She showed him around her
Speaker 1: newly decorated house. When they returned to the kitchen, Moody
Speaker 1: pulled a knife out of his jacket pocket and attacked
Speaker 1: Michelle Malone. Michelle tried to defend herself, cutting her hand
Speaker 1: in the process. Moody held Malone by the neck and
Speaker 1: forced her into her home office, where he emptied her
Speaker 1: purse and took cash, a check book, and some credit cards.
Speaker 1: He ordered Malone to write a check for five hundred dollars,
Speaker 1: and then, because that check was smeared with her blood,
Speaker 1: he made her write another. He then forced Malone back
Speaker 1: into the kitchen and tied her to a chair with
Speaker 1: some telephone cords that he'd ripped from the wall. He
Speaker 1: dragged her, still tied to the chair, into a bedroom,
Speaker 1: where he found a twenty two caliber rifle and a
Speaker 1: Winchester twelve gage shotgun in a closet. He hit Malone
Speaker 1: over her head with a bebie gun, then shot her
Speaker 1: several times with the twenty two caliber rifle, reloading between
Speaker 1: each shot. After shooting Malone, Moody found a Ruger twenty
Speaker 1: two caliber pistol in a chest of drawers and placed
Speaker 1: the pistol in his pocket. He then wrapped the rifle
Speaker 1: and the shotgun in a blanket and drove home and
Speaker 1: went to sleep. Five days later, on the evening of
Speaker 1: November twentieth, nineteen ninety three, Moody packed a suitcase and
Speaker 1: went to the home of another friend, Patricia Magda. After
Speaker 1: visiting for a while, Magda showed Moody a Christmas calendar
Speaker 1: she'd made. When she bent down on her knees, he
Speaker 1: grabbed her around the neck and tied her hands and
Speaker 1: feet with neckties that he had in his jacket pocket.
Speaker 1: He took a bank card from her purse and forced
Speaker 1: her to reveal the pin number. Next, he put a
Speaker 1: chair over her and drove her car to an automatic
Speaker 1: teller machine. He was unable to get any money, so
Speaker 1: he drove back to him Magde's house, where she again
Speaker 1: gave him her pen. He then went to the ATM
Speaker 1: and withdrew three hundred dollars. Moody returned to Magdu's house,
Speaker 1: pulled a knife from his pocket, slit her throat, stabbed
Speaker 1: her in the back, covered her with a rug, and
Speaker 1: beat her over the head with hedge clippers. He cut
Speaker 1: the telephone cords, took Magda's wallet and keys, and left
Speaker 1: in her car. About a month later, on December twentieth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, Moody broke and climbed through a kitchen
Speaker 1: window into the Yuma, Arizona home of Mary de Forest,
Speaker 1: his ex wife's sister. After demanding cash and guns, Moody
Speaker 1: tied to Forest up, ordered her and her two sons
Speaker 1: into a closet, and nailed the door shut. He took
Speaker 1: to Forest's purse and left in her suburban, leaving Magdu's
Speaker 1: car behind. Magda's car was discovered at to Forest's house,
Speaker 1: said Sergeant Michael Downing, homicide supervisor for the Pima County
Speaker 1: Sheriff's Department. He said that Moody was a former financial analyst.
Speaker 1: They told us that he was going to go to Mexico.
Speaker 1: Pima Detective Mike Ying said, we knew we'd arrest him eventually,
Speaker 1: but I never thought it would happen like this, and
Speaker 1: this is how it happened. By tracing credit card receipts
Speaker 1: and following tips from viewers of America's Most Wanted, police
Speaker 1: followed Moody's path. He went from Yuma to Las Vegas,
Speaker 1: to San Diego, to Los Angeles, and back to Yuma
Speaker 1: and Vegas. Sheriff's deputies missed him in each city by
Speaker 1: a very small margin. Let's backtrack just a little bit.
Speaker 1: After leaving DeForest's house, Moody drove to Las Vegas before
Speaker 1: eventually proceeding to California. At approximately three am on January fourth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, Moody flagged down San Bernardino County Deputy
Speaker 1: Joseph Duarte in Baker, California. Moody identified himself to Deputy
Speaker 1: Duarte as Todd Joe Williams and claimed that his car
Speaker 1: had been stolen about three hours earlier by a black
Speaker 1: male hitchhiker. He'd picked up outside of Vegas. When asked
Speaker 1: for specific information about the vehicle, Moody could only say
Speaker 1: it was a blue and gray suburban. He was unable
Speaker 1: to give the officer a vehicle identification number, license plate number,
Speaker 1: or any other information. Deputy Duarte took Moody to the
Speaker 1: Sheriff's office for further questioning. When Moody was unable to
Speaker 1: provide any further information regarding his stolen vehicle, he was released.
Speaker 1: Between four and four thirty That same day, Moody appeared
Speaker 1: at a rescue mission in Santa Anna, California. He told
Speaker 1: the mission's director, Reverend James Womack, that he had no
Speaker 1: idea who he was or where he was from, although
Speaker 1: he thought his name was Bob. Reverend Womack advised him
Speaker 1: to contact the police if Moody didn't know who he was.
Speaker 1: He quickly found out he was a TV celebrity of sorts,
Speaker 1: a murder suspect featured on America's Most Wanted. Approximately two
Speaker 1: hours after Moody left the mission, a paroled felon named
Speaker 1: Carlos Logan was arrested outside the Los Angeles Airport for
Speaker 1: driving Mary to Forest's stolen suburban Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Speaker 1: officers stopped the stolen car in a routine traffic stop
Speaker 1: in Lenox. Logan first said that Moody had loaned him
Speaker 1: the car. He later admitted that he'd given the white
Speaker 1: guy cocaine in exchange for the car, and that Moody
Speaker 1: had bragged that he'd been the subject of a segment
Speaker 1: on America's Most Wanted, but Logan had dismissed Moody's story
Speaker 1: as bravado. The next day, on January fifth, nineteen ninety four,
Speaker 1: Moody showed up at the Orange County Sheriff's Department, claiming
Speaker 1: not to know his identity or to remember anything prior
Speaker 1: to the day before January fourth, nineteen ninety four, when
Speaker 1: he found himself on a bus bench. He said that
Speaker 1: other than knowing that his name was Bob, he had
Speaker 1: total amnesia and couldn't remember anything about himself at all.
Speaker 1: At the sheriff's station in Santa Anna, a sheriff's spokesman said,
Speaker 1: Moody told investigators, I don't know anything about myself before Tuesday.
Speaker 1: You call me Moody, but I don't know anything about
Speaker 1: that name. The officer's finger printed him, leading to the
Speaker 1: discovery of warrants for the murders of Michelle Malone and
Speaker 1: Patricia Magda. The officers arrested Moody and told him that
Speaker 1: he'd killed two people. Looking confused, Moody replied I did.
Speaker 1: Later that day, Tucson Police Department detective Karen Wright and
Speaker 1: Pima County Sheriff's Department detectives Michael Ying and Bryce Tipling
Speaker 1: flew to California to interview Moody on videotape before transporting
Speaker 1: him to Tucson. Throughout the interview, Moody maintained that he
Speaker 1: woke up on a bench on January fourth and did
Speaker 1: not know how he got there or who he was,
Speaker 1: and had no memory of events before twelve thirty p m.
Speaker 1: Of that day. Moody was then returned to Arizona to
Speaker 1: stand trial for the murders of Michelle Malone and Patricia Magda.
Speaker 1: His capture brought leef to Magda's family and Tucson, who
Speaker 1: had been living in fear since her killing. We're really
Speaker 1: glad he's not going to have the opportunity to do
Speaker 1: this to anyone else, said Nancy Royle, the victim's daughter.
Speaker 1: In law. Royle said she believes her mother in law,
Speaker 1: who had three children and five grandchildren, was killed for
Speaker 1: her car on November twenty fourth. The woman's assailant also
Speaker 1: stole her wall at bank card and some money. Royle
Speaker 1: and her husband found Magda's body after she failed to
Speaker 1: arrive at Thanksgiving at a relative's home in Utah. God
Speaker 1: that's said, it's sickening, Royal said, it's a terrible, terrible thing.
Speaker 1: Royal said Magda, who worked at a title company, was
Speaker 1: a charitable, giving, caring, wonderful person who would help anyone.
Speaker 1: Her caring even extended to Moody, her neighbor. Although Magda
Speaker 1: did not know Moody well, she would listen with sympathy
Speaker 1: to his complaints about financial problems and about his daughter
Speaker 1: living out of state. Royle said she was very kind
Speaker 1: about speaking to him. At one point she brought him
Speaker 1: over some food because she knew he was hungry. She'd
Speaker 1: even mentioned to a friend at work that she felt
Speaker 1: mad for him. Robert J. Moody's arrest ended a manhunt
Speaker 1: of almost two months that spanned three states. As we've covered,
Speaker 1: his first murder occurred November fifteenth, when acquaintance of Moody's
Speaker 1: thirty three year old Michelle Page Malone was found shot
Speaker 1: to death in her Tucson home. And then his second victim,
Speaker 1: who we've just been discussing, fifty six year old Patricia Magda,
Speaker 1: a neighbor of Moody's, was found beaten to death in
Speaker 1: her Tucson home about a week later, and a month
Speaker 1: after that, Moody showed up at his relatives the DeForest's
Speaker 1: house in Yuma, beat them, tied them up, and stole
Speaker 1: their guns in car, and then continued on his deluded rampage.
Speaker 1: All in all, it was a horrific spree that saw
Speaker 1: him targeting friends and family. The rampage continued for another
Speaker 1: two weeks until he was finally arrested on January fifth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four. On February first of that year, the
Speaker 1: state presented evidence of the murders of michellmala Out of
Speaker 1: Patricia Magna to the grand jury. At the hearing, Tucson
Speaker 1: police detective Karen Wright testified that Carlos Logan, the paroled
Speaker 1: felon who was arrested for driving Mary to Forest suburban,
Speaker 1: had informed detectives that he'd traded cocaine for the car
Speaker 1: with the vehicle's owner, a white male named Bob, who
Speaker 1: had bragged at the time about killing two people in
Speaker 1: Tucson and being profiled on America's Most Wanted. The grand
Speaker 1: jury indicted Moody for the two murders after first acknowledging
Speaker 1: that what he was about to say sounded truly bizarre.
Speaker 1: Moody would state during his trial that cocaine pushing space
Speaker 1: aliens took control of his body and forced him to
Speaker 1: murder Michelle Malone, a friend, and Patricia Magda, a neighbor,
Speaker 1: in November nineteen ninety three to prove that aliens existed.
Speaker 1: The aliens told him that their mission required that he
Speaker 1: be convicted and sentenced to die, but that he would
Speaker 1: survive a lethal injection. He testified after being declared dead.
Speaker 1: The extra sensory biological entities will bring me back to
Speaker 1: life to speak through me, he said, and further stated
Speaker 1: that his involvement in the crimes was involuntary. The space
Speaker 1: aliens were in control of his body and he was
Speaker 1: merely an unconscious observer of the murders. My God, that
Speaker 1: is the most tortured version of the dog ate my
Speaker 1: homework that I have ever heard except this isn't homework,
Speaker 1: it's horrific murder. By the end of July nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 1: Moody would be convicted of double murder and sentenced to death,
Speaker 1: but that conviction would be reversed and remanded by the
Speaker 1: Arizona Supreme Court. And if you're saying to yourself, wait
Speaker 1: a minute, what how is his conviction reversed? You just
Speaker 1: skipped a bunch of stuff? Are you saying he wasn't
Speaker 1: convicted at all? Did the jury buy into the space
Speaker 1: alien's defense? What the heck is going on? If that's
Speaker 1: what you're thinking right now, you're right. I did skip
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff. And that's because the strange and
Speaker 1: frankly almost comic true events of Robert J. Moody's trial,
Speaker 1: if anything could be considered comic in the context of
Speaker 1: these murders, matches the compelling nature of his horrible crimes.
Speaker 1: Except where those crimes were heinous and terrible. The story
Speaker 1: of Moody's trial is bizarre and at times almost sublimely silly.
Speaker 1: If you've got a dark sense of humor like I do,
Speaker 1: which frankly I find to be the only way to
Speaker 1: withstand a life immerged in shocking and horrific true crime stories.
Speaker 1: No disrespect meant to victims, their friends and families, of course,
Speaker 1: but sometimes shit just gets weird and you can cry
Speaker 1: or you can laugh. And when I choose to laugh,
Speaker 1: So if you do share my dark sense of humor,
Speaker 1: I suspect that you, like me, might find yourself chuckling
Speaker 1: grimly at the oddball caper that Robert J. Moody's legal
Speaker 1: adventures become. But as I told you at the outset
Speaker 1: of today's episode, I'm telling you two different stories today,
Speaker 1: and so without further ado, it's time to move on
Speaker 1: to our Murdering Moody number two.
Speaker 2: But don't worry, we'll get back to Robert J. Moody
Speaker 2: and his crack induced alien shenanigans before this episode ends.
Speaker 2: Our second story of the episode, Walter Leroy Moody tries
Speaker 2: state terrorist starts.
Speaker 1: Right after these brief messages, around the second week of
Speaker 1: December nineteen eighty nine, four pipe bombs were sent through
Speaker 1: the United States mail to different locations in the southeastern
Speaker 1: United States. On December sixteenth, nineteen eighty nine, the package
Speaker 1: containing one of those pipe bombs was delivered to Mountain
Speaker 1: Brook Alabama, the residence of Judge Vance. The package was
Speaker 1: addressed to Judge Vance and showed the name and Noonan,
Speaker 1: Georgia address of one of his judicial colleagues as the
Speaker 1: return address. When Judge Vance opened the package, the bomb
Speaker 1: inside detonated, killing him almost instantly. Judge Vance's wife, Helen Vance,
Speaker 1: was seriously injured by the blast. The pipe bomb was
Speaker 1: constructed of a steel pipe approximately five and one half
Speaker 1: inches in length and one and one half inches in diameter,
Speaker 1: sealed at each end with threaded caps. It contained smokeless
Speaker 1: gunpowder and a homemade detonator fastened from the hallowed out
Speaker 1: barrel of a ballpoint pen. The device was designed to
Speaker 1: explode when the lid of the box in which it
Speaker 1: was contained was open. Numerous nails had been secured to
Speaker 1: the pipe with rubber bands. The nails served as projectiles
Speaker 1: upon detonation. Two days later, on December eighteenth, nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: Robert Robinson, a civil rights attorney in Savannah, Georgia, was
Speaker 1: killed after opening a package containing a similar pipe bomb,
Speaker 1: which had been delivered to Robinson's Savannah law office. That
Speaker 1: same day, a third pipe bomb was received at the
Speaker 1: court house of the United States Court of Appeals for
Speaker 1: the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. A court security officer
Speaker 1: using an X ray machine discovered the device, which was
Speaker 1: disarmed by bomb squad technicians before it could detonate. The
Speaker 1: following day, on December nineteenth, nineteen eighty nine, a fourth
Speaker 1: pipe bomb was received, this one at the Jacksonville, Florida
Speaker 1: office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
Speaker 1: People the NAACP. The bomb was discovered and disarmed before
Speaker 1: it could injure anyone. Testimony presented at Moody's trial indicated
Speaker 1: that the four pipe bombs were very similar in construction
Speaker 1: and design. All the bombs had been placed in reinforced
Speaker 1: cardboard boxes that had been painted inside with black latex paint.
Speaker 1: All were delivered in packages wrapped in brown paper, tied
Speaker 1: with string, wrapped with the same kind of tape, posted
Speaker 1: with the same kind of priority mail stamps, and addressed
Speaker 1: with the same kind of mailing labels. The addresses on
Speaker 1: all the mailing labels appeared to have been typed with
Speaker 1: the same typewriter. All of the bombs were constructed of
Speaker 1: steel pipes filled with hercules red dot brand smokeless gunpowder.
Speaker 1: While the pipe that made up the bomb that killed
Speaker 1: Judge Vance was sealed at both ends within caps that
Speaker 1: had been screwed into place, the ends of the other
Speaker 1: three bombs had been sealed with welded in plates that
Speaker 1: were joined by a steel rod extending through the center
Speaker 1: of each pipe. The steel rods were secured at the
Speaker 1: ends by hexagonal nuts. Nails had been attached by rubber
Speaker 1: bands to the outside of each pipe, and each bomb
Speaker 1: had the same kind of triggering mechanism and detonator. All
Speaker 1: of the bombs used C cell batteries as their electrical source,
Speaker 1: and all had the same type of modified battery holder
Speaker 1: in them. Type notes threatening death were contained inside the
Speaker 1: boxes in which three of the four bombs had been sent.
Speaker 1: Only the bombs sent to the Federal courthouse in Atlanta
Speaker 1: was not accompanied by such a note. There were numerous
Speaker 1: other similarities in the details of the bomb's composition, in
Speaker 1: the construction of the boxes that held the bombs, and
Speaker 1: the packaging of the devices. Based on the many similarities,
Speaker 1: forensic investigators believed that all four bombs were made and
Speaker 1: sent by the same person. In the days that followed
Speaker 1: the killings of Judge Vance, and Robert Robinson. Every judge
Speaker 1: on the eleven Circuit Court of Appeals received type letters
Speaker 1: in which the sender took credit for the bombings and
Speaker 1: threatened the recipients with assassination. The letters explained that the
Speaker 1: threats were because of the federal courts callous disregard for
Speaker 1: the Administration of Justice, and sent in the name of
Speaker 1: an organization known as Americans for a competent federal judicial system.
Speaker 1: Similar death threat letters were received at the Atlanta and
Speaker 1: Jacksonville offices of the NAACP. A separate type death threat
Speaker 1: letter addressed to news anchor woman Brenda Wood was received
Speaker 1: at the WAGA television station in Atlanta. The death threat
Speaker 1: letters were all signed zero one zero one eight seven
Speaker 1: and specified that the writer was using this number as
Speaker 1: a secret code and that it was not to be
Speaker 1: disclosed to the public. All of the letters were postmarked
Speaker 1: from Atlanta and were posted with twenty five cent American
Speaker 1: flag over Yosemite stamps. The packages containing three of the
Speaker 1: four pipe bombs were posted with the same kind of
Speaker 1: American Flag over Yosemite stamp. An analyst for the Federal
Speaker 1: Bureau of Investigation concluded that the letters received by the
Speaker 1: judges on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and at
Speaker 1: the Atlanta and Jacksonville offices of the NBA LACP had
Speaker 1: all been prepared with the same manual typewriter used to
Speaker 1: type the addresses on the mailing labels affixed to all
Speaker 1: four of the pipe bomb packages. A letter addressed to
Speaker 1: Brenda Wood had been prepared with a different typewriter. Testimony
Speaker 1: revealed that on August twenty first, nineteen eighty nine, about
Speaker 1: four months before the murder of Judge Vance, the NAACP
Speaker 1: regional office in Atlanta, had received through the mail a
Speaker 1: tear gas bomb, the triggering mechanism and packaging of which
Speaker 1: were similar in numerous respects to the four pipe bombs
Speaker 1: mailed in December of nineteen eighty nine. The tear gas
Speaker 1: bomb exploded when an NAACP employee opened the box in
Speaker 1: which it was packaged, filling the office with teargas. Like
Speaker 1: three of the four December nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs,
Speaker 1: the tear gas bomb was accompanied by a typed death
Speaker 1: threat note. The package containing the tear gas bomb bore
Speaker 1: a false return address from Atlanta. In the days following
Speaker 1: the receipt of the tear gas bomb at the NAACP office.
Speaker 1: Various news outlets throughout the Eastern United States received copies
Speaker 1: of a typed letter in which the anonymous sender complained
Speaker 1: about the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals callous disregard for justice.
Speaker 1: In the letter, the sender issued a quote declaration of
Speaker 1: war unquote, and threatened nerve gas attacks against densely populated
Speaker 1: American cities. All the letters were posted with a twenty
Speaker 1: five cent American flag over Yosemite stamp. It was determined
Speaker 1: that the letters had been prepared with the same manual
Speaker 1: typewriter used to type the address on the mailing label
Speaker 1: A fixed to the package containing the tear gas bomb.
Speaker 1: The state presented evidence indicating that the August nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: nine tear gas bomb and the four December nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: nine pipe bombs, including the one that killed Judge Vance,
Speaker 1: were all constructed and sent by Walter Leroy Moody, Junior,
Speaker 1: as part of Moody's declared war on the court system.
Speaker 1: The war stemmed from Moody's conviction in federal court almost
Speaker 1: seventeen years earlier on charges of possessing a pipe bomb
Speaker 1: in May nineteen seventy two, a pipe bomb had exploded
Speaker 1: in Moody's residence in Macon, Georgia. That bomb, which had
Speaker 1: been contained inside a package addressed to an automobile dealer
Speaker 1: who had repossessed Moody's car, had exploded when o opened
Speaker 1: by Moody's then wife, seriously injuring her. Moody had been
Speaker 1: arrested and charged with the manufacturer and possession of a
Speaker 1: pipe bomb. During his nineteen seventy two trial on those
Speaker 1: charges in federal court, Moody had taken the stand in
Speaker 1: his own defense and maintained that a man named Jean
Speaker 1: Wallace had secretly planted the bomb in Moody's home, allegedly
Speaker 1: to harm Moody. The jury found Moody guilty of possessing
Speaker 1: a pipe bomb, although it had acquitted him of the
Speaker 1: charge of manufacturing it. Moody served three years in the
Speaker 1: federal penitentiary for the conviction. This grievance that he spent
Speaker 1: three years in prison for nearly blowing up his wife
Speaker 1: with a homemade pipe bomb inspired Moody's war on the
Speaker 1: legal system. Sometime in nineteen eighty five, Moody devised a
Speaker 1: scheme to get his conviction overturned by bribing an acquaintance,
Speaker 1: Julie Lynn West, to give perjured testimony substantiating Moody's claim
Speaker 1: that the fictional Gene Wallace had placed the pipe bomb
Speaker 1: in Moody's home in Macon in nineteen seventy two. Moody
Speaker 1: provided Lynn West, a young death Institute wheelchair bound woman,
Speaker 1: with a detailed scripted story shifting the blame to Gene Wallace.
Speaker 1: Moody paid West in small monthly installments as she learned
Speaker 1: Moody's written script, according to which Lynn West was to
Speaker 1: claim that she had been with Jeene Wallace in Macon
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two and seen him place the bomb
Speaker 1: in Moody's home. So the famed refrain from the fugitive.
Speaker 1: It wasn't me, It was the one armed man becomes
Speaker 1: It wasn't me, It was Geene Wallace. Walter Leroy Moody
Speaker 1: the Tri State Terrorists nineteen eighty nine murderous bombing campaign
Speaker 1: against the American federal legal system was inspired by his
Speaker 1: grievance against the justice system for giving him a three
Speaker 1: year prison sentence for nearly blowing up his wife with
Speaker 1: an improvised pipe bomb. Also based on how often he
Speaker 1: seemed to target African Americans in the NAACP in particular,
Speaker 1: which has nothing really to do with the federal legal system,
Speaker 1: it seems like his bombings were most likely also inspired
Speaker 1: by deep personal racial hatred. But that's not exactly why
Speaker 1: we're telling this story. You know, I have to say
Speaker 1: that the logical blinders that criminals often have throw me
Speaker 1: for a loop. I mean, sure, Robert J. Moody has
Speaker 1: an excuse for alien possession made me do it, he
Speaker 1: was a crackhead. But in the case of William Leroy Moody,
Speaker 1: and according to William Leroy Moody, his reason was that
Speaker 1: he was wrongly convicted by a corrupt federal court system
Speaker 1: of almost killing his wife with a pipe bomb. And
Speaker 1: if that were true, then Moody's logic essentially goes as follows.
Speaker 2: I William Leroy.
Speaker 1: Moody, I am so furious that the justice system for sending
Speaker 1: me to prison for three years for making an illegal
Speaker 1: pipe bomb that nearly killed my wife. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to claim that some random guy actually built the pipe
Speaker 1: bomb and left it in my house, despite the fact
Speaker 1: that I won't be able to prove he exists. Notwithstanding
Speaker 1: that if he hated me enough to blow me up
Speaker 1: was real, I'd probably have provable history with him. After all,
Speaker 1: I'm just a private citizen, not a government institution that's
Speaker 1: likely to be targeted by bomb making madmen. But I
Speaker 1: say I'm innocent. So now I'm going to be an aggrieved,
Speaker 1: innocent man who didn't build the pipe bomb that almost
Speaker 1: blew up my house, and I'll carry out my vengeance
Speaker 1: by sending out several pipe bombs that are identical to
Speaker 1: the one I didn't build, to blow up the luminaries
Speaker 1: in the justice system, or to blow up my wife
Speaker 1: in my house, or to blow up the car dealer
Speaker 1: who repossessed my car. I mean, wait a minute, what
Speaker 1: the head spins, right? I mean, whoa? But anyhow, let's
Speaker 1: get to it. In May nineteen seventy two, a pipe
Speaker 1: bomb had exploded, as I just alluded to, in Moody's
Speaker 1: residence in Macon, Georgia. The bomb, which had been contained
Speaker 1: inside a package addressed to an automobile dealer who had
Speaker 1: repossessed Moody's car, had exploded when opened by Moody's then wife,
Speaker 1: seriously injuring her. Moody had been arrested and charged with
Speaker 1: the manufacturer and possession of a pipe bomb. During his
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two trial on those charges in federal court,
Speaker 1: Moody had taken the stand in his own defense and
Speaker 1: maintained that a man named Jean Wallace had secretly planted
Speaker 1: the bomb in Moody's home, allegedly to harm Moody. The
Speaker 1: jury found Moody guilty of possessing a pipe bomb, although
Speaker 1: it acquitted him of the charge of manufacturing it. Moody
Speaker 1: served three years in the federal penitentiary for the conviction.
Speaker 1: After he was released from prison, Moody became obsessed with
Speaker 1: overturning his conviction, believing that it tarnished his good name
Speaker 1: and that it stood in the way of his aspirations
Speaker 1: of becoming a lawyer. Several years before he went to prison,
Speaker 1: Moody had attended law school without finishing, and in the
Speaker 1: mid nineteen eighties he inquired into resuming those studies. However,
Speaker 1: he learned that a felony conviction would disqualify him from
Speaker 1: practicing law in Georgia. In addition to seeing his conviction
Speaker 1: his standing between him and a legal career, Moody had
Speaker 1: convinced himself that he'd been unfairly convicted, that he was
Speaker 1: the victim of an immense conspiracy involving, in his mind,
Speaker 1: corrupt law enforcement officers, the trial judge, the prosecutor, and
Speaker 1: even his own appointed council. Moody's sense of aggrieved victimization
Speaker 1: fueled what was to become his long running and continuing
Speaker 1: quarrel with the legal system, particularly with the federal courts
Speaker 1: in the Eleventh Circuit. Sometime in nineteen eighty five, Moody
Speaker 1: devised a scheme to get his conviction overturned by bribing
Speaker 1: an acquaintance, Julie Lynn West, to give perjured testimony substantiating
Speaker 1: Moody's claim that the fictional Gene Wallace had placed the
Speaker 1: pipe bomb in Moody's home in Macon in nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 1: Moody provided Lynn West, a young, destitute, wheelchair bound woman,
Speaker 1: with a detailed scripted story shifting the blame to Gene Wallace.
Speaker 1: Moody paid Lynn West in small monthly installments as she
Speaker 1: learned Moody's written script, according to which Lynn West was
Speaker 1: to claim that she had been with Jean Wallace in
Speaker 1: Macon in nineteen seventy two and had seen him place
Speaker 1: the bomb in Moody's home. According to the script, lynn
Speaker 1: West was also to maintain that she feared Jean Wallace
Speaker 1: would harm her if she had implicated him, but that
Speaker 1: after experiencing pangs of conscience, she'd finally come forward to
Speaker 1: help Moody clear his name. In September nineteen eighty six,
Speaker 1: when he was satisfied that lynn West had learned his
Speaker 1: scripted story, Moody filed a petition for a writ of
Speaker 1: error Korum Nobis in the Federal District Court in Macon,
Speaker 1: asking the court to vacate his nineteen seventy two conviction
Speaker 1: based on newly discovered evidence. I eed a fabricated story
Speaker 1: placing the blame for the bombing on Jeen Wallace. Lynn
Speaker 1: West's mother, Joanne Ekstrom, subsequently became involved in Moody's scheme,
Speaker 1: and she too, agreed to give false testimony on his behalf.
Speaker 1: Following a hearing in March nineteen eighty eight, at which
Speaker 1: Lynn West and Eskram perjured themselves by reciting Moody's scripted story,
Speaker 1: the district court denied Moody's petition. Moody appealed to the
Speaker 1: Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the denial in
Speaker 1: June nineteen eighty nine. This final rejection precipitated Moody's war
Speaker 1: on the courts. It was the state's theory at trial
Speaker 1: that Moody became disillusioned with lawyers, judges, and other representatives
Speaker 1: of the legal system as a result of his contacts
Speaker 1: with that system, and that his inability to convince the
Speaker 1: courts that he had been wronged by the system led
Speaker 1: to the series of bombings that resulted in the death
Speaker 1: of Judge Vance. The evidence revealed that in the summer
Speaker 1: of nineteen eighty nine, Moody enlisted the help of his
Speaker 1: girlfriend who later became his wife, Susan McBride Samford, to
Speaker 1: procure items necessary for him to construct explosive devices to
Speaker 1: use against the court and others. Moody initially dispatched Sandford
Speaker 1: on trips around the Southeast to gather the components for
Speaker 1: a chemical project he was allegedly working on. In July
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, however, Moody abandoned his chemical project. He
Speaker 1: then started the project that ultimately produced the tear gas
Speaker 1: bomb that exploded at the NAACP regional office in Atlanta. In
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, after the tear gas bombing, Moody pursued
Speaker 1: another project, again using Samford to procure the necessary components
Speaker 1: for him, sending her on numerous surreptitious missions to hardware
Speaker 1: and supply stores where Samford made purchases or shoplifted items
Speaker 1: as instructed by Moody. During this time, Moody sealed off
Speaker 1: the front bedroom of the Rex Georgia residence he shared
Speaker 1: with Stamford and gave her list of items to procure.
Speaker 1: With these items, Moody then constructed four pipe bombs, including
Speaker 1: the pipe bombs that killed Robert Robinson and Judge Vance.
Speaker 1: At Moody's trial, Samford, Moody's wife, testified at length about
Speaker 1: her activities in gathering the components Moody used to make
Speaker 1: the pipe bombs and packages in which they were sent.
Speaker 1: Among the items Samford stated she procured for Moody were
Speaker 1: mailing labels of the same type used in the December
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs, stamps like those on the
Speaker 1: packages containing the December nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs, cardboard boxes,
Speaker 1: aluminium pie pans, goose patterned paper, towels, sea batteries, flashlight bulbs,
Speaker 1: black latex paint, nails, string, brown wrapping paper, aluminum clothes
Speaker 1: line wire like the heavy gage aluminum clothed line wire
Speaker 1: used in the same December nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs,
Speaker 1: rubber bands, and tape. Samford's testimony indicated that after Moody
Speaker 1: finished his construction of the pipe bombs in early December
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, he opened the bedroom in which he
Speaker 1: had been working and then thoroughly cleaned and remodeled it
Speaker 1: in order to erase evidence of his bomb making. He
Speaker 1: then mailed the bombs. According to Samford, after the FBI
Speaker 1: began investigating Moody's involvement in the December nineteen eighty nine bombings,
Speaker 1: Moody remarked to her, if they have any evidence, it
Speaker 1: would be DNA. On another occasion, in late December nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty nine, after seeing a television news report that a
Speaker 1: judge in Maryland had been injured by a pipe bomb,
Speaker 1: Moody told Samford something to the effect of that one's
Speaker 1: not mine or I didn't do that one. In addition
Speaker 1: to the incriminating testimony against Moody presented by Samford, there
Speaker 1: was eyewitness testimony indicating that on December second, nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: at a gun shop in Griffin, Georgia, Moody purchased four
Speaker 1: pounds of Hercules Red Dot brand smokeless gunpowder and an
Speaker 1: unusually large amount of Cci brand pistol primers, the kind
Speaker 1: of gunpowder and primer material that, according to forensic analysis,
Speaker 1: was used in the pipe bombs. The state's experts testified
Speaker 1: that there were numerous similarities between the pipe bomb that
Speaker 1: exploded in Moody's home in nineteen seventy two and the
Speaker 1: four December nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs. They further testified
Speaker 1: that the bombs contained the signature of the same maker,
Speaker 1: indicating that they had all been made by the same person.
Speaker 1: The evidence also showed that the nineteen seventy two pipe bomb,
Speaker 1: like three of the four December nineteen eighty nine pipe bombs,
Speaker 1: and like the August nineteen eighty nine tier gas bomb,
Speaker 1: had been accompanied by a threatening note. The state also
Speaker 1: presented evidence showing that in February nineteen ninety, federal investigators
Speaker 1: recovered a steel pipe with threaded incaps during a search
Speaker 1: of a storage area that Moody was renting in Chamblee, Georgia.
Speaker 1: The device was similar in some respects to the nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy two pipe bomb and the December nineteen eighty nine
Speaker 1: pipe bomb, and a forensic explosives expert testified that the
Speaker 1: device appeared to represent a transitional phase between the nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy two pipe bomb and those used in December of
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine. Carlene Shiver, a woman who had dated
Speaker 1: Moody in the early nineteen eighties, testified that Moody owned
Speaker 1: a manual typewriter on which the letter A would jump.
Speaker 1: The state presented evidence demonstrating that each A appearing in
Speaker 1: a word on a type death threat letter from Americans
Speaker 1: for Competent Federal Judicial Systems that was sent to Brenda
Speaker 1: Wood at the WAGA television station in Atlanta shortly after
Speaker 1: the pipe bomb killing, jumped above the other letters in
Speaker 1: the word. Shiver also testified that Moody had once told
Speaker 1: her that a bombing was a perfect crime because when
Speaker 1: everything exploded, there was nothing left to investigate. That's an
Speaker 1: optimistic take, huh. During their investigation of the bombings, federal
Speaker 1: agents electronically monitored Moody's residence and the jail cell in
Speaker 1: which he was held after his arrest. The surveillance yielded
Speaker 1: several audio tapes on which Moody was heard whispering and
Speaker 1: criminating statements to himself. In one such quote conversation unquote,
Speaker 1: Moody stated, how you've killed two now you can't pull
Speaker 1: another bomban. In another statement that he whispered to himself,
Speaker 1: Moody complained that the courts were crooks and that he
Speaker 1: had been the victim of a quote judicial raping unquote.
Speaker 1: Moody then stated, I'll guarantee it'll never happen again. Now
Speaker 1: you don't believe me, you're in for a root awakening.
Speaker 1: In November nineteen ninety Moody was charged with numerous federal
Speaker 1: crimes related to the bombings. The venue for the trial
Speaker 1: on those charges was changed to Saint Paul, Minnesota. After
Speaker 1: a trial in June nineteen ninety one, the jury found
Speaker 1: Moody guilty on seventy one separate counts. He was sentenced
Speaker 1: to seven life terms plus four hundred years in the
Speaker 1: federal penitentiary. On April nineteenth, twenty eighteen, Walter Leroy Moody
Speaker 1: was executed by lethal injection at the age of eighty three.
Speaker 2: He was the.
Speaker 1: Oldest inmate ever executed in the state of out Babama
Speaker 1: since the death penalty was reinstated in nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 1: And that's the story of Walter Lee Roy Moody, the
Speaker 1: tri state terrorist. Phew, that was heavy. Let's get onto
Speaker 1: the crackhead Herald of Extraterrestrials, shall we. I'm, of course
Speaker 1: referring to Robert J. Moody. He was convicted of two
Speaker 1: counts of murder and sentenced to death, but then the
Speaker 1: charges were remanded and the conviction was reversed. So just
Speaker 1: what the heck happened? Well, this is the story of
Speaker 1: the power of hating, hating, hating your attorney, and whether
Speaker 1: through true, honest loathing or clever artifice, Robert J. Moody
Speaker 1: certainly hated his Upon Robert J. Moody's return to Arizona,
Speaker 1: Deputy Public Defender Daniel Grills was appointed as his counsel.
Speaker 1: In May of nineteen ninety four, Grills moved to withdraw
Speaker 1: alleging that Moody had developed an obsessive hatred for his
Speaker 1: attorney and his attorney's staff, and a belief that his
Speaker 1: attorney was totally incapable of providing him with even minimally
Speaker 1: competent representation. Grills this is the attorney further claimed that
Speaker 1: he had exhausted all efforts to reconcile the conflict and
Speaker 1: had reached a firm decision that the situation was irreparable.
Speaker 1: The court perceived that Moody's disagreement with Grills was based
Speaker 1: on his lawyer's refusal to present or investigate his so
Speaker 1: called quote alien defense unquote, rather than with the lawyer personally. So,
Speaker 1: in other words, the judge assumed that Moody didn't hate
Speaker 1: his lawyer personally, he just hated his lawyer because the
Speaker 1: lawyer would not pursue the extraterrestrial defense. Although the judge
Speaker 1: stated his opinion that this conflict would likely be present
Speaker 1: with any attorney appointed for the defendant, there is no
Speaker 1: record of a formal ruling on Grill's motion to withdraw.
Speaker 1: Because Grills continued with the representation, it's assumed that motion
Speaker 1: was denied. Then, on June twenty first, nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 1: Grills filed a second motion to withdraw, stating that Moody
Speaker 1: had demanded his removal. Apparently, Moody threatened to file ethical
Speaker 1: complaints against both Grills and the Public Defender's office if
Speaker 1: he did not obtain new counsel. He expressed his frustration
Speaker 1: at his attorney's failure to interview any witnesses. He also
Speaker 1: stated that he had no trust in Grills and no
Speaker 1: confidence that the lawyer would act in his best interest.
Speaker 1: When the judge denied this motion, Robert J. Moody indicated
Speaker 1: that he would file a request to proceed pro sae
Speaker 1: because of the court's refusal to appoint new council. In
Speaker 1: other words, Robert J. Moody wanted to represent himself. On
Speaker 1: July fifth, nineteen ninety five, Moody filed his motion for
Speaker 1: self representation, claiming, among other things, that Grills wilfully neglected
Speaker 1: to interview any of the states or the defendant's witnesses,
Speaker 1: and that the quote trust essential to effective attorney client
Speaker 1: relationship has been completely destroyed. He stated that he was
Speaker 1: being forced to accept the lawyer against his will. Ironically,
Speaker 1: Grills opposed the motion for Moody to represent himself, believing
Speaker 1: that any waiver was coercive under the circumstances. The court, however,
Speaker 1: granted the defendant's request and Moody represented himself at trial,
Speaker 1: Grills was appointed as advisory council, but was later replaced
Speaker 1: by another public defender, John Seaman. At this point, as
Speaker 1: mentioned on Thursday, Moody was convicted on both counts of
Speaker 1: first degree murder and sentenced to death. So why exactly
Speaker 1: was the conviction remanded and reversed? Well? On July thirteenth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five, the court had a hearing on the motions,
Speaker 1: in which Moody testified his desire to represent himself, and
Speaker 1: the judge found his waiver of council to be knowing,
Speaker 1: intelligent and voluntary. So the case proceeded a trial, with
Speaker 1: Moody defending himself and accused has a right under both
Speaker 1: federal and state constitutions to waive council and represent himself. However,
Speaker 1: as just stated, it must be knowing, intelligent and voluntary,
Speaker 1: which the judge found that it was. However, in this
Speaker 1: particular case, the choices presented to Moody were either representation
Speaker 1: by a lawyer with whom he had completely fractured his
Speaker 1: relationship and had clearly an irreconcilable conflict, or self representation.
Speaker 1: So by refusing to appoint a new council, the trial
Speaker 1: court effectively left him no alternative but to represent himself,
Speaker 1: forcing Moody to choose a situation that was constitutionally impermissible
Speaker 1: because both alternatives resulted in a violation of his right
Speaker 1: to representation. And this is the reason that the conviction
Speaker 1: was reversed. So I realized, this has all been fairly dry.
Speaker 1: And I promised you that the legal wrangling of Robert J.
Speaker 1: Moody would be entertaining. So where's the entertainment. Well, the
Speaker 1: entertainment lies in the elevated level of extreme conflict between
Speaker 1: Robert J. Moody and his attorney prior to the point
Speaker 1: at which Moody represented himself. Let's delve into those details
Speaker 1: a little bit. The record of this case is chock
Speaker 1: full of examples of deep and irreconcilable conflict between Robert J.
Speaker 1: Moody and his public defender, attorney Grills. Moody's confidence in
Speaker 1: his attorney was shaken at the outset when an officer
Speaker 1: at the jail allegedly told him that if Grills was
Speaker 1: his attorney, he might as well plead guilty because the
Speaker 1: lawyer quote keeps his files in his shirt pocket. In addition,
Speaker 1: the defendants assertions that he had been abducted by space
Speaker 1: aliens caused Grills to get angry with him and call
Speaker 1: him crazy, both to his face and to the press.
Speaker 1: When Grills disclosed one hundred and seventeen witnesses, the prosecutor
Speaker 1: moved for sanctions against him, claiming bad faith. The list
Speaker 1: of witnesses included former United States presidents and astronomer Carl Sagan.
Speaker 1: Grills provided address and phone information for only five of
Speaker 1: the persons on the list, and some were identified by
Speaker 1: first name only. Grill's response to the prosecutor's motion for
Speaker 1: sanction described the difficulties he was having with the defendant.
Speaker 1: He claimed that Moody insisted on the contents of the
Speaker 1: disclosure statement and that it was filed in an effort
Speaker 1: to regain his client's confidence by quote playing ball as
Speaker 1: the defendant would like it played. In other words, Grills
Speaker 1: said it was Moody's idea to call one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventeen people, including US presidents, Carl Sagan, and people by
Speaker 1: their first names. Despite this explanation, the court found the
Speaker 1: disclosure's fraudulent and ordered a good faith supplemental pleading within
Speaker 1: two weeks. The strained relationship between Moody and his lawyer continued.
Speaker 1: Moody accused Grills and the lead public defender of being
Speaker 1: incompetent and crazy. He believed that the lawyers were conspiring
Speaker 1: with the prosecutor, the court, and the doctor to have
Speaker 1: him declared insane. Grills admitted yelling at his clients, telling
Speaker 1: him that he did not care about his case, and
Speaker 1: threatened to quit if the defendant called the press. According
Speaker 1: to Grills, Moody developed an obsessive hatred for him and
Speaker 1: the public defender's office. Moody believed they were incapable of
Speaker 1: providing him with minimally competent representation. Grills stated that he
Speaker 1: and the defendant were almost at blows and were antagonistic
Speaker 1: towards each other. When Moody was found incompetent to stand trial,
Speaker 1: Grills allegedly had a party to celebrate. The conflict worsened
Speaker 1: after Moody was restored to confidence. He continued to believe
Speaker 1: that his lawyer was ineffective. The witnesses had yet to
Speaker 1: be interviewed, and, according to Moody, the attorney refused to
Speaker 1: meet with him. Meanwhile, Grills complained that his caseload was
Speaker 1: preventing him from preparing adequately for Moody's trial. Grills repeatedly
Speaker 1: informed the trial court that he believed his client would
Speaker 1: cooperate with a different attorney. During the hearing. On the
Speaker 1: first motion to withdraw, he pleaded with the trial judge.
Speaker 1: Here's some of what he had to say. I've addressed
Speaker 1: personally my issue of this problem, and that he's not
Speaker 1: going to have any other attorney otherwise. I've tried to
Speaker 1: weather the storm, your honor. I've tried from day one.
Speaker 1: I just got off to a bad start, all the
Speaker 1: problem with the jail, with the guards attacking my ability
Speaker 1: as an attorney way back in the proceedings. It's just
Speaker 1: degraded ever since then. I've made every effort, your honor.
Speaker 1: I made mister Moodia wear countless times. If there's a
Speaker 1: substitution that occurs, that it's his last one, the last
Speaker 1: bite he gets at the apple. I think that alone
Speaker 1: will create incentive, but frankly, not to oversimplify it, its
Speaker 1: just not have the name public defender after it. I
Speaker 1: know people that are on the contract list, and I
Speaker 1: can't think of one that wouldn't be able to get
Speaker 1: along better with him than me, Your Honor. He's focused
Speaker 1: on me one hundred percent. Interesting aside, part of his
Speaker 1: thinking is that the next lawyer is predestined and he's
Speaker 1: not going to have any problems with him. I've told
Speaker 1: him this has been going on since day one, Your Honor,
Speaker 1: and I've in effect threatened him, saying, you know, if
Speaker 1: you get another lawyer, that's going to be it. You
Speaker 1: don't get any more. But if there's one thousand lawyers
Speaker 1: in Pima County, nine hundred and ninety nine of them
Speaker 1: will get along better with him than me. And that,
Speaker 1: my friends, is some serious lawyer shade. If there's a
Speaker 1: thousand lawyers in Pima County, nine hundred and ninety nine
Speaker 1: of them will get along with him better than me. Wow.
Speaker 1: So we already know that Moody's initial conviction and sentence
Speaker 1: of death was reversed, but before the reversal, before the conviction.
Speaker 1: In fact, on the last day of the trial, when
Speaker 1: he was representing himself the last day of the trial,
Speaker 1: which in fact was Moody's thirty seventh birthday, he said
Speaker 1: to Judge Howard Hantman, We've finally come to the point
Speaker 1: where I get my birthday wish I hope you grant
Speaker 1: me the appropriate sentence to allow me to complete my mission,
Speaker 1: by which he meant sentence me to death so I
Speaker 1: can finish my job of being the crackhead herald of extraterrestrials.
Speaker 1: And on the day of his sentencing to death, Robert J. Moody,
Speaker 1: the one time financial planner and real estate agent, showed
Speaker 1: no reaction to the sentence and spent much of the
Speaker 1: hearing smiling at the packed courtroom. Even though his conviction
Speaker 1: was reversed, Moody would go back on trial in twenty
Speaker 1: ten and be convicted again no double murder this time,
Speaker 1: though he was not sentenced to death, but rather to
Speaker 1: life in prison. And in twenty nineteen, Robert J. Moody,
Speaker 1: Crackhead Herald of Extraterrestrials, died in prison of an undisclosed illness.
Speaker 1: Shortly after his passing, The following letter was written to
Speaker 1: a newspaper in Tucson. And I have in fact found
Speaker 1: this same testimony in the official appeal documents surrounding Moody's case,
Speaker 1: so I think we can safely assume that it's true.
Speaker 1: Here's what the letter writer had to say. As a
Speaker 1: former deputy working in the courthouse. I was assigned, along
Speaker 1: with others to guard Moody during his self representation. Moody
Speaker 1: was allowed every day eight full hours to use the
Speaker 1: phone and have legal access. The personnel specifically assigned to
Speaker 1: him not allowed to write reports or speak of his
Speaker 1: calls or statements. Evans aside. Here he essentially had attorney
Speaker 1: client privilege with himself, so he could say or do
Speaker 1: whatever during his legal time, and the guards who observed
Speaker 1: it had to keep his secrets. So the letter written
Speaker 1: to the Tucson newspaper goes on to say again, the
Speaker 1: personnel specifically assigned to him were not allowed to write
Speaker 1: reports or speak of his calls or statements. I this
Speaker 1: is the former guard. I repeatedly heard him confess to
Speaker 1: these murders and stood by while he used his quote
Speaker 1: law time unquote that's what he called it to call
Speaker 1: publishers and friends, to whom he bragged about how he
Speaker 1: was beating the system, costing the taxpayer's money, and buying
Speaker 1: time to embarrass the system. He even told me himself
Speaker 1: that he murdered the women because he was on a
Speaker 1: coke binge and needed money. I was bound by court
Speaker 1: orders not to repeat, nor document these confessions. Judge Hampman
Speaker 1: followed all safeties to ensure a fair trial. So that's
Speaker 1: pretty wild, isn't it. I mean that essentially shows that
Speaker 1: this whole space alien malarkey was just that mallarchy, and
Speaker 1: that Moody was convinced that he could successfully confound the
Speaker 1: justice system by forcing self representation through waging war on
Speaker 1: his poor public defender. Wow, that is indeed one murdery Moody.
Speaker 1: I'm z Evan Oldberg and this has been kind of murdery.
Speaker 1: If you like the show, they subscribe, review and tell
Speaker 1: your friends. You can find us on social media at
Speaker 1: Kinyamurdery or email at Kinomurdery at gmail dot com.
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