Episode Transcript
Amanda: Hey, there all you true crime fans! I'm Amanda.
Kori: And I'm Corey.
Amanda: And this is Colorado crime. If you're new here, we're just two best friends who want to be your new best friend. While we chat about all things true crime, we cover cases from coast to coast with a special emphasis on cases that happen right here in colorful, crime filled Colorado. Stop by for the stories. Stay for the fun. If you're returning. Thanks for stopping by, friend.
Kori: Please excuse Amanda's frog. She got the vid.
Amanda: I've got the vid, guys.
Kori: So are you ready to hear this fantastic and hilarious joke sent in to us by Annie Spaulding?
Amanda: Of course I am.
Kori: Okay, ready? How do two arsonists took up?
Amanda: I don't know.
Kori: How a match on Tinder.
Amanda: Oh, I can't say that one to Emerson. She won't understand it.
Kori: No, but it's her funny. It is funny.
Amanda: I've got a good joke, actually.
Kori: Okay, go.
Amanda: What do you call a bear without teeth?
Kori: A gummy bear.
Amanda: A gummy bear.
Kori: Oh, gosh.
Amanda: I follow this little kid I don't even know. He's like a baby, and he tells jokes on Tik Tok, and they're hilarious every time.
Kori: I think I know the kid you're.
Amanda: Talking about because he's hilarious.
Kori: Kids telling jokes are hilarious.
Amanda: I agree.
Kori: So before we get into all our true crime updates and our actual crime podcast update, we have to talk about our new series. If you missed our announcement, we're starting a new series that airs every Tuesday at 02:00 P.m. Mountain Standard time called Serial Killer Tuesday. Our first episode was released March 7 on Skt. We will do a month long deep dive into different serial killer lives. So make sure you tune in every Tuesday at 02:00 p.m. To find out what makes some of our most prolific serial killers tick. So now let's get into some true crime updates.
Amanda: You guys are good for us. Well, this one's huge for me. John Bennett Ramsay's family home is for sale. I know. If you have the chance, you should totally check out the photos online because it is absolutely stunning. The new owners have totally made this their own, and it is seriously gorgeous. If you listened to my John A. Ramsay episode, I mentioned that the home was for sale for 7.2 million, but they actually removed it from the market right before the holidays. And then it came back on the market on March 1, and it's currently listed at 6.9 million. And as I've mentioned like 100 times, probably before, in my other life, I'm actually a realtor, and I love looking at homes and all the different decor styles. So, anyway, you guys should totally check this one out because it's really pretty. I really like what they did to it.
Kori: Oh, man, I wish I still live there. In case you guys are new here, I moved away. I need to mention that every episode to just keep on track. But I would make you take me to go look at it. We could be like Nosy realtor client. You could be like, yeah, she's prequalified. Do you need to see your paperwork? Oh, God.
Amanda: Right?
Kori: And then I was going to ask you if the Ramsay still owned it, but then I heard you say the Ramsays do not still own it.
Amanda: They don't own it. They actually sold it to an investment group. And I believe that John Ramsay actually was part of the investment group, but they sold it right after John Bonnie's death. And then they moved to Charlotte, Michigan, where they had another home, and they also split their time between Georgia until Patsy died. And now I actually believe that John lives in Utah. Oh, but I would totally show you. You'd have to pre qualify with their agent or lender before I know.
Kori: That would be weird.
Amanda: I know.
Kori: You don't have a job, right?
Amanda: It's like they're selling a multi million dollar house or something.
Kori: Gosh, you can't just willy nearly come in here and look at this.
Amanda: Right? Hey, but if anyone listening is in the market for an almost $7 million house in Boulder, give me a call. I would love to help you buy it. I would. Seriously, you guys really should check it out. It's so cool. They did a great job with it.
Kori: I think Brenda sent it to me on Instagram. And it is a pretty cool house.
Amanda: I love all the rock and stuff. I think good lighting. Yeah. I'd probably redo the kitchen cabinets because I don't like that worn look, but otherwise I think it's really pretty.
Kori: Nice.
Amanda: And I really want a house that has two sets of stairs.
Kori: Oh, like a fancy coming down for prom type of house?
Amanda: Well, like the back service stairs, because.
Kori: Like oh, you're talking about that. Not the fancy entryway to set the stairs.
Amanda: Oh, my God. I love that you call it front stairs, though, because it's what I think.
Kori: Of, like, on Clueless.
Amanda: Oh, my gosh, I love clueless.
Kori: I know you.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: So they found Alex Murdog guilty. How do you feel about that?
Amanda: Oh, my gosh. Okay, so one of my best friends and almost sister Hannah, she was like, hey, what do you think? And I'm like, I'm so sorry. I don't know, because they haven't kept up on it. But I'm trying to learn more about it because I really don't know. But she doesn't think that he did it by himself. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing. Hey, Hannah.
Kori: I don't know if he did it by himself either. I don't think she's wrong on that theory because he had a lot of issues. Drugs, he'd been rehab a bunch of times. He stole a bunch of money from his company. He just going down a path of self destruction.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: But I don't know who would have helped him. I think a lot of it the son that he allegedly and was found guilty for shooting, also was in a terrible boat accident where he killed somebody.
Amanda: He killed a girl?
Kori: Yeah. I don't know. He was going to have to pay out a bunch of money that they didn't have. And I don't know. I think he thought this was a means to an end, and maybe it was. I don't know.
Amanda: I don't know. I guess if you're going to go that route, it's just so selfish to take the lives of your wife and son. And you're like, well, I'm solving my problem this way, but I'll get to live like somebody. You should have gone.
Kori: Have you seen the other son? He's a spitting image of Alex Murdo.
Amanda: Buster.
Kori: Yeah. Poor kid.
Amanda: Poor kid.
Kori: I know. It's not even cool. Like Buster Rhymes. It's just Buster.
Amanda: Buster. I feel like it's such a name. Like a dog or a pet. Yeah, like a chicken. A hamster.
Kori: Yeah, a hamster.
Amanda: Yeah. This is my hamster. Buster. Yeah. Oh, and then did you see that? The former Olympic and para Olympic competitor, Oscar pistoris. Pistrus. Pistor. Okay. He will actually be seen by the parole board for the 2013 killing of his girlfriend.
Kori: Well, he's from South Africa, right?
Amanda: So he was sentenced to serve 13 years, and he claimed that he thought she was an intruder, and he shot her four times through a closed bathroom door. But in South Africa, all South African prisoners are eligible for parole after serving a certain chunk of their sentence. And the girlfriend, her name was Reva, and her parents won't even be able to appeal the decision.
Kori: That's crazy.
Amanda: It's sad to me.
Kori: I'm not sure I bought his story either because he's the runner that had two.
Amanda: The Blade Runner?
Kori: Yeah. Does he have two false legs or one? Two, which is all I mean, like, let's take some strength from him. With two false blade runner legs. That's pretty cool. But I don't know about the whole shooting her four times, bro. Really? I think she called up to him and stuff, too. I don't know.
Amanda: I think she did. How did you not know that she wasn't in bed next to you?
Kori: Right? I watched a dateline about that. That was a very interesting case.
Amanda: I totally think he did it.
Kori: Yeah. On purpose. And then claimed that he was being robbed. Because how do I prove that you weren't?
Amanda: Yeah, right. I mean, I guess you proved that you weren't being robbed by the fact that he wasn't being robbed.
Kori: Yeah. Nobody stole any of your stuff, right?
Amanda: It was your girlfriend in the bathroom while she was at the door and.
Kori: Was taking a shower. Like, rude.
Amanda: Right? I don't care how much money you have, your celebrity sets. I don't care about any of that. You shot an innocent person. Same thing with Alex Murdoff. I don't care how much money you have. You could have more money than God himself.
Kori: He doesn't have any money.
Amanda: Well, now he doesn't, right?
Kori: It was all somebody else's money. He embezzled a bunch of it.
Amanda: He was like, I want this, and I'm going to take it. Apparently, that's just how he thinks it's okay to live like I want to live, and I want you to PU.
Kori: I just saw an update that if you say pew, pew on your text message to another iPhone user, it does like something.
Amanda: I tried it didn't work on mine. I tried to do it to Chris, and he was like, what are you doing?
Kori: Why are you saying pew pew? He was really confused off the Internet. Yeah.
Amanda: He was like, what are you doing? Also, he told me that I need to do better and actually look into the Alex Murdoch case because that's apparently, like, my job. And I was like, sorry, everybody.
Kori: Christopher, you're not the boss of us.
Amanda: I know. Well, you know way more about the case than I do. I just knew that only because I.
Kori: Have Samsung TV and we have court TV on it. So the whole trial has been playing for the last week and a half. And when you turn on Samsung TV, it was the last channel we had watched, so it was on there. And I would watch probably an hour or so of it every day, like the whole trial part. And then he testified in his own defense. And I was like, oh, bro, you're going down.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: That never works.
Amanda: That's what most people said was like, you shouldn't have testified, man.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: So today we're going to do something a little different because the Maggie long case is still unsolved, and there's not, like a ton of information on it. So we're going to also talk about the highland park shooting that happened in highland park, Illinois, on July 4, 2022, because Corey lives there. She moved, in case you guys didn't know.
Kori: I don't think we've talked about that.
Amanda: I don't think we have. I don't think we've mentioned that Corey moved away.
Kori: Yeah, I moved. We do this remote. So just in case you guys didn't.
Amanda: Know that Corey moved away or something. Illinois or something.
Kori: I mean, whatever. It's hardly noticeable.
Amanda: It's not like it's your whole identity.
Kori: We don't talk about it. Let's get into this. The town of highland park, Illinois was just enjoying their independence day parade on July 4, 2022, when the unthinkable happened a mass murder. Seven people were killed and 48 others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel. The shooting started at approximately 10:14 a.m. In downtown highland park. The shooter was firing shots from the rooftop of the Ross cosmetics building. I've never been to highland park. I don't really know what it's like or anything like that, but the town I live in has, like, a downtown area. Most of the towns do, but every town in Illinois is pretty close together, so it looks like it's on the map. Map.
Amanda: On the map.
Kori: So, Highland Park is located in Lake County, Illinois. It's more towards kind of, like close to a west forest, if you know anything about it's. More on the south end of Chicago. Kind of close to Indiana way. Yeah.
Amanda: Gary, Indiana. Gary, Indiana. Gary, Indiana. Today is my musical addition. I forgot to tell you.
Kori: I like it. It's cool.
Amanda: Thanks.
Kori: You're welcome.
Amanda: We'll probably get totally censored because all my singing, but that's fine.
Kori: The Ross cosmetics building was a local store on the northwest corner of Central Ave. And Second Street. It seemed that the gunman had gained access to the roof by an unsecured ladder attached to the building, which makes sense, because otherwise how else did he get up there? No one saw him. The weapon that was used was a Smith and Wesson M and P 15 semiautomatic rifle with 330 round magazines that had a total of 83 shots that he fired. When this occurred, the victims were spectators and some parade marchers. So it was mass chaos. There were shots being fired. Everyone was running and screaming. The authorities arrived, and they brought about 100 or so officers from multiple agencies because all these towns have small agencies, not nearly enough to try and chase down a person shooting at everyone. The shooter, who was not identified at the time, ceased fire when law enforcement officers approached the building. He fled the scene and dropped the rifle that he was using. The rifle was recovered by the police. He then drove to Madison, Wisconsin, with a different rifle in his car, a Caltech Sub 2000, and considered ambushing another parade, but decided against it. But he did ditch his phone. He ditched it right outside Wisconsin. So they kind of figured out who he was because the rifle that he dropped was registered legally. So the weapon he used, all his weapons, were legal registered weapons. He had attempted to blend into the crowd as the crowd was fleeing, and then he made his way to his mother's house and stole her car. The car was identified by an alert member of the community and then was called into the police, and they performed a stop that led to Robert Bobby Crimo's arrest. He's the third, so he had, like he's an interesting kid. His house was raided because he lived in an apartment behind his father's house. So they searched his apartment and they searched his father's home. They found that Bobby had been planning this attack for weeks and that he dressed in women's clothes, covered his face, covered his face tattoos, because he has a lot of them, and then fled with the panicked paradegoers. They also found the weapons that he used, and all of those, like I said previously, were obtained legally. So he had three rifles, one shotgun and a handgun, all at his house.
Amanda: Why did he decide what changed his mind about the other? Does he say ever.
Kori: He doesn't say, I think because people were already looking for him, you know what I mean? He made it too obvious that it was him. I think that was probably a lot of it. He fled with people saw him.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: So he actually lived in Highland Park. He attended high school there, but he dropped out his junior year, and he decided he was going to go into rapping. Great career choice. He was really good at it.
Amanda: I giggled, but I was muted because it keeps coughing.
Kori: So he had a stage name of Awake the Rapper. You just copied Chance the Rapper. Link. For real, bro.
Amanda: I do coffee. The rapper.
Kori: So he actually did have some albums that were posted on YouTube, spotify and Apple Music. I did not listen because I was like, I just can't first of all, he was nice.
Amanda: He's a murderer.
Kori: Yeah. I don't need to support his murderer. And I'm guessing they probably took some of that down. I would hope so, yeah. So his lovely rap songs included references to the QAnon conspiracy theory. So he was a far writer. His music videos on YouTube because he also produced videos. They showed mass shootings and people being shot by the police. Cool. So he was also noted to have gone to many far right gatherings. However, his friends and close family members say that that was not motives for his shooting. Like, his motives for the shooting had nothing to do with his political or religious views. Right. I would have to disagree with that, but because I'm not a far right person, and I'm not getting into all that political stuff on here, I don't.
Amanda: Give a **** about your political review, your political view. Right. And if you're too far one side or the other, you get a little ranky. Okay. Right.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: That's a red flag alone.
Kori: So I guess he had a pretty troubled childhood, too. That's not an excuse to be a mass murderer. I'm sorry. Lots of people and this is because I'm a Gen X lots of people have trouble childhoods. We all do. None of us have had the nobody has the perfect childhood. That's not a thing. That's not how it works. Real life is not like that. We're not TV, Dads.
Amanda: I love those commercials.
Kori: So nobody's childhood is perfect. But you have to be a better person.
Amanda: You have to move on from your trauma. Right.
Kori: You can't blame your trauma on your I mean, everyone has trauma, like we've said in previous episodes. Go to therapy.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: Now, his mom was kind of jacked up when he was two. She did leave him in a hot car with the windows rolled up in August. Kind of mean.
Amanda: Okay. She's kind of a wiener, right?
Kori: So she did plead guilty to child endangerment, and she was ordered to undergo an evaluation at the Child Advocacy Center. And then between 2009 and 2014, police were called to the criminal house 20 times, probably more than 20 times. Yeah. Nine of those were reported domestic violence calls. His parents finally separated in 2015, I think in April of 2019. The police were called on Bobby as he attempted to commit suicide. And then they were called again in September because he threatened a family member with knives. At the time, they the police seized 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Cremo, but he was not getting.
Amanda: Caught, any of his and they didn't.
Kori: Charge him with it. They didn't charge him with anything. And his dad said that those knives weren't really his knives. They were his dad's knives.
Amanda: But you are not doing your child.
Kori: Any freaking favors by covering it up.
Amanda: No.
Kori: It's terrible.
Amanda: It should be half at fault for these murders.
Kori: Right, so he wasn't charged with anything at the time. However, the police did file a clear and present danger report with the Illinois State Police. That really doesn't do a whole lot here. From what I can gather, it didn't stop him from buying a gun because in 2019, in December of 2019, he applied for a firearm ID card, which is called a FOID, which, get this, was sponsored by his dad.
Amanda: Shocking.
Kori: So on either one of those occasions that he was contacted by the police in April or September, they could have invoked the Illinois Red flag law that would have kept him from buying guns for at least six months, but they didn't. So he passed the background check in 2000 and 22,021 because he answered no to the question of whether or not he would harm himself or others.
Amanda: That's ridiculous. And we don't have time to get into gun control. No, I'm a gun owner.
Kori: Yeah, we are too.
Amanda: I just think really, so much of this this entire situation could have been prevented had he been prohibited from owning a gun or purchasing a gun. I'm not saying he couldn't have. Clearly his dad had weapons. He could have taken one from his dad or his grandpa or one of the other Bobby in his life, but at least the state could have safeguarded a little bit.
Kori: Yeah. He was able to legally purchase the gun because his father sponsored his application and because one of his family members was willing to move forward on any of the complaints that they had against him. So just because he threatened a family member with a knife, they weren't willing to press any charges, so he wasn't flagged as any type of offender. His dad actually is being charged with seven counts of reckless conduct because he did sign for for the 2019 authorization of his firearms owner ID card.
Amanda: Good.
Kori: His dad has pled guilty or pled not guilty as of February 23. So, I mean, it's a small, small thing, but I do think parents should be held responsible if you if you have a gun or you assign for your kid's gun or you gave your kid a gun and he went and killed somebody, that is your fault. That is just as much your fault.
Amanda: Yeah, especially if you know that he's a troubled person if this isn't his first sign.
Kori: When Bobby was arrested, he told the investigators that he had been planning these attacks for years and had traveled the country to stay with people he met and met in an online forum. And he had learned to make explosives on the Internet. So they had done a bunch of search warrants and stuff, and those have currently been unsealed, and they reveal some details about the investigation. So at the search of his house, his apartment that he lived in, it turned up a **** ton of bomb making materials, including electronic components, two plastic gallon jugs with ammunition duct taped around the outside, a funnel, and two boxes of the binary explosive material. Tannerite so these are components that can be ensembled into an improvised explosive device, otherwise known as an IED. He has stated involuntary interviews with the FBI that he would have used this device if the situations had lined up correctly, but they didn't, so he didn't end up using them. He stated that he would have likely not followed through with those devices, however, because they were unstable, and the plastic jugs may have cracked if he had thrown them off the roof and ended up setting them off before he got them down to where they needed to be. So the FBI affidavits also provide the basis for search warrants on his hard drives, his SD cards, a MacBook, and his Verizon and Google accounts. And his father did provide consent to search the house as well. So on one of Bobby's multiple phones, it's revealed that the FBI had found a list that had the steps typed out on how Bobby planned to hide his identity on the day of the shooting. So he has stated, or the investigators state, that he did admit to shooting to the shooting after questioning, but he's currently awaiting trial on 117 felony counts, 21 counts of murder in the first degree, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated battery. And this includes the murders of Katie Goldstein Irena and Kevin McCarthy Stevens. Drouse. Jackie, suddenham Nicholas, toledo and Edward yuvaldi. And the wounding of 48 others. But he has since entered a not guilty plea. Of course, like, you can't just admit it and be done with it, of course. So he has court again on November 1. And this case actually prompted the assault weapons ban in Illinois, and it was signed into law on January 10, 2023. And this law has banned many rifles considered to be assault weapons. It also included magazine capacity restrictions for rifles of ten rounds and handgun restrictions for 15 rounds. And people who own any weapon that is considered assault weapon before the bill was passed must register it with the Illinois State police within 300 days. So you have until what is that? December 10, maybe?
Amanda: Yeah, pretty much.
Kori: November 10 to get your assault weapons registered in Illinois.
Amanda: I think that's really cool.
Kori: I think so, too. Sad that this horrible crime had to happen for that to happen, but I don't think people should just be able to buy assault weapons.
Amanda: I agree.
Kori: What do you need that for?
Amanda: I absolutely agree.
Kori: But that's a story for another time.
Amanda: Well and we both grew up law enforcement. Like, find a person more into guns than law enforcement. You're going to be hard pressed, maybe military.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: But I still don't think you need an assault weapon. I'm sorry. I have a handgun, but that's about the extent of it. I don't think anything else is necessary. And even me carrying a gun is unnecessary.
Kori: Right. We don't carry one either. We have one, but we don't no. I don't know. And I understand that people are like, well, if they would have had a gun, they could have said no. You would have just had two guns and random people firing at other random people.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: Because if you're nervous and scared as a regular citizen and you pull out your handgun, you're not firing at the I'm sorry. You're not going to be able to fire at the person who is firing at you.
Amanda: I agree. Mine is just honestly, because of real estate, and sometimes you meet people out in the middle of nowhere and show property, and you've never met these people before.
Kori: Your job is a little scary.
Amanda: I had kind of a weird situation, and I can feel carried for it.
Kori: But you're also not waving your gun around to people.
Amanda: That's true. Or my junk. I don't waggle my junk.
Kori: I know people have talked about if our show is, like, super scripted or whatever, and no, we're just this funny all the time, regularly.
Amanda: We really are hilarious. And, I mean, we don't write any.
Kori: Of these amazing stories down.
Amanda: No, it's true. One day I'll have to tell you guys about my weird, the reason why I got a gun, but today is not that day.
Kori: I will have to tell you guys not that day.
Amanda: It was pretty wild. All right, well, should we get into Maggie Long?
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: All right, well so Maggie Long was just 17 years old when her charred remains were found inside her Bailey, Colorado home on December 1, 2017. Maggie left school that afternoon with plans to return later that evening, around 07:00 p.m.. Police received a call stating individuals were causing a disturbance at the home, which led to a fire. Maggie was a senior at Platte Canyon High School, and she lived with her parents, and she had two older sisters, Connie and Lena, and a brother named Derek. So Connie was six years older than Maggie, but the sisters were really close. Maggie's parents were born in North Vietnam and left to the US. During the Vietnam War. Her family actually owned several, like, area restaurants, and they were really well known within the community. Maggie was described as an over achiever and always the first to volunteer. Her sister told NBC News, quote.
Kori: She.
Amanda: Was a very involved student. She had so many interests and just loved trying new things and being part of as much of life as she could, end quote. Maggie was set to work the annual school concert's VIP lounge that evening. Friends became worried when she didn't show up, so they asked Connie where Maggie was, and instantly Connie knew something was wrong. She began calling Maggie, but her phone went to voicemail and something inside Connie told her she needed to go to the house.
Kori: So when Connie arrived to the house, there was nothing but chaos. The home had completely burned, and she noticed that Maggie's car was still sitting in the driveway. According to the press release that was issued by the Park County Sheriff's office, deputies had responded to a house fire at the Long's home around 07:00 p.m. That evening. After the 911 caller had reported individuals causing a disturbance that had led to the fire, connie began calling her friends and family and posting on social media, hoping her worst fears would have come to fruition. Unfortunately, those fears were a reality hours after the police arrived. Once the home was fully extinguished, about 11:00 p.m., maggie Long's remains were found inside what was left of the home. The full depravity of what Maggie faced was yet to be announced. So Maggie had gone to her house in Bailey to pick up some cookies and water and change her clothes for an evening concert. It was believed that she may have walked in to the robbery in progress.
Amanda: So according to the FBI, the investigative efforts at the scene revealed that some sort of physical altercation had taken place between Maggie and the assailants right before the fire had started. The suspects stole items from the Long home, including a Barretta handgun, an AK 47 style rifle, 2000 rounds of ammunition, a safe, and some little jade figurines. The witness that called in the fire said there were people inside the Long residence causing damage and that they saw at least one man on the property. When investigators arrived, they believed that the suspects had spent a significant amount of time in the home with Maggie on that fateful December 1 night. They believed that the suspects deliberately chose to take her life by burning her alive. They believed that the intent of the fire was to conceal their actions. They do not believe that killing Maggie was their original goal, and they are not sure if any of the suspects personally knew her. Her sister explained that she was getting text messages from the tenant that had been living in the apartment unit of their family home and that he was hearing loud noises downstairs. This was like an. Off the house. It was kind of like upstairs. It was just a separate little apartment that was being rented out. And he heard these loud noises, which.
Kori: Is so weird and kind of crazy and creepy at the same time.
Amanda: That's what I think. Why did it and, I mean, I'm sure this person feels horrible, but I just wonder, why did it take you so long if they believe that? They were there with Maggie for a while? She came home, she left school around 230, and the fire wasn't discovered until about seven.
Kori: Right. So they had been in there quite some time.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: So the family wasn't allowed back on the premises for four days after the fire. They were asked by law enforcement the family was asked by law enforcement to refrain from talking to the media for at least one week after the murder. It wasn't until six weeks after Maggie's remains were discovered that the sheriff's office did a press release. That was six weeks the public went without knowing the description of the suspects or the vehicles. Six weeks that those little details people may have noticed at the time began to fade. Police officially ruled Maggie's death a homicide and released a composite sketch of the three men that they believed were involved in her death. They believed that they were, at the time, driving a late 1990s to 2000 Chevy astro van that was light colored and a Ford pickup truck. But there have not been any arrests or suspects named at this time. Friends and family of Maggie have felt that the investigation was sloppy. I agree with that. I don't think it was the best that it could be.
Amanda: I agree.
Kori: Two and a half weeks after Maggie's death, on what would have been her 18th birthday, a celebration of life was held at her school. Police had cleared several suspects, including her upstairs tenant. But then the investigation had stalled, which.
Amanda: Is kind of lucky, and maybe stalled isn't the right word, because it completely stopped. So her death was classified as a hate crime in May of 2021. The family thought that there would be some movement on the case when it was reclassified from a homicide to a hate crime because they would have more financial resources. But to their dismay, the case remained cold. And as of December 1 of 2022, there have only been 237 tips reported. Which makes me sad, but I think that has a lot to do with the six weeks, right?
Kori: Six weeks that people didn't know what.
Amanda: Happened or what to look for or what should stand out to them.
Kori: Because if you're on the road and you see a car pass you, and then six weeks later, they're like, hey, did anybody see a Chevy astro van? You're like, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: I saw some vans. I don't know.
Amanda: I'm sure I've seen 300 in six weeks.
Kori: I don't know. So maggie was a huge ray of sunshine to her family and friends. She had a huge heart, a wonderful smile and spirit, and she loved everyone. Her friends said she played softball, and her school retired her jersey and had it framed, and it's currently hanging up in the principal's office. She also performed in their town's community theater production. So she was just a well rounded well rounded kid.
Amanda: Oh, absolutely. She's one of those people that I totally would have been friends with her.
Kori: Right. So currently the case is being handled by a five person task force consisting of law enforcement officials from the FBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the Park County Sheriff's Office. None of the current task force members were involved when the crime happened in December 2017. Also, they supposedly had a Maggie Long task force website. That website and web page is no longer working in case anybody is listening. So you can't go to that. It won't help you. You can't report anything bad. That website is broken. I tried to click on it several times. It doesn't work at all. Sorry.
Amanda: No, that's okay. How frustrating for the family, though.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: I mean, if your loved one has been murdered and you don't have anybody in custody, you have no suspects, you have no persons of interest, and all you want is information, who do you call?
Kori: Right.
Amanda: None of these people were there when this originally happened, which 2017 wasn't that long ago.
Kori: No, it wasn't.
Amanda: You still have investigators from the John Ramsay case. We're still on that case, yeah. And think of all the information that's being lost. It's like a game of telephone. I tell you something, you tell somebody, blah, blah, blah. By the end of it, you're telling everybody that I eat zippers for breakfast. And what I really said was, I like purple pens.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: I don't actually like purple, though.
Kori: Guys don't send us any purple pens.
Amanda: I hate purple. You like purple? I don't like purple.
Kori: I do like purple, but I like purple and yellow and or I like all the colors of the rainbow.
Amanda: I just don't love purple. I never have. But yeah, it's just I wonder why their former sheriff, who was sheriff when this actually happened, is no longer the sheriff, and they've actually received a lot of backlash. Good word, backlash. Because of his lack of investigation, I'm not surprised. There's not a ton of information on this case online. And I feel like if you didn't live in Colorado when this happened, you probably don't remember it. You probably didn't really make national news.
Kori: No. And I think if they had classified it as a hate crime earlier on in it, that probably would have helped. And maybe it I don't know. I don't want to say that the police force did less because she was of Asian descent, but that could be, too.
Amanda: So I was reading online that the reclassification happened in May of 2021, which is after COVID, but a lot of people were really upset with just like the broad class of Asian people because of the supposed China infecting everybody with COVID and that whole conspiracy theory.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: And so they think that maybe that had to do with why there wasn't a ton of coverage on this. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if she's blue or it doesn't matter if she was killed.
Kori: In a horrendous fashion and she's 17. Yeah. Burned alive, basically.
Amanda: She's a child.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: That's where I get frustrated, because at the end of the day, people are people.
Kori: Right.
Amanda: And that's what they should be treated like. And it doesn't matter the color of their skin or where their parents came from or their grandparents or who they want to sleep with. None of that matters. They're people. And I think that as honestly as an entire world. But really in the US. We need to get better at looking.
Kori: Past that, treating people like the way you'd want to be treated.
Amanda: Right. The golden rule.
Kori: Right. A lot of people say that and a lot of people don't. It doesn't happen that way.
Amanda: Right. And I think we need to get back to that. We need to treat everybody like people. And I can't even say get back to that because I don't even feel like we've ever been there. No, but we need to get to that point.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: Especially when it comes to a victim of a crime.
Kori: They didn't do anything. It doesn't matter what they were doing in their lives. No one deserves to be burned alive or were murdered.
Amanda: Right.
Kori: None of that deserves to happen to anybody. Whether you did drugs, whether you sold drugs, whether you just lived your life.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: Whether you're a teenager, whether you were just out there doing your things. You don't deserve to be murdered in any way.
Amanda: You don't deserve to be murdered. Maggie's family sold their home in October of 2019. The home was just over 6000. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and it sat on just over 27 acres, which I'd be interested to know how far back on the property that home sat. I do know how to gate, but I would want to know, did they.
Kori: Know how far from the road?
Amanda: Did they know who lived there? Obviously, it said, like, Long Ranch or something on the fence, but was this planned or was this random? And then I would feel like if it was planned, they would at least know some sort of dynamic of the family, especially because they were so well known. Right. But the home actually sold for far less than market value because the property was actually still heavily damaged from the fire that had killed their daughter.
Kori: I don't know if I could live there. I'm not going to lie.
Amanda: Oh, no, I couldn't. There is no way. But the case actually took a multi state turn when two men were arrested in Missouri in June of 2018 after they bound a 20 year old woman, poured gasoline on her, and set her on fire after robbing her. So Vincent Wrist, who was 22 at the time, and Antonio Bowen, who was 24 at the time, were both charged with one count of arson, one count of first degree assault, one count of first degree burglary, one count of first degree robbery, and three counts of armed criminal action in Jackson County, Missouri. So the men stole various items from the home, including a shotgun. Both men were held on $250,000 cash only bonds, and the similarities in the two cases were really hard to ignore. And when the composite sketches were released and then you saw the actual, like, booking photos of these two, the resemblance was uncanny. So Risk was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Bowen was sentenced to 22 years. And their connection to Maggie's murder has not been confirmed, but just highly speculated.
Kori: That sucks.
Amanda: It does suck. And as of this recording, maggie's murder remains unsolved, and all suspects are still at large. Anyone with information about Maggie's case is asked to call the Maggie Long Task Force at 303-239-4243, the FBI, Denver, at 1800, call FBI, or you can submit tips online at FBI. Gov tips.
Kori: So have they looked into those other two guys? Were they here in Colorado during that time?
Amanda: I don't know. There wasn't a ton of information. Yeah.
Kori: That'S why we combined two cases, guys, because there just wasn't a whole lot on her case, which is really sad.
Amanda: Yes. But you guys should definitely go look up their mug shots and compare them to the composite sketches, because especially Antonio Bowen. I mean, his picture and the sketch look identical.
Kori: That's crazy.
Amanda: It is crazy. You'll have to go look it up.
Kori: I will. I don't know why I'm not doing it right now.
Amanda: Because we're working. We're professionals.
Kori: Oh, yeah, that's right. We're professional. Professional. Hilarious.
Amanda: Really. That's okay. I was trying to say a comedian and a magician the other day, and I could not.
Kori: A magician.
Amanda: I don't it's a magician, but like a magician. I don't know. What is it like when you're funny? Are you a magician? And then what is the word?
Kori: Oh, that's where you're getting it. I get it. Okay.
Amanda: Yes.
Kori: I thought you were just trying to combine the two words into something funny, like Benefer.
Amanda: Oh, no. Nene.
Kori: Like a magician.
Amanda: A magician. No. I could not come up with the right word when I was trying to write isn't today, and I could not spell. Isn't it just so you guys are clear, usually I'm a really good speller, and today my brain is just like, it's quit for the last couple of days. It's done. It's moved on.
Kori: It's foggy green. I do not have the vid because I don't live there, but I am a little stuffy today. I moved away, in case you guys didn't know.
Amanda: In case you didn't realize, cory doesn't live here, and I'm not super stuffy. I've got this terrible cough, and I slept all day yesterday from, like, ten to two, and then I think I slept again from 330 to 430, and then from 630 to 830.
Kori: In the morning?
Amanda: No, at night. And then I went to sleep last night, and I slept all night.
Kori: The bid makes me sleepy.
Amanda: Oh, my gosh. It's kicking my ***. Like, whooping my ***. I've got a white flag, and it is flying.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: The bid wins.
Kori: The vid wins.
Amanda: Well, I do want to give a big thank you to Brenda for leaving us another great review on Facebook. You're so good to us, and we really do appreciate all of the time you spent listening to us.
Kori: I know. She told me we Facetimed her. I want to say Tuesday. Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday. And she's like, I'm so excited that you guys are dropping these new she's like, Then I can listen on Wednesday when I'm driving to work, and then I can listen to Friday when I'm driving to work.
Amanda: She's so good to us.
Kori: Also, I want to give a shout out to Paula and Pam Dacus, kansas mom and aunt. My mother in law and aunt in law. They have also been listening, and they said that we're super funny and that our stories are good, and they like all the little side stories that we tell too. Yeah. I think because we're so organic, I'm not trying to break my arm patting us on the back.
Amanda: Well, I mean, we've known forever, like, 2011. I was a baby. I was 20. That's crazy.
Kori: I like to joke that Amanda had Emerson, her daughter, for me.
Amanda: That's true. I like to joke that if Corey was a *****, she could be my mom.
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda: Thanks. One of the first things she ever said to me, if it was a horse, she could be your mom. And I was like, wow, you did feed me like you were my mom.
Kori: I know. I had a tuna casserole today and thought of you. Yeah. It was delicious, by the way. But I know how much you enjoy tuna casserole and tuna sandwiches.
Amanda: I do remember when we have you.
Kori: Guys used to come over for lunch before work, and we'd make tuna melts.
Amanda: Yeah. And then you moved away from me. Why do you keep leaving me? Is it me?
Kori: No, it's not you.
Amanda: I don't know.
Kori: This is a really good job opportunity. That's what I keep saying.
Amanda: That's the lie you keep telling everyone. It's not you. It was a great job opportunity.
Kori: It's a great job opportunity.
Amanda: I'm just saying.
Kori: I still really care about you.
Amanda: I moved to Greeley. You moved away. We start a podcast, and you move away.
Kori: But luckily, technology is really advanced, so we could do this from two separate locations.
Amanda: That's true. And thankfully, you're better with technology than I am. And you know how to use all this stuff because, really, in case you guys didn't know, I really am like an 84 year old woman. I am the worst with technology.
Kori: It's true. It hates her.
Amanda: It does. And I just stuck with it. Just leave me with my Golden Girls and my blankie and my t. Corey will take care of the rest. All right, crime fans. Well, that's a wrap on this week's episode. Thank you so much for joining us today. Keep those case requests coming. If you haven't already, please subscribe so you can be notified every time we upload. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please share our podcast with your friends and leave us a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, leave us a review and we will read it in next week's episode. New episodes are released every Friday at 10:30, a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Please follow us on Instagram at Colorado Crime Pod or on Facebook at colorado Crime podcast. For information on next week's episode, as well as other true crime happenings, remember to check out our new series, Serial Killer Tuesday, every Tuesday at 02:00 P.m. Mountain Standard Time for deep dives on all the most prolific serial killers. Also, we will be having a guest for an episode we're doing in April. We're going to cover the Columbine shooting, and I'm so excited for this guest, so be on the lookout for that one. But we hope that you have a beautiful day wherever you are. And as always, stay safe.
Kori: It's been great being with all of you here today. Until next time.
Amanda: See you later. Bye.
