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Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.
🎵 Yay. It's a cult edition. Ooh. Yeah.
Fun. I'm just going to hit a cult. This is like... kind of a cult it's like they consider themselves a cult but they're kind of like cults They're not even cult-like because they're pretty cult-heavy, but, like, I don't know.
You'll get it when you... Well, you'll get it when you get it.
At first I thought you said they're not even cult-like because they're pretty cult-heavy and I was like, wouldn't that make them cult-y then?
No, they're not cult-like. Like, I wouldn't call them like... I wouldn't even call them off-brand cult.
It's like... They're just like a cult that has aspartame in it.
Oh, so they're dying. Diet cult. Yeah, like diet cult.
It tastes really disgusting, but it does a lot of damage.
I mean, I like Diet Coke, but aspartame is really bad for you.
Yo, Brian, I ain't trying to drink aspartame.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should.
So that's what they are. They're like the diet soda of cults where...
It's bad, but it's not the same as the regular, but it's somehow worse for you.
Okay, yeah. That's what they are. All right.
That was a journey and we got there on it.
We got there. You know, it's been a week, guys.
It's been a week. is anyone else dealing as like parents are you dealing with like tons of school viruses apparently there's like a ton of them going around And we've managed to get away from a lot of them, but they are weird and like quick and really just...
A big pain in the ass. I'm really excited that the kids are almost done with kindergarten for like a minute.
But then I'm like... Do summer camps have their own viruses too?
Of course they do. They're probably worse.
They're probably like mutants. Anytime you gather kids together, it's just a petri dish.
Stop gathering. yeah let's all just stop gathering all together yeah let's just no we already did that No, we didn't, though.
That's the problem. Honestly, that is the problem.
But you know what? Here we are. Talking about diet cults.
How's everybody feeling? Loopy. We keep seeing everybody getting their merch.
That is pretty cool. So exciting. Everybody looks gorge in their merch.
I'm so happy. And I'm so happy to hear that it's soft.
And because that was like our biggest thing.
We were like, it needs to be soft. I want to feel it. cozy, comfy, silky silhouettes everywhere.
That's exactly what we're looking for. And you know what?
You guys are serving it up for us, like back to us at least.
Serving sultry silhouette. Yeah. Surrealness. thrillness hissing.
So yeah, this is going to be a really gnarly one.
Just want to Well, it is you, want to be clear.
This is not super old-timey, But like for anybody, I think my age, it's going to feel like, oh, that was just 10 years ago because it's from 1991.
I wasn't even alive. But, like, it's probably a little old-timey to everyone else.
Just not as old-timey as I usually go. So we're going to take you back to September 25th, 1991.
And we are going to talk about the carny cult.
Ooh, I know. Immediately you're like, ooh.
Yeah, I'm scared. Ooh. A Kearney cult, I can see why it's worse for you than a regular cult.
It is. See, it's got its own thing. Now, the guys involved in this whole thing are Jimmy Lee Pennick.
Mark Goodwin, and brothers Keith and David Lawrence.
They were in a Satanic cult. They started the whole thing.
They claimed they were working off of Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible.
I think they were just assholes. But, you know, like, I think we'll all make a decision at the end of this.
Now, Jimmy kind of, there's always one that becomes kind of the de facto leader of these kind of things.
Yeah. Every cult needs a leader. Every cult needs a leader.
I don't even know if he was actually the cult leader, but he definitely got like...
He was the one that everybody kind of remembers from this.
He was really the one who did the most dirty work, too, and he seemed to have... a past of doing dirty work and doing bad things and hurting people and straight up murder.
This is not his first rodeo that we're going to talk about.
Oh. Yeah. Like this is not his first rodeo and it's not his first ritual sacrifice.
But Mark Goodwin had been into this Satan shit for a long time.
I think Jimmy was kind of just like joining it just as like whatever when he got older, like into his 20s.
But Mark Goodwin... He was the one that was into it since like elementary school.
Damn. Yeah, which is like pretty early to get into Satanism, I would say.
I would say so. Yeah, you know, I just feel like, okay, like how did that occur?
But teachers and other students said he was super into it.
He was straight up at 12 years old drawing inverted crosses on things.
What? Which to me, I'm pretty sure. And like, if you hear his background a little bit, you can hear he was into like metal music like Ozzy Osbourne and shit that was on CD covers.
Yeah. So I don't think that was like really, to be honest, I don't think that was an indicator of what he was capable of later in life.
I think it was like, He liked the music.
He saw the imagery. That's probably what everybody's like.
He was a Satanist when he was 12. Yeah. But then we have some stuff that points to him actually being a Satanist when he was younger.
Such as? Like I said, he was intrigued by like dark shit at a pretty young age, but he went bad with it. like you know we can who gives a shit if somebody's into like weird shit when they're young yeah i wanted to be a witch when i was little yeah Like, I was into really weird shit when I was young.
I'm still into really weird shit. I'm not gonna murder anybody.
No. And I haven't done it before. So it's, let's, you know, I always try to, I hate when it's like put on that.
Like he was under dark shit when he was younger.
So of course this was going to happen. No one cares.
Right. Like he was into metal and all the things that they tried to point to in the West Memphis Three case.
Like they wore black. He did this. But he was more interested, not like, you look at the West Memphis Three case, for example, it's just like a really good example of the satanic panic kind of thing. oh yeah which by the way quick side note anybody watching stranger things Thank you for telling me that Eddie's character is based off of Damien from the West Memphis Three because...
Holy shit, I can't watch it the same anymore.
Like, I was already invested, but now I'm like, I loved Eddie.
And I was like, now I feel validated for loving Eddie.
I didn't realize that. great everybody go watch stranger things if you hadn't and to everybody who's been tagging me telling me about eddie's character being connected to that thank you because i had no idea And I am watching it in a whole different light now.
But yeah, go look at that. so so yeah they kind of pointed i look at the west memphis three cases like those were kids that sure maybe they got in a little trouble and they're like tiny little you know arkansas town where you get in trouble for everything But they weren't like hurting people.
They weren't killing people. They weren't sacrificing animals.
They were wearing black and listening to metal.
Right. like that's all and they were into like horror movies and they got pegged as like satanists But it seems like Mark Goodwin when he was younger, he wasn't into all that kind of side of it.
The music, the horror movies, the aesthetic, all that stuff. he really wanted to gain power over people.
Like he wanted Satan's power. He wanted to sell his soul.
Yeah, like he was interested in the dark shit that like the satanic panic like tries to latch on to.
He was not into it for like aesthetic. Yeah.
He had read a lot of books about satanic worship and he had formed his own meathead ideas that like ritual sacrifices and murder. we're part of the whole thing and that that's what it takes to gain power and blah.
Like, Basically, he's just stupid and that's where he went with it.
So at 15, Goodwin formed his own cult called Satan's Disciples.
Wow. Which... First of all, that wow you're 15.
Second of all, that is the stupidest name for a cult I have ever heard in my life.
It is so on the fucking nose. Right, like be different.
So on the nose. Oh, hey, we're Satan's disciples.
I know. If Satan was in the room, he'd be like, that's what you came up with?
That's all you got? Right. He'd be pissed.
Satan's disciple? Like, that's just dumb.
I was like, come on. Yeah. Ready? Go. what cult name go oh shit okay hold on oh you put me on the spot oh no okay Oh, that's a good one.
I like that. I think that's a great one.
Hey, guys, we're... There it is. That's our cult.
Boom. It explains exactly what we're all about.
And it's creative. And it's scary. It is.
Yeah, I get it. But yeah, Satan's disciples, no.
No, thank you. Um, so this little cult had, it started off with about six people between the ages of 12.
He was 15 by the way. Weird. Between the ages of 12 and 35. the fuck?
Yeah. How did you know a 35 year old? Not sure why a 35 year old was hanging out with 12 year olds and 15 year olds.
No good reason I can tell you that much.
Well, and apparently they would meet and perform rituals and old barns and abandoned cemeteries and in forests, anywhere that's spooky ooky and seems right on the nose for a Satanist cult.
I want to know like what satanic rituals are other than sacrifices.
Like what are the other ones? Yeah, there has to be other ones here.
Because you only hear about sacrifices, but because that's just scary and what is associated with it.
Yeah, I want to know what other kinds there are.
I'm going to look into that. there's probably a zillion other ones.
They probably don't really even do so to be quite honest.
Right. Well, that's the thing. Like rituals are probably not really part of it, to be quite honest, but I'm not sure. it just seems very like it's it's all we talk about this all the time that like You know, every religion that like gets that like stereotype placed on them of what people think that religion is and Satanism is no different.
And it's usually not right, not true, not correct.
It's just what is put out there in the media or in, you know, popular culture, whatever.
Satanism just happens to have gotten like a real bad rap. for like ever, just like what people think it is.
It's too many generalizations. It is. We generalized too many things in general.
General. See how meta that was? We are generalizing too much in general.
I feel like it's just like the world is generalizing people and things and ideas.
Generalizing is losing all meaning in my head.
In general. It really is. I won't get too far into that.
Don't worry. But either way, they're doing all these rituals, blah, blah, blah.
Goodwin was obviously the leader and would act like the high priest of the cult. oh he was so fancy he loves his power and authority now the group would sacrifice animals for the rituals oh fuck off more than once a week according to this now for example in this trigger warning for ash too to be quite honest i am going to talk i'm not going to go into detail don't worry but I'm just going to mention an animal that was killed here.
So trigger warning. For example, one of the rituals included killing a cat and then putting its blood into fancy goblets. and they all drank it to summon demons to do their bidding.
That's stupid and rude and fucked up and also incredibly dangerous.
I'm sure. Thank you all of the above. Yeah.
Like get out of here. And it's like. I never understand this like we're trying to summon demons to do our bidding.
Maybe this is like me being a Capricorn or like me being my personality type that like I have a control issue.
I'm not summoning anybody to do my shit for me.
No, you're not. I could never hand over control to a demon for them to do what i need i'll get it done well you want something done do it yourself That's just too tricky because like you're not supposed to trust a demon.
No, of course not. You can't trust anybody.
No, I don't even trust you. I say it all the time.
You want something done, you got to do it yourself.
You want it done right. I found that. You do it yourself.
I have found that. I love DIY. There you go.
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But no, they're stupid and they want, you know, demons to come out and do shit for them, which is just like, okay.
Now, Goodwin also said that members of the cult wore black robes because...
Yeah. But the women in the group were not allowed to wear robes. lame they had to wear black lingerie or had to be just naked fuck right off with that that's what i'm saying like mark get the fuck out of here We know exactly what you're doing Marky Mark.
Of course we know. Ew. And also just like why would you do that?
Why would you sign up for that? Here's the thing.
If people want to be naked, then get it.
Be naked. Do whatever you want. If that's your... thing like by all means go be naked I don't care but don't let a dude tell you that you have to be but that should not be the dress code That should not be a dress code somewhere.
You decide if you want to be naked. If you're cool with it, you go.
That's also just not a dress code because you're not dressed.
Yeah, that's black lingerie. Yeah, yeah.
Now they later said, weirdly, they had a lot of trouble getting women to join the group.
I wonder why. I can't imagine why. They were like, yeah, women are just like a little scarred of satanism.
No, I think we're just like done with being objectified.
Like, bro, I think it's you and your weird band of predators that scared them off and not the Satanism part, but like...
Okay. Whatever you want to think there. Sure.
Anyways. Goodwin said that there would always be a huge orgy and everyone would dance around while they satanic chorus sang. i believe it for sure i think all of that happens absolutely for sure Now, Goodwin said that he actually left the satanic disciples at one point, because one of them suggested that they kill an innocent person.
And he was like, no. And they suggested a baby for a ritual.
And he wasn't down for that. He literally said, quote, To kill a kid for a ritual that lasts maybe three hours and that kid's life is gone for good, that's pointless.
Agreed. Yeah, we all agree, Mark. But you said he had killed other people before?
No, that was Jimmy. Oh, okay. But Mark ends up being part of like a very bad thing where someone dies.
And it's like, Mark, where was that energy in 1991?
Keep that energy around you at all times that you shouldn't kill people.
He's a conundrum. Now, the brothers Keith and David Lawrence are up next.
I'll tell you about them. Keith Lawrence was a Satanist for a while.
But his brother David, who is three years older than him, was not at all.
David tried to say that that heavy metal was what brought Keith into Satanism.
That was his whole thing. Because once again...
Pop culture made me do it. Pop culture made me do it.
It's not me being a shitty person. But, you know, I'm going to call bullshit on that.
Apparently, though, Keith did take music very seriously and really Probably was influenced because of his own mind and mind and not the actual lyrics or music of himself.
He just liked music. So of course. He was also big into reading tons of books about Satan.
Tons of books. Tons of books about Satan.
You know, many books. He read tons of books about Satanism and he really dove headfirst into it once he started.
So he just got really interested in it, which would be fine if he just got interested in it, wanted to learn about it, wanted to do whatever.
But David said that once Keith got really into this, his personality changed drastically.
He said he became a more hateful, more aggressive person.
He said he hated everybody and everything around him, and he would do things like simply to get people upset.
He liked upsetting people. He was actually so upset that David didn't want to become a Satanist, Keith was, he was like, why is my brother not a Satanist?
That one day during an argument, about this topic at hand, he grabbed a kitchen knife and chased him around the kitchen with it.
That'll definitely make somebody want to do what you want them to do.
I'm like, what? Do you think he was like, wow, this seems great.
You know what? On second thought, brother, this has changed my mind.
You seem like you're making very good choices, so I'm going to go ahead and go with you on this.
Yeah, your threats have changed my mind.
So as you can see, Keith is having some issues with the whole Satanism thing. his person i don't think it has anything to do with satanism to be quite honest i think it has to do with keith being like a problem child because he was getting into trouble, he was being an asshole, he's chasing his brother around with a kitchen knife.
So he ends up being sent away by his parents to a private school.
Okay. And this private school was in Terre Haute.
He was supposed to be working on his anger issues. just get his behavior under control.
And David, his brother, did love his brother a lot even though he didn't understand the satanism thing and he had chased him around this fucking kitchen with a kitchen knife.
He chalked it up to sibling shit, apparently.
That's wild. And, you know... siblings, I guess.
If you chased me around the kitchen with a knife, it would be a while before I talk to you again.
Just FYI. Yeah, I won't do that. Cool. I can safely say I won't.
Because it'll be a while. It'll be a while.
Before me and you talk. It'll... It'll be a few days before I speak to you again.
We have a whole job to do together. We do.
We have a whole ass job to do. Don't do that, okay?
David loved his brother and he did spend up, like when he came back from school, he spent a lot of time with him.
He didn't stop hanging out with him. Well, and he was probably trying to make sure too that he could kind of keep him on a good path.
Yeah. on the straight and narrow. And he was quoted as saying that he hung around with Keith.
And this is like both funny and sad, the way he quotes this.
Oh no. He said he hung around with Keith the most because he was the only member of his family to treat him with respect. david said that but then he was quoted as saying quote a satanic brother is all i had oh man You know what?
Life does get bleak within family systems sometimes.
And you know what? Some people have nobody.
So at least you did have a satanic brother.
It's like I want him to have a shirt that says, like, I was born into this family and all I got was this lousy satanic brother.
I love it. I'm with stupid. Satanic brother is all I had.
I'm with satanic brother. I have a satanic brother.
That's all I got. So Keith and David met Mark Goodwin.
Yeah. They came into each other's lives.
They bonded. They ended up working together.
So that's how they met. And they immediately bonded over Satanism.
And Keith and Goodwin actually, because remember, Keith is the brother that's bonding over Satanism.
David just kind of goes along with his brother.
He's like trying to support it. Yeah. But Keith and Goodwin signed a blood pact that they believe we're going to bring them power.
And they said, quote, if we're going to do this, let's do it to the full extent and sign with our souls.
That's what they were quoted as saying later of like, that's why we did it.
Okay. They would do seances and rituals and all other manner of... hokey shit that they believed was part of this whole thing.
I just love that they're like, if we're going to do it, let's do it right.
Let's sign with our souls, man. And I'm like, are you supposed to have one?
Yeah. Like the way that you're looking at. this?
I don't feel like you guys do have one. Yeah, because I feel like with the way they're looking at it is so hokey and like so... just like fictional that I feel like they would be the ones to be like, we're not supposed to have souls, man.
We gave our souls to Satan. Yeah. but like apparently but apparently they had them and then they signed with their souls.
So that's why they are like blood brothers now.
It's really... a lot and i also wonder like did this happen in front of david was david just standing there being like cool guys yeah good luck i guess i wonder how he felt about this whole shebang probably wasn't psyched So now the Lawrence brothers and Goodwin are both at odds with their own respective families because they're they're getting worse and worse like they're not being they're not being good boys okay and they're having a lot of problems with their parents and their families.
They're not keeping it in check. Yeah, and they just want to keep worshipping the devil, but they need to get like more steady jobs because they were just taking like jobs every which way.
Because, you know, the devil may be totally giving them all the power in the universe and shit, but he's not going to spot them at 20 for rent.
So they decided to get jobs together with this traveling carnival company.
I was waiting. As one does. I was waiting for the carnival element.
The carnival gotta come in. Yeah, because at this point, they're like, we want to keep worshiping.
But like we also need to buy food and pay rent.
So like let's do this together. What is the creepiest job we could all take together? carnival it is they really nailed it they really looked for that so while doing this, they decided they wanted to start a brand new cult.
Because... Okay. So they recruited Jimmy Lee Pennick in Brownstown because he was working the carnival circuit.
So this is just a bunch of carnies ready to stamp some pentagrams on their heads and have an orgy for Satan.
Carny cult. Because they met him obviously like these carnival circuits, like they travel obviously and people will travel with them because certain- seasons in different places, our carnival season, you know, a carnival season up north is going to be summer.
But then you could go down south in the winter and that's still carnival season down there.
It's always. carnival season it's always five o'clock somewhere and it's always carny season somewhere You're like really selling it.
You're like, just so you know, you could go to a carnival anytime you want.
Just go to the right geographical location.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Like, I feel like I, you know how people have those like tiki bars and it's like, it's always five o'clock somewhere. there's always a creepy ass bar that just says it's always carnival season somewhere please do that I'm going to commission that for you.
We should make a t-shirt that says that.
You were just like, hello? Hello. Hello.
T-shirt people, are you listening? T-shirt people. uh so yeah you know just a bunch of carnies got together and they were like Satan?
Yeah? Okay, cult time. So during all of this, they're working at the carnival. worshiping Satan, and all of this is when they met William Anthony Ault.
So many boys up in here. Well, and poor William Ault.
And they called him Tony, I should say. That's what he was known as because his middle name was Anthony.
Thank you. I forgot about that. I was going to say, I could see it on your face.
Why did they call him that? Now Tony was a good guy.
Really? Yep. Okay. And Tony is unfortunately our victim here.
Oh, no. Tony was only 21 at the time. He was interested in Satanism.
He was looking for dudes to hang out with.
He was kind of like marching to the beat of his own drum.
He just wanted like bros to dude out with.
So his name was William Anthony Tony Ault.
Like I said, he was born July 2nd, 1970 in a small town in the small town of rochester indiana he's a cancer there you go so is what does that mean like a sweet soul who's like it makes sense in touch with their emotions and just like cancers are like very ethereal oh you know Ma's a cancer.
I bet. Oh, there you go. Yeah. Like just picture Ma.
All right. So there you go, Tony. I get it.
And Tony, he just feels like he was like a guy who just like needed...
He just needed, like, the right group to take him in, you know?
His parents were Shirley and Gerald. They divorced at one point, but the mother, Shirley, had remarried Robert Alts, and that's where he took his last name.
He had a sister, Angela, and a brother, Charles.
He was into weird shit. He was just into the occult.
He was interested in it. He really, I think it was just one of those things where it's like, you know, this is almost like it probably to him. looked at first, like, you know, like just like something like D&D.
Something that they're into, they get together, they do it.
Yeah. It's something that bonds them together.
It's a built-in group of friends. you're all interested in weird dark shit but then he did start seeing that it was like a little more than that but I don't think he fully understood Now, he had started working for the Poor John's Carnival Company. which is the one that they all found themselves working for at one point.
Because again, It's always carnival season somewhere.
So they were moving around to a bunch of them, but they ended up at this one.
So he met them in September of 1991 on DeKalb County Fairgrounds.
And again, he was only 21 years old. A baby.
A baby. So he expressed to them, he heard them talking.
He like kind of got to know them a little bit.
And he expressed to them that he was like, I would like to join your cult.
Yeah. Sounds kind of fun. He was very interested in this stuff.
And also, again, he was like, I really just want some friends to hang with.
So like, can I join? Yeah. And you know, we all want that.
Of course. We all want that. But for some reason, they were not interested in him becoming part of the cult.
Really? Which is weird. Did they have a reason?
They didn't really give a reason. Huh. And later what's even more frustrating is these fuckers talk about Tony and they say that like he was a really nice guy.
And he didn't deserve any of it. Are you kidding me?
Literally talk about him like, yeah, you know what?
He was like a really great guy. And like we shouldn't have done what we did. so it's like they admit that this is like a really good guy and i do wonder Initially, they were like, yeah, you don't belong because you're actually a good person and we're shitty people.
Okay. We don't want you here because we don't want to hang out with a good person.
Right. that's part of it they could tell he was a good person probably so in september Again, he's like, he's like, I want to join your cult.
They're like, no, no. And he's like, come on.
Like, I want to join your cult. Yeah, like just let me join.
In September, he approaches them and tells them, you know, I want to be part of everything.
They keep telling him no. And the thing is, he finally was like, well, listen, I know something.
I know something pretty big. He knew something that could take these fuckers down.
Oh, uh oh. And he decided this was his end to the cult. which is not great.
So somehow he knew that in August of that same year, An 18-year-old guy named Andrew Lee Wright was murdered in Ohio by having his throat slit.
He was murdered in an Ohio field and his body was dumped on the turnpike.
He was also a carnival worker, this guy.
Apparently, Andrew had been killed because he had been speaking about Pennick committing another crime in Ohio before that.
Uh oh. Well, he also knew that this is what Tony knew.
Tony was like, I know that someone by the name of Keith Lawrence... and someone by the name of Jimmy Pennick are responsible for this murder of Andrew Lee Wright. which we don't need you to know that.
Now he knows he has something on them And he's trying to use it as blackmail for them to let him into their group. okay this is a bad plan from all sides unfortunately like any way you turn this puzzle it's not gonna it's not gonna work it's wrong wrong answers everywhere like Yeah, because if you know that somebody has something to do with a murder, don't go to that person about it.
Go to the police about it. Exactly. And like...
Yeah. Because it's like he seems like he was desperate.
He seems like he desperately just wanted to be in a group.
Mm-hmm. I don't know who knows if he truly believed that this was true that he had done. that's the other maybe he thinks that it's a rumor but he's like i'm gonna use this because why not right There's no way that Tony could have known that him doing this was going to cause anything of what happened.
Of course not. But it's like, just for future ref, when this kind of thing is never a good way to get somebody to... to let you into a group or to like, you don't want to hang out with these people.
No, you definitely don't. And I don't think Tony truly wanted to either.
I think he just wanted a group and he didn't know how bad these guys were.
I really don't. So of course at first they're like, fine, you can be part of the group.
But there's like a huge initiation process and there's a ritual and there's probably, you know, some... like orgy involved and you have to make sure you don't tell anyone about this okay because shit's about to get real So don't tell anyone that you are becoming part of this cult.
Don't even tell people that this cult exists.
That's the only way that you're ever going to become one of us.
And he was like, okay. He's like, that's easy.
Yeah, he's like, I don't want to talk about it anyway.
So September 25th, 1991. They asked a friend of the cult, which is like a friend of the pod but really scary, I would assume. because like literally it's like friend of the cult this woman's name was brenda ferguson to help them with this whole thing Of course, they didn't really tell her what they were doing.
That's the thing. They weren't like, hey, Brenda, we want to do something terrible to this guy.
Can you help us out? They said that they were initiating Tony into their satanic church. and that they needed her help to scope out a really good secluded place that has like satanic vibes. but also might be really good for a picture after, you know, flanking the new initiate like a graduation photo.
Okay, so it had to be a mix of broken down cemetery and picturesque view. you know yeah like that's what they were looking not an easy task beautifully said but you know what who better than brenda to do this I trust Brenda for that.
Who doesn't? So everybody can trust a Brenda.
So the carnival is shutting down for the day.
All the rides are over. The lights are slowly turning off.
The creeps are slinking out of their booths to do all manner of dark shit.
I'm totally kidding. They were probably just completely normal people who are just going home after a hard day's work.
Yeah, they're definitely just going home for a beer.
That's all what we just pictured. But like in reality, they were all just like, wow.
Great job, everybody. See you tomorrow. Now, except for these assholes.
These were the ones slinking off to do some bad shit.
So now everything's over. They work their hard day.
Brenda picks them all up in her car. She picks up Jimmy, Mark, Keith, David, and Tony.
So Brenda had found the perfect place. She had done her job.
It was the secluded farm outside of Auburn, Auburn Farms.
And farms are perfect for a ritual. Oh, of course.
They're all like, this is what we need. They're spooky.
Yeah. But, you know, they're necessary.
They can be picturesque. They've got everything.
And they're super secluded usually. That's the thing.
And I feel bad because Because Brenda did a good job with the location if it was what they were planning on doing, which was some like spooky ritual. not involving any kind of sacrifice or anything.
Like, she'd found a great location for that.
And I feel bad because I think she thought...
That she was just setting them up for a really great ritual that evening.
So she just left and dropped them off. Yeah, thought nothing of it.
And they all said she didn't know. They didn't tell her anything.
They told her initiating Tony. I feel like they've done something terrible. to her.
So they get in there and they have Tony lie down on the door that they have makeshifted into a satanic altar.
Mm-hmm. Once he lay on the door slash altar, they tied him up and they gagged him with a towel.
It bothers me. I'm like, at what point did he realize?
I know. I thought about it and I was like...
Did you realize like as soon as it start, like when they tie you up, you have to realize something is awry.
Or at least just start to get nervous. And I'm sure he tried to get away.
It's just really sad to think about it. It's heartbreaking. so it begins with keith reading some kind of satanic spell or prayer who knows like these assholes probably just made this shit Of course.
So this is happening and everything just kind of seems weird, but not yet completely violent.
It's just weird. And then Jimmy just whips out Keith's knife and slices from Tony's neck to his groin.
Oh my goodness. And we are talking a deep cut, like close to the Y-shaped incision that you prepare an autopsy. with right yeah that takes force of course trust me that takes force So now that they have sliced, he's basically been sliced open.
He's been eviscerated at this point. Goodwin and the Lawrence brothers just start putting inverted crosses, like cutting them into his upper torso and abdomen.
They also just slice into him like all over the place.
And he's alive for all of this. He was still alive.
So now he is lying here, bound and gagged and bleeding and sliced open.
And Jimmy Panik leans down into his face and asks Tony if he is ready to die.
What? Tony answered, and Jimmy's response was to slice open his throat.
And he said he answered me, but I don't think he ever said what the answer was.
But he said, I'm assuming it was no. This all just happened.
It happened so quickly. It happened so fast.
And the fact that he was saying he answered me is like he was alive for all of that until the very end. and it's just like you think of Tony on his way and he's probably just excited to be a part of something yeah it's And obviously had no idea that this was going to happen.
It's just like thinking of him driving out there that night ruins you. yeah because it's just he had no one could ever conceive of this happening never no one Never.
And that's why I truly believe that Tony didn't think that that maybe thought those rumors of, you know, Keith and Jimmy being murderers were just like rumors because they were in a satanic cult and all that.
Right. I truly believe he probably didn't know exactly what he was getting into.
I agree with you. I really believe that and which makes it even sadder because I think he just wanted a group to hang with.
And it really does break my heart. Now they weren't done.
After they've slit open his throat and are satisfied that he is dead, Goodwin, Keith, Lawrence, and Jimmy all help each other cut off Tony's head. yeah and they dismember him why they cut off his hands and then they attempted to burn the dismembered pieces of his body.
They took all the remains after this and they buried them in a shallow grave in a nearby field that was near the site of the murder.
Then they just call Brenda and had her pick them up.
And here, I'm wondering about what Brenda thought about them being minus one member here.
Right, because was Tony original, like did Tony go out there with them?
Yeah, Tony was out there with them. So here's the thing.
I don't know about Brenda. I don't know what, and that's why I'm not going to sit here and like pretend to know about Brenda or what she knew or whatnot.
I know that they claim that they didn't tell her anything.
And I know that she was really not brought into this after this.
But I'm still like, Brenda, did you ask where Tony was?
I mean, I would ask maybe, am I detail oriented?
I don't know if I would just be like, well, I came here. with this many of you and now there's one less of you.
When you would think that she'd be like, oh, is Tony coming?
Does he need a ride home? That's the thing.
I'd be like, where's Tony? Does he need a ride?
This is secluded. That would be what I would ask, yeah. the thing like i intentionally chose a secluded area for you like where is he but I guess just playing devil's advocate and no pun intended. maybe she did ask and maybe they gave some kind of answer.
Like it's part of the initiation. He has to walk home.
He has to like find his way home. it's true that's why i don't want to like say either way with brenda i obviously it makes you question but you have no idea And I don't want to... Who knows who Brenda is?
Now, either way, they stopped at an Arby's and had food.
Are you... kidding me that is always just like so incredibly disturbing when they carry out such a heinous act and then go get a burger yeah now how did they pay for this arby's by the way oh i'm sure you're gonna tell me they didn't pay for it with their money they took money from tony's pockets before they burned his dismembered corpse in a field near Bye.
I don't understand how people can do this to other people.
They stole money out of his pocket while they buried his dismembered corpse in nearby the place where they murdered him in a satanic ritual torture.
I just don't, that's like, I just said, I just don't get it.
It's like, how do you not think of your brother or your sister or your dad or like.
People love him. Right. Like, there are people who love him.
And how do you not think... How do you not put yourself in a place of empathy and think how you would feel if this happened to your family member?
Exactly. Or how your family would feel if this happened to you.
Like, I just don't understand the lack of empathy that people have.
I don't either. That's the thing. It's like, that's what kills me.
People love these people. Right. And like, I feel like every decision I make, I think about how it's going to affect the people around me and me.
Yeah, and it's like, does everybody get it right all the time?
No, of course not. But these kind of people don't even consider it.
It's not even a fleeting thought in their mind what these, who these people are. who they could be hurting and these choices are just like i mean these are beyond Like that's the thing.
Like you don't get these right or wrong.
You just know that murdering somebody is wrong.
And this is like torture. Absolutely. Like torture.
Now, what's crazy too is they just kept working the carnival. because nobody was, nothing happened.
And actually ended up driving down to Florida at one point to get winter carnival jobs, because remember the carnival is in season everywhere.
And they did so in Keith's van, which he called rigor mortis.
That's so fucking lame. You guys are the lamest.
Yeah, like get fucked. The lamest fucks.
They returned home at the end of the year, and luckily, by December, people at art.
There was rumblings about what happened to Tony.
He was missing. People were already saying, you know, he hung around these guys.
We know about these guys. We know about these guys.
The other thing. thing is and like i'm glad that they're i'm not glad that they're stupid but just like oh i know You already knew that Tony was on to you.
So did you not think that those rumors were circulating and then you're going to do this to Tony, that's only going to add fuel to the fire.
And then people are going to come in hot on your tail.
Like, how did you not think of that? did you think a demon was gonna come and save you like from all of this you idiots I am healthy and I feel great and I think a lot of that is because of liquid IV and the fact that I'm prioritizing my health and wellness because sometimes you push your body too hard or you just feel run down.
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Promo code morbid. So, yeah, but on December 12th, Keith Goodwin's own dad. called police and told them that he had something to say.
That's a good dad right there. He told them his son had described to him that he witnessed a murder that was part of a ritual satanic sacrifice.
My God, that. poor man too I'd be like oh great that's my son that's what he does yeah I'd be like great And having to call the police and be like, you need to come arrest my child.
I can't imagine the internal struggle that you would go through.
Well, they were immediately arrested. Now, Tony's body was discovered the next day, December 13th, 1991. when deer hunters in the area stumbled upon the loosely buried body.
They also found the burnt remains of a hand and a head.
Now, Goodwin was charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Jimmy Penick was charged with aggravated murder.
He basically just admitted the entire thing outright.
He was like, yep, I did it. Goodwin admitted that he had witnessed the entire thing and had lightly participated.
You don't lightly participate in murder, you fuck face.
You participate or you don't. You participated.
And by the way, being there is participating.
Whether you're picking anything up and doing it yourself, You're participating in a murder because you're not actively stopping it.
Exactly. You are fully part of that. Yep.
And it's like, and you did nothing afterwards to alert anybody.
Then you are fully part of that. And Tony's body just was out there rotting for months because you didn't tell anybody about it.
Consider yourself a murderer. Yeah, you piece of shit.
Now, the Lawrence brothers were actually vacationing in the Bahamas at the time, so they were busy.
I don't even know what I could possibly say about that.
But they came back. on January 10th and when their plane landed in Miami, they were quickly extradited immediately back to Indiana and were charged with aiding in a murder good i'm so mad that it wasn't on the way to the right i know they actually got to have a last vacation that makes me so angry Now during the trial, they admitted that Keith had actually tried to cut Tony's heart out. what yeah that came out so keith being like i lightly participated yeah please not a ton Or that wasn't even him.
It was Goodwin who said that he lightly participated.
But Keith, one of the brothers, he's he just comes home from the Bahamas and was like, what?
I don't, I didn't do anything. And they're like, no, he actually tried to cut his heart out, but like, good try.
Now, Goodwin and David Lawrence decided that they were going to find religion in jail. because they think it helps.
And David Lawrence actually said if he went to prison that Jesus would just freeze his soul because no man can lock that down.
Yeah. Spoiler alert. That doesn't happen.
So and he said, though, that he regretted the whole thing because, quote, that boy Tony had the right to live.
Yeah, he did. And you took it from him. Yeah.
They all say that a lot. Like a lot of them are like, he had a right to live.
And I'm like, then why'd you take it from him?
What? is wrong with all of you. And Mark Goodwin actually apologized to Shirley, Tony's mother.
But she said... get fucked good he said to her mrs gibbons i never really knew your son Whatever I know, I do know he was a good-hearted person.
I am very ashamed of what I did to your son. and she actually yelled at him, you damn well should be.
What chance does he have now? What never should have done it exactly it's like yeah off like oh I love that because I always sorry after the fact is always like Oh, okay.
If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it.
And it's like that kind of thing. Sorry after I murdered your child.
And how do you think that's going to help in any way, shape or form?
How do you think that going to help the sorry.
And then what business do you have saying that you didn't even know my son, but what you do know of him is that he's a good person.
So you didn't know him, but you took his life.
Yeah. Okay. Like, very cool. The little you knew about him was that he was a great person.
Right. and that's just and that's all you knew and you still decided to do this that's adding insult to injury it truly is David also said that he blamed his brother, Keith, completely.
Okay. And he regretted hanging out with him so much.
And he said even if he had gotten out of this whole thing, he would have never spoken to him again. uh jimmy pennick was 25 at the time and he ended up getting 60 years in prison good He pled guilty to avoid trial and possibly the death penalty.
Now, he had a lot of aggravating factors in his sentencing that were very interesting to read, and I just want to tell you a couple.
An aggravating factor in his sentencing was the fact that he had done it before. yeah because now they know that he had done it before was he convicted of that murder he did do that So in the court transcript, it says, quote, this was the second time that defendant Jimmy Lee Penick has murdered someone. because previously in August of 1991, he murdered a man in Fulton County, Iowa, also cutting his throat with a knife.
So it was also the same exact way that he murdered Tony.
How did he get away with that? I don't know.
That's what's so crazy. And it says also considered for his sentence was the heinous nature of this crime.
Yeah. in the court documents as well it stated that if his sentence was reduced in any way it would quote depreciate from the seriousness of all of this most serious classification of crimes in Indiana. perhaps the most heinous crime ever committed in DeKalb County, Indiana.
They said that, quote, the death of the victim at the hands of the defendant, Jimmy Lee Pennick, was painful and torturous to the victim.
And that quote later on the day, the murder later on in the day of the murder of defendant Jimmy Lee Penick knowingly ate food. purchased with money stolen from the deceased victim and then they reference also the planning of it like they obviously had planned this out completely And the complete lack of remorse that was also considered.
Good. Now, Penick's team argued, quote, Penick does concede that the victim suffered some pain.
Some. We're here to argue the amount of pain I inflicted on this individual.
And he's also like, okay, I concede. that I guess he suffered some pain, but argues that virtually all murders involve pain or torture.
So this is not an element particular to the facts of this case, which can be used to justify imposition of enhanced or consecutive sanctions. sentences you're kidding me the amount of pain that he inflicted on his victim through Torture should not be taken into account when it comes to sentencing... like a big sentence or consecutive sentences is what they're saying.
Because all murder hurts. Right. Tell me the judge flipped him off.
Absolutely. And did not consider that. Yes.
So the court found that infliction of grave injury and pain over an extended period of time is sufficient to support an aggravating factor.
Now what's interesting about this remember we're involving torture here, like pain and torture, they used a precedent for this. and this precedent was loveless versus the state, 1994.
This is precedent set in the case of Shanda Sher's horrific torture and murder in 1994.
Now, Melinda Loveless is the defendant stated there.
That's really interesting to me. I was like, holy shit.
That is wild. Because remember, this trial happened like after the Shanda Shera case happened.
Right, right. So panic, like because the trial happened. like way later than the murder.
Of course. Now, Penney says, quote, and this is what the court said, quote, Penick's own words describe how the victim's chest and abdomen were cut open. how Goodwin tried to cut out the victim's heart before he died... and how the victim remained conscious throughout this and responded to questions from the defendant.
Only after defendants slit the victim's neck did the torture end.
There's sufficient evidence on the record to support this aggravator.
So they were like, your own fucking defendant like sealed his fate there.
Right. He told us everything. So what are you trying to do?
Now, they also tried to get rid of the aggravating factor that used the dismemberment and concealment of the body.
Penick's team argued that dismemberment and concealment are basically the same thing.
They're both done for the same purpose, to conceal.
Okay. Yeah. But the court was like, oh, no. no you idiots they said quote furthermore we do not believe that these are the same factors although removing and burning the hands may have been done to conceal the identity of the victim and get ready.
Removal of the head had nothing to do with this.
Defendant himself stated that the head was removed... in order for Keith Lawrence to give the skull to a friend.
No. Yes. Found that buried in a court transcript.
It was never repeated in any newspaper. What?
That his team is trying to sit there and be like, well, they dismembered the body to conceal the identity of the body.
So you can't have two aggravating factors, one for concealment of the body and one for dismemberment, because we're arguing that they were done for the same reason.
And they're like, cool, we can do that on the hands if you really want.
But the head... Fucking Jimmy Pennick literally told the court, it is on record, that they took Tony's head off.
So Keith Lawrence could give the fucking skull to a friend.
That's... beyond that is so beyond any kind of words that i can ever conjure right now like i'm like And you are sitting, and for his defense team to be sitting here trying, I'm like, honeys, hang up the towel.
Yeah. Hang up the towel. What are you doing?
How can you try to argue that when you know full well that that's already been said?
Truly wild. Now, Keith at the time was 20 years old.
He got 50 years in prison with 20 suspended years for conspiracy to commit murder.
He actually got out of prison in 2004 and he had 20 years probation knocked on there.
And in 2006, he went back to jail for 180 days for public intoxication. and then apparently was being held on bond for charges of criminal confinement and captivity.
Put him back in prison. But could not find any other thing about it.
I was like, what the hell is going on? Put him in prison, leave him in prison.
He hasn't changed. and he was being held like without like you could like with no bail yeah which they were like obviously they're doing that because of his previous shit right Now, David, he was 23 years old at the time.
He was a little older than Keith, remember? and he pled guilty to assisting a crime, and he got eight years in prison.
Now, Mark Goodwin pled guilty to assisting a criminal and Battery by means of a deadly weapon, and he got eight years that's bullshit thank you both of those sentences are bullshit So bullshit.
And insulting. Very insulting. Like Tony's family, can you imagine?
I would have been outraged. Eight years.
And when he was in jail, when Mark Goodwin was in jail, he also found religion and and said everyone should be careful of the lure of Satanism and literally said, quote, look at William Ault.
He was a Satanist and he didn't make it.
Because you killed him. Because you murdered him.
It had nothing to do with him being a Satanist.
You murdered him because you're a murderer.
Because you're a torturer. I feel like he said that to be a dick.
It's outrageous. Like, why else would you say that?
Yeah. You know why he didn't make it. It had nothing to do with him being a Satanist.
It had everything to do with him meeting your stupid ass.
And then he admitted his own fault in the other murder that started this entire thing.
He said quote I regret it because that boy had the right to live. so did andrew their families put time love and money into those guys and now there's no more of them Because of you.
Thank you. What? Like... like you saying that is is oh okay that like cool but that's your fucking fault dude And I also love that they, it shows you exactly that statement to me is like very... very much encompassing Mark Goodwin and all these guys is like him being like You know, yeah, it's a real bummer because their family put like a ton of love, time, money into them and like, and now they're not here anymore.
And it's like, do you think that's why people put like, White people love people and care about people.
They put time, love, and money into them.
And then once they're gone, like, fuck, I did all that for nothing.
That's not how that works. that's how human emotions work which just shows us that you don't have an understanding of them because it's like no Tony's family just loved him Right.
Andrew's family loved him. It has nothing to do with I put time, money...
And all this into someone and now they got murdered and that's annoying to me.
No, it's that they cared about them. It's that they are not here anymore to hug.
To love. To talk to, to joke with, to do anything with.
To just be around. It's so crazy that they're just like, oh, yeah, they just, you know, their family put all this shit into them and now they don't for nothing.
That just shows it. That tells you everything. you need to know about it really does how he considers his personal relationships exactly And probably why he was able to do something like this.
Yeah. It's insane to me. So that is the tale of the Kearney cults.
Wow, that was really, really, really gut wrenching.
Yeah. I just, the fact that Tony just wanted to be a part of something.
That's what kills me. And probably went out there, like I said, so excited.
And this is what happened. Exactly. And his poor family having to sit through this trial and listen to these guys say like, I didn't even know your son, but I heard he was great.
Sorry for killing him. My bad. For those families to have to deal with that, I don't even know how you would go about the rest of your life.
It's so flippant. That is the perfect word for it.
It's so flippant. And it's just acting like... like murder is just like, oops, sorry that I ran over a nail with your car and I popped the tire.
Like, that's a bummer. That was a great car. and it's like no this is a person that you ceremoniously tortured and killed And then dismembered.
Like him saying, oh, they put so much time and money into this.
It's like a car. Yeah, it truly is. Like, he treats them like it's a possession.
This whole thing is just a possession and not... human beings that actually were taken from their families and loved ones it's devastating It's a really, like, it reminded me of the Fall River cult, like, how gnarly that got and how just, like, fun. wow like the chaos and that but these guys all admitted it they all admitted to being there a couple of them obviously tried to take themselves like bring themselves into a like outer shell there and be like i was just there i didn't touch them but they all know what they did of course and they all inflicted some kind of injury on tony And they all deserve to be in prison forever.
But unfortunately, like I said, eight years.
Yeah. Like the Lawrence brothers there and Mark Goodwin.
They didn't get nearly enough. And they get to go back out and live the lives that Tony should have been living.
Yeah. 21 years old. So sad. Poor Tony. I know.
Well, yeah. that's a rough one that was a really sad one it was but thank you guys of course for listening And we hope you keep it weird.
I do not have to tell you not to keep it this weird, and I'm simply not going to.
Just don't do it. Alina will. Thank you.
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