The Parrot Reveals the Killer

Today we have two stories about individuals who go above and beyond to try to make sure investigators have everything they need to solve a case However, in both instances, as you'll see Cases take a wild, unexpected turn as a result of what these individuals provide. does solve the case, but in just an extremely unexpected way. But before we get into today's stories, If you're a fan of the strange Dark and mysterious delivered in story format, And you've come to the right place because that's all we do twowo, three, even four times every week So if that's of interest to you Please replace all the water in the Fall of buttons ice tray with white vinegar Okay, let's get into our first story, which is called The Best is the Eemy of the Good Adobe Firefly is the all in one creative studio with AI powered image and video generation for today's creative process Built for creators of every kind, Firefly helps you generate, edit, and experiment fast because the asks aren't getting smaller, The budgets aren't getting bigger, and the timelines ugh, yeah, still tight. With all the best creative AI models in one place, Firefly brings your ideas to life. Unlock a better way to make with Adobe Firefly Have you ever considered surrounding your house with a moat to keep it safe Would you hire a professional wrestler as a bodyguard for your car Okay, maybe you wouldn't go that far But if you'd go to great lengths to avoid dealing with your insurance company, You might have insoranoia And if you have insanoia, you should have NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders Start relieving your insureanoia today injM. com On the morning of october twentieth, nineteen ninety seven A forty year old man named Kevin Dowling roowe a small boat across a reservoir that was near his home in Spring Grove Pennsylvania And this reservoir was beautiful. It was quiet and peaceful out here and the weather was perfectly cool and the leaves on all the trees around the water were very colorful and starting to fall. And as Kevin looked around at all this incredible scenery, He knew he had chosen the exact right spot for what he needed to do. So Kevin had rented this boat to go fishing reality, he was out here primarily just to have a place where he could relax and just think Lately, Kevin's life had been incredibly stressful. and so moments of calm and peace were just very few and far between The stress really began when recently, Kevin had lost his full time job He hadd been an operations manager at a convenience store, and he had been fired after making just one mistake. And now he had to work the night shift at a staple store just to support his family and they were barely getting by. And Kevin, believe it or not, was generally speaking, a very overachieving person And so to have his life playing out the way it was was, you know, just very disappointing And it was also just turning him into a very stressed out, angry person. And he knew that was happening. He'd been lashing out at his wife, yelling at his kids and he had even gotten into this horrible altercation with an art gallery owner in town. And so finally, after a couple of months of just being this sort of awful person with these angry outbursts Sleepless nights as a result of all this stress He knew he had to do something to turn things around And so he thought This fishing trip was just what he needed. Kevin looked towards the front of the boat where there was a camera set up on a tripod Anytime Kevin went out on these fishing expeditions, he would film himself, both to capture the moments he would catch the fish And also because he just liked after he'd returned from these trips to just watch the footage all over again. It's sort of brought him back to a time and place, you know, out on the water that was just Great. You know, he liked fishing, it was peaceful, it was calm And so he was doing that for this trip as well evenven though, you know, right now as he sat there, as serene as things were, you know, he was filled with a whole lot of angst and a lot of stress and anxiety. but He figured, you know what? I'm out here. I need to put on a good performance for the camera, be that the happiest version of myself I can be, so that when I return to Dry land and I show this footage to my family and And I refer to it myself I don't wan to see that I was so, you know upset while I was out here. This is supposed to be my catharsis. This is supposed to be a chance for me to decompress So basically he looked at the camera and sort of told himself like, okay smile and like enjoy this trip. This is good for your mental health And so Kevin rode a bit further into the reservoir and he came to a spot that he thought was good pulled in the Oars, and then he reached over and turned on the camera and sort of waved and said, okay, you know, I'm out here, about to start And then he took a deep breath and he cast this line into the water early the next morning Kevin was at his kitchen table feeling extremely tired So the day before, after he had gone fishing on the reservoir, He had a night shift at Staples. and so he did the whole shift. He comes home, he barely sleeps, and now he's back up again. And so he's just totally exhausted. eating breakfast with his wife. And so while the two of them are just sitting there in silence eating their food There's the sudden sharp knocking on the front door Two of them look at each other like . They both didn't know And so Kevin got up, he walked to the front door He opened it up, and he was very surprised to see two police officers standing there. And so Kevin asked them like How can I help you told him they were here because of a fight that Kevin had gotten into with that art gallery owner a few months ago They said that the entire situation had now escalated police needed to get a statement. Now, Kevin did not try to deny that he had gotten into a fight with this person. So instead he just outside to speak to them alone. And pretty much the instant he was out there speaking to the cops, it was like his stomach was just in knot I mean, it just seemed crazy that the day before he was out on the beautiful reservoir going fishing, having this sort of nice time. I mean, his life was so stressful these days, but it's like just yesterday, he had finally found some peace. He was so eager to watch back his video of him fishing. likeike that was just a nice moment in time, a rare nice moment. now He's got more problems, more stress being piled on, like he couldn't believe it. Kevin knew like he needed to comply here. likeike whatever they needed, he was going to try to give it to them And so he just asked one of the officers to please explain a little bit more about what was really going on here. This seems pretty serious. And one of the officers, he just said, lookook, I can't give you too many details here. But they told him there had been another altercation at the art gallery yesterday morning. Kevin was being considered a suspect at this point because he had previously gotten into a fight with this owner Now for Kevin, obviously, this was not good. This was very bad. this was shocking. This is like not good news But on the other hand When they said this happened yesterday morning, I mean, Kevin's mind immediately went to his fishing trip. He had been fishing yesterday morning You know, he was he was at this reservoir that's at least forty five minutes away from the art gallery. He had receipts from taking that boat out. He had receipts from his fish bait. He even took a video that was likely timestamped while he was out in the water And so Kevin tells the officers that like I have no idea what happened at the art gallery, but I wasn't involved. Like whatever happened yesterday, that was not me. A few seconds later, Kevin had led the officers into his house. He'd gone upstairs, grabbed his fishing bag out of his closet rifled th through it and grabbed all the receipts and then come back downstairs When he did, he saw the officers were speaking to his wife and asking her about his alibi. And she had said, yes, Kevin had been fishing And she'd even watched a home video of his trip that he had made because he always made videos of when he went fishing. And so at this point, the officers seem satisfied and they the receipts, as well as the vide tape that Kevin's wife had mentioned And they said they'd just be in touch if they had any more questions. Over the next few days, Kevin totally forgot about the police stuff. I mean, whatever happened at the art gallery, That had nothing to do with him. That was totally separate. He had given the evidence over He hadn't heard from the police. So in his mind, like That's over and done with. However, on the evening of october twenty ninth, so a little more than a week after the police had first shown up at his home Kevin had just finished making dinner and was about to sit down and eat it with his family Do doorbellang followed by a series of very loud knocks. And so Kevin, he got up, sort of looked at his wife, they both exchanged a look like, who is this Then he walked over to the front and through the window, he could see who it was. It was the police again This time, when he opened the door They didn't ask politely for him to just make a statement Instead, one of them immediately stepped forward and slapped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists and said he was under arrest The real reason why Kevin's life had been so stressful that really he couldn't get a night's sleep, that he's just constantly anxious. didn't have to do with the fact that he had lost his job. That was part of it. Really it was the thing that caused his firing that was keeping him up at night. That was actually his altercation with the art gallery owner a few months earlier. That altercation was actually really, really serious. It was not just he and this woman getting into a fight. no. Kevin robbed this woman and also assaulted her And then he was subsequently arrested, lost his job because he was arrested. And then while he was out on bail, he's staring down this trial date that's looming for these charges he's been arrested for. And he knows there's footage of him, there's witness testimony, like he's gonna lose. He's got no job, like he's going to look like a total pariah in the community. He's embarrassed, he's made this horrible decision, and like his life is already basically wrecked And it's only going to get worse if this goes to trial What does he do? Kevin, the perfectionist who always sort of follows through on all the things in his life, you know, to that point He decides He needs to go back there to the art gallery. and finish the job. He needs to get rid of this woman, so there won't be a trial, so he won't be found guilty so his life be ruined And so about a week ago He did go back to the art gallery, he killed this woman, and then that same day, he goes out on the reservoir and pretends to be out there on this fishing trip. He films himself fishing because that's what he did always do. Really It was just in order to create an alibi that would show he was out on the water, even though it was actually in the afternoon. He was not there in the morning. He filmed that video in the afternoon He claimed it was in the morning. And basically, Kevin almost got away with it between the receipts for the boat, bait and this video and his wife saying, oh yeah, he was fishing the day before and Kevin was very innocent when he spoke to police But what caught him caught actually was the video In the video, the position of the son, which the officers picked up on It didn't make sense for it being the morning. It was too high in the sky Like if it had been the morning, it just would have looked visibly different And so they determined that Kevin's video was not shot in the morning. He could have filmed that at any point later in the day which created a window that morning that he could have gone back to the art gallery And he could have killed that woman which she did Also, just to add credibility to this theory that Kevin had forged this video or at least forged the time he had shot it. An expert was able to determine that the timestamps on the video been tampered with, further clarifying that This was a fake Kevin was found guilty not only of the robbery and assault charges that he was initially charged with But also, he was found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to death, and as of april twenty twenty six, he is still on death row awaiting execution Don't you hate it when your car just will not start? orr even worse when your car won't start and you're far from your house and you're by yourself. I've been in that situation and it's awful. and that's why I keep this specific product in my car. It's called a Noo GB forty, and it just sits in my car, It doesn't really do much, but heaven forbid I needed to use it. Boom, it's there gives me an enormous amount of peace of mind So a NoCoe GB forty is like this small little tool that can jumpstart your car and doubles as a USBC power bank and even has a built in flashlight with SOS and strobe. So you're covered in more ways than one So again, the GB forty is a lightweight, one thousand amp lithium jump starter, only two point four pounds that's powerful enough for most cars and SUVs, handling gas engines up to six liters and diesel up to three liters, with up to twenty jump starts on a single charge. Through its innovative design, it provides users with dependable power for home, business, and recreational needs Established in nineteen fourteen, NoCo provides industry leading battery power solutions, including jump starters, tire inflators, battery chargers, lithium batteries, and a wide range of accessories. You can pick one up at no. co slash gB forty. That's n o. c slash gB four zero Use code Mr. Ballin at no. co for ten percent off while it lasts. That's M R B A L L E N at n. co. So you know that uneasy, anxious feeling you get when you think about dealing with your insurance company Well, there's actually a term for that. It's called insureanoia And if that sounds like something you're way too familiar with, you should really think about getting NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders likeike providing dedicated reps whose priority is you. And that means you'll find more peace of mind with them. Relieve your insuranoia with NJM insurance by visiting njM. com for a quote today. Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie. com to bury my pet hamster nibbles in our yard for me Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end Nibbles gone too soon. May he scurry in peace? Hey sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff Nibbles would have loved you like a brother. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over thirty years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at anngie dot com Our second and final story today is called the Green Parrot. Just before six PM on Sunday july twelfth, nineteen forty two A man named Robert stumbled into a bar called The Green Parrot in Harlem, New York Robert was al reready Very, very drunk He'd been drinking all afternoon because he'd won a bunch of money in a dice game earlier that day, and he had just been celebrating And now he was wandering into this bar, the Green parrot to keep the party going and keep on drinking. So at this point in nineteen forty two The neighborhood where he was, Harlem, which is a neighborhood within New York City It really struggled with a very high level of violent crime, and this bar, the Green Parrot, was very popular amongst locals. And so this bar attracted a big crowd, which often became a very rough crowd. And so because of how violent this area was and because of all this cash that Robert had won earlier in the day, which he had on his person Robert had decided to bring his gun with him out to the bar, like he was armed as he walked into the green parrot And he was glad he was, because again, this is like a dangerous spot But as Robert actually went inside of the Green parrot He found that it actually wasn't that crowded that night It was only about six PM and it would get much busier or it usually got much busier later in the night But at this point, even though he's very drunk, you know he looked around and he saw there was like maybe twenty people in there. And for Robert, this actually was kind of a good thing because it meant it would be easier for him bar and you know, get served, get more drinks. And so Robert staggered his way over to the bar where the owner, Max Geller, was pouring drinks and helping customers. Robert, he gets up there and he looks around and Right away, he actually recognized a number of people that were there at the bar. They were regulars He saw actually there was one particular regular, this shorter guy who he knew was really mean and nasty and just super aggressive. and he clocked him as a guy that he wanted to keep his distance from. And so Robert turned his attention to Max, the owner. And he sort of sloppily waved at him, trying to get his attention. Max, who was still busy preparing drinks for others. He sort of looked up and stared at Robert and kind of, you know, did sort of like a check of him to see how drunk he really was And then Max served the other people. And then they walked over to Robert with sort of a skeptical look on his face. and he's like Can I do for you, Robert Robert, he's like closing one ey, He's so drunk. he's like, Yeah, I want to drink Max looked at him and he's like, You're too drunk, I can't serve you. Now at first, Robert was just defensive and was basically like, come on, like I'm in here all the time and I've certainly been pretty drunk before and you've served me. I don't understand why this is different. Max stuck to his word and he's like, No, I'm not going to serve you. too you're too intoxicated. And so slowly, Robert became angrier and angrier and he began saying, like, you're serving everybody else. There's guys here that are more drunk than me. like I don't get it. Like you have to give me a drink At this point, Max, you know, sensing just how upset Robert was, he said, lookook Now you're going to just have to leave. Like I'm not going to serve you and you have to leave Robert, he went from now just being mad to being humiliated. He's being like humiliated in front of the whole bar. And it was almost like he couldn't help what he did next. It was like rage hced through his body And almost without thinking Robert drew his gun aimed and fired and he shot Max in the face Instantly, as soon as this shot rang out, the bar is just thrust into absolute chaos. People are screaming. like ninety percent of the people in there had no idea this was even happening, let alone that people are shooting each other. It was just chaos. People are screaming, they're running around And Robert, it was like he couldn't even believe what he had just done and he just immediately pocketed and hit his weapon and sort of just backed away from the scene because again, people aren't even sure who got shot. People are looking around. He sort of began to blend into the crowd And then as soon as he could, he just turned and ran out of the bar About a half an hour later, around six thirty PM An investigator with the New York City District atttorney's office named Lewis Panuo Hurried down the sidewalk toward the green parrot, which at this point was swarming with police officers Panuko, who had just been called to the scene, really only knew that there had been a shooting at the spar and that the victim had apparently been shot in the face, but was alive. and he was on his way to the hospital Outside the bar, Pinuo could see a bunch of these police officers already interviewing a whole crowd of people Panuko assumed were witnesses of the shooting And there were a lot of them Panuco hoped that at least one of them would have something useful to say. And so Panuco just let these officers handle this initial questioning of this group You know, if he needed to, he would speak to people later. but for now he just headed inside the bar to see what was going on And as soon as he stepped inside, another officer came up to Pinuo to just give him a quick briefing. He said the bar's owner, Max Geller, was the one who had been shot and he had been shot in the mouth and that he was alive, but when he was taken off to the hospital He was unconscious, so nobody could ask him what happened Then, this officer told Panuco that there had been a bunch of customers in the bar during the shooting And that that was the crowd outside. Those were the people that the officers were getting statements from However, this officer told Penuo that so far, Almost none of the people they were speaking with were cooperating much everybody was just saying Oh, I don't know what happened or I didn't see who shot who. It was like they didn't want to tell the police what they actually knew. The only witness so far who had said anything of substance was this very short, very loud, regular who even now a half an hour after the shooting, was acting extremely agitated and just sort of like ld and very aggressive It was the same one, the same regular that Robert, when he had first walked in, had noticed and thought, boy, I don't want to be around that person This regular was just screaming that this whole thing was a robbery. That was like all he kept saying. It was a robbery. it was a robbery But I mean, in the eyes of the officers who were around this regular, this this short angry guy, It just sort of seemed like he was traumatized by what he saw. And so he was just repeating the word robber over and over and over again in part likely because he was drunk, in part maybe because he was traumatized and it was like a weird response he was having. So it was just sort of heavily discounted what he was saying. They're like, okay Maybe it was a robbery, but maybe you're just kind of out of it The officer told Panuco that, you know, they searched the bar, at least they did a cursory search of the bar. And it didn't seem like anything had been taken didn't seem like this was a robbery. So again, it just It just seemed like this guy was yelling about the robbery basasically didn't know what he was talking about And so at this point, Pinuo, you know, on the one hand, he was frustrated by what he was hearing But also he really wasn't that surprised. I mean, he's thinking that, you know, in this area in Harlem at this time, There was a huge distrust of police. I mean, most residents refused to cooperate with authorities And so it was very likely that some of these people who were out here, you know, not just the guy yelling about a robbery, but the other witnesses, it was very likely that at least one of them knew something. I mean, there wasn't that many of them in the bar at the time of the shooting. But it was just unclear if he would ever get any of that information Penuko knew he would obviously still have to try to get some information from these people So after getting this brief from this officer and after sort of walking around the inside of the bar for a second Banuko headed back outside to try to talk to some of the witnesses himself prettyretty much immediately when he began speaking to these people He saw that there definitely was like a front being put up You know, he just had this sinking feeling that this investigation was pretty much dead before it was even going to get started Have you ever considered surrounding your house with a moat to keep it safe? Would you hire a professional wrestler as a bodyguard for your car Okay, maybe you wouldn't go that far But if you'd go to great lengths to avoid dealing with your insurance company, You might have insoranoia And if you have insuranoia, you should have NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders Start relieving your insure ania today. at njM. com you know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price? I want to tell everyone about it So do we Here at Designer shoe Warehouse, we'll give you something to brag about. like the latest styles from brands you love, or the trends everyone's obsessing over. or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. buuying shoes that get you, and prices that get your budget. That's your DSW store or dsW dot com today DSW Let us surprise you Fast forward about a month and Pinuko is still hard at work working on this case Except the case took a turn Because the victim, Max, he fell into a coma right after the shooting. and for weeks he'd been in a coma And authorities, you know, Penuco included, were hopeful he would and he'd be able to give them additional information about what happened You know, give them anything because no one by this point had given them any new information. They had basically no evidence, they had nothing. But unfortunately, Max, without regaining consciousness, just died And so now this was not just a shooting investigation that Penuca was in charge of He was in charge of a homicide investigation. homicide investigation with basically no leads Because again, it's like none of the witnesses had given them anything All they knew is Max got shot and now he's dead And then the only other sort of substantive thing that had come out of any of their interviews was from that that short angry guy. the regular from the bar who had just demanded that this was this was a robbery And you know, at first pass, they had looked around the bar. It didn't seem like anything had been taken and they had sort of ruled out a robbery But now, a month later, they had really looked into that angle and they had confirmed that nothing had been taken from the bar. So this was definitely not a robbery. And so basically, Penuco had nothing. And so at this point, Pen you could decided that his best bet here was actually just to basically start over, just to zoom back out back to square one and just see if there was something that they missed. And in fact, Pinuco had brought in a new detective, a guy named John Morrisy to help him with this new approach. Morris was supposed to be this incredibly smart guy who was known for thinking outside the box something that Panuco felt like they could really use right now. And so on this particular day, Panuco had sent Morrisy to the Green parrot So just speak to anybody that was there. J see if you can learn anything about the shooting from people that are at the bar where this happened, like right now, Just go there and talk to people So off Morris he goes Panuo, he stayed at the station and that day he was going to re interterview all of the patrons who had been at the Green Parrot on the night of the shooting, just to see if, you know, maybe he could get some additional information out of them And so far, that was not the case. Basically all the interviews dead ends like they had been the first time. and so You know, he had somebody in the room with him right now and the interview had gone nowhere and he's like, you know what? you can go. likeike All right, ono the next one. And so that person leaves the interview room youuo, he gets up and he walks out into the hallway where all these patrons are sitting on chairs waiting to be interviewed And as he's, you know, getting ready to just grab the next person to speak to He sees there are two women who were patrons in the bar who were sitting sort of halfway down the hallway and they were talking to each other And they were really not being careful about how loud they were speaking. Like their conversation that they must have thought was private, was loud enough that basically everybody in the hallway could hear it. The reason it really stood out to Pineuco is they weren't speaking English. they were speaking French. Except unbeknownst to these women who likely believed nobody in this hallway spoke French Panuco did speak French And he could hear these women were talking about the case. They were saying that, hey You go in there to speak to this detective. Tell him you don't know anything. Like don't give him any information becausecause if we do and we get wrapped up in this case We're going to get dragged out into the public for being involved in the shooting. and what's going to happen is peopleeople are going to know that we were at that bar drinking on that night and we told our husbands we weren't, They're going to be so mad at us, like we got a Were going to be quiet tell the detective anything, just say you know nothing. And so immediately, Panuo, he walks over to these two women and he points at one of them and says, Hey, You're next come into the interview room and he said this in English And so the women were kind of surprised that they were being tapped to go next, or this woman was surprised And so she gets up and sort of waves to her friend and she follows Pinuo into the interview room. And so as soon as they sat down, Pineuo in English, says to this woman So are you really worried that your husband is going to find out you are at the green parrot if you cooperate with me woman was clearly very surprised by this question, but She just sort of feigned like maybe she didn't fully understand because you know, she'd been speaking French out there. She doesn't know if Panuco knows that she does or doesn't speak English And so she just sat there in silence and just looked back at him like she didn't really understand. And you could just stared back at her and then Perfect French As the same question like are you worried again in French that your husband is going to find out you are at the green parrot if you cooperate t This point, the woman knew like the jig was up. Clearly this detective overheard the conversation they had in the hall. That's why he's pulled me in here I'm caught red handed. woman just began to break down and cry. And then after a few moments, without Pinuko even needing to push her to do this She just started telling the whole story She explained that her and her friend out in the hallway had been at the Green Parrot on the night of the shooting And they actually did see who shot Max She said it was this guy who was wearing a black and white checkered suit. He had gone up to the bar. And then some sort of altercation happened and he pulled out a gun and he shot Max, and then he quickly ran out of the bar. Now, she told Pinuko that she didn't know this guy's name But she definitely recognized him. She said that, you know, she had been to the Green parrot before the night of the shooting and she had seen this guy and she thinks that he's just like a regular at this bar. like she would definitely recognize him again if she saw him. And so Panuo at this point, I mean, he could barely contain his excitement. I mean, this was really like the first meaningful lead in the whole case. You have a suspect who apparently is a regular at the bar where the shooting took place. And he dresses in a really distinct way. He wears, you know, flashy clothing like this is This is a great lead And so Panugo, like he's thrilled. He thanks this woman He goes out and he grabs the other woman and he brings her in for questioning And she would echo the same story as the first womoman. that yes, they had been there, they had seen this guy. He was a regular, they thought And he wore these flashy clothes. And so after this, Panuo is like, I gott to tell Detective Morrisy. I gott to fill him in on what I've just learned. This totally changes the case And so he ran over to Morrisy's office to see if he was back yet from the Green parrot. But when he went in there, he saw that he wasn't. And so Panuco,'s like, all right I'll go back to my office and I'll start making a plan for what we're going to do next until Morisy gets back, and then I'll brief him up then. And so whenan youo, he goes to his office, he starts excitedly making, you know, plans of what they're going to do And then a moment later, his door bursts open and Morrisy comes flying into the room And he looks totally out of breath like he's rushed to be here to tell Panuo something, but Panuo, he turns and even though he sees like Clearly, Morris's got something to tell me