Ep 6: Gambler's Logic

2024-06-12 00:49:59

Twelve-year-old McKay Everett disappeared from his Texas home in September 1995. His father Carl returned from an Amway meeting to find the back door ajar and the telephone ringing. On the line, a woman with a raspy voice demanded $500,000. Over the next week, the FBI played a game of cat-and-mouse with the kidnappers, who used inside information to stay one step ahead of the investigation. Ultimately the FBI uncovered a series of crimes that started long before McKay was taken. Most shocking of all was the suspect. McKay had been betrayed by someone he trusted – a pillar of the community hiding a dark secret. But decades later, McKay’s mother, Paulette, still isn’t satisfied with the official story. She doesn’t think everyone involved has been brought to justice. Ransom: Season 1 - Position of Trust is a story of greed and betrayal and how one’s outward appearance can be dangerously deceiving.

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Speaker 1
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A warning about content this show contains descriptions of violence listener discretion is advised

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Speaker 2
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Let me ask you a question you have a best friend

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How big would it shock you if tomorrow you woke up and somebody told you that your best friend just killed somebody

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Because this can't be right. He didn't do this guy didn't do that

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There was a lot of stories at the beginning

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About somebody else being involved and there other people and I didn't do this and all this stuff and you want to believe that

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Because you don't want to believe you've been friends with a killer

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That's not something that you want

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Penetrating your mind

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You just don't he may have stolen money. Maybe a bad guy that way but

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To kill a 12 year old boy

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No, you didn't want to believe that

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Then you figured out after a while. Wow. Yeah

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That's what we're dealing with

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If I were to put all of this stuff together, I would have I would have done something and McKay would still be alive

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Speaker 1
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From KSL podcasts, I'm art Rascone. This is ransom position of trust

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Episode 6 gamblers logic

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this episode we're diving into who Hilton Crawford really was and

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What led him to the point that he kidnapped and murdered a close family friend?

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12-year-old McKay Everett the boy who called him uncle Hilti

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Of course Hilton continued to insist that he didn't kill McKay

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But investigators had become convinced

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RL Remington wasn't real and

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Even Hilton's close friends didn't buy the Remington story

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Here's one of those friends Sam Petro. I thought it was a bunch of bull right away

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Speaker 2
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I mean just think of the name Remington

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He had to have a mental breakdown. It's what I thought at the time. I mean he had children had two boys

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He's got his wife

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Then there's got to be some kind of reason for what happened

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We got to get to the bottom of this thing

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But the deeper you got into it the deeper you knew you're dealing with something that's really bad here

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Speaker 1
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Hilton Crawford had cultivated an image as a trustworthy family man

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He was ex-law enforcement a little league baseball coach and a charming storyteller

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But when we dug into his past we found red flags that showed he had a much darker side as well

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Hilton Crawford was born in

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1939 in Beaumont, Texas a small industrial town near the border of Texas and Louisiana

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Hilton's classmate Paul Anderson can still remember him. Well, he was a hero in high school

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Speaker 2
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I mean he was he was a jock. He let her in for sports. He did the football baseball track and

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basketball

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Speaker 1
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Hilton was personable as far as his classmates at South Park High School could tell he never got into fights or behaved

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Speaker 2
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Unusually back in those days. We really didn't look for red flags

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I mean it was pretty much what you see is what you get era

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Then when this stuff popped up it bust a lot of bubbles

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Speaker 1
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Hilton met his wife Connie sometime in the late 50s

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Speaker 2
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Well, I remember her being two classes back, but everybody was paying attention to Hilton a black-and-white yearbook photo from

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Speaker 1
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1957 shows Hilton and Connie as homecoming royalty

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Six-foot-tall Hilton towers over a meek Connie. His face is gaunt and serious with a chiseled jaw

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Hers looks young and innocent

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But Tanny Shannon the author who interviewed Hilton in prison

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Says Hilton wouldn't start dating Connie until a couple of years later

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Speaker 4
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He had an interest in Connie

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So he got back in touch with her and asked her out and after the first date

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Speaker 2
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They were pretty much a couple from then on

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Speaker 1
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early into dating Connie's father was diagnosed with cancer and

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Speaker 4
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When he asked her father for her hand in marriage

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Her father asked him to promise that he would take care of her

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Because he had this illness and he was not expected to live

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and Hilton agreed

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He always felt a very deep responsibility for his family

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Which probably led to his inability to admit to his failures?

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Speaker 1
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Hilton and Connie married in

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1962 at the time they were both junior college students and Hilton worked night shifts at the Beaumont Police Department

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The Beaumont police had recently come under scrutiny after a shooting in broad daylight over territory for illegal gambling

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It had come out that gangsters had been bribing the police chief

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So the chief and one of his head detectives were fired

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But despite the reforms the new department wasn't squeaky clean

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Speaker 4
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When he went to work for the Beaumont Police Department, he was

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introduced to

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some things that

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Probably would not be allowed today merchants giving away merchandise to

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Have police officers come in and check on their businesses and so forth by giving officers free products

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Speaker 1
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Store owners would make sure that they were part of the officers patrol routes and that they stayed in the good graces of the police

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But Hilton's indiscretions as a police officer in Beaumont went well beyond little handouts from stores

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We obtained police documents that have never previously been published

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Showing clear red flags about Hilton Crawford's behavior and his pattern of line to cover up his crimes

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On Friday, September 14th

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1962 another patrolman noticed that the police car Hilton and his partner had been driving was missing a hubcap

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When confronted Hilton's partner who was a new recruit said the car had slid as they were responding to a call

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Their supervisor sent Hilton's partner back to investigate the site

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Speaker 3
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I sent him out to look at the surface of the road to see if there was any foreign substance there that could have caused

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A slide he returned a few minutes later and told me he wanted to tell me the truth about what happened

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Speaker 1
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while on duty Hilton had wanted to take care of some personal business and

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They'd left the area that they were in charge of patrolling

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Speaker 3
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They left their district without permission and that's where they were when they received the call to go to the Greyhound bus depot

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So they left in a big hurry to get back where they belong

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And they made a fast turn onto Corley Street and the rear end slid on them and struck the curb

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He states that there was a car there, but they were going entirely too fast and this is what caused the slide

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Crawford asked him to tell the story to keep them both out of trouble

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Speaker 1
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But the damage to the car was only one of the concerning incidents that happened that night

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Hilton had also been accused of misconduct by a man. He arrested

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We couldn't find the victim's accusations or his name

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But Hilton Crawford signed a sworn affidavit about the incident here's the statement read by a voice actor

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Speaker 3
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My name is Hilton Lewis Crawford. I'm a white male 23 years of age

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about 1240 a.m. September 14th

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1962 my partner and I while on routine patrol saw a 57 Ford turn sideways stuck in a ditch

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And as we walked up to the car, we saw a Negro man laying in the front seat

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The doors were locked and the windows were rolled up. We knocked on the windows after about five minutes

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He woke up and we got him out of the car

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Seeing that he was drunk. We had him stand in front of us and touch his toes and we pushed him into the ditch

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We asked him to get out of the ditch and reach to get him as he was getting out of the ditch

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He started to fall and we pushed him again

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We yelled him to get up several times and seeing that this was not doing any good

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Punched him in the ribs several times just hard enough to wake him because he had passed out

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We did this because we did not want to stand in the water

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After punching him and seeing that he was not coming to one of us jokingly remarked that he looked like he was dead. I

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Told my partner that I would try to get him out of the ditch without us getting wet

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So I fired my pistol into the ditch several feet away from him

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I did this in an effort to wake him up, but it didn't work

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Speaker 1
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At this point in the affidavit Hilton Crawford has already admitted to pushing a black man down into a ditch full of water

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Twice the second time knocking the man out

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Then Hilton says he tried hitting the unconscious man with his nightstick to rouse him, but couldn't

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So he claims he fired his pistol toward the man to wake him up

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Speaker 3
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We then had to get into the ditch to get him out and as we were doing this he woke up

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When we got him on the street

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We asked him if he had been drinking and he said he had not but we could smell alcohol on his breath and his speech

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Was very impaired

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We asked him to run about 10 yards and turn around quick and he did turn around as he ran back towards he fell down

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He told us that he worked at the Holiday Inn and if we would bring our own girl out there

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He would try to get us a room

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And we placed him under arrest for being drunk and asked which wrecker he wanted to come after his car

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At no time did we use force on him other than punching him with our nightsticks to wake him up

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I've read the above statement and it is true and correct. So help me God

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HL Crawford

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Speaker 1
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This typed document is marked up with a pen the phrase we pushed him into the ditch is

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Underlined and in the margin is written

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Didn't hit him in the documents. We obtained. There's a second sworn affidavit that appears to be a sanitized version of the same account

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Many parts are identical, but in this version Hilton and his partner don't push the man

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They were arresting into the ditch

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instead he's already in the ditch when they find him and

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In this version Hilton doesn't fire his gun in an attempt to wake him up

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But he still readily admits to beating the man's ribs with his nightstick

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Five days after these incidents on September 19th

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1962

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Hilton Crawford was indefinitely suspended as a police officer for excessive use of force and

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For drawing his pistol in a public place when it was unnecessary to do so

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Hilton had clearly abused his power as a police officer and his actions show he was unfit for that kind of

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responsibility

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but Hilton appealed the decision and

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two weeks later a hearing was held at City Hall a

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Newspaper article about the hearing says that witnesses were called over the course of three and a half hours to vouch for his character

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Hilton was still well-known and beloved in the community from his high school sports days

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when city commissioners made their decision they mentioned Hilton's young age the fact he was working while attending Lamar Tech and

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His record of service with youth the church and the community

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Ultimately Hilton Crawford suspension was reduced to just four months

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Hilton's image as an upstanding member of the community. Let him get off with a slap on the wrist and

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so in January of

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1963 Hilton returned to the Beaumont police and he continued his work as a police officer for the next three and a half

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years

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And evidently the hearing and suspension didn't tarnish Hilton's record in the eyes of future employers

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Because in

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1966 Hilton got a new job with the local Sheriff's Department

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Hilton started as a jailer, but author Tanny Shannon says he quickly rose through the ranks

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Speaker 4
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He did move up within the Sheriff's Department rather rapidly

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Speaker 1
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Becoming a captain's in charge of the Warren's division through his job in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

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Hilton grew in prominence within the community and

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Befriended a group of local business owners who loved to golf bet on sports and go on trips together to Vegas

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These businessmen were in an income bracket far above Hilton's so he often couldn't afford to go on these trips

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But occasionally he'd splurge and go he was going on on

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Speaker 4
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Junkets to Las Vegas where one person takes a group of people out to a casino and everything's paid for

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Speaker 1
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on these junkets

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Hilton only had to pay for airfare and gambling the rooms and other expenses were covered

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Speaker 4
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And that makes you feel kind of special, you know, of course if you stop to think about it

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You know, there's a reason they do that. The reason is because you lose a little more money than other people do but

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It does make people feel special when they get treated like

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Royalty or whatever and that's kind of what Crawford got involved in. He got special rooms

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he described some of the presidential suites that he stayed in and

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was really treated with a

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whole lot of affection a whole lot of freebies and

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Speaker 1
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As a former star athlete Hilton felt he was specially equipped to beat the odds at sports betting

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Speaker 4
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He began gambling thinking that he's a little smarter than everybody else in the gear usually that's what

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Gamblers tend to think is they know a little bit more about sports than the next guy

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So they should be able to figure out the winner of this football game or that basketball game on

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Speaker 1
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these trips to Vegas

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Hilton met casino managers who took note of the fact that he worked for a sheriff's department near Houston at

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The time a common problem for casinos was guests from out of town writing bad checks

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Speaker 4
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He began making collection calls for some of the casinos when people from the local area would write hot checks

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And in return they put him on their VIP list, you know, it made him feel important. It made him feel

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Respected and so forth. It's kind of what his job in law enforcement did as well

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He liked to feel

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important and in control in

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Speaker 1
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Vegas and amongst his businessman friends Hilton became known as the sheriff and

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it appears Hilton enjoyed this nickname because in

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1975 after nine years in the sheriff's department

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Hilton quit he no longer wanted to work for the sheriff

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Hilton Crawford wanted to be the sheriff

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In

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April

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1976 at age

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37 Hilton Crawford announced he was going to run for sheriff against his former boss Dick Culberson

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Hilton is quoted in a newspaper saying that high levels of turnover showed the department was being mismanaged

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Speaker 3
[16:26.62 - 16:31.80]

Morale at the sheriff's department is now hit rock-bottom. I know I was here

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Oddly enough our present sheriff seems content plot along with a crippled department

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Speaker 1
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Hilton accused sheriff Culbertson of running a whisper campaign against him telling people that Hilton was

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connected to the mafia in

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Retaliation Hilton released a letter detailing alleged to scandals that had taken place under

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Culbertson's watch the sheriff received checks in

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Speaker 3
[16:56.20 - 17:00.90]

1972 from supervisors at Texaco and used the money to buy a car

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Deputies worked up a narcotics case against the drug pusher who's son of a law enforcement officer

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Culbertson personally halted the investigation a man was arrested for murder and placed in the county jail

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He was visited by his girlfriend who then had sexual intercourse with one of the jail officers

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The sexual exploits for then used to blackmail the officer so the prisoner could roam the jail for his own sexual reasons

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Speaker 1
[17:24.12 - 17:26.88]

Culbertson denied all of these allegations an

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article later that month described a town hall meeting where quote the county sheriff race

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dominated the evening and

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overshadowed every other county race

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During the question-and-answer sessions Hilton was asked a question about his suspension from the Beaumont police

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Hilton responded that he was reinstated after a hearing of the Civil Service Board and

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Speaker 3
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Then added I use poor judgment then but I've come a long way since that incident. I feel I have overcome this

1
Speaker 1
[18:00.24 - 18:03.42]

Hilton was asked about the financing of his campaign

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He responded that in addition to donations he'd taken out three loans of his own that totaled around

[18:10.40 - 18:11.52]

$8,000

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equivalent in today's dollars to over

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42,000

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But it appears that investment was not enough on May 1st

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1976 Hilton Crawford lost the primary and the personal loans he'd taken out to finance his campaign

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May have been the start of his struggles with death that would continue over the next 20 years

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Or perhaps the loans were symptoms of something dark that had already taken a hold of Hilton

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in the late 70s Hilton and Connie moved from Beaumont to Conroe right around the same time that the Everett's did and

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Paulette and Connie started teaching next door to one another

5
Speaker 5
[18:57.24 - 19:02.08]

I think she'd mentioned once he had run for sheriff prior to moving to Conroe and

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That he didn't win and you know, I've always wondered since McKay, you know, what was the whole

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Impetus of them moving to Conroe, you know

1
Speaker 1
[19:11.04 - 19:18.26]

If that was embarrassment or what and it was in Conroe that Hilton met and befriended Sam Petro

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The man you heard at the beginning of the episode

2
Speaker 2
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He was the last person on earth that I would have thought would have done

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that deed

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Speaker 1
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In

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The late 70s after his failed run for sheriff Hilton moved from Beaumont to Conroe

2
Speaker 2
[20:45.62 - 20:51.90]

Where he met businessman Sam Petro. I was in the wholesale produce business in Houston and

[20:52.84 - 20:55.48]

I met Hilton through my kids

[20:56.18 - 20:58.34]

coaching Little League baseball I

[20:59.74 - 21:03.22]

coached Hilton's son Kevin at the time and

[21:04.15 - 21:09.19]

Then Hilton that kind of got together his friends coaching and that's where all of this began

[21:10.75 - 21:14.85]

Hilton was a really good parent. He cared about his kids. He cared about his wife

[21:15.49 - 21:16.67]

Every Sunday morning

[21:16.67 - 21:22.39]

He would get up early to take his wife's car to the gas station to fill it up and take it to the car wash

[21:22.39 - 21:24.99]

Wash it did the same thing for his kids. I mean

[21:25.69 - 21:29.15]

I've been married my wife and I've been married 58 years and I

[21:29.99 - 21:36.35]

I don't think we've known anybody that just gets up and does those things Hilton did him and he did him

[21:36.35 - 21:43.09]

because he cared and I do things for my wife most people do but I just thought that was

[21:44.13 - 21:45.29]

That was a little

[21:46.45 - 21:52.49]

Little beyond it's not they do this once every once in a while. He did that on a regular basis

[21:52.49 - 21:54.91]

He wanted to be loved

[21:55.45 - 21:57.85]

Hilton always had that

[21:58.41 - 22:02.57]

Desire for people to really like him. That was a big deal for him

1
Speaker 1
[22:03.13 - 22:11.25]

Petro was a businessman of the sort that Hilton had befriended in Beaumont and he was the type of man that Hilton aspired to be

[22:11.25 - 22:13.49]

rich and carefree

[22:14.17 - 22:20.93]

Before long Petro and another businessman named John Powell were joining Hilton on trips to Vegas

2
Speaker 2
[22:21.53 - 22:27.95]

Hilton and John and I were really good friends. We played a lot of golf together. We take trips together

[22:27.95 - 22:32.55]

We went to Vegas several times. That was just it was all all in fun

1
Speaker 1
[22:33.29 - 22:38.77]

Petro viewed gambling as entertainment, but Hilton seemed to view it differently

2
Speaker 2
[22:39.35 - 22:43.73]

It's gonna sound bad. John Powell and I both made a little more money than Hilton

[22:44.53 - 22:50.65]

And I mean he'd be playing blackjack at two three hundred dollars a hand and we're just saying this is insane

[22:50.93 - 22:52.97]

The guy's working for a security guard

1
Speaker 1
[22:52.97 - 22:59.59]

But Hilton was confident that he could beat the odds used to tell me I know what I'm doing

2
Speaker 2
[23:00.07 - 23:03.23]

I got this stuff figured out. I know what I'm doing

[23:03.23 - 23:10.35]

And then when he would go to Vegas and he would bet heavy he would tell John this guy I work with gave me

[23:10.35 - 23:16.01]

5,000 and so the guy gave me 5,000 $10,000 of other people's money and

[23:16.55 - 23:18.67]

Splitting my winnings with him

[23:18.67 - 23:21.05]

It always have stories like that

[23:21.71 - 23:26.19]

Something that would kind of make you think does he really know somebody that's giving him this money?

1
Speaker 1
[23:27.19 - 23:30.19]

For the most part Petro ignored his suspicions

[23:30.19 - 23:37.91]

He even went into business with Crawford the two of them opened an Italian restaurant in Conroe called Izzo's

[23:38.43 - 23:44.75]

Hilton also asked Carl and Paulette if they wanted to invest in the restaurant. I love going out to eat

5
Speaker 5
[23:44.75 - 23:50.75]

I love good restaurants, but I don't want to own a restaurant. And so I told Carl I said, I'm not interested

[23:50.75 - 23:56.61]

You know and Carl said well I am and Hilton needs our financials and I said, well, hold on just a minute

1
Speaker 1
[23:57.25 - 24:03.05]

Hilton said he wanted documents about Carl and Paulette's finances to vet them as investors

[24:03.79 - 24:05.99]

Which Paulette didn't want to share?

[24:06.93 - 24:11.31]

Ultimately Carl and Paulette decided not to invest in the restaurant

5
Speaker 5
[24:11.31 - 24:15.33]

But Carl gave him all of our financials came to find out

[24:15.33 - 24:22.47]

that has really bothered me since McKay's abduction and murder is that he knew what we had and

[24:23.95 - 24:31.59]

That really bugged me still does, you know, you don't ever release that kind of information. You just don't do that

1
Speaker 1
[24:32.59 - 24:35.99]

Hilton and Petro opened Izzo's sometime around

[24:35.99 - 24:44.31]

1983 but the business was short-lived. It was there for about a year and a half or two years. I don't remember exactly

2
Speaker 2
[24:45.15 - 24:52.39]

Really good restaurant. It was it was doing really well, but the money wasn't showing up as a profit

[24:53.13 - 24:59.57]

The way it should have been but the like the money that was coming in. I never knew what happened there. I really didn't

1
Speaker 1
[25:01.11 - 25:03.77]

When Izzo's shuttered in 1985

[25:04.51 - 25:07.65]

Petro thought the company was just being mismanaged

[25:08.33 - 25:09.75]

four years later in

[25:09.75 - 25:18.45]

1989 Petro again went into business with Hilton after learning of a security business that was being sold. I

2
Speaker 2
[25:18.45 - 25:23.61]

Called Hilton. I said him there's a security card company. I can buy and I think it's a good deal

[25:23.61 - 25:25.63]

But I don't know how to run one of them

[25:26.33 - 25:32.63]

What if I made you a partner? Would you be interested in coming to run this thing? He said oh, absolutely

[25:33.25 - 25:37.19]

And I said, you know if I bring you over can you get new accounts he said yeah

[25:37.19 - 25:42.25]

I can bring some of my customers with me and I can get some new accounts. Okay, that's good

[25:43.79 - 25:46.15]

So I bought the security guard company and

[25:47.43 - 25:54.29]

He hired a girl. He said I got a perfect girl to run the office Colleen. I said, okay, that's good. I

[25:54.29 - 26:01.89]

Trust this is my issue. I trust I trust you and I believe in you that not I trust you

[26:01.89 - 26:08.81]

So I turned over the company business to Hilton. I said, I'll come in every once in a while twice a week and

[26:10.27 - 26:14.73]

Check on you if you need anything, let me know you're running the company. I've given you a partnership

[26:15.79 - 26:22.13]

And let's see where it goes wasn't a 50-50 partnership, but it was he had a good chunk. So everything went fine

[26:22.13 - 26:24.31]

Then the company was going well

1
Speaker 1
[26:24.83 - 26:28.19]

But Petro started noticing changes in Hilton

2
Speaker 2
[26:28.93 - 26:33.95]

One of the things that we really noticed was he didn't have time for golf anymore, you know

[26:33.95 - 26:39.51]

And all of a sudden Hilton I can't play this week. I can't play next week. I can't do this

[26:39.51 - 26:41.41]

But we just knew something wasn't right

[26:42.23 - 26:44.95]

he always said he was so busy so busy so busy and

1
Speaker 1
[26:45.75 - 26:52.55]

Hilton started telling Petro that money was tight and that he would need Petro to put more money into the company

[26:53.23 - 26:55.99]

Petro thought something wasn't adding up

[26:55.99 - 27:00.95]

Business was good and he thought the security company should be making money

2
Speaker 2
[27:00.95 - 27:06.61]

So I was talking to a very good friend of mine that owned a security company

[27:06.61 - 27:10.23]

he said have you ever thought of a shock audit a

1
Speaker 1
[27:10.85 - 27:14.65]

Shock audit is a way of catching embezzlement or fraud

2
Speaker 2
[27:14.65 - 27:21.41]

The auditors walk in and just shut the business end of it down not the services but the financial part

[27:21.41 - 27:25.07]

Nothing's going to happen financially until we look at all the money

[27:25.73 - 27:28.35]

so we started this shock audit and

[27:29.85 - 27:32.03]

Hilton was just raising hell

[27:32.89 - 27:38.97]

Why are they doing this? I said, yeah, I can't operate when you're doing stuff like this. I

[27:38.97 - 27:45.35]

Said look Hilton. I don't want to deal with this. I've got my own business to run other companies. I

[27:45.35 - 27:46.73]

Got to get out of it

1
Speaker 1
[27:47.25 - 27:53.97]

Petro wasn't sure he could trust Hilton to run the company anymore, and he didn't think it was worth the hassle

[27:53.97 - 28:00.49]

He says rather than pay to continue the shock audit. He decided to just sell the business a

[28:01.01 - 28:04.95]

Process which would require its own accounting of the finances

2
Speaker 2
[28:04.95 - 28:10.37]

so if we're gonna sell the company all that information was going to come to pass anyway, and

[28:11.15 - 28:17.17]

We had a business broker come in and sold the company immediately. I

[28:17.17 - 28:23.45]

Mean the security business was good. We had a lot of customers in a lot of billable hours

1
Speaker 1
[28:23.97 - 28:27.19]

Petro figured that things would end on a good note

[28:27.19 - 28:29.07]

He would get a payout

[28:29.07 - 28:36.65]

Hilton would also get a payout because he was a partner and the new owners could sort out what was going on with the company

2
Speaker 2
[28:36.65 - 28:39.39]

Well, that's what I thought on the surface

[28:39.93 - 28:45.79]

Company gets in they start doing their audit and they call us and this is where the story gets interesting

[28:45.79 - 28:50.37]

They said somebody's stealing from the company. You got money bleeding

[28:51.31 - 28:57.99]

The girl running the office had gotten about 60,000 Hilton had taken out about 300,000

[28:58.79 - 29:02.73]

What they were doing was she was handling the office

[29:02.73 - 29:09.73]

So she was handling the payroll and she would write checks to guards. It didn't exist. They were just tapes

[29:10.41 - 29:13.75]

And some of these check cashing places back then

[29:13.75 - 29:19.83]

You could go in there and cash a check and give them 10% of the funds if they don't ask for

[29:20.39 - 29:24.09]

Identification and all that stuff. So that's that's where all that came from

1
Speaker 1
[29:24.63 - 29:29.55]

Petro came to learn the reason that Hilton had been too busy to play golf and

[29:30.13 - 29:32.77]

Why he'd embezzled so much money

2
Speaker 2
[29:32.77 - 29:38.03]

Finally found out the reason was because he was spending too much time gambling on sports

[29:38.03 - 29:42.43]

When you're trying to make a living gambling, which is what he was trying to do

[29:43.23 - 29:47.89]

There are games that go on all day long they'll make a couple bets on games played in it

[29:47.89 - 29:52.53]

All right. I'm winning those. So now instead of betting 200 on this next game

[29:52.53 - 29:55.77]

I'm gonna bet 400 because it just wants money here or

[29:56.29 - 30:02.05]

Now I lost that game during the day now. I got to make it up at 7. So it becomes an all-day affair

[30:02.05 - 30:03.97]

It becomes obsessive

[30:04.89 - 30:11.13]

People that are addicted to this stuff and I've been through it but a couple of people none more than Hilton

[30:11.13 - 30:13.79]

But when you're addicted to that stuff

[30:14.53 - 30:19.69]

It just controls their whole life golf becomes just a nuisance

1
Speaker 1
[30:20.65 - 30:27.73]

after discovering the embezzlement the people interested in acquiring the security guard company backed out of the deal and

[30:28.49 - 30:30.27]

The business went bankrupt

[30:30.27 - 30:36.23]

It put Petro in a difficult place. He'd been betrayed by his good friend

[30:36.23 - 30:41.11]

Hilton came to him with all kinds of excuses. He said I'm sorry

2
Speaker 2
[30:41.13 - 30:46.01]

I did that I feel really bad that I did that but I was in a jam and

[30:46.01 - 30:50.45]

Only bad people money and if I didn't start paying them, they were gonna harm my family

[30:50.45 - 30:54.81]

And you know, he gave me all of these stories, but I didn't believe any of them. I really did

1
Speaker 1
[30:55.65 - 31:02.97]

Petro decided to cut his losses and cut off his ties with Hilton. Here's the thing. I couldn't sue him

2
Speaker 2
[31:04.35 - 31:06.83]

Because I loved his wife and his kids

[31:07.59 - 31:14.13]

What am I gonna do sue him and get satisfaction out of that I told Hilton I said Hilton

[31:14.71 - 31:17.45]

You can't pay me back. I

[31:17.45 - 31:23.51]

Thought you were a friend. We're through. I don't want to talk to you again. I don't want to see you adios

[31:23.51 - 31:30.25]

But I am going after Colleen. She got 60,000. I want 60,000 back

[31:30.25 - 31:33.89]

He said you can't do that. I said why not?

[31:34.79 - 31:35.43]

and said

[31:36.17 - 31:38.33]

Colleen's dad is the head of

[31:38.99 - 31:40.95]

Houston Line Empire Company's buildings

[31:41.79 - 31:47.95]

They're a big customer of mine. If you're gonna shut this down, then I have to go get another job and they're a big customer

[31:47.95 - 31:55.25]

They're important to me making a livelihood. I said I have to go after it said you can't please don't go after her

[31:55.25 - 32:01.51]

I'll pay you the 60,000. I said you can't pay me 60 cents. So no, I'm going after her

[32:02.33 - 32:05.27]

I'm really kind of knew I couldn't get 60,000 out of her

[32:05.43 - 32:12.03]

But I wanted to cause her some misery just as revenge. I could tell you, you know, it was different, but it's not

1
Speaker 1
[32:13.59 - 32:19.01]

Hilton told a very different story to Tanny Shannon in some ways a

[32:19.01 - 32:21.15]

diametrically opposite story

[32:21.87 - 32:26.35]

Hilton claimed it was Petro that had embezzled from the security guard business

[32:26.35 - 32:31.51]

In fact, he said Petro had skimmed off the top of the restaurant as well

4
Speaker 4
[32:31.51 - 32:36.73]

Entertaining his friends and never charging them and taking money out of the restaurant

[32:36.73 - 32:40.41]

But oh, you know, of course it might have been Crawford that was taking the money out

1
Speaker 1
[32:40.41 - 32:46.29]

I don't know and though Tanny made it very clear that he was publishing Hilton's version of events

[32:46.29 - 32:50.69]

He did put Hilton's accusations about Petro in his book

[32:51.35 - 32:59.65]

Petro was angry that Tanny never tried to verify Hilton's story. A lot of things as Hilton said that book are

[32:59.65 - 33:07.15]

Just ridiculous Tanny says that Petro read the book and confronted him about it. He called me the

4
Speaker 4
[33:07.85 - 33:10.49]

book was released he was

[33:10.49 - 33:17.83]

Very annoyed about some of the things I had said and I said well what I'm doing is repeating

[33:18.37 - 33:19.93]

What I was told

[33:19.93 - 33:27.17]

and interviews and so forth what he objected to is being called overbearing and overweight and

[33:27.97 - 33:33.71]

Dishonest to the point of fudging at charity golf tournaments. He says I'm not that fat

[33:37.21 - 33:42.25]

But didn't bother me at all I've had people mad at me before I'm not concerned with that

2
Speaker 2
[33:42.85 - 33:47.41]

Didn't bother me what he said about me. I think he said I was overweight and annoying or something, but

[33:48.29 - 33:50.55]

You know the author of that book

[33:50.55 - 33:52.13]

Didn't verify

[33:52.73 - 33:54.31]

Anything in that book

[33:54.31 - 34:00.71]

How can you have a story about somebody that's telling the story themselves that you don't verify?

[34:01.91 - 34:02.95]

especially a murderer

1
Speaker 1
[34:04.77 - 34:06.91]

After his falling out with Hilton

[34:06.91 - 34:13.47]

Petro started hearing stories about other scams that Hilton had run. One of the things I found out he did

2
Speaker 2
[34:13.47 - 34:15.79]

He took some people on a vacation

[34:15.79 - 34:19.81]

Forget where it was. I want to say Hawaii and he paid for everything

[34:20.33 - 34:22.13]

And then when he came back

[34:22.81 - 34:24.43]

he called the

[34:24.43 - 34:30.31]

Credit card company that he put everything on and told him said I just noticed my credit cards been missing

[34:30.89 - 34:36.47]

And I just got this big bill. Somebody's been traveling using my name my credit card

[34:36.47 - 34:42.39]

So the credit card company just you know, they they just wipe it out, right and he did that though

[34:43.07 - 34:45.01]

found out a lot of things that

[34:45.01 - 34:47.05]

Did Hilton did that were?

[34:47.89 - 34:49.53]

not kosher, but

[34:49.81 - 34:52.53]

Hilton's big thing was he wanted to be

[34:53.07 - 34:57.75]

More than he was he'd lie about his golf scores, which doesn't sound like a lot

[34:57.75 - 35:00.99]

but the game of golf is a very

[35:01.73 - 35:08.51]

Self-policing sport when you put that kind of stuff together with the rest of it. She wanted to make people believe

[35:08.51 - 35:11.81]

that he was more successful than he was and

[35:13.43 - 35:17.51]

He couldn't get that way unless he worked at it. He didn't want to work at it

[35:17.51 - 35:22.95]

He wanted to do it through gambling. He always wanted to hit that big jackpot. He wanted to win

[35:22.95 - 35:29.83]

He didn't need that to impress people people genuinely like him. He could have been himself and

[35:31.09 - 35:33.11]

things would have gone on a

1
Speaker 1
[35:36.11 - 35:41.73]

Couple of years after they're falling out Hilton reached back out to Petro asking to meet up

[35:42.29 - 35:49.83]

Petro saw Hilton as a flawed but fundamentally good person who had just gotten too deep into a gambling addiction

[35:50.61 - 35:55.33]

Petro hoped Hilton had gotten his problem under control and was doing better

[35:55.33 - 36:02.45]

So he and their mutual friend John Powell decided to check up on Hilton. So you have been call us

2
Speaker 2
[36:02.45 - 36:04.85]

He said meet me this we had a new racetrack

[36:04.85 - 36:09.25]

So John and I went to the racetrack. He said I want you to meet somebody

[36:09.25 - 36:12.17]

He brings this guy and then he introduces it to us

[36:12.69 - 36:14.29]

And he was a horse trainer

1
Speaker 1
[36:15.07 - 36:19.95]

Petro realized that Hilton had fallen in with others whose whole lives

2
Speaker 2
[36:19.95 - 36:25.99]

Revolved around gambling. There was something about the guy that John and I just both looked at each other. It's

[36:25.99 - 36:26.65]

whoa

[36:28.43 - 36:29.91]

So we talked to him

[36:29.91 - 36:36.17]

Casually for a little while and he left and Hilton said hey, how'd you like?

[36:36.93 - 36:39.13]

John and I both said

[36:39.77 - 36:44.31]

Hilton don't ever bring somebody like that around us

[36:44.31 - 36:47.17]

He said what's wrong with you? What's up?

[36:47.81 - 36:51.79]

Smells that I have it. There's something not right about this

1
Speaker 1
[36:52.89 - 36:58.03]

At first it almost sounded like Sam was describing RL Remington

[36:58.65 - 37:05.37]

But this was Billy Allen the man who owned the storage site in Lumberton where Hilton hit his gun

[37:05.95 - 37:08.99]

Allen helped Hilton buy a racehorse and

2
Speaker 2
[37:08.99 - 37:17.07]

Introduced him to the horse racing world to bookmakers and a whole lot of other people that that he shouldn't have been in touch with

[37:17.07 - 37:20.21]

That's how he ran up such huge debts

[37:20.21 - 37:24.53]

That non horses betting on football games betting on baseball

[37:24.53 - 37:29.99]

Basketball, I mean if two birds on a wire he'd bet on which one would fly off faster

[37:30.61 - 37:32.65]

And he didn't have that kind of money

1
Speaker 1
[37:33.25 - 37:36.33]

By the time he kidnapped McKay he had

[37:36.33 - 37:41.73]

300,000 in debt to spread out over 40 banks and credit card companies and

[37:42.53 - 37:44.93]

That's just what was officially recorded

[37:45.45 - 37:49.39]

There was also the money he allegedly owed Petro money

[37:49.39 - 37:54.97]

He had borrowed from family and friends and likely debts to loan sharks as well

2
Speaker 2
[37:54.97 - 37:59.13]

He kept getting deeper and deeper and deeper in debt and we knew it

1
Speaker 1
[38:00.19 - 38:07.15]

That day at the racetrack Petro realized Hilton hadn't gotten better I told Hilton

2
Speaker 2
[38:07.15 - 38:10.79]

I don't want you calling me. I don't want you talking to me

[38:10.79 - 38:17.75]

I don't want you saying a damn thing to me until you get your act together. Don't bother me and John told him the same thing

[38:18.45 - 38:21.05]

Well, it was three months after that conversation

[38:22.19 - 38:24.21]

That's when he kidnapped

[38:24.21 - 38:25.31]

McKay

?
Unknown Speaker
[38:29.31 - 38:29.91]

You

1
Speaker 1
[38:31.67 - 38:37.49]

This episode of ransom is sponsored by better help. Do you want to make a change in your life?

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After Hilton's arrest Petro tried to help Connie and Hilton's sons navigate the situation

2
Speaker 2
[39:44.17 - 39:47.69]

I felt sorry for his family my thinking was

[39:47.69 - 39:49.57]

This is not normal

[39:50.31 - 39:51.75]

Something has gone wrong

[39:52.29 - 39:54.31]

His brain, you know, he snapped

[39:54.31 - 40:00.69]

Because you know, he'll do some things. Yeah, you know, they'll screw you out of money, but I never thought he'd kill anybody

[40:00.69 - 40:05.29]

I never thought would be anything near that. I

[40:05.29 - 40:10.17]

Do believe he was very deep in debt to bookmakers to some really bad people

[40:10.75 - 40:17.37]

That he was so deep in debt. He felt like the only way he had out was to do something the fairness. Well

[40:18.23 - 40:24.61]

He took it too far he kidnapped a kid he murdered the child

[40:26.39 - 40:29.63]

You know, my heart still bleeds for the Everett family

[40:30.43 - 40:35.65]

The dad passed away, but the Paulette still lives and breathes that

[40:36.53 - 40:38.35]

that horror every day

[40:39.23 - 40:43.29]

And I felt sorry for Connie and I felt sorry for Chris and kept

1
Speaker 1
[40:43.91 - 40:48.71]

Petro thinks that Hilton kept his illegal activities secret from Connie

2
Speaker 2
[40:48.71 - 40:56.05]

Hilton hid every bad aspect of his life from Connie and he hid it very well

[40:56.05 - 41:02.37]

He would tell Connie something like we have a client pass. Oh, I have to go see I'll be there for a couple of days and

[41:02.95 - 41:03.89]

Go to Vegas

[41:03.89 - 41:06.27]

He did that a lot of occasions

1
Speaker 1
[41:08.03 - 41:13.89]

Petro regrets all of the red flags about Hilton's gambling. He ignored Ernie and their friendship

2
Speaker 2
[41:13.89 - 41:20.65]

You know when I look back on Hilton, I was as dumb as a rock. I saw him over camera

[41:20.65 - 41:22.89]

I saw him gambling money didn't have yes

[41:22.89 - 41:24.37]

He's telling me that okay

[41:24.37 - 41:26.83]

this money came from somebody else and I'm gonna

[41:26.83 - 41:33.35]

We're gonna split I'm in if I had a serious thought about it at the time rather than just saying that's just Hilton talking

[41:33.35 - 41:38.59]

I would have reacted. I would have done something. I would have had serious conversations

[41:38.59 - 41:44.03]

I would have taken him to the psychiatrist that to find out why are you doing the things that you're doing?

[41:44.55 - 41:44.79]

You know

[41:44.79 - 41:47.81]

I would have confronted him with all this stuff going wrong

[41:47.81 - 41:53.63]

Stealing 300,000 from the security company the deal in in Hawaii with the credit card

[41:53.63 - 41:59.05]

If I would have put all of this stuff together, I would have I would have done something

[41:59.83 - 42:01.77]

And McKay would still be alive

1
Speaker 1
[42:03.91 - 42:10.33]

Petro says in retrospect, he feels like he was watching a drunk pull out their keys to drive home

2
Speaker 2
[42:10.33 - 42:12.63]

He was drunk with gambling

[42:13.27 - 42:18.87]

You know, there wasn't alcohol. He didn't drink but you know, your mind can fall apart in a lot of ways

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