Chapter 1: What shocking event occurs in Groton, Massachusetts?
Hello, and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yeah, choo-choo. Oh, yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petrigallo. I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you, folks, so much for joining us today, all aboard the murder train, pulling away from the station. We have some wild, wild, absolute insanity for you this week. Oh, my goodness.
20 pounds of murder in a two-pound bag. It's a lot. Bye. Bye. Bye.
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Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip, shall we? We are going to Massachusetts this week.
All right.
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Chapter 2: How does the community react to the murders?
This is during the witch trials and shit, and this is Massachusetts. Reportedly, the accused witch accosted Reverend Willard, having demonstrated, quote, physical violent or violent physical actions, mental moods, sudden shrieks, changing of continents, exclamations, fits, barking, bleeding. Oh, yeah. Up to this point, I'm like, yeah, maybe you pissed her off. You know what I mean?
That just sounds like a, you know, if you get married, that's what happens. Barking and bleeding. Not barking and bleeding. Now we're in another area. That's different. Speaking in different voices and ventriloquism. Oh. And, oh. Throwing her voice. I agree with that. Wow. And hurling accusations of torment toward the reverend. All right.
But Willard knew the neighbor to be a pious person and did not pursue that accusation. So, no, it's your fault. All right. Let's get to reviews of this town here. Here's five stars. I've been in Grote in my whole life. Grew up here. The schools are great. Neighbors are friendly. And there's a lot of trails to walk and explore. It's beautiful in the fall with all the leaves changing colors.
That's true. Gorgeous time of year. There are lots of cute little cafes and some fancy restaurants that are farm-to-table. I love living here. It's a very family-oriented, safe place. You can tell exactly what this place is. Very leafy. The big houses, going out to fancy dinners, median income $170,000 a year. You get it. Three stars.
Groton is a pleasant and cute town with great historical stuff, but I personally have never felt quite at home here. Are you not wealthy? Maybe that's why. Yeah. That's how I'd feel. I've had lots of great opportunities here, and I'm very thankful for them, but I don't think I could move back once I've graduated high school. This is a young person.
Yeah, I'm not going to be able to afford this place.
Yeah, that's what's going on here. And three stars, the community is pretty rural and offers many opportunities for involvement in outdoor activities, hiking, canoeing, et cetera. In general, people in this area are friendly. And then one star, there are very few local businesses and none of them are hiring. So luckily, Boston is right there. So knock yourself out.
Things to do in this town, Groton Fest. Yeah, be ready. I love, there's nothing more about small town, when we do the small town like things to do, than a festival that's just the name of the town with fest afterwards. That's my, if they have that, we're talking about it. Groton Fest. It's a family of festivals, four unique festivals held throughout the year in the heart of Groton, Mass.
So they have one for each season. They have seasonal festivals. In 1979, Groton Fest was, Since 1979, Groton Fest has brought our community together to uplift local businesses, highlight the work of talented artists and artisans, and connect residents with the nonprofits that support Groton and its neighboring towns. Okay, produced by the Groton Business Association.
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Chapter 3: What details emerge about Orion's background and mental state?
In other words, baked goods and sweet treats, local trucks, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, photo boots. Here we go. Um, It says that there will be bands playing at all of these different festivals. Great. And it says music fest for each season of the year, including Celtic bands. Oh, boy. Solas, Altan, and Lunasa. Jazz bands, New Black Eagle Jazz Band.
Bluegrass slash Roots, the Nefesh Mountain, and the Jacob Jolliffe Band, and High Horse.
I think of country music. I think of Massachusetts.
I think of, yeah, I do. Although Massachusetts, rural Massachusetts is pretty hickey.
Oh, there are some, yeah. It's hickey out there, boy.
There are some scary characters. It's just farms. That's where my brother lives. That's all it is. Yeah, the one that I just met. That's the one that you just discovered. He's a little on the definitely my dad's side of the family. God.
And there'll be world music such as Sonny Jane. J-A-I-N. So there you go. That said, let's talk about some murder. Here we go. Let's start with a lady. We're going to go back to the year 2017 for this. Oh, yeah.
not that far removed everything is the same your phone is the same phone with a different operating different software on it that's it so you got ios whatever the fuck it was then yeah yeah so here is elizabeth uh cleveland is what she's born as uh she goes by uh esu esu is her nickname is esu i
i don't know who knows maybe a younger relative or one of those things where i had an aunt that was called didi for decades because my cousin couldn't say lorraine when he was two so she was didi for the rest of her fucking life literally till she died everyone called her didi that was that yeah that's what happens so this woman here um and she's 85 years old in 2017 wow okay she's born in pelham manor new york um
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Chapter 4: What led to the 911 call from Orion's mother?
I couldn't imagine what that felt like.
Probably great parents, too. Probably very supportive and kind to her.
It's what I mean. I can't imagine what that was like for a kid to have that kind of stability. It's crazy.
I hope two podcast dicks talk about my kids like this one day.
Don't worry, they won't. His father, a barely literate comedian, and his partner... I appreciate the barely.
That was so nice. Well, I'm not going to sell you short. You're literate. I got the words part.
Yeah, you can get it down. Yeah, you're fine. And his partner, the non-high school graduate, complete loudmouth dummy fucking other comedian.
The same thing, but can do the reading. Yeah.
Same thing, but... Somehow learned reading skills. Oh, Christ. So while this is going on, Dan here, he's building a career in finance. That's where the money is. He knows it. He starts at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, then spends years advising clients and managing investments for pension funds and nonprofit endowments.
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Chapter 5: What horrifying scene do the police discover at the crime scene?
Hey, call yourself whatever you want.
That guy's name's Lexi.
Lexi, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, boy. Yeah, that's a porn name there. For sure. Even a stripper's like, I don't think so. That's a little too porny. You know, I'm just taking my top off. So Alexander here, they get married. Now, Alexander is a respected tuna fisherman. I don't think he's out there with a pole. I think he owns the business. Yeah, that's right.
He owns the boat, who had moored his boats on Monaghan Island and later Rockport Harbor. So he owns the goddamn boats.
Yeah, several of them.
They're out there pulling tuna from the sea. He's getting tuna money. Now, they're going to have some kids here. They're going to have twin boys, by the way. Okay. Twin boys, Orion and Cooper Krause. Yeah. Cooper-Kraus, that's tough. Orion, like the constellation of Cooper. They're born in 1995. Buffy was like 38 when she had them. She was pushing it. Yeah.
According to her friend, quote, she was so excited and nervous. Her husband is a kind soul. It was finally their opportunity to have children. Now, a little bit about Orion here and about Cooper also, I guess, here. They're going to grow up. in idyllic places here.
Now, they spent their early, early years on the, I guess it's Monaghan Island, I'm not sure, which is 10 miles off the coast of Maine, accessible only by boat. By boat. With a population of 70.
Fuck yeah.
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Chapter 6: What was Orion's explanation for his actions?
He studied under a guy named Jamie Haddad. who is a renowned percussionist and one of the top drum instructors in America, I guess, assumingly. That's what they say. Now, studies in the Oberlin's jazz division, this is right from their website, Oberlin's, prepare students for careers as professional jazz musicians and for the advanced study of jazz in both performance and composition.
And composing. Wow. Yeah, this is a serious school for seriously talented musicians. So, Orion, though, he's got a couple of problems. Seems like old Orion's quiver isn't quite full of arrows, if you know what I mean. There's a couple of arrows short of a quiver over here. His belt's missing a buckle? Yeah. July 16, 2016, this is the first 911 call his mother has to make about him.
Buffy calls 911 from her home in Rockport. And wow. She says, my husband is downstairs with him. I am upstairs calling you. The dispatcher asks if this is a suicide attempt you're calling about. And she said she didn't think so. So Elizabeth says, Buffy says, please don't send a policeman. I just as soon not have a policeman. I don't know who else they expect to send. Yeah. Send a fireman?
Can you just send somebody over here to talk to us? We got two guys we send. Yeah, 911. Is something on fire?
Yeah.
Is there something illegal happening? Right. Those are the two things you call for. Somebody hurt. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. We really don't have that. Can you send a therapist over is not a thing you can request from the city.
Yeah, 911. Yeah, hi.
I need a therapist and probably should get me an MD too in case I need a script. Just bring them all over. You got a dentist on – Yeah, you know what? I'm like one fucking molar back here. It's just I feel like I chipped it the other day. So that's what she says. The dispatcher said she'll send one anyway as a precaution. Like, I'm sending a cop.
So she says, Buffy says, tell them all my son needs some gentleness. He doesn't need any force. This has got to be a loving experience. What the fuck are you talking about? Okay, you can tell that Buffy... has not grown up in... Yeah, yeah. She's seen social media, though, is the thing. Oh, that's a fact.
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Chapter 7: What legal proceedings follow the murders?
Yeah, she, I guess, originally was from Louisiana, and she's living in the area now working for them. They're 89 and 85 years old. They've been married 61 years, Dan and Esu. So September 7, 2017, Orion leaves his family home in Rockport without explanation. He's just gone.
Just walks away, huh?
taking his mother's car without telling her. So he even leaves his cell phone behind. Which when someone takes off unexpectedly and leaves their cell phone behind, either they're going to jump off a bridge or someone has kidnapped them, I usually think. You know what I mean? And taking someone else's car. Yeah, exactly. He's wearing a dirty T-shirt and gray corduroy pants.
That's what he's choosing to wear here. Elizabeth, Buffy. Buffy comes home from work at about 3.20 p.m. and sees her car is gone. And also her son is gone. Sees the keys are gone. Puts it together and says, okay, he took the car. Yeah. So she panics, which is interesting because she had the same thought I had. Yeah. He left his cell phone. He took my car. He's going after himself. Yes.
So she searches everywhere. She searches, like, suicide-like places first. She goes to a breakwater nearby, which is, like, it's basically if you were going to jump off something and kill yourself, this is where you'd go. Somewhere in Maine or Massachusetts. Yeah. She goes there. She... A hospital parking lot, checking to see if he'd admitted himself to basically for treatment.
It's the PARC unit, P-A-R-C, which is at a treatment center in Rockport that focuses primarily on substance abuse services. Oh, so maybe he's on drugs. She thinks he's got a drug problem, obviously. She's checking to see if he checked in there. She checks a Walmart parking lot. Maybe he went to Walmart. Maybe he's just shopping. Yeah.
Maybe he's just picking out some fishing lures for the upcoming fall season. Who knows? Maybe he just wants new underwear. That's all. He wants a 12-pack of cheap underwear. Who cares? That's for him. So by 9.40 p.m., she still hasn't found him. It's been six hours she's looked for him in a small town. So if you didn't find him, he's just not around.
So she calls a crisis hotline at that point, Buffy does, for a loving experience.
Yeah.
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Chapter 8: How does the community seek to heal after the tragedy?
They're looking for it. She's just hoping. She says, I'm going to be like, OK, I can deal with this. Give him some space and he'll be OK. I know it's only been six hours and I've been sitting here saying to myself, you know, I trust him. I love him. Have faith. He'll be OK. I'm trying to have faith in him. So then September 8th, the next morning here, she gets a phone call from Orion. He's alive.
That's fine. He's in good shape. He says he's totally fine. He's in the Boston area and he needs a ride home. Now, my question would be, don't you have my car?
Where's my fucking car?
She doesn't ask shit. She just says, where are you? I'm coming to get you. She's just relieved. Good for her. And that's that. So she goes to her son, drives down to Massachusetts, picks him up. We don't know where her car is in this mix. We don't know where he left it. Who knows if it got towed by the cops or pounded or something. Who the hell knows?
But the plans to drive back to Maine, but along the way they decide to take a detour because outside of Boston is Groton. It's about 50 miles outside of Boston, and that's where the grandparents live. That's where Esu and Dan live. So they decide to go see them, make a stop and go see the grandparents on the way home. Why not? We're already down here. It's three hours away. What the hell?
So it's pretty much on the way. It's probably a little off the – Mark, and what grandparents wouldn't like to see their daughter and grandson coming to visit them? Beautiful. They love that shit. They love it. So they visit here. They go to the house. It's a quiet little town in Groton, obviously. This is a very peaceful, quiet neighborhood they live in, leafy, very safe.
So they arrive that afternoon. Bertha May Parker is there, the caretaker, who currently lives in Tewksbury at that time. She provides nearly 24-hour care. They're basically confined to reclining chairs in the kitchen most of the day. They're so old. That's pretty much what they do. So at some point, the four sit down for a meal. Not Bertha May, but Esu, Dan, Orion, Buffy.
They sit down for a meal, Dan and Esu in their recliners, Elizabeth on a kitchen stool, Bertha Mae Parker's upstairs perhaps doing something else. We don't know what she's doing. She's not hanging out with them. She probably says, I'll leave you alone with your family. I'm not a part of your family. So at approximately 4.40 p.m., Everything seems to be going fine. Yeah.
Orion picks up the phone and he gives a little call to Jamie Haddad. Remember him? He's his instructor, drumming instructor. Right. Former professor. According to Haddad's wife, Mary Gray, because I assume she answered the phone. Sure. He doesn't sound like himself. Orion says into the phone, quote, I've done something bad. I stole some money and my mom's car.
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