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I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me.
She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you.
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Download Thumbtack today. Hey weirdos, I'm Alayna.
I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. What? It's huge.
It's not little tiny small because we don't even do that anymore.
No, and actually this is not huge at all.
This is going to be like a pretty normal episode.
And that's weird because it's your episode.
I know, but I figured, you know what, we've done a lot of heavy episodes lately, a lot of long episodes lately, so we just wanted to throw a couple little ones in there.
Little nuggets. Little nuggets. I think we all need just like a little shake off.
Yeah. From the past couple weeks. Yeah. A lot.
And first I wanted to say that we do know everything going on with the Vanessa Keen.
We do. It's bonkers. We've been following it.
We just haven't... covered it or said anything about it yet because we want to cover it in an episode because it's wow Wow.
Wow is all I can say. And we want to cover it from beginning to end.
So we were just waiting for all the stuff to develop because it's currently developing right now right so to answer people who are asking we are going to cover it we just wanted to wait for more stuff to come out we don't want to jump the gun on too many cases and then you know things come out and we end up having to do another episode which is not like a big deal but it's just if we can get it all into one episode it's nice yeah um it gives you the whole picture Yeah, exactly.
It's just nice to have the full narrative.
So hopefully we'll have a little more. We're going to do it soon.
I promise we're not going to wait on it.
We won't wait for like the entire thing to be wrapped up.
No, probably like within the next couple of weeks. couple of weeks yeah for sure and then um another thing i wanted to mention was um her so uh i don't know if anybody watched that show um i'll be gone in the dark Okay.
I like didn't watch it yet. It's so good.
I know. I can't believe that we started the podcast on the Golden State Killer and I haven't even watched it yet.
I suck. I'm telling you guys, this show is amazing.
Michelle McNamara is... Someone I am so sad that I didn't get to know in life.
It's just... she's everything you want a human to be it's insane i gotta watch it oh watching it you're just like yes is it it's oxygen Nope, it's HBO.
HBO. And it's Sunday nights, I think. So we've been, John and I have been recording it and we watched the first one together, which we never get to watch shows together.
I know, that's cute. It was actually him who was like, I want to sit down and watch this.
Actually, I'm gonna have to watch it here.
I don't have HBO you will there you go so we'll have to watch it together and it's really good and there's like a lot of familiar faces in it you're gonna see like Karen kill gareth is in it what billy jensen is in it what um but it's so good i can't wait to watch the rest of the series so i just wanted to recommend that And we had a couple of people asking since our first episode was the Golden State Killer episode, and woo boy!
We are very... Yeah, that audiosis. I'd like to think we're a little more polished now than we were back then, but...
I think we recorded that episode sitting on your couch.
We sure did. And we sure did. And I think they were like $15 microphones.
So yeah. No soundproofing at all. Good times.
People have been asking, are you going to do an update?
Are you going to do another? I think we should give another crack at the Golden State Killer because a lot came out after our episode, obviously.
So, I think we'll end up giving it another crack, especially with the new, you know, the new show and everything.
It's like, it seems like a good time to start talking about it again.
So we'll do that too. And that'd be fun.
So those are, yeah, those are a couple that you can look forward to. um i think i think the other the only other like cleanup corner that we have is um The tickets to well, first of all, all of our live shows for 2020 are going to be moved to 2021.
Yes. Because of the current coronavirus pandemic issue, what have we?
We just want to make sure it's basically none of these venues can really tell right now when they're going to open, how many people they're going to be able to have in the place.
We don't want you to be having to sit like every other seat.
We don't want you feeling unsafe. We don't want us feeling unsafe.
Like, everybody's got to feel good coming to these shows.
We want it to be a fun. right experience we want to be able to meet everybody right and not have to be like cool we can wave to you from over we don't want to be like panicking on stage when we hear somebody sneeze And again, this is just, you know, we don't know when venues are opening, closing, capacity, all that stuff.
We just kind of have to go by them and we're totally willing to go by them because we really want to. want to have good shows.
Yeah, absolutely. And every ticket, any ticket that has been purchased is going to transfer. to any rescheduled date that we have yeah so if you have a ticket right now to a show it is good for whatever the rescheduled date is even though we don't know all the rescheduled But we'll tell you right when we know.
As soon as we know, I'm going to call you all personally.
Just kidding. Then, if you, for some reason, want a refund, something came up, you can't make the rescheduled date anymore.
Life happens. Life happens. It's a weird situation.
Just whoever you bought tickets from, whether it be the venue or like some site like Ticketmaster or something like that.
You just have to bring it up with them because as much as we would love to help you, we just we don't have any. say or power over like refunds or anything like that.
We don't have the money to give refunds.
We don't have... So, you know, the Ticketmaster people or the venue people, they're the ones to talk to about that.
And they'll be able to help you out with whatever needs to happen.
We just didn't want anybody being like, oh, no, like I could, you know, I could afford these tickets now, but something came up or.
Right, and it's a pandemic, so. I could go to this state, but I can't go to this state now, and suddenly being like, oh, what do I do?
Totally understandable because, of course, these shows have been given multiple dates at this point because pandemic, blah.
So we totally get it. We just wanted to give you guys the information of where to go just in case.
Nobody should have to be hanging on to tickets they can't use.
Hopefully you can all use them. I hope we all get to see you guys.
I want to see all of your weirdo faces. Because the longer that we have to wait, the better the show's going to be.
Because... Honestly, we got all this extra time to make it awesome.
So it's going to be worth your while. And we told you that some really exciting things were going to happen in July.
And look what we just announced. Right. And we still have another announcement that we're not. currently saying yet.
So we hope you guys are psyched for the new podcast show Crime Countdown.
Um, it's still, we're still going to be doing the same amount of morbid.
Nothing's going to change with morbid. It's just extra.
It's just more. And it's going to be really fun.
We've had so much fun so far. Parkhouse is awesome.
Yeah, we're very excited to work with them and we're very excited for you guys to hear these.
I think you're really going to like them.
Uh, so I think that's really all we had to touch upon and I think we can just get to this weird case.
What is your case? So this weird case that I chose we were trying to do you know trying to go away from you know current events and you know, big long things.
And I was like, let's just do something like weird and old.
Love that. Something like you. Yeah, just something weird and old like me.
You just said yeah after I insulted you.
That's not an insult to me at all. I'm kidding.
I'm totally kidding. I am 100% weird and old.
No, you're not. You're weird, but you're not old.
In relatively in this podcast, I am. Honestly.
So this is the Hex House murder. Okay. That's right.
The Hex House. That's right. That reminds me of, oh, where are my OGs at?
Scooby-Doo, the Hex Girls. Oh, the Hex Girls.
Girl. I don't know what that is. Because you're weird and old.
The Hex Girls was like this band on Scooby-Doo and they were fun.
I don't remember like anything about it because I smoked way too much weed before my frontal lobe developed.
But like, whoa, it was great. I mean, it sounds rad.
It was good. Honestly, I'm going to go home and watch Scooby-Doo after this. totally in i'm totally in for this uh well this is a nice uh not a nice this is a horrific Quite the opposite of nice.
A horrific 19... Roaring 20s murder. Ooh.
But it's a weird one, man. There's just a lot of weird stuff in this.
So it centers around a guy named John Blymeyer.
He was born in 1895 in York County, Pennsylvania.
All right. He was from German American ancestry.
His family had like come over. That part of Pennsylvania had a lot of like German-Americans.
Mm-hmm. um in that like your county is kind of like pennsylvania dutch county you know what i mean like oh okay yep yep um So during this time period and in this area of the country and with these, you know, these certain counties, witches, hexing, healing magic, all that.
You know hexing. They were huge. Hexing was huge.
It was like a thing then. I love that. Hexing wasn't like that, like, like hexing.
It was literally like, oh no, I have the flu.
I've been hexed. Like that's amazing. That wasn't like something that you'd hear someone say and be like, you okay though?
Like what? Right. You'd be like, probably.
Hexing was not taken lightly back in the day.
At that time, you were like, you've definitely been hexed.
You should find out who did that. Like, it was a very serious thing.
And witches around this area in this time period also referred to themselves And were referred to as powwowers.
Powwowers. Now, powwowing is not technically witchcraft.
A lot of people confuse it with witchcraft because it's centered around magic and rituals.
You know, it has pagan influences. But what it is, it's basically folk magic, powwowing.
Okay. And it centers around helping and healing.
That's a lot. It's shamanic. Is it almost like Reiki?
A little bit. It's like, yeah, it is a little bit.
I'm sure Reiki is kind of like involved in that whole thing.
Sure. um but it's like a practice like the powwowers are you know generations of powwowers it's like a witch but like A little different.
A little different. I don't know if they want to be called a witch.
So again, it centers around helping and healing. healing, it's mainly practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch in that area at the time.
When they had first settled there, They were intrigued by the Native Americans' use of spells and incantations and seemingly magical healing abilities.
Yeah. And they kind of observed their meetings and they found out they were called powwows.
And they took the term to become their own form of healing magic.
That's so cool. So it's kind of like a nice thing.
It's all pretty positive. Everything sounds good so far.
At least the idea of powwowing is supposed to be a positive healing experience.
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The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn.
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It was also really intertwined with Christianity, which is interesting.
That is interesting. Because like magic and stuff, it just seems like those two things like wouldn't really go together.
Normally like dueling forces. But usually the practitioners considered themselves, they identified as Christian, but they took part in these pagan rituals of magic.
Huh. So it's like really interesting to me this whole thing.
Yeah. In fact, they use the Bible quite often as a method of producing incantations and spells.
Really? They use it almost like their spell book or their incantation book.
Because they believe that the power has to come from God and not from the devil. well that's good so they look at it like that yeah and the other their other like bible that they look to And I like Bible, quote unquote.
It's not the Bible. Their Bible of sorts is this book called The Long Lost Friend.
And it's supposed to be, like, the powwower's, like, real incantation spellbook.
Okay. The powwow power... like I said before, is passed down.
And there's a tradition, which I was like, oh, that's like, have you ever heard like the seventh son of the seventh son?
Yeah. that's in powwow magic too oh really yeah this like apparently like the seventh son of the seventh son has like crazy power like weird unique power Because isn't seven, like, a very, like, prominent number?
I know it's, like, it has a lot of... like influence in different kind of ritualistic kind of situations uh but that just was interesting to me and people were all about magical healing at this point instead of magic medical doctors.
Oh, okay. So not. Yes. We love the holistic approach, but like doctors are helpful.
But like let's believe in medical science as well.
Yes. Let's have them both go hand in hand.
Right. That's what I want. Consult with your doctor about your holistic healing.
Exactly. Like, there's room for both in the world.
They would go see healers using charms and potions and herbs and spells to convince people that they were being cured or that they were being cursed or hexed.
Mm-hmm. uh so ceremonies were a huge part of these folk healing processes and the practitioners were well known and well respected in their communities so powwowers were known like hey my neighbor down the street is like a really great pow hour like he does awesome shit And it was like, if you're sick, go to him and he'll fix you up.
It's almost like the neighborhood chiropractor.
It is. It's like, I know a guy. I know a guy.
He can fix this up. and so they were respected they had like people knew what they were doing and where does this all go wrong I know right now it's like, this is wonderful.
Right? And powwowers also, the tradition is that they don't, take payment for their practices.
So if they heal you, they don't tell you you have to pay them. they will accept payment if you donate it to them.
So it's kind of one of those like- You should.
Kind of like when someone leaves firewood on the side of the street and it's like, free firewood.
That's like a little thing for donations.
Right, right, right. You could just walk up and take that firewood, but like, are you really going to be that big of a jerk?
I just said a ship hag. Don't be a ship hag and just take the firewood.
You got to leave a couple of bucks. I keep like, like intertwining words.
You do. I don't know what kind of like thing you've been inflicted with.
I don't know. I've been hexed. I just said inflicted.
Afflicted is what I meant. What's happening?
We have been hexed. Oh, no. Normally, I'm the one hexed.
Oh, no. No, I'm totally kidding. I'm totally kidding.
Nobody texts in here. Not now, at least.
Hexen in the street with my girls. Not anymore at least, okay?
So families relied on on these powwowers powers to heal them and to help them survive basically like If any of their kids got sick, they were going to a pow-wower.
Right. So according to David W. Kribles, pow-wowing among the Pennsylvania Dutch... um it's a book by the way um a common cure was to tell someone with a wound to repeat Blood thou must stop until the Virgin Mary bring forth another son.
Oh, which I'm like, okay. Cool. Don't apply pressure.
Just say that over and over. Don't have to do that.
Just say that. Which that statement, I'm like, yeah.
Like that's like you got to stop blood until the Virgin Mary has another son.
So that's like stop forever. Don't bleed.
Right. So it makes sense. But maybe put a little pressure on it while you do that.
Just a little dab. See? Room for everybody.
Throw a medical doctor in there. Right, it's a medley.
To be like, maybe put a compress on there.
While you say your chant. Exactly. Again, there's room for everyone at the table.
So John was born into, not my John, this John.
John was not. You know John. Yeah. John was born into a powwow family.
He was not. That would be awesome if he was.
That would be fucking great. But he was not.
He cannot heal me. So John was born into a powwow family.
His father and his grandfather were powwowers and were apparently like pretty powerful, pretty respected.
Cool. Could really do the shit. They taught John all the ways of their practice from really early in his childhood.
I mean, like four years old. Oh, yeah. you're magical, let's do this, like four years old.
That's a great thing to do. My kids are four years old and I can't imagine bestowing upon them the kind of responsibility of healing people.
They can barely go get their juice cups by themselves.
I love them. But I literally told one of them to go get their juice box and she walked out on the patio, stared off into the distance and said, I can't find it.
Like, that was it. It was like a solid two feet away from her.
I don't see her, you know, commanding these healing powers that she possesses.
Right now, at least. Not now. But at four, he was seeing visions.
So the powers were bestowed upon. They were.
He was down the line. And at like seven years old, he had healed his own grandfather's urinating issues.
Oh. Yeah. Wow. His grandfather, Andrew, was having some trouble.
You know, it happens to the best of us. Right.
And little seven-year-old John was like, I got you.
I don't know exactly what he did, but he healed him right up.
Okay, okay. Yeah, and it was like a ritual.
Like a seven-year-old did a ritual. That's pretty cool.
Pretty badass. A pee ritual. And it worked.
Okay. So he didn't have the greatest childhood, as I'm assuming you could probably Because he's like steady working.
He's steady working. He didn't start school until like eight years old.
That's confusing. Which is late. Yes, correct.
One might say. Three or four years too late.
Yeah, a little bit. And most of this was because they were too focused on him becoming like a pow-wower and focusing on that.
And they weren't really concerned with him actually... doing anything academic.
But, you know, he was at eight years old, he went to school, but he was also sick a lot.
He was like a sickly kid. Well, why didn't they figure that out?
Well, you know, I guess you can't. Well, he did.
They actually did. They had other power hours heal him.
Okay. And we're going to circle back to that afterwards because it connects to the rest of the story, actually.
All right, I'm ready. So good on you. Thank you.
So his teachers described him as slow, and he was referred to by psychologists as dull slow.
Oh, that's really nice of them. Which back then didn't mean, you know, it just basically means lower intelligence back then.
Like, it just means, like, dull means, like, you're just not, like... Like, almost, like, dense.
Yeah, exactly. Like, it just means you're kind of, like, not super...
Not with it. Quick with the uptake. So at 10 years old, he started working, digging potatoes for a neighbor who had a farm.
Well, that's fucking great. Yeah. And the neighbor's name was Nelson Raymeyer.
And he lived about eight miles away from the Blymeyers.
So he left school at 13 years old. And he started when he was eight.
So he had five years of schooling. Solid academic career.
I wish that's what mine was, to be honest with you.
That's all it should have been. That really is.
I mean, probably that's what it totaled up to.
Probably. And he left school at 13, started working in a York cigar factory at 13 years old.
Remember, different time. Right, right. But he continued to practice pow-wowing, and he was getting pretty good at it at this point.
So that's great then. Because he was spending a lot of time doing it.
So powwowers, again, like I said, they don't ask for payment for what they're doing.
So you can't really make a living off of it.
It's just something you have to kind of, but people, unless you're like super good and you like, people are like, take all my money.
Exactly. And that's what it is. So a lot of it has to do with your personality and you being engaging to make people believe that you're really...
That's like half of being a hairstylist as well.
There you go. Except you get paid too. That's...
Correct. So it's a little different, but the same.
Yeah. Now, one day when he was leaving work at the cigar factory, he saw a rabid dog foaming at the mouth.
Oh no. And this dog was charging at him and his coworkers.
Oh no. And they were freaking out. Everybody was like, holy shit.
They're trying to run back in the factory, but it's like chaos.
He calmly walked up to it, set a spell while holding his hand on its face. mimed the sign of the cross on his head, and the dog immediately stopped foaming and snarling and then followed him home wagging his tail.
No fucking way. It happened. And everyone was like, whoa.
I love when you do that. But like, I'm shook.
Everyone was like, holy shit. I thought you were going to do it again.
Thank you. They were like, wow, that's crazy.
You're a pow-wower. You just did that shit.
Right. So then that became his living after that, huh?
When they were like, this is it. Like, you are the...
The shit. You just did the damn thing. We watched you.
Like a whole group of us just watched you.
Now. You would think, like, you're like, oh, like you said, now it's his living.
Right. This is actually when shit went really bad for John.
Why? He just saved a damn dog. He started getting really sick.
He was losing weight rapidly, like couldn't keep weight on.
He couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat. He saw this not as a genuine sickness, though.
He wasn't like, oh no, what's wrong? I should go to a doctor.
He obviously was like, a hex is placed on me.
And it was probably placed on me by some jealous pow-wower who's pissed that I am stealing their thunder.
Wow. Okay. Which makes sense logically. Duh.
Now his only job at this point in his mind, was to get this hex gone.
He was like, I gotta get this hex off me.
I can't live like this. Hex be gone. Yeah, we gotta get this gone.
Unfortunately, in powwow magic, you need to know who hexed you in order to remove it.
I mean, you know what? That makes sense.
It kind of does, but it's like a real bummer.
Because how are you supposed to find out?
Well, it's like, who's just going to be like, huh?
Hexed you, motherfucker. And then just like walk away and you're going to be like, oh, it was him.
I feel like you would do that. I probably would.
Not if I knew that you had to know who I was to get it off.
Yeah, that's true. If I knew that, I'd be like, ooh, zip these lips.
Was it me? It couldn't be me. Yeah, I'd be like, not me.
What are you talking about? But he did try and like failed many times with his father and his grandfather.
They tried everything to get the sex off of him.
They were unable to figure it out via magic.
So he started becoming paranoid. He was obsessive. super nervous like twitchy well he also like wasn't sleeping exactly he wasn't sleeping and wasn't eating And he had lost his own abilities to perform healing rituals.
Oh, no. Yeah. So he was starting to freak out and he was becoming desperate.
He consulted every witch he knew. They said upwards of like 20 plus witches he talked to in like pow hours trying to get this fixed.
Nothing came out of it. his first suspect he pointed to he was like the first person he thought that hexed him was the ghost of his great-grandfather jacob So how the fuck are you gonna confront a ghost?
Well, and it's like, yeah, obviously. The ghost of your great-grandfather did this.
Well, so why did your great-grandfather care if you were good or not?
Apparently, his great-grandfather was the seventh son of the seventh son.
That gives you all that crazy ass power from the dead.
Now, he came to this conclusion that it was his great grandfather, Jacob.
Because one night at exactly midnight, he looked out the window and a barn owl hooted seven times.
And he was like, whelp. Definitely great grandpa.
I mean, it makes sense to me. So he was like, I mean, I see it.
I get it. Actually, anytime owls hoo, I get, like, really fucking nervous because it's actually a bad fucking omen.
So, like, I honestly feel that. Owls hooting or bad omen?
After a certain time, and I forget what time it is, so anytime I hear it, I just get really fucking excited.
I love when I hear hooting owls. I don't.
To me, it sounds ominous as fuck. Oh, I love it.
It makes me feel spooky and I love it. No, it makes me feel like something bad is going to happen.
It makes me feel all warm. I should Google what time it is so that I can have at least like a little bit of happiness.
You should do it. Happiness. Well, so he heard the owl, the barn owl hoot seven times.
His great-grandfather's the seventh son of the seven sons.
That's it. Seven times, seventh son. It's definitely great.
He's like, whoop, there it is. Hoot. There it is.
There it is. So he moved away from the home because it was near the family burial ground where great grandpa Jacob was buried.
And he thinks this seventh son isn't going to fucking follow him to wherever he goes next.
Hell yeah. So he moved into several rooming houses and he started working odd jobs.
For a little while, it seemed like it worked moving away.
Okay. He was getting a little better. Just a little better.
So during this time, he was around 18 years old.
He met a woman named Lily. They got married.
I love love. Now, apparently during this time... I mean...
It's not awesome. Apparently during this time, his hex was, you know, starting to get better, but then it started creeping back.
He was feeling a little good at this point.
He found Lily. They got married. But like shit's not going to stay that way.
OK. So he went to a medical doctor because he still wasn't feeling he still wasn't feeling quite himself.
And he was like, I just want, you know, let's go check it out.
Yeah. Which, like, good on you. It's about time, bro.
He went to a medical doctor, told him the whole thing. and the doctor said, you're only hexed because you believe you're hexed.
He was like, It's totally a psychosomatic thing.
Like you have convinced yourself you're hexed and that's why you're feeling physical ailments.
Yes. Because you've you've convinced your own mind that you are happy.
I totally believe in that. And I fully believe that.
Now, John was like, nah. But he still, he was like, no, this is not it.
So then he was like, you know what, whatever.
I feel okay. Like, I'm not feeling as bad as I did before, so I'm just going to ignore this doctor and, like, move on.
So you wasted your time going to a doctor.
Yeah. Okay. So then his first and his second children died within days of being born.
Oh, that's horrific. Which is very sad. Yeah, and so John started spiraling, which I think anybody would, honestly.
He was suffering from constant headaches.
He weighed less than 100 pounds at one point.
Oh my God. He was just like sick, twitchy, nervous.
Like he was just like sweating all the time.
He was diagnosed at one point with hypochondrial melancholia.
What is that? Which is like a hypochondrial.
He's like super duper sad. Like, melancholy is like depression, but like a very different, like a very distinct form of depression.
Mm-hmm. And he was also diagnosed with nervous exhaustion.
Okay. So he was fucked. He's really creating a storm in his own head.
Right. The doctor was trying to tell him, you're creating this yourself and you really need to get help for this.
And he was like, no. He was like, nope, it's a hex and I need to figure out the hex.
And it's like if he had just concentrated on the fact that this is in his own brain.
Right. And gotten help. I don't know if any of this would have happened that happens.
So he began seeing, at this point, he's like, all right, I'm going to see a powwow doctor.
Okay. A very powerful powwow doctor named Andrew Lenhart.
Now, Lenhart was really feared and really respected.
He was so feared that the police wouldn't even fuck with him.
Why? Because they just let him do his shit.
Was he like doing like bad shit? Well, because people said the only way to remove hexes he put on people was to conjure the devil himself to do it for you.
Okay. So he was a situation. I guess. He was a lot.
And so I think the police were like, we're not, no.
Even the 1920s police that I just picture being like... really goofy they were like it ain't me and just be like and they just all have like billy clubs and they're all just like dancing that's just like what i picture to 1920 stops to be They probably were.
Let's be real. We're going to get an email of somebody that was like, my great great grandma.
Was a 1920s police officer and they did not go da da da da da. no I think they did so but they were like we're not fucking with that so they just let him and it's like real nice police well he was just hexing people they just let him be this fucking fearsome manipulative dude who was like he was also a little bit helpful he really wasn't though oh So he's scary.
And so Lenhart told John, whoever hexed him was close to him.
Uh-huh. And by doing that, he made John look at the only person who was really close to him, his wife.
Yeah, honey, you were hexed before that.
Poor Lily. And he was like, so Lily was like, what?
Like, no. Like, I didn't even know you when you got hacked.
Yeah, she's like, I don't understand this.
So she went to her father because I guess at this time this had happened before where like a wife had thought she was hexed or a husband had. and they had ended up shooting the other one.
Like, it was a thing. Oh, damn. So Lily was like, I'm not about to get shot.
Yeah, she was like, I'm not getting involved in this.
She had already been dealing with his, like... his like craziness at this point because he was just so obsessive about this hex right And so, and I mean, she's dealing with the grief of losing two children.
She has one young child. There's a lot going on and Lily's like, no. not dealing with this.
So she went to her father and she was like, help.
I do. So her father was like, all right, we need to get him to see a psychologist.
Right. So he did. Well, that's good. Okay.
And the psychologist diagnosed him with psychoneurosis and said he had to be committed to a state hospital.
In Harrisburg. And they were like... He needs to be committed for treatment.
Which is... Which at this point... I want to be like... Yay!
He's getting treatment. But like... Those were not great places.
Yeah, back in the day. Yeah, it's like, so you're just like, oh.
Like, fuck. I don't think that's going to help him.
Like, I... Part of me is like, yay, treatment.
Then the other one's like, oh, no. Not then.
So no, that's not good. So during this time, Lily did file for divorce.
And after 48 days of him being committed in this hospital, he just walked the fuck out the front door.
He just wasn't having it anymore. Just walked out.
And no one took notice. No one asked where he was.
Good. That's telling. And I mean, to be fair, I guess, I did read something from somebody working in the hospital, one of the psychologists. was like we were so overworked and over like we were understaffed and they were giving us like hundreds of patients to be aware of and they were like we just we couldn't keep track of everybody which is like okay not good but like that's not a good way to run a state hospital right don't do that's actually probably the way not to run your state Yeah, I'd say that's like a really bad way to run it.
Yeah. Now, so he just, he got out. He wasn't going back with Lily, obviously, because she divorced him.
And he thought he hexed her. Or she hexed him, excuse me.
At this point, well, I think at this point he's like, I don't know if it was Lily.
Like, all of a sudden he's like, whoops.
He had, okay. Yeah. So he started working at the cigar factory again.
And when he was there, he met a teenager who was around 14 years old.
And this guy's name was John Curry. Okay.
Now Curry had a shitty childhood of like abuse and neglect.
Like his like stepfather was like a piece of shit and beat the shit out of him.
And his mother was just like very... Like didn't care.
Like just let it happen. So he was like screwed.
So he was convinced... that his whole life was a hex.
He was like, this is a hex. The reason that this is happening to me.
There's been times where I wonder that too, John.
So you're like, you know what, John Curry, I got you.
Now, unfortunately, it was just shitty parents, obviously.
Isn't it always? It is. Now, but he and John were like, whoa, let's be best friends because hexes.
Because we have that one big thing in common.
Hexen, you know, we're all we're Hex. It's a Hex club.
Fun. He also met a guy named Milton Hess, who believed his wife Alice and himself were also Hex.
Oh, so this is about to be like a bunch of angry people band together who think that they're hexed and I'm scared about it.
Yes. So Milton Hex was a farmer. They had had a lot of success.
Did you say Milton Hex? Milton Hess. Oh, I was like, what?
No, Milton Hess was a farmer. He and his wife, and he had kids, they had a lot of success on their farm.
They had a very nice life. But recently their crops had suddenly sucked, their cow wasn't producing milk, animals stopped being whatever their animals needed to be.
They got hexed is what you're telling me.
They were hexed. So Milton was like, that's why I know that we're hexed.
Right. So John is like, see, I'm not crazy.
We're all hexed. Okay. And they're just like reinforcing each other at this point, which is just not good.
That's how cults start. It sure is. So now he's even more obsessed and he decides to seek out this old lady named Mrs. Knopt. who also was known as Nellie Knoll, the so-called River Witch of Marietta.
Which sounds awesome. Sounds like a fucking title and a half.
It sounds like a movie I want to watch. Me as well.
Or a book I want to read. Or somebody I want to hang out with.
Yes, right? I want to hang out with the river witch of Marietta.
I want to be on her good side, that's for sure.
I want to play her in a movie or something.
It sounds awesome. You know what? I think you'd do it justice.
I think I would too. I could be a river witch.
So this witch, she's like super old. I'm pretty sure she's like in her 90s.
She's like one of those very wise old witches.
Duh. This witch was like, all right, a member of the Ray Meyer family hexed you.
Okay. Now, the Ramire family were those farmers who lived eight miles away from John's family growing up, the ones he dug potatoes for.
Oh, oh, oh. Yeah. Yeah. He was doing them their work and he got hexed by them.
So John was like, wait, what? And she was like...
I don't know. This is just the Ramire family.
She was like, I'm 90. I told you what you needed to know.
I just give the message. I don't explain why.
So he was like, what? I don't know. And so he was like, you know what?
You're going to have to prove this to me because I don't know if I believe it.
So he went to her for a total of six sessions.
And according to Pow Wowing Among the Pennsylvania Dutch by David W. Cravel, which I mentioned earlier.
Yes. it's a book it's a book it's a book guys uh she revealed this information really slowly like a business savvy powerhouse that she is.
Because is she getting paid for the sessions?
Yeah, because she's getting paid for these sessions.
So first session, she was like, yep you were hexed and he's like well fuck confirmed the hex the second session she was like A man did it.
And then the third session, she was like...
He's old. Oh my God. And then the fourth session, she's like...
He lives in this country. Shut the fuck up.
We're getting good. We're getting warmer.
We're getting there. The fifth session, she does get a little more specific.
She says, you've known this person since you were a child.
Okay. And then the sixth session, she's like, Boom!
Ray Myers. Nelson Ray Myers. Okay. And so he's like...
No. And so she's like, no, he's known as the Witch of Raymire Hollow.
Is he? Which again, another... metal name right like what these people are out here they're doing the damn thing uh but so she's like don't you know like he's a powerful witch and he's like what what or wouldn't he be a warlock well no they're called like well they're powwowers so i shouldn't say much so But he was known as the witch of Raymeyer Hollow.
Okay. So John is like, what? And then he's like, wait a second.
And he's like, I, and I think I wrote in my notes, like he was shocked because this was potato Ray Meyer.
Yeah. but just a good old potato and he was like i worked for him when i was 10 what are you talking about she's like i know i told you you've known him since you were little you didn't dig up the potatoes as well as some other people did well and then he's like wait a second you're right about him having powers and he's like When I was super sickly as a child.
And he healed me. And he said three separate times my father and grandfather brought me to Nelson Raymeier and he cured me. three separate times so then why would he hex him well that's he's like so why would he hex me he like took care of me Like, he actually, like, did.
And his father and grandfather said, like, he did.
He healed you when no one else could. Right.
So she was like, yeah, I don't know. She was like, I couldn't tell you.
You want an eighth session? She was like, you know what?
That sure sucks, but I don't know what to tell you why.
And then she was like, okay. To remove this hex you need to get some of his hair and you need to bury it six to ten feet underground or You need to steal his copy of The Long Lost Friend, which is like the Pow Hours thing, and burn it.
You need to do one of those things. And the hex will be removed forever.
Now, he kept seeing her because he's like, okay, I need to know more about this.
He's like, I'm going to keep seeing you.
I'm going to keep giving you this $5 for no reason.
And she was telling him all this shit, telling him, you know, like he definitely did it.
Um, like how long he had been doing it. She, she's just feeding him all this stuff.
And eventually he was like, oh yeah. He also put the hex on John Curry and Milton Hess and his family.
Oh, she's like, you know, you're good friends.
You know, you're bros. So this is when they were like, whoa, wait a second.
Now, also, he was like, you know what, this is all sounding correct because you're giving me a lot of information that makes sense.
Right. But he was like, you need to prove it to me that this is Nelson.
Ray Meyer and not like one of the other Ray Meyers.
Right, right, right. And so she had him put he he put like a dollar bill On his palm.
Uh-huh. And she did some kind of incantation, pulled the dollar bill away, and there was a picture of Nelson Ray Meyer in his flesh.
Well, that's strange. So that's real stressful.
This is all confirmed? I mean, as confirmed as one can be.
This story, this happened. Okay. the details like that yeah that's from john who's saying like that's what happened okay Now, November 27th, 1928, John Blymeyer, John Curry, and Milton Hesse's 18-year-old son, Wilbert.
Drove to the Ray Meyer two-story family farm home in Spring Valley Park.
They had a ton of rope and were armed with sticks.
Oh. He wasn't home initially and they searched for the book in his house, but they couldn't find it.
Okay. And they were initially, according to them, they were planning on just getting the lock of hair, getting the book, and leaving.
Right. They were only bringing the rope just in case. bringing the sticks just in case.
So they couldn't find him in there, couldn't find the book.
So they went to the home of his estranged wife, Alice.
And she said, which is kind of funny. She was like, he's probably out seeing some woman.
Okay. Which I'm like, whoa, Alice. Sorry, Alice.
Okay, Alice. She was like, he's probably out seeing some woman.
He'll probably be home later. Like, I don't know what she's like.
Don't bother me. Get it out. So too. So they were like, you know, we'll wait and we'll come back.
So they waited. They came back later. And it was like after, it was like close to midnight, they said at this point.
And when they saw that he was home, they knock on the door.
He invites them inside. Because he's nice, I bet.
Now, Nelson was in his 60s. He was more than 200 pounds and standing at 6'3".
Big dude. big dude he was not tiny he was not and he was like built like he was a big guy right now they said they want they were like we want your spell book or a piece of your hair And he's like, why, you gonna hex me?
Yeah, and he was like, nope. So... So they attacked him, like, immediately.
He fought super hard. It took all three of them to even try to hold him down.
I mean, he was, like, given the, he was given it his all.
At one point, they testified that finally after like a ton of struggle, he agreed to get the book.
Because at first he was like, I don't have the book.
Like, what are you talking about? I don't have that book.
Right. But now he's like, I'll get you the book.
Just like, let me go. I will get you the book.
So they let him go and they say that he lunged at them.
I doubt it. And then they tied it. So they attacked him again. like beat him with the sticks they tied him to a chair and they beat him mercilessly oh no at one point they used the rope to try to strangle him But eventually they just settled on beating him to death.
And they literally beat him to, like, beyond the point of recognition.
Oh, good. god way overkill bleimeyer said that john curry was the one to get real like strike the uh the death blow and that what he had done was picked up a piece of firewood and beat him until blood poured out of his ears.
Oh, God. Blymeyer said he then yelled out something like, thank God the witch is dead.
And he said it was at 12.01 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day that Ray Meyer died.
Okay. Then they stole all the money in the home because they said they wanted to make it.
And I love this. They're like, we wanted to make it look like robbery.
So we just had to take the money. We had to take all the money.
Now, how much money was in the home? Somewhere between 97 cents and $2.80.
So they checked the couch cushions. Yes, exactly.
They searched for the book, found nothing.
So, so far it's looking like he didn't have the book.
Right. Now they then wrapped his body in a mattress and a blanket, dumped kerosene on him and lit it on fire.
Oh. weirdly he didn't burn the fire just stopped and never spread to anywhere else in the house and this is a rickety old farmhouse it would have gone up like tinder Right.
And we're going to get to something crazy, because this house still stands today.
Ooh. Now... Whoops, they forgot that they literally asked his estranged wife where he was the night that they murdered him.
Are they going to murder Alice, too? So, no.
But basically, they fuck themselves out of getting away with it, like, right away.
Right. Like, they literally... Like, Alice is like...
Yeah, they were asking where he was. TBT to 12 minutes before they killed him, they asked me where he was.
They probably walked up to her house with like rope and sticks and were like, where's your husband?
She's like, I don't know. Probably with some hussy.
Now, a neighbor found his body November 30th, and immediately it was traced to those three dumbasses again by Alice.
It was like, yeah. So they were arrested.
They confessed everything immediately. It went everywhere.
All the papers covered it and it was called the witchcraft murder and the hex murder.
Like, people couldn't get enough of this.
Because people love that shit. Me included.
We love a hex murder. The press made the Pennsylvania, this was sad, the press made the Pennsylvania Dutch community look crazy.
Oh, that's nice. And really treated them unfairly just based off of these assholes.
They made it look like this is what powwow magic is and like...
Right, they made a mockery of it. Yeah, they made it seem like they're all just witches doing, like, silly magic and, like, they're all worshipping the devil and all that.
Not that silly. The house didn't burn. And it's like, stop.
They're all just like trying to heal people.
Right. They're not even asking for money for it.
So the trial called the York Witch Trials started January 9th, 1929. and was presided over by Judge Ray P. Sherwood, and it was a circus.
Okay. The press covered every second of it.
I mean, it was like one of those... I mean, yeah, it's like they're going to have a field day.
Yeah, you would open up the paper every day just to see what the fuck was going on in this thing.
So the judge, this judge in particular, was not super into anything magic and was like, this is nonsense.
Like, he was just a no-nonsense dude. He was like, no, I'm not into this magic hoo-ha.
So he even had any mentioning of witchcraft or magic removed from all the confessions when they were committed to record.
Wow. So the motive was changed to robbery.
I mean. And Blymeier also was pretty cold during this whole thing.
Like, he did not suddenly go like, oh, shit.
Well, because his whole life has been a hex, I guess.
Yeah. And he said that since Nelson Ray Meyer was buried along with his hair. that his hex was removed and he was happy about it.
Wow. Yeah. He was like, well, his body's buried and so is his hair now.
So the hex was removed. And he said he was totally justified in his actions, he would do it again, and that he had no regret.
Okay, so how long was he sentenced to? So, Bleimeyer and Curry were found guilty of first-degree murder.
And Hess, which is Milton's 18-year-old son that he sent with them.
Yep, yep, yep. Hess was convicted of second-degree murder.
Okay. They were called the York Hex Slayers.
The York Hex Slayers. Which is like a great softball team name or a great band name.
January 14th, Hess received 10 to 20 years in prison, but Blymeier and Curry ended up receiving life sentences.
Okay. So Curry and Hess were eventually, so the two other ones that are not John Blymeier.
Yes. They were paroled in 1934. Okay. they lived their lives after that and were like chill didn't do anything else okay Blymeier was refused parole a ton of times and then in 1953, at age 56, he was let out on parole.
Oh, wow. He became a janitor, bought a house, chilled out for the rest of his days.
He lived into the 1960s without any incident. okay just lived out now john curry um he was the one that was like the 14 year old He served in the military during World War II and became like a well-known artist.
Oh, wow. Which is very bizarre. That is.
Yes. So apparently, I mean... Things went well for him after that.
But fucking horrific. Like, what the fuck?
Right. It's just so crazy to me that he just comes out and he's like, Welp, just gonna be a regular guy now.
And it's like, what? Yeah. Now, Ray Meyer's great grandson now owns the home that it happened in.
Okay. And the home is known as Ray Meyer's Hollow.
The Hex House, which is like, whoa. Or Hex Hollow. or hex murder house.
So many, many things, many things. And he leans into it, which I commend him for.
I mean, you gotta make a profit. Now apparently you can come to view the place where Nelson was killed and the floorboards are still charred.
And he put plexiglass over them to protect them.
Yeah. So you can look at the charred floorboards.
That's really creepy. He also has a clock nearby set perpetually to 1201.
I mean, fucking lean. Wow. A local fire company, the North Hopewell Winterstown Fire Company, hosts a hayride and tour of the site, not Oh, let's go.
No, I want to go really bad. And according to OXY.com, some family and friends of the murders... of the murderers believed Nelson was a witch and that he was fucking with their family members, like, still to this day.
Like, the members of, like, the families of the murderers.
Wow. Like, from the grave. and they are like well no they think like that when you ask them about this they're like oh no he did like he was texting them like they did that for a reason wow And then some of Nelson's family still maintain he was just an old farmer who kept to himself and like did not do anything of the sort.
This is a very wild case. So nobody knows if Nelson Ray Meyer was really hexing these people and...
Holy shit. It's like, really? What reason would he have to hex people?
I don't think he was hexing them. I don't know.
If I have to really, really put my... Put your money on it.
All my noodles in one pot. I'm going to say that... I don't know.
I made that up. I'm going to say that Nelson Ray Meyer was just an old farmer.
Just... needed somebody to dig up his potatoes i mean it feels like maybe he was like he was probably like doing powwow magic because it was so common and it might have been in his family and all that But I don't think he was hexing people.
Yeah, I mean, I don't really think so either, but... But that is the story.
Who are we to say? Of the Hex House Murder.
That was a good one. It was just such a strange one that I was like, I got to cover this.
It's so weird. It is weird. fuck and sad poor nelson raymeyer i know r.i.p like john bleimeyer you gotta you gotta get your shit together i mean you're dead so everybody had to get their shit together it sounds like So, yeah.
Well, like, nothing happened to the Sleepy Hollow, the River Witch.
The river witch? No, I mean, I'm assuming she probably died shortly after that because I think she was like a thousand.
Oh, okay. Well, there's that. The River Witch.
The Sleepy Hollow River Witch. That's a mood.
That is some whole ass food. A grandiose mood.
All right. Well, thank you for listening to that wild ass tale.
Spooky history tale. In the meantime, if you want to see pictures of any of this or come with us to the place at some point.
We'll be doing that on Instagram at Morbid Podcast.
You can hit us up on Twitter. A Morbid Podcast.
You can send us a Gmail. Morbidpodcast at gmail.com.
And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it.
Weird. But not so weird that you hex us.
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