Hey weirdos, it's Ash here, ready to share a little secret.
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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.
And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk, and I am absolutely loving it.
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Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. And I'm Ash. And this is Super Super Morbid.
Morbido. It's just morbid. Yeah, no more Vito.
She just gave me a death stare. I don't know why.
I didn't mean to. I think I'm just feeling it.
I'm feeling frisky tonight. It's the new hair.
It is. It is. It's redder so it's more fiery.
Yeah, I had to dye my hair and I have been dying it the same like auburn color, keeping it real, keeping it 100.
And then Ash went and picked out a much friskier color than I used to.
And it's like a dark red. And I'm not...
I'm not sure about it, but I like it a lot more than what I've liked previously, like deviations I've taken from my auburn color.
I think it looks really good because I think it warms up your face.
And you know what? I trust you because you're smart and you're a hairstylist.
Yeah. So... And also I gave you a blow dry last night, so you have to... Okay.
Ash gave me... the best blow dry okay okay i was like first of all let me just let me just guys Everybody should get a blow dry by Ashkel because holy hell. people are like blow dry my hair blow dry my hair like i don't even do my own fucking hair anymore it's true though you grew that blow dry was great i'm glad you like i feel like a movie star You're welcome.
Thank you so much. The funny thing is I used to be like really bad at blow drying hair.
My boss used to make fun of me and used to like literally use me as an example for my assistants and be like, Ashley used to suck.
Don't call me Ashley. I'll kill you. But you're so good now.
Yay. you are i love it you know what else we're pretty good at together collectively what are we good at live shows we sure are i love live shows i love live shows it's 8338
Normally, my password. Actually, I'm not going to say what it is.
No, I am. I am. Normally, my password is fart.
And I think it's funny for my phone. I was going to say, not password for anything in life.
Literally nothing else, just my phone. But just her phone.
Which now I'm going to have to change it.
Yeah. In case I ever lose my phone, I guess.
But for my iPad, it's not. And she was just trying to open it anyways.
We're going to live shows. Our next one is April 14th at the Punchline Comedy Club in Philadelphia.
Be there, be square. I'm going to eat five cheese sticks.
I'm going to go to the Mutter Museum. Shout out to the person that messaged me on my Instagram and told me where not to get cheesesteaks.
Yeah, that's that. That's key. I was like, thank you.
Not all heroes wear capes. No. Then the next night we're going to be in Washington, D.C.
Yeah, we're going to see all the monuments.
The DC Improv. Hell yeah. That's April 15th.
May 6th, we will be in Huntsville, Alabama at Stand Up Live.
Sure. will and the week before that i bold i want to say it's like the first maybe it's the third i don't know google it we'll be at crime con we sure will and i am so excited I think you can still buy tickets.
I think you can. Buy them. And if you want to use mobile code.
Mobile code. If you want to use mobile code.
The promo code Morbid2020. You can get some situation.
I don't know. It's cool. Use our code. Perfect.
Something happens when you use it. Okay, wait.
So May 7th, we're going to be at Zany's, which is in Nashville, Tennessee.
Very excited. Did you know that Jackie Schimmel did a live show there? wait, excuse me?
I meant to text you, but then I was in the shower and my hands were really wet, so I was like, don't text her yet.
And then sometimes I fall if I text to the shower.
If you need a podcast that is outside of true crime, because sometimes I feel like we all sometimes need...
A break. I know like researching it constantly and stuff has caused me to need a lot more breaks from it.
Just like some, some good, just fun things.
That's why I listen to like Watch What Crappens and Sexy Unique Podcast.
And The Bitch Bible. Newest one is The Bitch Bible with Jackie Schimmel.
It's fucking hilarious. It's amazing. sense of humor don't listen to it because you'll get very offended at various things but if you have a great sense of humor go listen to it and you will love it it's incredible She is amazing.
Her husband wakes her up with a matcha latte every day, so I aspire to be her.
She's amazing, so go listen to it. I don't even fucking like matcha.
Go listen to it. okay but anyway so we're gonna be at zany's where fucking jackie schimmel the queen was hell yes so listen to our podcast jackie schimmel May 7th we will be there early and then we'll be there late.
We'll be there two times. We're going to be all up in there.
We're going to be all up in you, Nashville.
I'm going to be... glued to my seat at zany's that's right taxidermy me there anyways after that June 12th, which is my birth weekend.
Weekend of birthing. What? It was me laughing.
It's been a situation tonight. We're going to be June 12th at Talia Hall in Chicago.
This place looks so badass. I'm very excited.
I think Annie's going to come to that one.
Yay, Annie. Yay. She's also coming to Philly and DC.
Yay, Anna. Woo. And John will be coming to various ones.
And just remember that like my birth weekend in Chicago.
Just saying. June 12th. My real birthday is June 8th.
I was going to say that's not your actual birthday, but.
It's my birth weekend. That's your birth weekend.
I'm sorry. And June is my birth month. So everybody that comes to a show in June, just remember how special June is.
Wowzers. You're welcome. There you go. I'm humble.
So now that we've discussed Ash's birth weekend and month and day.
I think we should just dive right into this case because I'm real excited about it.
Do you think I'm a narcissist? yes because you just brought it back to you when i tried to bring it to the case i just i had to ask that before do you see what i do with everybody you see this Well, I just had to ask.
So back to the case. We are doing the case of the mummy in the drag queen's closet. and no not mummy as in like english no like an actual like egyptian almost mummy not quite but like yeah So this is a story surrounding Dorian Corey.
Mm-hmm. If you guys have not seen the documentary Paris is Burning by Jenny Livingston.
What are you doing with your life? Go watch it because it'll just change everything about you.
So do it. So both, so I was going to do two cases in this episode that are both part of Paris is Burning, like revolve around people in Paris is Burning.
But I got so into the Dory and Corey case that I've decided we will cover the other one in a separate episode because It'll be Paris is Burning Part 2.
Exactly. So the other case I was going to cover was the really sad and tragic murder of Venus Extravaganza.
We will cover that in another one. But tonight is Dory and Corey's night.
Also, if you don't watch Pose, which is, I think it's on FX.
It's also on Netflix now. Paris is burning.
That's what they based Pose off of. Yes.
I cannot speak. It's good that this is your case.
It's happening today. I'm like, uh, uh, uh.
So Paris is Burning, in case you don't know what it is, it's a documentary film from 1990.
It was made by Jenny Livingston. the film explores the underground drag ball culture from the time which is still going on today it's just like you know a lot of people don't know about this but this film really dives deep into it and it really displays the challenges that these people faced while trying to be just be who they are and just express their creativity.
There's discussions of racism, homophobia, transphobia, class discrimination, They talk about AIDS, the fear that surrounds the word AIDS, and how AIDS was often hurled as an insult.
Mm-hmm. Like as soon as they meet a queer person, they're like, you must have AIDS.
It's like, it's so terrible. It's like straight people can get AIDS too, you fucking idiot.
It's so terrible. They talk about sex work and how some queens at the time had no choice but to result to it, to survive.
And so they talk about the challenges for sure.
And it's eye opening. It's tragic at times, but it's also amazing and inspiring at times.
So aside from the challenges and the hardships, the film also explores like the fascinating side of drag queen, drag ball culture.
We get to see how voguing came into the lexicon.
Which is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
It's amazing to watch. Because it's not just... No.
Vogue did not come from Madonna. No. And that's the thing that it's like a lot of people think Madonna because I think and I could be wrong.
I believe I read somewhere that she called herself like the mother of voguing.
She's not. She's not. She saw a drag ball.
And that's where she got the idea for the song Vogue and everything.
But like her Vogue of just like, Framing her face is not what voguing is.
She would have lost that ball competition.
Voguing is some serious shit. I was going to mention this at the end, but...
I know we talked about America's Next Top Model and how we were watching old episodes.
It's incredible. I think we talked about it last week in the last week's episode.
But if you guys ever watched that show and they had like this posing expert on Benny Ninja.
He's from this drag queen ballroom voguing scene.
And I'll get into it later, but... it's it's so all around us and so ingrained and everything and we don't even know it um so yeah so so madonna did not start the voguing thing um So you find out in this documentary what reading is, how the term shade and realness were introduced into the mainstream culture.
And it gave me an appreciation for the influence that ball culture has had on us all now.
Yeah. You don't even realize it. We all say, yes, queen, and, like, call people shady and say, like, realness and be like, oh, my God, she just got read to filth.
You know what I mean? Like all that shit.
This is all directly from these ball competitions.
That's directly from them. They made that shit up.
They brought that shit into the lexicon.
It lasted. And here's Dorian. I had to include this clip because it makes me laugh every time talking about shade and how in realness and all that.
I'm so ready for this. is I don't tell you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly.
And that's shade. I love that. That is my favorite thing ever.
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It's crazy. So the balls were initially kind of started around the sixties and they were mainly just for queer people of color to have a place to express themselves and a community of safety and acceptance.
And it still is today at this point. Voguing was created at these balls.
We get to see in this film all the massive preparation that goes into a ball.
Like from the costumes, which most of them create themselves from scratch.
The themes, the performance, the competition.
And the different houses that came about as a result.
So, like we said, Benny Ninja... is from the House of Ninja.
So the houses, you know, House of Ninja, House of LaBeija, House of Extravaganza, House of Corey.
These houses were created in the vein of famous fashion houses like Chanel, Dior.
They were created as a sanctuary for members of the drag community.
And these houses have house mothers, they have house fathers.
And a lot of these people, like, straight up live together.
Oh, yeah. They literally act like surrogate families.
Right. And for performers, they provide shelter, food, support.
Yeah. They became families. Yeah, they literally are.
And again, we're not talking about Venus extravaganza in this one, but...
I believe one of Venus Extravaganza's actual siblings after her death was referred to her drag family and her actual family.
Wow. And he said like her drag family. And that was the extravaganzas were her drag family.
So they really were. Now, among the various characters that this documentary put into the spotlight is drag queen legend Dorian Corey.
Dorian Corey kind of like, she like resides over the documentary as this like grand queen.
She's like the mother of the documentary. documentary she provides this amazing commentary over it and she's seen for much of it in her own apartment slow in her apartments just like You see feathers everywhere and just like glamour everywhere.
It's what I like when I live by myself. But it's also like this like dark kind of like... seedy kind of apartment but it has all this like glamour shit everywhere um And she's seen for most of it in that apartment, slowly getting ready in full drag.
Like she starts out with no makeup on. Her hair is just in a little bun.
She's wearing just like a regular little like silk robe.
And then she sits at her makeup table with her makeup mirror all backlit.
And she puts on a full face. And it's just slowly happening in front of me. it's like a transformation yeah and it's like throughout the whole documentary she's just putting on this full face while like giving this amazing commentary it's just awesome Dorian was the house mother of her own house, House of Corey.
She was on the Joan Rivers show in 1991 after this came out, after this Paris is Born came out.
And she explained the house culture as, quote, you lend money to your friends, not very much money, and give advice sometimes.
If someone got evicted or whatever, you might take them in.
So she actually was initially house mother to one Angie extravaganza. who went on to form the House of Extravaganza.
Which is also the first episode of Pose.
Exactly. Shout out to Annie. Dorian's birth name was Frederick Legg.
She was born and grew up in Buffalo, New York in 1937.
She grew up on a farm and began doing drag at a very early age in Buffalo.
She ended up graduating from Parsons School of Design.
Which is where Project Runway used to be filmed in the good old days of Project Runway.
Now they have Karlie Kloss being the host and I hate it.
And Tim Gunn isn't even on there. I won't even get onto that.
I don't understand why they got rid of Tim Gunn.
It's awful. I mean, I love Christian Siriano, but he's no Tim Gunn.
Nobody's a Tim Gunn other than Tim Gunn.
But I digress. She started out as a window dresser. which is actually where a lot of famous people in fashion started.
Like Giorgio Armani actually started out of this window dresser.
It's kind of like a good way to dip your toe in.
It is because it's design. Right. She was extremely talented in design and she used these talents in her education from Parsons.
To become one of the most sought after costume designers and seamstresses.
There we go. Seamstresses. I did it. Seamstresses.
Lots of S's. I got it. seamstresses for the drag ball scene in New York City.
So throughout the 1960s, she actually toured with a drag cabaret group called the Pearl Box Review.
Yes. Amazing. She often performed with a giant live boa constrictor a la Britney.
Why wouldn't you? Way before Britney. See how everybody's just full circle.
The group toured a ton of venues along the East Coast.
They even had an LP called Call Me Mister. from 1972 and it was like four of them and she was a part of it She became a fixture at the drag balls in New York City in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
She won over 50 grand prizes at the ball's she mentored younger participants and also created costumes for them.
In the 80s, Dorian was a mainstay as the performer at Sally's Hideaway in New York City, which was a prominent venue for drag performers.
Cool. She also moved over to Sally's 2, which the original burnt down, the original Sally's Highway.
So they moved to another place and just called it Sally's too.
That's cool. She was beloved. I mean, beloved.
I mean, super... Nobody had really a nasty thing to say about her.
All they would say was like she was gentle, she was kind, she would like do anything for anyone.
But you did not fuck with her. That's the only thing that people said.
They were like, she would never come at you.
Unless you came at her. Unless you provoked her.
And I was like, but when she do not fuck with her. which i love i love that that's my favorite quality that's all i want like be a good person but like don't be fucked with no that's that's all you need to be don't let people fuck with you Now, drag queens of all ages and backgrounds said they could count on Dorian as a mentor, as a shoulder to cry on if needed.
She would give out advice. clothing she would take people in and under her wing she was also a fucking riot like just watch her and paris is burning and you will fall in love And, like, very, like, understated.
Oh, yeah. Like, she's witty and sarcastic, but wicked dry.
Added out, like, five of the likes that I had. to say like like like um but watching her in that documentary makes you want her to be in your life yes like in r.i.p because she's gone But when you watch it, you're just like, damn it, I want to hang out with you.
Like, I just want Dory and Corey to be sitting there just, like, commentating on shit.
So she was a fierce competitor, though. Like I said, you did not fuck with her on the ballroom circuit.
She was a force to be reckoned with. And it turned into a tent that covered the entire audience.
Stop. Like no shit. Can you imagine? Covered the entire audience.
How do you even make that? How do you even learn to make that?
She's a fucking bitch. badass man how do you get that many feathers she's supremely talented when it came to costumes that's so cool She lived in Harlem on West 140th Street.
And at the time, it was a really bad neighborhood, like real bad.
Legit gunfights broke out during the filming of Paris is Burning.
While it happened, Jenny Livingston said that all of a sudden she heard gunfire. shots outside the window and dorian was super casual just said gunfight at okay corral and then just moved on Like, just whatever.
She's like, so that's regular. Her last performance was May 8th, 1993 at Sally's for their Grammy night where she got Entertainer of the Year.
Love it. She died at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, August 23rd, 1993. from complications due to the aids virus she was only 56 years old that's pretty young i know that's really sad that is sad After her death, all of these costumes and belongings and treasures were left in her apartment.
Her fellow drag performer, Lois Taylor... was kind of like her caretaker.
Like, she cared for Dorian during her final days.
She was in charge of her estate. Lois is the one who found the shocking item in her apartment after her death that we are going to discuss.
Dun dun dun. She had instructed her closest friends and especially Lois.
She said, take what costumes you want and then sell the rest or give the rest away.
Mm hmm. I imagine she just wanted her hard work to be used.
She didn't want it just to be garbage. Right.
So Lois told New York Magazine that they went into the apartment with customers.
Lois said, quote... Oh my God, with customers?
Yes. Yes. So Lois said, quote, child, it's what Dorian told me to do.
Take the costumes I wanted and sell the rest.
So I had customers. They were going to a Halloween show.
When asked if it was a drag ball that they were going to, Lois said no, no, no, it was straight people.
They wanted Dorian's capes. She was one hell of a seamstress, honey.
One time she wore a gold cape that covered the whole ballroom floor.
So Lois brings these people up there. And it's just two straight dudes, I'm pretty sure, that just wanted capes.
And they enter the small walk-in closet that housed most of Dorian's amazing costumes.
And in this room there was a green plaid garment bag that like a hanging garment bag.
Yeah. It was big. It was bulky and it was on the floor folded over.
No one noticed it. No one was like, what's that crazy garment bag?
It was just a random garment bag. Lois said it weighed a ton.
And they'd look through a ton of stuff. They couldn't really find what they were looking at for.
So they went to this and were like, what's in this? weighed a ton so she was like this is probably something really awesome because she loved doing like beading and shit and she was like this is probably something crazy beaded and that's why it's heavy right This didn't strike them as super crazy because I was listening to the Red Handed podcast about this, which Red Handed is a great podcast.
Go listen to it. I haven't listened to that.
They're great. They point out in their coverage of this case that one of Dorian's gowns for one of the balls was a Marie Antoinette gown.
Like a full, huge gown. And it had a guillotine attached to it.
Shut up. So maybe that's what that was.
Yeah, she did not just wear a gown. She created a look. like props to go with it went for it so she told one of the customers so Lois was like you open it go look in it So she gave the customer some scissors that were there and she was like, just cut it open because it was so heavy that they couldn't even get to the zipper underneath.
Right. Um, so they did. And as soon as they cut into it, the unmistakable stench of human decomp filled the room. fun they immediately called the police yeah um good call and lois told new york magazine "...that's what I told the cops.
I cussed them out, child. They said, if we find your fingerprints on it, and I said, I'll tell you one motherfucking thing."
You might see my hands on top of that damn thing, but I only weigh 135 pounds.
I couldn't move that thing. Now this is really sad because, of course, when someone finds a dead body, the first thing the investigators have to do is clear them.
But I can't help but feel like in in Harlem at this time, a queer black drag queen right was going to be looked at a lot well they're just going to peg it on you because that's the thing.
They're going to peg it on you. And I feel like she felt like she had to be like, no, no, no, no, no.
Like my fingerprints are going to be on it because I just touched the bag.
But like. But I have nothing to do with this.
And a lot of theories in this case are going to go back to...
The reason that this body was here and the police were not called could have been because Dorian Corey was a black drag queen at the time and that was not something that the cops you know were going to look at as Take seriously.
Yeah. They were going to be... This wasn't... Even now.
I mean, even now people of color have to be careful about...
Who they call, when they call, what situation is going on, which sucks.
Yeah, it's fucked up. But being a black drag queen in Harlem in the early 90s at this point.
Or 90s, yep. it was gonna it was not gonna be an easy situation and I'm sure you had to kind of like take it upon your own hands yeah is this worth Honestly, at this point, there's a quote from Dorian that says... She's talking about realness.
And she says that... If you can make it, realness is being able to walk from the subway home and returning home not covered in blood.
Oh, God. As yourself. And that's when you have, like, passed in your realness.
And she says it's usually the younger ones that can do that, but, like...
She's literally talking about if you can walk from the subway to your home without getting the shit kicked out of you just for being who you are, then you've passed the realness test.
Right. That sucks. That's awful. But that gives you an idea of like what was going on at this time, especially.
Right. And obviously today it's still a situation.
Yeah. So it just sucks. so inside of this garment bag there was a dead body mm-hmm Partially mummified.
It was a man in the fetal position with a bullet in his head, covered in baking soda, plastic bags, and wrapped in naugahyde.
What is Naugahyde? Naugahyde? Glad you asked.
Naugahyde is a rubber-based artificial leather, like the kind that is in like fake leather jackets.
Oh, okay. Yeah. And why baking soda? Just for the smell.
Oh, okay. So like you'll put like baking soda in the back of your refrigerator to kind of keep everything smelling fresh.
Oh, yeah. I did know that. Yeah. So, he was wearing ragged blue and white boxers and nothing else.
Okay. he was yellow and purple and partially mummified like i said this means that he was also partially decomposed right And stanky.
Real stanky. So inside of the bag with him was an array of beer can flip tops.
Like when they opened the bags, the bags like fell out, like all these flip tops fell out.
Yeah. These flip tops. had not been used since the 70s, which made them believe he was dead between 15 and 25 years at the time.
I have a little problem with that being used to time him, like to date his death, because like those could have just been in the bag that they used to put on top of him. him like right before he was you know i mean because i don't think he was dead for that long right i just don't believe i have no real basis for that i've been more decomposed i don't know no i mean he could have been fairly because he was partially mummified sure keeping them him in like an airtight thing like that definitely would have helped But I don't know.
I just like I think the timeline doesn't add up with what I think happened.
So I'm just like. Maybe I'm forming it to my timeline.
But I still just think, I mean, they didn't use those flip tops as like the definitive.
Yeah. But they used it as like helping to aid the timeline.
Right. So a murder investigation was now active because he had a bullet hole in his head.
It's like we know. The lead investigators on the case were Alfred Travers and John Rowe.
The forensic specialist on the case was Raul Figueroa.
Raul Figueroa is the only one that will actually like talk about this case.
The other two are just like... harumph harumph it's an act of investigation i'm not talking about it like rude yeah So Figaro is great.
He's real. He's real. And he was also like a mortician.
I mean, he was awesome. Yeah. So Figueroa was really innovative as well in forensics.
And he, so we need to find out, we, I'm like me, I was involved in this investigation.
They needed to find out who this guy was.
And obviously, you know... he was not in the greatest shape.
And so they were like, who the fuck are you?
So what they did was they cut the fingers each finger at the second joint, and they used them to try to identify the body.
He used a secret technique that he will not give away, which is good on him.
That's cool. He did it over seven days to make the fingerprints readable again.
He basically hardened them up somehow with like some technique.
He was able to get all 10 fingerprints, which is nuts.
To this day, he still won't say what he did?
Still won't say what he did. I wonder why, though, because it's a good technique.
Well, because like it's his technique. But what if he dies and then then he dies with that technique?
I think that kind of stinks. I think he should share it.
I don't know. Go Figueroa. That's what I say.
I just think he could, like, aid in further investigations.
I'm sure other people have techniques as well. yeah whatever but you know um i digress what happened was the fingertips had all the they'd all worn away to some, like, because the first layers of skin had worn away because of slippage.
Um. And it basically causes those layers of skin to goo away.
Yummy. And that's a scientific term, goo away.
And I thought you were talking about slippage.
No, goo away. Oh, okay. That's very scientific.
One word or two? Slippage is a scientific.
Goo away is not. thank you slippage had occurred because the body was decades old since like I said it had partially decomposed Figueroa said, quote, when you have and this is real gross.
When you have all of this wrapping, no air is getting to it. but it's still losing liquid out of its body.
So the body sort of floats in its own soup.
Yummy. So that's why the slippage occurred.
It's floating in its own soup. So slippage is occurring.
And I'm just going to get science-y for a second here because any chance I can, I'm all about it.
You are? You never do that. If anyone listened to my Body Farm episode, you might know a little bit about this, but...
The two phases of decomposition can be simplistically broken down to autolysis and putrefaction.
I like that word. Which one? Putrefaction.
I like that too. Putrefaction. Autolysis is basically self-digestion.
So we're examples of aerobic organisms opposed to anaerobic organisms, which means we thrive in an environment with oxygen.
We also respire anaerobically, but like that's another podcast entirely.
But when when aerobic organisms die, the body becomes rife with carbon dioxide.
This environment causes necrosis, or one of the forms of cell death.
The other being apoptosis. Apoptosis is different because it's triggered by pretty normal things in the body like menstruation.
It's called programmed cell death apoptosis.
Necrosis is triggered by injury, trauma, in its premature cell death.
Okay. So necrosis is unprogrammed cell death. and it will cause a cascade effect that breaks down other cellular structures in the body.
And because the body is not actively producing an immune response to clean up those dead cells, Because normally phagocytes would come out and they would clean up those dead cells.
So these dead cells collect and they break down other structures.
So autolysis is happening in a couple of days.
And first there's going to be bully. Which are pustules on the skin filled with fluid.
Bullies are pustules. They are. Like cysts on the skin.
So skin slippage starts occurring at this point and the skin will slough off in big sheets.
I don't like coleslaw. Okay. Like an entire sheet of skin on a hand will come off in like a degloving situation.
Are you done? So that's fun. I just wanted you all to know the science.
No, you're really smart. I bet a lot of people appreciate that.
I hope you guys do. Including myself. I do.
I also appreciate that. Thank you. You're welcome.
This bitch went to Harvard. Anyways, the body was identified as Robert Bobby Worley.
He was a black man. He was 5'10", 140 pounds approximately.
He was born December 18th, 1938. He had been arrested in 1963 for assaulting and raping a woman.
And he served at Sing Sing for three years.
It's called Sing Sing? It's called Sing Sing.
You've never heard of that prison? No. Wow.
Look at that guy. Thanks for calling me out 2020.
So he came from a family of seven kids from North Carolina.
So the question was, what happened here and how did he end up with a bullet in his head stuffed in a garment bag in Dorian Corey's apartment closet?
Self-defense, I'm already calling it. I think so too.
Dorian Corey does nothing wrong. I'm calling it.
Well, the theories were mainly that they had a relationship and she had to protect herself.
Maybe she shot him in self-defense during a fight.
He already raped one woman. Or that he was an intruder. who was robbing her since it was a bad neighborhood and she shot him in self-defense.
Dorian did have a .22 caliber gun for protection.
Um, so according to the New York Magazine piece on this case, which I'm going to link in the show notes because it's a great piece and everyone should read it.
Cool. Bobby Worley got out of Sing Sing in 1966 and around 67, 68, he went to live with his brother Fred in New York City. just for a bit he changed his name to bobby wells and he was a raging alcoholic Perfect.
His brother said he had a son that he abandoned.
Like, didn't see. Great guy. And while living with him, he became infatuated with a woman who lived next door.
He ended up quote, roughing up her son. who was seven years old when she refused his advances.
Roughing up her son? Roughing up a seven-year-old because his mother would not date him.
Like that was going to make her want to date him.
Exactly. And she threatened to call the police.
So after three months of living with his brother, he just split and disappeared.
That was the last he had like, or no, he heard from him one more time, but he was like, he basically just disappeared after that.
As soon as he heard police, he was like, bye now.
And he was probably like, good riddance.
And it's like, yeah, rough up a seven-year-old, a child of a woman, and she'll definitely fall all over herself for you.
Dating 101. You fucking idiot. And you know what?
I'm sure somebody's going to email and be like, he is dad.
How dare you call him an idiot? He's a rapist.
He raped a woman and he beat up a seven-year-old.
So I really... Don't email me. Don't at me.
Don't at me. That came from voguing. Yeah.
So, let's see. So he disappeared. In fact, when they heard he was dead, his family...
They had him buried in a potter's field in Hearts Island.
They unclaimed and buried by the city because they were like, yeah cool all right i relate to that yeah like they were not into it buried in a potter's field So his brother also ended up talking to this reporter for the New York Magazine piece about and he said his brother did have a relationship with a transgender woman.
He said one night he called him shitfaced and thought he had called this woman.
Mm-hmm. So Fred just stayed on the line and just let him talk.
He was like, what's the tea? So he called her Dorian.
Okay. When asked if he could have abused, so the reporter was like, could he have abused or tried to hurt Dorian?
He was like, hell yeah. And his brother believed that it was likely as he was a piece of absolute garbage.
Correct. So they were like he was like, yeah, he definitely could have abused her.
And like that could have been something that happened.
When asked if it seemed like Dorian had intentionally wrapped the body, like they asked some of her like friends if or in the investigators like did you think that dorian intentionally wrapped the body like a mummy in some like egyptian process because she was extra Like, was this like something she wanted?
Maybe she just didn't want it to stink up her house.
Well, Figueroa said no. He said, quote, and I love this.
I love this quote from him. Hit me up. quote i don't think so people just wrap a body in whatever's available it's just spontaneous you wrap it up then you put it in a suitcase then you put it in the closet Then you just look at it periodically and wish it would go away.
I mean, same as one does. Absolutely. Now back to the theories.
Okay. There is another theory that I hate.
I don't like this theory. Okay. it says that Dorian was protecting the killer of Worley like she was not actually the one who killed him and that she was protecting whoever killed this guy.
I don't like it because it doesn't make sense.
You don't think it's possible? People postured that maybe when Dorian moved into the apartment in the late 80s, because she moved 10 blocks from another apartment in the late 80s.
Okay. Whoever lived there before was someone she knew, and that person left her a little present in the form of a dead body in a bag.
So people think she may have harbored this physical thing as well as the secret for whoever did it.
I don't agree. I don't think this is it.
I think this is relying too hard on that beer flip can flip top theory.
Because the thing is, the medical examiner said he could have been dead between one year and 25 years.
Oh, wow. They just couldn't time it because he was so... They had... just various states messed with the time of death so much with this wrapping and like partially decomposed partially mummified there was literally no way to tell yeah no way So to say that just because of those flip tops were in the wrapping, that he had to have been killed when those were on the market doesn't fly with me.
You're right. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
So I think he could have been dead for much less time.
But sorry, I have something in my eye. I personally think he was in there for a few years at least for sure.
Yeah. And I mean, it could have been like... close to 10 at that point and still put him in the apartment alive when she was there.
Right. I just that that one just doesn't have enough like Well, like you said before, like she would protect you until you wronged her.
Exactly. that as like wronging her yeah like don't leave me with your fucking like I'm sorry who is she gonna protect for that Yeah.
And a lot of people, and I think I mentioned it a little while, like a lot of people point to Lois Taylor, the one who found the bag for this, but I'll get into that in a second.
Okay. I think that's too convenient. It is.
So the second theory is about a robbery or an intruder or a home invasion.
Sure. Several sources said that there was a note attached to the body in Dorian's handwriting that said, quote, this poor man broke into my home and was trying to rob me.
No note has ever been put forth of that.
And the dude was dressed in only boxers.
Right. So, I mean, I can't speak for all home invaders. because I am not one.
But, like, I know I wouldn't break into someone's house wearing just my underwear.
Like, that's just... But, like... I don't know.
What are you wearing, Jake from State Farm?
I just don't think he would break into her apartment wearing just boxers.
Just raggedy old boxers. I agree with that.
And then people are like, well, maybe she got rid of the clothing he had on.
But first of all, why would she get rid of his clothing? thing like that would be weird and two why would she only leave his boxers on maybe He was wearing something hella fetch and she used it for her costume.
I'm not kidding. That'd be sick. Maybe he had, like, a nice leather coat on and she was like, this would go lovely with my thing that's gonna cover the entire fucking ballroom floor.
There you go. And you wronged me, so I'mma use it.
I just don't think so. probably not but you know that's nice and remember the police Again, if this was this whole intruder, robbery, self-defense thing, he was also shot in the back of the head.
Mm-hmm. You don't normally shoot home invaders in the back of the head.
I don't know. Like you're usually just shooting at them because they're in your home.
You're not really like execution style shooting them in the back of the head.
I mean, again, I don't know. But to me, that's not like super lining up with it.
And then... It's like people will be like, well, if that was the case, she could have just called the police and been like, he was invading my home.
But not back shoot him. But it goes back to...
This is a black drag queen. Right. The police are not going to buy.
He broke into my home and I had to shoot him out of protection because she would have been in jail forever.
Right. Like that would have just been it.
So the third theory is the lover's theory.
Okay. This, I believe, I think. Okay. So this is the theory that says that Dorian Corey and Worley had a relationship of some kind.
Mm-hmm. be it like a full-blown relationship or just like a sexual relationship, like some form of relationship. in that it was either abusive, you know, just in general or that they got in some kind of fight she felt threatened and she shot him in self-defense right Maybe he came at her.
We don't know. Again, the only people who know this are Dorian Corey and Bobby Worley.
Correct. And they both took it to the grave.
I think the fact that his own brother said that he called him once and called him Dorian and was talking like they were in a relationship.
In fact, Fred, his brother, said that when he was calling him Dorian, he was acting like he was trying to smooth over a quarrel they had had.
Oh. So this all kind of adds up. And then also Dorian's doorman said that they were lovers and that he used to see him come into the apartment.
Right. And he also said like, yeah, he's dead.
Yeah. And then he was like, I also used to hear them like fighting and he was definitely abusive.
So this all kind of leads me to believe I mean the Dorian thing with his brother really makes me think that this is what the case was.
Right. Uh, no one can really confirm this because everyone's like, I don't know, she might just not have told us about Bobby.
Right. I don't think he was really someone you went and told all your friends about.
So I think that is the case. And again, if this is the case, She's not going to go to the police as a self-defense thing for the same reason.
Right. So it all makes sense. So Lois Taylor. said that she gave a paper to police and it had a it was like yellow and old and the paper had handwriting by dorian and it was a story idea of sorts okay Lois said, "...it said something about wanting her to have a sex change.
It said something about revenge, and revenge ends up in murder."
And then she said, quote, she wrote revenge and murder and she put a question mark.
It was like she was writing a story, honey. like murder she wrote but i don't know the way this shit was written out i know it clarified me Can you explain further?
What I think happened was she wrote this little story about this person who wanted her, about these two lovers.
Mm-hmm. And that this man wanted this person to have a sex change.
Oh, okay, okay, okay. And... The other person didn't want to.
Yeah. And that they didn't want to do it.
The person got angry and it ended up in murder.
Now, what if the case was that Bobby Worley maybe found out that she was not fully transitioned right as in like did not have full like sex reassignment surgery and got angry and it ended up violent and this is what happened.
Right. And then maybe she was writing what happened.
Yeah. you know as a form of like forming it like a story um and i mean she did like i said she did have a 22
She once handed Jesse Torres, her good friend and the owner of Sally's, too. her handbag before performing and it was super heavy so jesse was like what the fuck is in here and she's like my 22
She said, quote, just a little 22. If someone messes with me, I'm going to fill them with lead.
Yes, honey. like so yes queen she was like this gentle loving caring amazing like witty sarcastic human and then also she was like i will fuck you up if you fuck with me yeah don't fuck with me which I think is just funny she's too real now Lois Taylor um is, like I said, she was part of this whole, like, maybe she was covering for someone.
So people think that Lois Taylor could have did it and planted...
Bobby Worley they think like maybe they had maybe something but she couldn't even pick up the bag exactly Now they think like, you know, did she plant it after Dorian died?
She thought this is perfect. I'll just put this body in her apartment.
She's gone. She can't get in trouble for it.
But then also, why would she have handed somebody scissors?
Well that's the thing. Well people say that that is her not touching and not being the one to discuss.
But it's like, why would you even bring attention to it?
Exactly. That's exactly the reason I don't believe this one is because if she did do that... then she could have just done what Dory and Cory probably did, which is just leave it in a bag, leave it in your closet, and when you die, someone else will find it, and no one will know what happens, and you're out of this, you're free.
Right. So it's like why would she purposely bring it out into the light?
It just doesn't make any sense. And then hope that no one ties it to her.
Well, and especially at the time that it was still, I don't think she would have been like, here, open this bag.
Exactly. I did this. And then to her. She and she probably knew that.
So I don't think she would have done that.
Like you have to know that like as careful as you can be. could be tied back to you if you did it.
Well, and at that time, I just feel like you couldn't be careful enough.
Yeah, exactly. So that one, I don't believe.
Yeah. drag queen pepper labasia who you love that you will meet from the house of labasia um in paris is burning Pepper Labaja thought she did it.
Pepper Labaja thought that Dorian did it.
Thought that Lois Taylor did it. oh okay um the story was supposedly given to police that story that uh that Lois claimed that Dorian wrote that story about the whole like revenge.
That story, that little piece of paper was supposedly given to police.
Lois said she gave it to the police. Yeah.
No one's ever seen it. Okay. Now, again, I don't believe this.
Do you think it's hearsay? Do you think it was never written?
I think it was written. Okay. I think that's a very weird thing to make up.
Yeah. Like a very specific thing to make up.
Right. Again, we don't know. All of these people, most of these people are gone now.
So it's really just anybody's guess. But to me...
If Lois Taylor did do that and then like put it in Dorian Corey's closet because she was dead and she couldn't get in trouble.
That's a recipe for an angry ass ghost. So I don't think that's a good idea at all.
And you know, Dory and Corey would like come back. in the afterlife and fuck up your shit.
She would read you to filth every day of your life.
That's what she would do. She would be keeping it real from the grave.
Keeping it real. real. And so There is also, to further back up that Bobby Worley and Dorian Corey probably knew each other in some capacity, There's a deathbed confession of sorts from Dory and Corey.
Okay. So. She's like, don't clean my closet.
She spoke to another friend, Sally. While she was in her final days, she was on the medication for the AIDS virus.
She was deteriorating rapidly. She was kind of out of it, like kind of talking a little bit of nonsense here and there because it really does neurologically fuck you up.
Yeah, of course. When she spoke to Sally, Jesse heard her tell Sally, I have a secret.
And basically mentioned, like... there's no like full transcript of this conversation obviously but basically told her I killed someone OK, like said it.
And so people were like, I don't know if that's just like her nonsense because she's on this medication and she's in her final days and she's really like everywhere. or if this is real i think it's too much of a coincidence yeah it is it's very coincidental if it is a coincidence exactly so um That was a really dumb thing to say.
It's really coincidental for a coincidence.
That would be real coincidental for a coincidence.
This is why no person should ever have me around.
I love you. This is why we should all have.
So that's basically all that we have of the case.
No one knows to this day what the hell happened.
That was a fun one. All we know is that Bobby Worley died with a bullet to his head.
He was partially mummified and in Dorian Corey's closet.
And he was an asshole. and he was an asshole he got red to filth now the dory and cory awards are a thing now and they're known as the oscars of philly ballroom yes and they're on like the 25th annual one now or something like wait in philly yeah in philly Can we go?
Right? I don't know when they are, but I want to go.
Let's find out. That would be amazing. And like Ash has mentioned about Pose, Pose had an episode inspired by this story.
The episode was called Butterfly Cocoon.
Okay. And it was one of the drag queens, they find a body mummified in their closet.
Oh shit, I haven't seen that episode yet.
I think it's like Elektra is the... drag queen who ends up... Because Elektra is who Dorian Corey is modeled after.
There you go. Because Elektra in the first episode...
Venus leaves Elektra. Spoiler alert. And like I mentioned earlier, Benny Ninja... who is on America's Next Top Model as a post person.
And he's fierce as fuck. So fierce. He was the father of House Ninja, and that title was given to him by... willy ninja who was in paris is burning oh i love this so much he gave up that post to Javier Ninja after, and this is really sad, he was emotionally shaken and injured by a train derailment.
Oh, geez. He was okay. Like, he lived, but he just, like, was really shaken up by it.
Yikes. So he had to give up his title as house father.
And he's, like, an amazing dancer. Yeah.
Yeah. So yeah, so he was on America's Next Top Model.
And before we end this, I just want to leave us on a question. quote by dory and cory from paris is burning one might say the best quote one might say um so here it is As you get older, you aim a little lower.
And I just say, well, yeah. some impression, some mark upon the world.
Then you think you left a mark on the world, If you just get through it, and a few people remember your name, then you left them all.
You don't have to bend the whole world. I think it's better to just enjoy it.
Pay your dues. And enjoy it. If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you.
I think that's an amazing quote to end this on.
Hooray for you. And Dory and Corey certainly left her mark on this world.
She lives on. And I'm sure, you know. Bobby Worley had potential to be a good person but he chose the other way we all have potential no one deserves to be murdered I'm not saying anybody deserves to be murdered for sure but you know if it was self defense it's self defense I don't know what to tell you Yeah.
Don't be rude. And, you know, we don't know.
We don't know. We don't know if Dory and Corey murdered anyone.
We just don't know. We just don't know. All we know is that she was a fabulous queen.
I feel like we're going to have really good posts for this when we post about the episode.
I think so too. I think so too. And if you haven't seen Paris is Burning... Yeah, go watch it, guys, because it's seriously... It's really good.
It'll give you so many different... emotions all at once back when me and elena could watch movies together now we can't because there's always like 500 kids running around this place Just three.
One of them can't even walk. It feels like fun.
We watched it like one afternoon in the summer and I remember being just like. glued to the TV, like thinking it was so cool.
It's just crazy. And the first time I saw it was in my gender studies class in college.
And I was like, whoa, like it just blew my brain apart because I had no idea.
I'm just some like no one white girl from Massachusetts.
You know what I mean? Same. Like cisgender straight white girl from Massachusetts.
I knew nothing of this. That shit will culture you.
But it... was so cool to me and it's and it's like and it also was like really sad that like these people didn't have anywhere to go.
You know what I mean? But it was, and then it was like all at once uplifting that they like created a place for them. to go you know it was just like all these different like oh man this is sad oh that's so cool oh it's so inspiring like it's like an inspire and then at the end it's really tragic so yeah So yeah.
So go watch it. When you're done watching that, go watch Pose.
I think there's two seasons. Yes. I just started it.
And then I took like a long break because I can never keep up with TV shows, but it's really good.
Neither can I. It's really good. I actually haven't watched Pose yet.
I've been remiss. So I need to start it.
I can't think of his name. I suck. But the same director that does AHS.
Ryan Murphy. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm in. Yeah.
For sure. It's so good. Yeah. I'm going to go watch it when I get home.
I'm going to do it. So go watch that and go watch Paris Burning and look out for our Instagram post about this.
Yeah. And if you don't, follow us on Instagram. you can do so i love a good transition at morbid podcast hit us up on the twitter a morbid podcast uh join the facebook group Morbid colon, a true crime podcast.
Send us an email, but not one that says that we shouldn't have said some of this stuff because we said it and there's no going back.
Sound in the universe. morbidpodcast at gmail dot com And then you could donate to our Patreon.
Patreon.com slash morbidpodcast. And that's all we have.
That's all she wrote. That is all she wrote.
Right? Yeah. That's all she wrote. Oh, and hey, keep your eyes peeled this week.
Oh, yes. Because we're going to be announcing a couple things.
Keep your eyes peeled. Couple places. Couple things.
Couple events. Couple of situations, if you will.
So I'm going to shut my mouth. mouth now i don't know just keep a lookout on monday maybe i don't know i'm just saying just saying phone a friend yeah that made no sense I loved it.
So we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird.
But not so weird that you got a corpse in your closet for over 20 fucking years.
Hey-o! But just, like, do it anyway. Don't do it.
Don't do that. Don't do it. 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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