Ep. 7 Ocean City, Maryland Murders (Part One)

Speaker 1 00:00

All right

 

Speaker 2 00:01

All right, you guys. Yeah, oh, Kim, one thing is at some point, right before we start, you ask, where does this episode take us? And you’re gonna say, two.

 

Speaker 3 00:11

wait we’re doing the case you no idea you no idea you don’t even know kim writes in a chicken scratch code so i can’t even read it when it’s like left out on the counter all right let’s begin if you’re going on a trip and you pack your bags and then you come home in a bag you might have gone on a slaycation welcome to slaycation i am of course adam text davis i am joined as always by my lovely wife kim hi and my longtime friend and business partner jerry calber hello before we begin i know nothing about the case they’re gonna tell the details and i’m gonna ask questions and i’ll be like you the listener and we’ll be learning about this for the first time before we start i was thinking about while you guys do the research i get to think about murder and you know there’s one thing i thought of that i don’t think enough of the slaycators that are out there committing the crimes think about this kind of often leads to them getting caught or at the very least puts them under suspicion any thoughts what that could be coming home without their spouse right well that’s that’s a hallmark of a slaycation i mean that’s going to happen kim you got something no okay nothing ready acting acting what do you that gets a lot of people in trouble right because you know you got to pull off a good slaycation well you’re definitely going to be with the person that you’re slacating right then you’re going to have to make a 911 call you’re going to have to talk to the cops you’re going to have to maybe recount the story to friends and family it’s easy to get tripped up by bad acting or overacting right okay that’s what a lot of our cases it’s like sex

 

Speaker 4 02:02

What? Oh, I see. Not us though. I see.

 

Speaker 2 02:10

Do I need to leave the room for a minute like you guys gotta work some shit out here like what is uh, anyway honey go

 

Speaker 3 02:14

Yeah, I was gonna say, you know, it’s like we play them on the show like we instantly judge the 911 call We’re constantly like nope. That’s that’s bullshit. They did it and everybody’s gonna hear this 911 call So I’m just saying, you know, if you’re gonna do all that planning anyway, the vacation the murder

 

Speaker 2 02:32

I see where you’re going with this. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt. An acting class.

 

Speaker 3 02:34

throw in a couple of acting lessons. And then I thought, I wonder if anyone has ever got caught or become a suspect because they took acting lessons right before a suspicious death. Like, man, this guy’s either innocent or he’s a really good actor.

 

Speaker 3 02:50

Actually, he just completed 12 -week intensive Juilliard course. He’s doing Shakespeare in the park.

 

Speaker 2 02:55

Okay, what scenes would you do if you were like I got to get really good at acting innocent Try to think of like what monologues or scenes you do

 

Speaker 3 03:02

I was wondering, like you should watch Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, maybe Psycho, Anthony Perkins kind of gets away with it, although he’s crazy so maybe he doesn’t really think he did it. What about that Ed Norton movie?

 

Speaker 3 03:11

The old one? Yes. Where he plays the… Presumed Innocent, I think. No, wait. That’s the Harrison Ford one. That was called Primal Fear. Yes. Primal Fear, yeah. Great one. Great one. Usual Suspects? Yep.

 

Speaker 3 03:23

A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas. Usual Suspects, I had that.

 

Speaker 2 03:26

good choices to learn in an acting class but could put you under suspicion if your spouse is murdered or gone missing soon thereafter.

 

Speaker 5 03:34

to help you so that you can get away with it.

 

Speaker 3 03:36

Yes, that’s what I’m saying. You can’t be too good and you can’t be too bad. It’s tough. Maybe there’s an acting school opportunity there. A side hustle. Yeah. All right, very excited for today’s case.

 

Speaker 3 03:45

I know you’ve been working feverishly on it. I haven’t seen my wife in like two weeks. That’s not true. So Kim, where will we be slaycating today? We will be.

 

Speaker 5 03:55

relocating in Ocean City, Maryland.

 

Speaker 3 04:04

Ocean City, Maryland, okay, not the first place I think of for a vacation, but I don’t know much about it. What is Ocean City, Maryland?

 

Speaker 2 04:12

It’s one of these local East Coast beach resorts, Jersey Shore -esque kind of place. Ocean City’s near the ocean? Shocking, yes. It is near the ocean. Gotcha. It’s one of these places like if you’re probably in a 100 mile, 200 mile radius, it’s a place you’d go for a weekend.

 

Speaker 2 04:27

Not an international resort destination, but very much a, you know, timeshares, condos. Sounds nice. Nice place to have a nice long vacation weekend. Yeah. Or a nice long slaycation weekend. Right. Well, that’s.

 

Speaker 3 04:42

That’s why we’re here.

 

Speaker 5 04:43

Yeah, what do you got Kim? Well, there’s many types of slaycation. I’ve discovered many different ways to slacate really Yeah, okay. How many how many are we gonna use today? Well, we’re gonna just talk about this particular Slaycation so it was Memorial Day weekend 2002 2002.

 

Speaker 5 05:03

Okay thousand two. Yes, Martha Margin Milsep crutchly known to her friends as genie Jean genie genie. Okay, and Joshua Edward Ford known as Josh to his friends Okay decided to take time out of their busy schedules Take advantage of the long weekend and kick off the start of summer in a resort beach town in Ocean City Maryland sounds good so far

 

Speaker 2 05:31

So far, right? The town they’re from is in Fairfax. It’s Fairfax, Virginia. How old are they?

 

Speaker 5 05:37

Relax, we’ll get to that. Oh, okay. Because that’s interesting. It is interesting. But 106 and 4. Well, anyway, so Jeannie is an insurance executive, and Josh is a successful mortgage broker, and they met at a holiday party in Boston in 1999.

 

Speaker 3 05:59

and insurance. Wow, that must be some party. They’re both Virgos.

 

Speaker 5 06:06

They are. They’re very Virgo.

 

Speaker 3 06:09

Virgo together to someone else’s as well Guilty as chair

 

Speaker 2 06:16

Yes.

 

Speaker 5 06:17

All right, you’re kind of people, yep. So the two were quite smitten with each other upon meeting. It seems Josh ignited Jeannie’s inner cougar, as the only thing that came between the two of them was the 19 -year age difference.

 

Speaker 3 06:31

19 year age difference almost to the day. Oh, yes. And OK, so she was on those. Oh, she was almost 20 years older. Yes. Than him. OK. Yes.

 

Speaker 2 06:40

She was 51 and he was 32 when they met it was a couple years earlier So yeah, she was probably 48 and he was 29. Okay, I think I’m doing the math, right? Mm -hmm

 

Speaker 5 06:52

And where could this be leading? So both of them were divorced. Josh was a dad and maintained a close relationship with his son, Zachary. From the first marriage? Yes. And Jeannie enjoyed a warm relationship with her stepdaughter, who called her mom.

 

Speaker 5 07:05

Clearly, though, this was a second chance at love for the two of them. And by all accounts, they loved and enjoyed one another. And so when Josh was offered a job opportunity in Fairfax, Virginia, Jeannie made that move with him.

 

Speaker 5 07:21

And together, they settled in a cozy, modest home in a suburb right outside Washington, D .C. They’d get to Ocean City, check in at the Atlantis condominium. That Friday, did some grocery shopping for the coming days and looked forward to the long, leisurely strolls, the mini golf, the sunning on the beach, all that good stuff that comes along with the beach resorts, vacation, getaway, or whatever.

 

Speaker 3 07:48

But they probably booked it as a vacation, right? They probably didn’t book it as a vacation. No, no.

 

Speaker 5 07:53

It was just some fun. That’s a cheaper package, by the way. Yes. Okay. So Saturday, May 22nd, 2002, weekend shenanigans were underway.

 

Speaker 3 08:03

May. Okay. So it’s earlier than the summer. So this isn’t really go in the water weather. Well, it’s the probably down in, I don’t know. All right. I’m just picking.

 

Speaker 2 08:11

What during the scene? It’s the one, I always get Labor Day and Memorial Day confused. Whichever one of those is first, it’s that weekend. Which is, historically it’s a barbecue weekend. People might go in the beach, even if it’s a little cold, they might go in the water.

 

Speaker 3 08:27

It’s the beginning of summer, basically. But there’s mini golf, like you said.

 

Speaker 5 08:30

Yeah, there’s mini golf, there’s in this resort time, lots of nighttime hijinks. So there’s a lot.

 

Speaker 4 08:36

town. Yes.

 

Speaker 3 08:38

Ocean City is known for the nighttime hijinks. Yes. Mm -hmm. Jim, define hijink. Name one hijink.

 

Speaker 4 08:47

Secrets, okay

 

Speaker 2 08:52

i just i hope there’s a bar notion city called hijinks uh… there should be

 

Speaker 5 08:58

There should there’s a bar. There is a bar called secrets, but smell

 

Speaker 2 09:02

spelled S -E -A -C -R -E -T -S. Very clever play on words, right? In case you forget that you’re near the water.

 

Speaker 3 09:13

Everything has to be named watery, oceany.

 

Speaker 5 09:16

No, it’s good. So Jeannie and Josh enjoyed the day. They stopped in at the Green Turtle, had some eats, drinks, enjoyed the Celtics game. I know how you love the Celtics. That is so not true.

 

Speaker 3 09:30

And this is the first day they’re there.

 

Speaker 5 09:33

yeah it’s like the you know the first day

 

Speaker 3 09:36

Okay, so they got there, they spent the night, then they, this is their first full day there. Okay.

 

Speaker 5 09:40

Right, right. Green turtle? Yes. And given that Ocean City has quite the nightlife, they have what has become known as the drunk bus. The drunk bus. The drunk bus. Yeah. Which makes its way on the strip, stopping at or near all the local watering holes.

 

Speaker 5 10:00

And to pick up our daughter. Leave her out of this. Okay. And she prefers pot, by the way. I think it’s more of a…

 

Speaker 3 10:09

That’s a good drunk bust for what I hear her Instagram say.

 

Speaker 5 10:14

Oh my god. Okay. After they have their drink and they’re watching the Celtic game, they go back to the condo. Wait, did they get on the drunk bus? Well, they’re going to get on the… Oh, that’s, okay.

 

Speaker 5 10:24

Yeah, after they’ve eaten, after they’ve watched the game. And she’s in her 50s. Yes.

 

Speaker 3 10:30

and she likes to drunk bus.

 

Speaker 4 10:32

Okay.

 

Speaker 5 10:35

We’ve been talking about this. Yeah, Jerry and I have been kind of upset like we’re

 

Speaker 2 10:39

obsessed with this like we are like what I’m in my 50s and I like going out but first of all like the age difference between her and Josh is

 

Speaker 5 10:49

I’m older than him. It’s like dog years sometimes.

 

Speaker 2 10:52

Right, and it’s like, was she keeping up with him? Was she really into this? Because the thing is, her life back in Fairfax is very buttoned up. She’s the supervisor for the mortgage. She’s an insurance, but she’s the supervisor, the director of the whole underwriting department at a pretty major insurance company office in Fairfax.

 

Speaker 2 11:14

She never misses meetings. Nope. She’s never late. She’s like, very reliable. Can I remember talking about, maybe it’s one of these just say yes to everything, weekends, I just need to blow off some steam, I’ll go on the drunk bus, let’s get messed up, let’s have fun.

 

Speaker 2 11:27

But yes, it’s interesting. Can I just say one more thing about this? Having grown up in South Florida, there is, in Miami, where there’s a lot of retirees, a lot of people even older would totally be down for the drunk bus, as long as it’s a drunk bus with other older people.

 

Speaker 2 11:46

There’s no age cutoff for wanting to go out and party and have fun.

 

Speaker 3 11:50

I could totally see my mother on a drunk bus.

 

Speaker 2 11:54

I’m just saying I’m really trying to picture that and I think I like it

 

Speaker 3 12:00

She just needs to get the first seat.

 

Speaker 4 12:03

I can’t get all the way back there. I can’t fit back there.

 

Speaker 2 12:07

She really sounds like that. That’s exactly how she sounds. Okay. Wow. Sorry, Mom.

 

Speaker 5 12:11

Oh my god, anyway, so they head back to the condo, freshen up, you know, and they’re going to get their party on. Josh is waiting for Jeannie and he would actually give his brother a call and they would have a conversation about the Celtics and all of that, say goodbye.

 

Speaker 5 12:28

And then Jeannie and Josh…

 

Speaker 3 12:30

Does the Celtics seem to play a big part in this? No. Okay.

 

Speaker 6 12:34

No, no, I mean.

 

Speaker 2 12:36

The brother is in Boston, right? Yes.

 

Speaker 4 12:38

because that’s where they’re from. Yeah. Okay. They’re from Boston.

 

Speaker 2 12:42

Originally. Yeah, the Fords, Josh, and Mark, his brother.

 

Speaker 3 12:47

He likes to fucking Patriots and the red socks and the take it easy. All right. All right

 

Speaker 2 12:51

This isn’t sport -cation.

 

Speaker 5 12:52

Right. So he checks in with his brother, they chat, and then they get ready to go. They get on the drunk bus, take their seats in front. And not long into the ride, there was a bit of a commotion with an inebriated couple going back and forth with the bus driver.

 

Speaker 3 13:09

Fighting on the drunk bus. I know it sounds crazy unheard of but so they’re fighting with the driver. You don’t want to fight

 

Speaker 5 13:16

They’re just going back and forth, you know, because apparently they had gotten on the bus didn’t realize that you needed the exact change. And the bus driver was like, you need exact change.

 

Speaker 2 13:26

Which by the way, I just want to make a side note here for the city of Ocean City, requiring exact change on the trust bus seems insane.

 

Speaker 3 13:35

Yeah, you’re lucky if you get anything. How about no vomit?

 

Speaker 2 13:38

Great how about here’s a whatever the whatever the money is just give it. Yeah, right. Yeah chart into my

 

Speaker 3 13:45

room or something, you know, like, yeah.

 

Speaker 2 13:47

That’s an excellent point. Or make the drunk bus free, right? Because it’s like a city thing. Well, it should be. But the exact change thing is blowing my mind every time.

 

Speaker 3 13:56

Buy a ticket first, and then it’s like unlimited past two.

 

Speaker 2 13:59

Where you buy a certain number of drinks at a bar and you get a free pass and the bars pay for it. Like I know we’re now getting into city planning stuff here, but yeah, the exact change required on drunk bus, bad idea.

 

Speaker 2 14:08

That’s a very bad idea. Change! Well, this was the early 2000s, but change still had it.

 

Speaker 3 14:17

It’s 67 cents, sir.

 

Speaker 5 14:21

Well, that’s what was going on.

 

Speaker 2 14:23

Okay, there’s a fight because this couple didn’t have the exact change

 

Speaker 5 14:29

into this drunk. They’re coming into it. And so witnessing the brouhaha.

 

Speaker 3 14:36

our E W.

 

Speaker 5 14:37

Right, Josh generously stood up and paid the couple’s bus fare.

 

Speaker 3 14:42

Okay.

 

Speaker 2 14:44

I have exact change, sir. He not only had exact change, he had exact change for himself, his girlfriend, and another couple. See, this is Virgo. That is so Virgo. This is why you want Virgo. Because Virgos can get drunk on the drunk bus and still have exact change, and that is why I’m a good guy.

 

Speaker 3 15:00

go out with that is that is shockingly accurate and true yeah all right I’ll give that I’m like thinking like is this drug couple a plant is they part of the scheme here you know I’m thinking of the perfect murder version

 

Speaker 5 15:12

Right. So anyway, so the couple, they thank Josh, they make their way on the bus, take their seats next to Jeannie and Josh. And in a gesture of thanks offered to buy them drinks, the young couple, Mary, introduce themselves as BJ and Erica.

 

Speaker 5 15:30

BJ and Erica. Okay. Yes. So they all make their way to Secrets. Secrets. S -E -C -R -E -T -S. Yes. Right. Yes. And this place is known as the hottest night spot on the strip. Known by them or by you?

 

Speaker 5 15:47

Right. Because we know how I am about the nightlife. I don’t know.

 

Speaker 3 15:52

I don’t know. Maybe that’s your secret.

 

Speaker 5 15:58

Well, we know, you know, they get there, interestingly enough, and this would have lost me immediately. There’s a long line right out the door and right down the block.

 

Speaker 3 16:08

It’s the hottest club in the.

 

Speaker 5 16:09

I’m just saying all right my 30 year old self would have been like nah

 

Speaker 2 16:15

But in your fifties, you’re like…

 

Speaker 3 16:19

And if you were 30, that means I was what, 12 or 13?

 

Speaker 2 16:23

Wow, is it is that is that real that’s how much of a difference there is an age now We were five years apart, right? I thought it was like a couple years

 

Speaker 3 16:32

Like she said, it’s dog year, so it’s 35 years apart.

 

Speaker 5 16:36

But yeah, I’m actually older than her. But anyway, they wait that hour and they get in wait an hour Yeah, okay. It was it was a long line and but they’re hanging out with the new couple. Right? Right.

 

Speaker 5 16:46

Right Well, I mean she’s sniffing Xanax and Not Not genie Erica, right she’s sniffing she snorts Anna. That’s like she snorts Anna. Right, right

 

Speaker 2 16:58

She has anxiety. Gotcha, gotcha. She’s developed, she’s come up with a new way to take Xanax. I was going to say, you’re supposed to snort it? You’ve had anxiety, Kim. I’ve never seen you snorting it.

 

Speaker 2 17:06

People do. It’s definitely an off -label use of the drug. Does she chop it up?

 

Speaker 5 17:11

She just I don’t know but she has a serious pension for snorting Xanax and fun detail had even gone to Chili or someplace and bought like 900 Xanax pills There’s enough

 

Speaker 2 17:30

She went to Chile to get… Yeah. Chile to get… Well, you can get… The sort of… You can only buy your prescriptions worth of Xanax in the States. There are countries where pharmaceuticals are not as highly regulated, so that’s the right way to put it.

 

Speaker 3 17:45

Plus, they have the snortable kind.

 

Speaker 7 17:48

Right. The Hargan women seem to have it all.

 

Speaker 8 17:50

From the outside looking in, we were blessed. My mom was amazing.

 

Speaker 7 17:55

But as detectives would soon learn, there was a lot going on inside the Hargan household.

 

Speaker 6 18:00

Ashley and I have been calling my mom and the house and Helen, no one’s answering.

 

Speaker 7 18:06

63 -year -old Pamela Hargan gunned down in her own home. Her youngest daughter Helen lay dead upstairs.

 

Speaker 9 18:12

Patrol, when they arrived, assumed or thought that there might have been a murder -suicide.

 

Speaker 7 18:18

but for the detectives on the scene.

 

Speaker 10 18:20

There were things about the scene itself that were concerning to us on day one.

 

Speaker 7 18:26

who would want to kill their mother and their little sister.

 

Speaker 10 18:30

There’s no boogeyman here. It is exactly who we think it is.

 

Speaker 7 18:34

I’m Peter Van Sant from 48 Hours. This is Blood is Thicker, the Hargen family killings. Listen to Blood is Thicker, the Hargen family killings, wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Speaker 11 18:50

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Speaker 11 19:46

Join us wherever you listen.

 

Speaker 5 19:49

So anyway, you know, B .J., he makes good on the promise of those drinks. And so they get into the club. Yeah. OK. Yeah. And they’re having fun. They’re dancing. They’re laughing. They’re talking. I mean, it’s like you meet a.

 

Speaker 5 20:01

Yeah, we’ve met couples. Yeah.

 

Speaker 3 20:03

and they’ve had no fun with us.

 

Speaker 2 20:06

Right well you should snort Xanax you’d be right. Yeah, it would what does that even do by the way does anyone know snorting Xanax? I honestly had never

 

Speaker 5 20:14

heard of that. Me either. But you’ve taken Senex. Yes, I have, but I’ve never snorted it.

 

Speaker 2 20:20

Well, because snorting anything puts it into your bloodstream a whole lot faster than digesting it. Whatever the effect, what does annex is anti -anxiety, right? Yeah. So does it just make you super relaxed?

 

Speaker 5 20:31

It takes the edge off. Okay, all right. ZX is an interesting, I want some. Why did you get so quiet? Because I want some ZX. Maybe I should be swimming. Okay, look.

 

Speaker 3 20:42

Look, I…

 

Speaker 2 20:42

Is his studio have snortable Xanax anywhere?

 

Speaker 3 20:47

before we came here, so I feel nice.

 

Speaker 2 20:50

Okay, so we’re in the club.

 

Speaker 5 20:52

We’re in the club, and the party continues. The music is loud. It’s hard to be heard, but that’s kind of the night light. Especially when you’re 70. There’s the strobe light. Sounds like my worst nightmare.

 

Speaker 5 21:04

Sounds like a nightmare to me, but they were having a good time. They were doing shots, and at one point, BJ remarks to the whole group how cool it was that his wife was able to get into the club with a .357 Magnum.

 

Speaker 5 21:21

So she managed to…

 

Speaker 2 21:22

She had it stuffed in her waistband like on top of her butt and security just didn’t notice it.

 

Speaker 5 21:29

Now let that be me, and I would be in jail, over.

 

Speaker 2 21:34

I would think most people would either have been caught with it or somehow she just

 

Speaker 3 21:39

for whatever reason. So the Xanax snorting girl, young girl. Yes, 24. 24 with a gun in secrets. Yes. How cool that is. Wait, what kind of gun?

 

Speaker 5 21:49

Was she carrying? A .357 Magnum. She was able to sneak that big -ass gun.

 

Speaker 4 21:55

That’s like a, that’s like a huge gun. That’s like Dirty Harry’s gun. Yeah. And she, she’s not a big girl. Like she’s, but those are like hard.

 

Speaker 3 22:03

shoot that’ll knock you across the room why is she and she snuck it in in a little bag she’s in her purse in her purse

 

Speaker 5 22:10

in her little…

 

Speaker 2 22:12

Oh, I thought she had it stuffed in her waistband, so she had it in her purse.

 

Speaker 5 22:16

a gun in his waist. He had it in the waist. Okay, got it.

 

Speaker 3 22:19

What’s his gun? A bazooka? What does he have?

 

Speaker 2 22:21

Do we know what he had? I think he had a Smith and Wesson. Is that a brand? She had a large gun. A gigantic gun. I think we can assume maybe that he probably had a gun at least as big as hers. And he gave it to her.

 

Speaker 2 22:35

Yeah, that was a gun.

 

Speaker 5 22:37

Right here, huh?

 

Speaker 3 22:38

How big is she is she little? No, she’s very petite. She’s right a 357 magna I mean my dad used to watch Dirty Harry and be like I love the movie But it’s so unrealistic that he can with one hand Accurately kill people and shoot bad guys with this 357 Magnum.

 

Speaker 3 22:52

He’s like it would blow you backwards through the window All right, so that was her

 

Speaker 5 22:57

It went with her wherever she went.

 

Speaker 3 22:59

So they’re like a regular Bonnie and Clyde. Yes.

 

Speaker 5 23:02

She would very proudly proclaim that. What do you mean? She would say, we’re like a Bonnie and Clyde. Oh. Another fun fact about this couple. They had reptiles as pets. I think it was a cobra. They had a couple of.

 

Speaker 2 23:16

They did have a Cobra. Yeah.

 

Speaker 5 23:18

and they named them Bonnie and Clyde.

 

Speaker 2 23:20

They had four, Bonnie and Clyde, Hitler and HIV. Oh, for the snakes, Hitler and HIV had me laughing out loud. I’m like, man, these people are messed up, but that’s funny. Yeah, that’s.

 

Speaker 3 23:37

What is what is the oh yeah, why a try

 

Speaker 2 23:40

It’s just such a fucked up thing to name a snake or anything yeah, I like that you’re not asking why Hitler

 

Speaker 3 23:49

skipped over Hitler well I mean if you’re picking people from history that suck

 

Speaker 5 23:54

Well, HIV sucks. Hitler was actually a hero of theirs, but… Oh. Oh, boy.

 

Speaker 2 24:00

Yeah. Wow. Okay. So Bonnie, so they have four snakes, Bonnie, Clyde, Hitler, and HIV. And did they tell that to the couple as well? Let’s assume not, because I think if you- While we’re sharing-

 

Speaker 5 24:14

They didn’t mention she did mention the Bonnie and Clyde because she actually had brought them on the vacation with the snakes. Yes

 

Speaker 3 24:23

But who’s home watching Hitler in HIV? Oh shit, somebody forgot to feed HIV! Now Hitler’s… Hitler’s mad.

 

Speaker 2 24:36

No, Hitler got HIV!

 

Speaker 4 24:39

Hahaha

 

Speaker 3 24:43

Jesus. Okay. All right. Uh. The worst.

 

Speaker 2 24:46

of how many other ways we can get canceled.

 

Speaker 4 24:50

I mean, no, right now.

 

Speaker 3 24:53

Oh my god, all right, I’m trying to guess who’s gonna get slake -hated here, so they’re still in the bar Right having fun playing Russian roulette the corner or what are they doing the guns are out the guns are guns are now

 

Speaker 2 25:07

made it known that they have guns, but they’re hanging out, they’re having fun, they’re doing shots, they’re having- Who wants another shot?

 

Speaker 5 25:11

Right, and that’s pretty much how it goes. So now the bar is getting ready to close, and in the spirit of keeping the party going, Erika and BJ invite Jeannie and Josh to come back to their place. They’re staying at the Rainbow Condominiums, which isn’t far from the Atlantis.

 

Speaker 5 25:28

Okay. So at first some fun and hot tub action. They actually had a hot tub in their unit, so they had invited them all to come back. Right.

 

Speaker 3 25:39

I’m so glad that you wouldn’t even have waited on the line because that is true. At some point, you just got to say no. At some point, you just got to say no.

 

Speaker 2 25:50

though you’re on vacation you’re in there like let’s have fun you’re drinking you know the only weird thing only weird thing well the only only weird thing we think that they know so far that they got in the club with guns however right that’s not necessarily such a big deal like we’re in New York City right so that is that would be like oh my god but like in lots of parts of the country it’s like I have a gun well having a gun is

 

Speaker 3 26:13

one thing though but bringing it out to a club or something or getting in yeah

 

Speaker 5 26:18

They usually I think also Jerry’s point too. I mean it’s just sort of the culture right it could be there

 

Speaker 3 26:25

Where’s BJ and Erica from?

 

Speaker 5 26:26

Well, I know she’s from, um, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Okay.

 

Speaker 2 26:30

I don’t know where BJ came from. Oh, we should mention one other detail that might help make it clear why they didn’t necessarily freak out about the guns is that BJ is a Navy SEAL. Or was formerly a Navy SEAL.

 

Speaker 5 26:43

So he’s former military. And incidentally, Josh also is former military. So these are… And it was interesting because in the book that I read about this case, Accrual Death. What? Accrual Death.

 

Speaker 2 26:57

Well, actually, it’s because Josh is an accountant. It’s a cruel death. Nothing. There was…

 

Speaker 5 27:05

Jeanie had indicated some questioning Eric about the gun and seemed to have some concern and apparently Josh kind of poo -pooed it. Like, yeah, it’s not that.

 

Speaker 2 27:15

Right, cause that’s the thing, like he’s former military, BJ’s military, so now you got two macho, former military guys, it’s like, yeah, guns are a thing, so it doesn’t, but I can see my mom being like,

 

Speaker 3 27:24

That is such a little girl needs such a big gun.

 

Speaker 2 27:27

Right. It was probably something that she could say that would explain, oh, I have an ex who’s stalking me or something, who knows? But the guns were not like the red flag that they might have been to you because of the culture we live in.

 

Speaker 2 27:39

Were they loaded? I guess they were. Don’t know. I don’t know if the guns were loaded. They were. Yeah, I would hope they weren’t. But the people were. Who knows? Point being, these guys were bonding and it wasn’t like, oh, my God, there’s a gun like, oh, yeah, you know, you have a gun.

 

Speaker 2 27:56

OK, cool.

 

Speaker 5 27:57

I mean, it’s interesting, too, because reportedly, Erica had remarked that being around military people, guns were not that unusual.

 

Speaker 3 28:06

right i don’t even have a problem with the guns i’m just like you’re hanging out with this weird couple or this couple you’ve just met they’re snorting xanax they’re drinking a lot they’ve got guns they seem kind of crazy i don’t know if they brought up their snake named hitler or whatever but they’re calling themselves bonnie and clide they invite you back to their place to get in their hot tub yeah

 

Speaker 2 28:26

Which, by the way, what you just described for a lot of people sounds like the perfect Friday night in Ocean City, Maryland. Right. Some little bit of drugs, little bit of a whiff of danger, a hot tub, some shots.

 

Speaker 2 28:37

Yeah, that’s true.

 

Speaker 3 28:38

I had some crab cakes and I’m in. Right.

 

Speaker 4 28:40

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

 

Speaker 3 28:46

from the old Bay seasoning.

 

Speaker 5 28:47

Let’s do it. Right. Well, anyway, so the plan was that the foursome was reportedly seen leaving together. The plan was that they would get on the drunk bus and Jeannie and Josh would get their bathing suits.

 

Speaker 5 28:58

Josh would bring some weed that he had. He apparently had the good stuff. Right. They would walk the short distance from the Atlantis to the Rainbow Condominiums. OK. And they didn’t have exact change.

 

Speaker 5 29:08

And they would commence to fun and debauchery. OK. That was their party. So what happened? So it’s Tuesday, May 28th.

 

Speaker 3 29:18

It’s the next day. We just jumped ahead of there. We’re jumping.

 

Speaker 2 29:20

a couple of days.

 

Speaker 3 29:21

Oh, okay. Yeah.

 

Speaker 2 29:23

gotcha. Okay, so that’s the last that’s the party night. That’s this. I think it’s Saturday night. Right. And

 

Speaker 5 29:28

And that was the last time the couples were together. They left together. The weekend has happened. People have returned to their homes too soon.

 

Speaker 2 29:37

These people have gone back to work.

 

Speaker 3 29:39

Not all the people it sounds like okay, so what’s going on who’s left HIV?

 

Speaker 5 30:02

for the winter. So Tuesday, May 28th, 2002, everybody’s pretty much returned back to their lives, back to work, but Jeannie had not shown up for work and had missed a meeting.

 

Speaker 2 30:15

Which is not like her like she just doesn’t miss meetings

 

Speaker 5 30:18

This was an immediate red flag for her colleagues. They were alarmed. And when they realized that her boyfriend, too, had not returned, they immediately called the Fairfax police and filed a missing person report.

 

Speaker 3 30:36

So Jeannie’s not coming to work and Josh is also correct right now that work, okay?

 

Speaker 5 30:41

Right. Up until that point, Jeanie had never missed a meeting, so we know something is really wrong. The Fairfax Police reaches out to Ocean City Police, gives them all the information, and we have Detective Brinnell, who would go to the Atlantis, where they were last known.

 

Speaker 5 31:02

First thing he notices is her car. Her car is still in the Atlantis? Yeah, Jeanie’s car is there. Have they checked out? Nope. Okay. They hadn’t checked out.

 

Speaker 3 31:11

supposed to leave what Monday or no that’s a three day? No.

 

Speaker 5 31:14

They were supposed to leave Monday.

 

Speaker 3 31:15

Okay, so cars there they haven’t checked out, right?

 

Speaker 5 31:18

And her maroon Acura with the license plate. No, don’t give the license. It’s okay. The license plate, Genie C, custom. Oh, it was a custom? It wasn’t just a… No, she wasn’t just a… But it was still in the lot and the detective had noted that it had not looked like it had been driven for a couple days.

 

Speaker 5 31:41

Okay. I don’t know how you know that. Well, you can kind of…

 

Speaker 2 31:44

to tell. You can check for…

 

Speaker 5 31:46

Dust or that’s exactly you check for dust, you know, there was sediment the leaves I mean the car hadn’t been driven

 

Speaker 3 31:54

Okay.

 

Speaker 2 31:55

Okay, I got you right. I don’t know why I said dust. I meant like leaves and dirt. Oh look, this is a dusty car. I’ve dusted for movement.

 

Speaker 4 32:06

right right I found none and they check

 

Speaker 2 32:10

the

 

Speaker 3 32:10

window that they’d rented. Well, I was going to say, the hotel has to continue operating, so their room was all their shit in their room. Their room was empty.

 

Speaker 5 32:18

No, I mean in fact their room Incidentally had everything left the way that it was. It was as if Jeanie and Josh just vanished

 

Speaker 3 32:27

Right, but then doesn’t the hotel have to turn over like isn’t there a maid or somebody knocking on the door like

 

Speaker 2 32:32

It’s a condo, so it’s like a timeshare condo where you can also run by the weekend. So they could stay, I don’t know if the condo was like wondering, you know, where these people were, why they hadn’t checked out, but nobody had raised a red flag from that end.

 

Speaker 5 32:45

Yeah, and so everything was left as it was when Jeannie and Josh were there.

 

Speaker 2 32:50

end it was so undisturbed there was credit cards there the clothes and everything no signs at all of any kind of struggle so the Ocean City police detective at that point was like okay so this is the missing persons right we don’t have evidence of any crime necessarily it’s been her purse was

 

Speaker 5 33:09

was there, a half smoked cigar, a roach.

 

Speaker 2 33:13

I mean, it just looked like they were missing, basically.

 

Speaker 5 33:17

or that they were out and it looked like they could come back. Thanks for.

 

Speaker 3 33:20

holding your hand up to your mouth like you were smoking weed when you said roach honey. Well I just want to…

 

Speaker 5 33:26

That’s very visual.

 

Speaker 1 33:29

Hi, I’m Matt Harris. Seton Tucker and I post the podcast Impact of Influence, which for two years covered in depth, Alec Murdoch, who was eventually convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul.

 

Speaker 1 33:42

That story continues to evolve and we will cover that. Plus, we will tell you stories of other true crime events that have happened in the South. Please join us on Impact of Influence. And give us a follow on the Impact of Influence Facebook page.

 

Speaker 13 33:58

Hello, this is Dr. Grande, the host of True Crime Psychology and Personality. On my podcast, I explore and explain the pathology behind some of the most horrendous crimes and those who commit them. We discuss topics like narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy, and antisocial personality disorder from a scientifically informed perspective.

 

Speaker 13 34:20

What is a narcissist? How do you spot a sociopath? What science can you look for to protect yourself from these dangerous personalities? It’s not just about the stories, but also the science and psychology behind them.

 

Speaker 13 34:33

So, if you’re interested in true crime or mental health, I’d encourage you to give my show a listen wherever you get podcasts.

 

Speaker 5 34:41

you’re welcome I aim to please and the other thing they noted too were four wine glasses four yeah

 

Speaker 2 34:49

Okay, there was one tip that had come in because the Fairfax Police down in Virginia had put out a missing persons bulletin And one tip had come in someone said that there was two bodies that were buried You could see a mound where two bodies were buried in the sand right in front of the Atlantis hotel where they’d been staying Which the police checked it turned out to be completely false.

 

Speaker 2 35:09

There was no you know

 

Speaker 3 35:11

Oh, that’s a random…

 

Speaker 2 35:13

Well, you know, people get creative. They hear, you know, two people are missing. Oh, I see, I see. They saw it was probably like, you know, those mounds when people do those mounds or they put themselves under sand.

 

Speaker 2 35:23

It was something like that. Right. But someone was like, oh, that’s where the bodies are under these mounds. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Police were able to very quickly determine that, in fact, that was not the case.

 

Speaker 3 35:36

There’s a big two bodies buried and a child sitting there with a little shovel and pail

 

Speaker 2 35:41

It was him. It was that little six -year -old did it. So, you know, a lot of tips started pouring in. People saying where they’d seen them, you know, some were valid, some were just total dead ends.

 

Speaker 3 35:52

Now, wait, when they left Secrets, they did get back on a drunk bus.

 

Speaker 5 35:56

They got back on a drunk bus and.

 

Speaker 3 36:00

off at some point, near that rainbow hotel or whatever it was.

 

Speaker 2 36:04

And no one from Josh and Jeannie’s hotel says nobody there saw them after Friday night Right, but we know that Josh called his brother right on Saturday, right? Oh, so Timeline, you know, we know they’re around we know that they went out with these folks on Saturday night at this point They’ve just gone missing

 

Speaker 3 36:23

But the trail goes cold at like late Saturday, or Sunday morning, early Sunday morning. After secrets closed. Right.

 

Speaker 2 36:29

to that. After Secrets close, they go back to B .J. and Eric, because… Well, that was a plan, right? That’s what we think happened, right? So they’re in this penthouse and then that’s it. No further…

 

Speaker 3 36:40

But we know for a fact that they got to that penthouse. Do we know? Do you know? We don’t. You might. What is knowing? Right. Oh, okay. All right, so let’s continue from the other side of it.

 

Speaker 5 36:53

Well, at this point now, the detective immediately had a sinking feeling that something was off. He would say that something just didn’t feel right. Same here with me, and I’m not even a detective.

 

Speaker 3 37:05

I’m starting to feel it too.

 

Speaker 5 37:06

And, you know, he got flyers out and started questioning people, went to the green turtle, saw surveillance footage of them, so he knew that they were there and they were around, found receipts in the condo.

 

Speaker 2 37:23

just remind me were they able to piece from the surveillance video that they had gone to bj and erica’s place i don’t think they had right no they were only able to piece together some of the bars they visited right on the on the ocean city maryland strip before secrets

 

Speaker 3 37:39

Including secrets. Why are you guys being so coy? Because you’re like looking at me like suspiciously. I didn’t do it. I wasn’t there. I can prove it.

 

Speaker 2 37:50

To recap, Josh and Jeannie, who live in Fairfax, have gone to Ocean City, Maryland for a fun weekend. They have

 

Speaker 5 37:59

nighttime hijinks

 

Speaker 2 38:00

nighttime high drinks, right? They’ve befriended a couple on the drunk bus who they helped pay for their fare. This couple returned the favor by buying them drinks at the- At Secrets, we learned that both BJ and Erika have guns on them and somehow got in.

 

Speaker 2 38:15

Guns, drugs, and Hitler.

 

Speaker 3 38:17

Right?

 

Speaker 5 38:18

B .J. was very impressed that his wife was able to get in packing heat.

 

Speaker 2 38:22

packing heat, right? Josh is former military, BJ’s former military, so the guys are like, okay, yeah, guns, cool, great. Doing shots, the bar closes, BJ and Erika invite Jeannie and Josh back to their penthouse to keep the party going.

 

Speaker 2 38:39

Right. Hot tub.

 

Speaker 3 38:41

All right Agatha Christie, I get it. There’s all the pieces are there who done it and now

 

Speaker 2 38:48

Josh and Jeannie are missing. Right, I think that’s where we should end. Yes.

 

Speaker 4 38:56

Oh. Yes. Oh. I think. I see. It’s a.

 

Speaker 3 39:01

two -part mystery ding ding wow you guys yeah all right all right we’ll see you on the next one when we find out what happens I’m not gonna be able to sleep until I

 

Speaker 2 39:20

All right. We sprung that on you and I think it’s, uh, it’s really good. Excellent. Well done. Two parter. All right.

 

Speaker 3 39:27

We’ll see you on the next one. Yeah.

 

Speaker 7 39:28

Toodaloo! The Hargan women seem to have it all.

 

Speaker 8 39:32

From the outside looking in, we were blessed. My mom was amazing.

 

Speaker 7 39:36

But as detectives would soon learn, there was a lot going on inside the Hargan household.

 

Speaker 6 39:41

Ashley and I have been calling my mom and the house and Helen, no one’s answering.

 

Speaker 7 39:47

63 -year -old Pamela Hargan gunned down in her own home. Her youngest daughter Helen lay dead upstairs.

 

Speaker 9 39:54

Patrol, when they arrived, assumed or thought that there might have been a murder suicide.

 

Speaker 7 40:00

but for the detectives on the scene.

 

Speaker 10 40:02

There were things about the scene itself that were concerning to us on day one.

 

Speaker 7 40:08

Who would want to kill their mother and their little sister?

 

Speaker 10 40:11

It is exactly who we think it is.

 

Speaker 7 40:16

I’m Peter Van Sant from 48 Hours. This is Blood is Thicker, the Hargen family killings. Listen to Blood is Thicker, the Hargen family killings, wherever you get your podcasts.