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Hey, weirdos. I'm Alayna. I'm Ash. And this... is morbid it's a mini morbid mini mini morbid mini mini mini mini mini morbid Mini-morbid, mini-morbid, mini-morbid!
Do you know whose mini-mini-morbid it is?
This is an ash mini-morbid. Ash-centric.
It's happening. I know, I was about to say that and then I didn't.
And then I said it. Ash-centric. ash and see we promised three episodes this week and you're getting them And this might be the last time it ever happens.
No, I'm totally kidding. No, we're just not going to announce three episodes in a week again because it seems to be like a jinx on us.
In everything in our lives. just like so someday you'll get three episodes again we're just not going to tell you yeah because when we tell you things go awry Life is like, yeah, you're going to put out three episodes and you're going to deal with all this other shit.
And I'm like... I don't know why, but we prevailed this week.
We did prevail. We did it. We pulled through.
And actually... I got to mention this because I'm still really excited.
I'm going to shit my pants like I'm dying.
So one of our usually we don't do a lot of business on our mini episodes, but I got to do this.
Somebody from one of our UK listeners left us a really sweet review on iTunes.
Thank you so much. Yes, that was so nice.
And I'm going to get your name and I'll say it in the next one because I don't have it right now.
But he or she also said that They were like, hey, did you guys know you were mentioned on BBC Radio 4 like Saturday review show last week?
And it's like a big show and people listen to it.
And that's really cool. Nope. And I was like, say what?
So I went and listened to it. And Luke Jennings... who is the author of the novel that Killing Eve, that new show, is based on. recommended our podcast.
Is it on Amazon or Hulu? I think it's on Amazon.
I'm almost positive, but I'll double check it.
But it blew our minds. My brain actually exploded.
So Luke Jennings, if you're listening to this right now. we love you we love you thanks for listening luke jennings and thank you so much for recommending us that was really really sweet and it was really cool to hear And we feel like you're really intellectual, so like let us know if you want us to stop swearing.
By all means, we will stop swearing for you.
But I mean, it's just like super humbling to have somebody recommend our podcast out of all the podcasts.
Thanks for doing that. And thanks for telling us about it, UK listener, who I'm going to name in the next episode.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So now, with that really excited and humble brag that we just did, on to the Ash-centric episode, which I don't know what this is about.
So I'm not even going to actually say what it's about.
I'm just going to tell the story. Oh, my God.
Is that cool? That's stressing me out, but do it.
Can I do it? Yeah, you can do it. All right.
So... In 1995, Sarah Porter met Harold Butch Knight in Fenville, Michigan.
She was a respiratory nurse therapist and she was taking care of his sick mom at the time.
And according to friends and family. That's a meet cute.
What? That's a meet cute. What's that mean?
You don't know what a meet cute means? I thought that was like your generation's phrase.
Like a meet-cute. Like a meet-cute is when in like Sex and the City when Charlotte almost gets hit by what's-his-name's Cab.
And they end up falling in love. Like, that's a meet cute.
Oh. I don't resonate with my generation, so.
Taking care of somebody's mom as a respiratory therapist is a bit cute.
Mom. Just wait because it shouldn't have been a meet cute.
Spoiler. We said meet cute so many times.
Meet cute, meet cute, meet cute. It's starting to sound like meat hook or something.
I couldn't, I didn't know the words that you were putting together.
Yeah, it's changed meaning to me now. So carry on.
Yeah, so anyways, they met. And according to friends and family, they were total opposites.
And there was also an 18 year age gap. He was 18 years older than her.
All right. So... David Parker Ray action.
Yeah, you know, like, live your life. I mean, like, whatever.
Age gaps work sometimes. Yeah. Like, who cares?
Sarah was a hard worker and people said she had a natural way with others.
And she really honestly just seemed to be like an all-around good person.
She just seemed really nice. So she's going to die, I assume.
That's why I'm a bitch. No, I'm just kidding.
I assume when you're like, you know what?
She was just a really all-around nice person.
I'm like, so she's not here anymore. well i'm also saying was yeah oh that's true yeah yeah All right, so people were really skeptical of their relationship because Harold slash Butch, which I'm just going to refer to him as Butch from this point on.
Yeah, I like that. Even though every time I was writing notes, it autocorrected to bitch, and I found it really funny.
So yeah, he just really didn't seem like a good match for her.
People said he lacked drive and ambition. they didn't really know like what sarah saw in him they were like sarah like you're fucking great what are you doing what are you doing with butch with bitch totally kidding with butch What are you doing with a bitch?
But despite all of this, they ended up getting married in 2001, I believe.
That's not good. There's very little information about this case, so some of the details are a little fuzzy, but I did my best.
Fuzzy wuzzy details. So they got married in 2001 is the year that I found.
And everything was a fairy tale at first.
It always is. Yeah, just let me tell you, buddy.
It's always a fairy tale at first. A friend of Sarah's said that they had picnic lunches.
They kayaked all the time. Well, that's just bullshit.
Yeah, that's actually not true. Nope. I mean, maybe they did.
They were older when they got married. Like she had previously been married.
I didn't know people actually had picnic lunches.
That's nice. Well, like, picnics came from somewhere.
Good for Sarah and Butch. Yeah, do your thing, Sarah and Bitch.
So they had picnic lunches. They kayaked together.
They were both like really into kayaking.
Wow. do your thing. And they also visited different lighthouses in Michigan and in Maine.
It's very specific. Yeah, they had very interesting interests.
So Sarah's daughter, Roxanne Cameron Harris, said that her mother really loved Butch, but beneath all of that, there was another side to him.
Uh-oh. I imagine it's not like a super goofy silly side.
No, he's not like super goofy and silly and also likes to kayak and likes to watch lighthouses.
It's It's just not like that. Yeah. I don't see this going well.
Yeah. So she said that I'm like living this with you.
I'm excited. It's really. Yeah, this is fun.
This is why I wanted to do it, so you could feel the case instead of knowing what happened.
I'm stressed. And, like, the listeners.
Like, we're all on this bus together. We're all on this together.
And I'm driving the bus. Oh, God. Everybody jump off.
Listen, I'm not that bad of a driver. so she said that as a teen butch was not the friendliest stepdad to have she felt like he wasn't supportive of anything she really did and he could be condescending and that he picked fights with her and her sister when her mom wasn't around.
That's good. She said that he seemed to have different personalities.
And that he was like dealing with two different people.
Eek. And she said, quote, something wasn't right with him.
It's always that's like the kiss of death.
Something just wasn't right. If it's not right.
Something wasn't right with Butch. And the friends and family who questioned what she saw in Butch in the first place were starting to notice more issues in their relationship as time went on. um he barely went to work or even had a job That's good.
He was apparently very possessive over her and controlled, like, everything... including who she talked to, the money he wasn't making, and pretty much all of her life decisions.
I don't see any problems so far. Carry on.
Yeah, I mean, and she was like the total breadwinner, pretty much.
So, no one stepped in, though, because they knew that Sarah was happy and they knew that she loved Butch.
Guys, always step in. Be the one that's annoying and says it.
You just have to. Be that bitch. Be that bitch.
When there's a bitch. Yeah. So in 2007, things were not going smoothly anymore.
Hashtag be that bitch. Yes. I'm gonna use that when I post this.
You know what I just thought? Britney wasn't the only one who broke down in 2007.
Oh man. Butch and Sarah's relationship broke down.
This is an Ash-centric episode. Wow. Wow.
They had a Britney-level meltdown? That's good.
Essentially. sarah still loved butch and she wasn't ready to give up on their marriage so she came up with the idea that they should move to maine because remember they like to go look at lighthouses it's like it's like you know what We're gonna fix this.
We're gonna move to Maine. Let's go to Maine where there's literally not shit to do.
Nothing else to do. fucking snowmobile and ski well i mean but it's like we're starting to hate each other let's go somewhere where we're only gonna have to focus on each other yeah well Sarah tried.
Sarah tried. So a bunch agreed and they did the damn thing.
They fucking moved to Maine. They did the damn thing.
Sarah found a nursing job and surprisingly, bitch got himself a job.
Oh, hey, bitch. Yes. She got a job. Hey, bitch.
He was driving box trucks for the hospital.
All right. So Sarah got him the fucking job.
Oh. They lived quietly in Maine for seven years.
So they lived there before... So they lived there for seven years before...
Sarah made a phone call to her daughter saying that she was leaving Butch and Maine and she was coming home to Michigan.
Leaving this bitch in Maine. Yeah. hashtag hashtag be that bitch hashtag leave that bitch that's the moral of the story it is So she came back to Michigan.
She wasn't happy with the marriage anymore.
And she moved in with her daughter. Her daughter obviously knew something big had happened for Sarah to actually leave him, but she never found out what happened.
Oh, yeah. So when I looked at you, I thought you were gonna be like, and that's it.
Well, she never found out why she left in the first place.
That's annoying. But then the daughter was cleaning one day and she found a letter from... bitch butch to sarah and the last line said or one of the lines said i'm doing the list of things you wanted me to do So at this point, Roxanne realized that maybe the separation wasn't going to be for long.
Okay, like she had just given him some like, you have to change this, this, this and this.
And he was like, I'm doing it. Yes, exactly.
So she was right, and soon enough, Butch moved back to Michigan to be with Sarah.
Reminds me of Dirty John. Like it's got a Dirty John vibe to it.
It's Dirty John-esque. They bought a new home together and they moved back in together.
And nothing seemed to change really after that because Sarah was still working a ton and she was actually traveling from state to state for her job.
And Butch was just being his usual deadbeat self.
Like, didn't have a job. Also, what did he do all day?
It's like, how? Like, what do you do? How?
Like, how do you not? You have all this time on your hands.
And he was just, like, watching TV in his recliner, I feel.
He's just hanging out being a bitch i don't have proof of that but i think he had a recliner for sure oh yeah Like, I want a recliner.
He had a Barca lounger. No hate on anybody that has one, but I'm just saying.
He definitely had one, though. Butch had one.
For sure. And it was one that was like a different color on the seat than the rest of the... And it was definitely... Like it was worn.
It was definitely blue. Oh, yeah. Like, light-ish blue.
It was that blue, like, corduroy. That you, like...
Is that blue? Then you're like, yeah, that's blue.
Yeah. That shit's blue. That's what that was.
This whole story is blue. It really is. So, January 11th.
2015. Sounds like it's going to be a great day.
911 dispatch receives a call. Not a good start.
The caller says... I strangled her. She's dead and laying on the living room floor. woof and when the 911 operator asked who's calling like who what's your name The caller said, that's not important.
I'm getting ready to leave the country, but we need to get law enforcement there to do whatever they do with dead bodies.
What? The actual... Like, what? Nonchalant as fuck.
Details. Details. Stop asking me. Yeah, I didn't tell you it was butch.
You just said he. Oh, I'm sorry. She, he, they.
We're just like... Stop giving me the third degree.
Just come get this dead body. I'm not trying to have a combo with you. to know you 911 operator I also don't know what you do with the dead bodies but get here and do what you do with them get here and do what you do with them So, unfortunately, authorities raced to the home, and when they got inside, saw Sarah laying on the living room floor.
And they determined that she had been dead for two entire days before the call was made.
Oh, my. The call had been made from a burner phone in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Whoa. Authorities later found out that before the 911 call was placed, a large sum of money had been taken out of Sarah and Butch's account, and then the account was closed on January 12th.
This doesn't look fishy at all. No. Everything seems really on the up and up here.
Totally. Yeah. I don't know who this could be.
Authorities also found out that Butch purchased a Glock 22 40 caliber handgun with 40 rounds of ammunition.
I mean, yeah, I don't see what these are all we're grasping here.
Yeah, like nothing's really. This is all just this is just stuff.
So, spoiler alert, Butch strangled his wife.
Wow! In case you didn't know yet. I am shocked.
I thought you were going to say shookest.
I was not. I'm too old to say that. You say that sometimes. shooketh i say shook shook i don't say shooketh though that's like another level i think whatever you've never been shooketh i've been shook I don't know if I've been shooketh.
I'm close to being shooketh right now. If you don't know when you're shooketh, you haven't been shooketh.
Yeah, I haven't been shooketh, I don't think.
So anyway, in the weeks following the murder, Butch was seen multiple times in Maine.
And about two weeks after the murder, Carolyn Porter, Sarah's mother, received a package postmarked for Maine.
Oh, no. She turned it over to the authorities because she was like, I'm not fucking opening that.
She's like, you know what? Something smells, and I don't want it.
Yeah, no, don't want that. And a year after the murder, they finally revealed the contents, which included letters taunting the family.
Saying that he could get away with murder because he watched a lot of crime television.
Wow. Like you and the rest of the world, Butch.
I was just gonna say. We've all seen at least three episodes of Criminal Minds.
There are four. 400 separate spinoffs of CSI that have been on since I was in junior high.
Since before I... I was born essentially.
The whole world is very fascinated by forensic work.
But that doesn't mean that we can all just go willy-nilly murdering people.
We all watch them, but you can't go... You can't go doing it.
No. You can't go doing it. You can't go doing it.
You can't. Sorry, butch. Yeah, it's just not okay.
So, he also said that he killed Sarah to do what I had to do.
Drug sales incoming. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch what?
So he claimed that he was selling drugs and that Sarah was a liability.
But the police found no evidence. But this is the weirder thing is that they found no evidence to support that he was selling drugs of any kind.
So this dude is literally just making up this entire, like he's watched too much Narcos on Netflix.
And he's watched too many Forensic Files.
He's just watched too much TV because he didn't have a job and he couldn't get out of his work. so he was at home watching oxygen and watching snapped fun fact i actually found this through oxygen because there you go loves that network so he he got he was watching snapped sure was yeah amongst everything else that he left this is the strangest thing of all he put two thousand dollars in there to cover the cost of sarah being cremated because that's what she would have wanted What a guy.
What a gentleman. Thank you, bitch. That's a partner in life.
That is. Someone who will send your loved ones.
Cash money money to cremate your body after you've murdered them.
With your bare hands, essentially. I mean, that's what we all are looking for, right?
That's what I would definitely put in my...
We want white picket fence. We want sitting on the porch swing together.
And we want a manila envelope. full of cash to cremate our bodies sent to our loved ones after we're murdered by our husband.
That's all I can think of. That's the American dream.
That is the dream. Yeah. Man. So, on January 31st, 2015, police in Farmington, Maine found Butch's car abandoned in a Walmart parking lot.
He is also caught on surveillance, but with an altered appearance.
His normal white hair and white mustache were colored black.
So he's feeling himself. So he's just gone over to the dark side.
Literally. Yeah, he's just feeling himself.
He's playing the part. Well, yeah. it's one thing to like dye your hair with like that like salsam blue stuff that's like like the salt and pepper kind of thing yeah It's a whole other ballgame.
I just want to look like I haven't, you know, I'm aging gracefully.
But to dye your hair black. Yeah, it's a lot.
Like wow. Wow. He went full Britney. Wow bitch.
Wow bitch. In early February, however, US Marshals were sent to a motel in Maine where the owner realized after seeing a photo of Butch that he'd been there previously under a different name oh damn imagine finding that out later yeah like not at the time yeah so he was there only four days after sarah had been killed oh my god And the owner thinks that he actually might have dyed his hair in that bathroom because there was color in the sink and on the pillowcases.
So it seems like somebody... he was doing it poorly well and he did it like rudely yeah clean up your mess yeah i bet he didn't even properly ventilate when he did it Yeah, you gotta open a window.
You sure have to. You do. I know it. Yeah.
He also recalled, the owner also recalled, asking Butch what he was doing while he was in Maine.
Like, oh, small talk. What are you up to?
Yeah. Why are you alone? Why are you all dressed in a camo snowsuit?
Just small talk. He was all dressed in a camo snowsuit, by the way, if you Google the picture.
That's totally fine. Hey, live your best life.
That's fine. um and butch said that he was snowmobiling yeah but he didn't have a snowmobile with him So if you're going to go ahead and like tell a cover up story. then you should probably have the item with you that you claim to be using.
That's like pulling up somewhere and being like, what are you doing with my hair?
And you're like... I'm raising giraffes.
Is that what that's like? I'm grooming my zebras.
Of course. Is this a zookeeper running from the law?
What the fuck? I love it. I'm snowmobiling.
Where's your snowmobile? I don't have one.
So this is the end. Police believe that Butch might have gotten a ride to the border of Canada and made his way through.
To this day, he is still at large and one of Detroit's most wanted. bitch bitch and sarah porter's daughter wants everyone to know that if he's ever found she wants to see him standing in front of the judge in orange waiting to be put away i don't blame her she wants to have her day in court Oh my god.
And that is the murder of Sarah Porter. That is so sad.
By bitch. I know we were making a lot of jokes, but we're making a lot of jokes at bitch's expense, not at Sarah's.
Well, and it's just really sad because she had her whole shit together.
And... She just, like, worked and supported his ass forever.
And then what does she get in return? Strangled.
And it's... Well, and these things always make me crazy.
Because it's like... You marry someone.
And I just like, obviously, I just think of, you know, the one person that I am married to, John.
And I'm like, imagine someday if he was just totally a different person, like 100% not the person.
I've known this entire time. Like that, you should never have to worry about your spouse murdering you.
That should never be something that comes into your brain that they might murder you.
It's also just so fucked that he called the police like two days after he killed her.
So chill. Do whatever you do with bodies.
With dead bodies. Like that's what he was thinking of his wife as.
Like his wife of years. Yeah. Do whatever you need to do with her.
Bye. Ew. Isn't that case really fucked up?
And he's in Canada now, essentially, pretty much.
Canada, get him. Well, they've sent, like, U.S.
Marshals there and stuff. Yeah. He is nowhere to be found.
Isn't that so bonkers that somebody can just disappear?
He's also like 71. too, so. So he's probably gonna kick it soon anyway.
I hope fucking so. When you've lived the kind of life he's lived, I'd hope you'd kick it early.
Yeah, definitely. I hope that they find him before he kicks it.
I know, I really, really hope they find him before he kicks it.
Because if he dies before her daughter gets justice... and she has two daughters but the one daughter is the one that seems to be like that's such bullshit and it's just so sad because they're me cute was so happy yeah they're me cute Like, she was taking care of a sick mom.
Yeah. Like, I was like, oh my god, what a way to meet.
And I don't know if she... I couldn't find anything about... how she was before, but she had two daughters, so.
Obviously, her first ordeal didn't work out either.
And then that's what she gets. And here she is, like, trying to go into another thing to...
Man, isn't that really sad? Damn, I thought there was going to be an ending there where we could be like, bitch, but no.
No ending. No, it's just like, bitch. bitch where are you in canada man So, yeah.
Wow, that was good. I had not heard about that case.
I know it was a quickie, but I just thought that it was, like, interesting.
It's good. Hey, mini-sewed. Mini-sewed. you never know how long these are gonna be you just don't know you don't know and I think you made it You'll make it to the half hour mark.
Hey! You did it. I did it. you did it you did it and I talk fast so if I had talked slower I probably could have got to the 35 minute mark yeah there you go So, yeah, that was a good one.
Thanks. Good job, Ash-centric episode. Thanks.
You can find me on Instagram at, no, I'm just kidding.
Find me if you want to. You can find us on BBC Radio 4.
On Saturdays. On last Saturday's episode.
At like the 40. three minute mark listen to it listen to it guys it's so fun shout out to our humble brag elena told me and i sent her uh do you say jif or gif yeah i sent her a gif of me saying like don't touch me peasant because i was like don't touch me i'm famous You can tell that, like, things like this don't happen to us often, like, people mentioning this because we're like, whoa!
I screamed in the break room at work and my boss was like, are you okay?
I was very excited. yeah and i was like guys i'm famous in britain they were like you're you're not though you're not i was like no i am no i totally listen to me So I think that you'll be, you guys are going to be getting part two of the Black Dahlia next week.
Hey-oh. Where we're going to talk about all the suspects and theories and all that fun stuff.
And you'll be getting another Minnie. Another Minnie.
An Elena Minnie. And we're also going to be doing, I don't know if it's going to be next week.
I'm not going to promise. Is there anything?
We are going to be doing some bonus episodes for our Patreon donors in the very near future.
You're going to be getting those within the next couple weeks.
For sure. And we won't do a movie review for this one.
Yeah, we're thinking the next bonus episode we're going to do is going to be a case.
We might even do two cases back to back for bonus episodes and then a movie. review we're gonna mix it up a little so you guys you know you don't get bored because you guys are amazing for supporting us you seriously have done us wonders so we want to make sure we give you some great stuff in return we love the chesticles out of you and also people have been like really active on our twitter and stuff lately and i appreciate that guys it makes me very happy when i literally everything you guys do makes us happy you have no idea don't leave us one yeah don't do that Actually guys, I have something to say.
Oh man. I'm just upset because our rating went down to 4.5.
It's because of those one stars that are like, the ones that are like, I hate that they talk.
Yeah. Like, well, you shouldn't be listening to a podcast then.
I was like, yeah, this is probably not the medium for you, I feel.
Not for you, bud. We're not for everybody.
But if you guys feel so inclined, would you just leave us a review on iTunes?
Yeah. Because honestly, recently, you guys have been so helpful with that.
We've got a lot of really good reviews recently on iTunes.
People seem to be doing them. I just want to bump us back up.
So if you haven't left a review and you feel it, you feel it in your heart that you want to leave us a positive review, I mean, I...
I would prod you to go ahead and do that.
I would too. I'm not bribing you. I'm just asking.
We can bring our rating back up where it belongs because those one stars are all kind of bullshit.
But honestly, recently, like, there's been a lot of activity on the Instagram and the Facebook and the Twitter and people just commenting and saying really funny things and...
All the messages we're getting, which we're going to try to get to all our messages.
We got really overwhelmed and backed up, but we're going to try to answer them like in slowly, you know, like.
But we will absolutely respond to you guys.
We read every single one of them, just so you know.
With our own four eyes. eyeballs. But yeah, you guys have just been awesome lately and we wanted to tell you how much we love you.
So... I love you. I love you. That is it for our ash-centric minisode.
Thanks for tuning in. And we'll see you next week.
And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird.
But do not strangle your spouse. But not so weird that you strangle your wife.
Yeah, not that weird, man. Not so weird that you flee to Canada.
There's a fine line. It's not so weird that you've ruined your recliner.
Bye. There's blue bark around here. Ew. Bye.
Bye. Thank you. If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
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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.
The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all.
Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic.
Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mare exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
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