The Shocking Florida Machete Murder

[Music] this week on BuzzFeed absolved we take a look into the Florida machete murder about Thalia pond South Winsley in our continuing exploration into why Florida is the way that it is it is a unique place with some funny stories coming out of it they have the magical world of Harry Potter or the is it the Wizarding World what about Miami Beach baby yeah sure Miami Beach never been yeah you don't seem like a Miami Beach type anyways we're here to talk about a machete murder and also we have talked about Florida in the past we investigated that lady who exploded in her living room I loved that lady you did I mean I didn't know it was the size of a tiny little teaspoon or a tea cup anyways let's get into it born into a life of privilege Adelie upon sale Linsley was a former Broadway actress model inventor real estate agent and author she was according to her detractors in the Orlando Sentinel a sharp tongued aggressive woman who quote would not have won any popularity contests end quote indeed in 1970 at Bally I ran for Florida Legislature and lost I feel like a mark of true success is when you have detractors that's a wonderful thing like when you get haters oh yeah that's like a the old way to say that yeah yeah yeah I would love some haters yeah I'd love some haters too why don't you take a long walk down a short pier I like it well that's too general and too hypothetical I like what he gets pointed like oh I hate his stupid beady eyes rooster rooster look at that a little surf wave on his head I'm gonna go I'm gonna get my little boogie board and surf that in the morning in 1973 Adalia married James Linsley a real estate agent and the former mayor of st. Augustine Florida where italia' lived at the time while they were married in September by the next January the two still lived in separate homes Elia was trying to sell the house she was living in and didn't want to leave it unoccupied before moving to her new husband's home she never got the opportunity now it is funny that they are both real estate agents and they cannot sell their house you know you know maybe they're just not that good at their jobs or maybe just maybe no one wants to live in Florida I'm just imagining a bunch of people going do you you need a buy a house here's like I'm a real estate agent - do you want to buy a house here and that's just a big feedback loop I see whatever I ask your real estate agent selling real estate to other real estate I know you're ripping me off but I already have asked on January 23rd 1974 between 6:00 and 6:15 p.m. the 56 year old Athaliah went outside to walk her pet blue jay Clementine she's taking her bird for a walk I loved that I had a wonderful little bird I understand we all know you kept your bird in a freezer for two years the ground was hard we couldn't bury him yet for two years no it wasn't two years it was just over the harsh Chicago winter when the ground thawed we buried him in the garden we all know you ate that bird we all know ate a parrot you did date a parrot I loved him I'm done talking about my parrot not entertaining with this on her porch she encountered a man wielding a machete who proceeded to hack her to death by the time police arrived athelia had been nearly decapitated police chief Virgil Stewart said quote she was dead when we got there she had been badly butchered her head was almost cut off and quote clementine the blue jay was never seen again do you think this person maybe was clementines original owner and just wanted to the bird back I did not consider that possibility it's actually not even in my theories well it wouldn't be the first time you've glossed over things well I do think it's a bit of a jump to say hey that's my parrot I think your head doesn't look good on your shoulders anymore so we know you're not one to jump to conclusions I don't do haughty you use only if I have some facts behind a big boy take away a neighbor 19-year old lock McCormick said he could hear a Dahlia screams from his house when he went to check on Italia he discovered her butchered body he told police he saw a 40 to 60 year old man a white shirt and dark pants walking away from the house a witness reported that there was blood in the grass quote leading all around the south side of the house and quote at one point a police officer ordered the ambulance attendants to hose down the blood that fly in the face of like crime scene investigation this hose everything maybe let's get this evidence out of here all right now I could think clearly the sheriff offered a $500 reward to anyone with information on the case On February 17th 1974 a County mechanic named Dewey Lee said he'd searched the marshes one mile from Linz Lee's home and discovered a machete and a package containing a bloodied white shirt dark pants a watch and a pair of shoes after a Thalia's death Frances Bemis a 70 year old retired department store public relations exec and fashion consultant told her friends that she knew something about the murder Bemis who was reportedly a friend of Italia's was even said to have been collaborating with a writer on a book about Italia after her death she did not seem afraid when Italia turned up slain telling the st. Augustine record quote I think st. Augustine is the safest place I have ever lived I go out walking at night and will continue to do so I went out walking the same night that the murder took place end quote I don't know what I'd make of that if you if this grisly murder had occurred and will and a woman just proudly proclaimed like well I'm not afraid maybe if she knew her well it's her way of saying like well she must have been into something dirty baby that kind of stuff doesn't happen around here and let me show ya I'm gonna go on a walk right now yeah Frances indeed continued to go walking at night including on November 3rd 1974 a little over nine months after Italia was murdered the next day not far from where Italia was murdered a man walking his dog found Frances dead in a vacant lot oh no what that's unfortunately the old picture app on Frances Bemis oh oh you know she died doing what she loved she did died doing what she loved and look if you're an old lady and this killer has already killed an old lady with something as simple as a machete this is not the zodiac it's not someone who's you know pulling a lot of strings and putting a lot of production design into their work it's just walking up to some with a machete yeah on the flip side of that - like do you won't challenge them who are you also like making yourself a big man out to be yeah like ye oh you murdered an old lady with a machete that's great Wow you must be really dangerous man it's not like he murdered Macho Man Randy Savage out there it's a it's an old lady yeah so uh good for him I guess she had apparently been clobbered repeatedly with a stone block she was semi-nude with most of her clothes having been ripped off though an autopsy report found no indication of rape an account by the New York Daily News noted that her body had been burned as though a killer had tried to destroy the corpse another thing about this one is the the attempt to destroy the evidence destroy the body by burning it yeah and then him going didn't work right so just we could just leave I guess I'll just be evidence well we already know what they do what evidence hose off police chief Virgil Stewart did not believe there was a connection between Francis and Natalia's murders at the time with two women violently dead in st. Augustine Florida in 1974 it's time to dive into the theories the first theory is that Italia's husband james Linsley was responsible for her murder James was an easygoing real-estate agent who had served two terms as mayor of st. Augustine though they lived in separate homes James said they did not have marital problems Adalia however had sent letters to her sister showing them were having issues quote Jimmy is a completely a complete liar end quote she wrote in one letter she also said she changed the locks of her house there was also gossip among community members that the crime scene was hosed down too heck James's involvement according to Elizabeth Randall author of a book detailing Italia's murder James complained about how many rumors flew around the town Florida seems like a gossipy state yeah Oh what else he gonna do there you're trapped by swamp and Gators yeah you're essentially just left to your own devices yeah why'd you just spread some funny rumors whisper storm baby maybe rumors that are rumors like you eating that bird if you don't stop this bit I'm gonna you're gonna cut my head off with a machete I didn't say that in testimony at a dahlias murder trial though interestingly not a trial prosecuting James more on that in a bit James told the jury that he owned a machete resembling the one used to kill his wife he usually kept it in the trunk of his car using it to hack at undergrowth while looking at properties for his real estate job after at dahlias murder he turned the machete over to police at that time it was common for residents in the county to own one or two machetes used to fight back against the Florida fauna at the trial James was shown the machete that was used on his wife James could not confirm whether it was his telling the judge quote all machetes look alike to me end quote I think it's important to say that because I imagine people who are watching this they were imagining Jason Voorhees murdering this lady yeah but in reality everyone had a machete so it could have been Jim go to church on Sunday the priest to stand up there with machete he's using it as a pointer yeah using it they're using it throwing holy water they're using it to point out items on PowerPoint presentations everyone has a machete that makes sense according to Randall's book there was a gap of around 15 to 25 minutes in James's palaboy it supposedly occurred between the time James drove home from the grocery store where he had been shopping with a Dahlia and the time he drove back to his own home Randall posits that James had enough time to drive to Italia's house during that period unfortunate that if you just have like a 20 minute gap in your schedule where no one's that sees you suddenly you're open to being a murderer yeah that is true I usually takes me about 20 minutes to cook my dinner usually and because of that I'm a murder you're a murderer the second theory is Italia's neighbor allen Stanford murdered her in the culmination of a months long feud according to the New York Daily News Italia loved animals and took many in including noisy dogs and even at one point a goat the noise from these critters often disgruntled her neighbors according to author Elizabeth Randall both of Italia's neighbors the Stanford's and the McCormick's filed public complains about the noise in 1972 resulting in a $50 fine for disturbing the peace randall then describes an escalating neighborly feud in which italia outraged the Stanford's by cutting back their trees that extended over her property line according to Randle Italia also planted bamboo across a city easement at the corner of the Stanford driveway which the Stanford's had the city removed at the time Stanford was the manager of st. Johns County of which st. Augustine is the county seat Italia had apparently suggested to the County Commission that Stanford wasn't qualified for his job appearing at least four times before the Commission to complain about him that's a strained relationship that is yeah they don't want to be that way to your neighbors yeah you don't want to have a little a petting zoo in your house the thing about cutting down their tree her property that's fine so you would do that legally you're allowed to manage theirs hangovers you can lop those I did have a neighbor who had an overhang of a lime tree it was great because I could go pick a little lime did you ever think about killing your neighbor when he didn't give me limes yeah oh okay all right Dahlia would claim that Stanford had neglected his duties of maintaining and building roads but her complaints also have urged into the personal Randle describes a commission meeting were at Dahlia publicly accused Stanford of putting sugar in her Cadillacs gas tank more salient Lee she also said on October 9th 1974 that Stanford threatened her saying quote that man threatened to my life he threatened to kill me end quote sure he seems fishy but it also seems incredibly risky to murder your neighbor especially after all of this has been public she has in public times complained that he's not good at his job yeah every human is capable of murder if you push them enough I just don't know if this is enough of a push ok it's true is that so yeah I can I bet you you would murder me if I pushed you enough yeah probably according to Randall mere hours before a valley is murder Stanford had been visited by the Florida Department of professional and occupational regulations at a dahlias request Randall says they were investigating to see whether Stanford was in violation of Florida state statutes that's that's a little fuel to the fire there I don't know if it's enough to push him over the edge it's certainly not good it's not good it doesn't look great what I still wonder but then when people start showing up to evaluate you that is true you might you might lose it I guess you can't really like tattle on her she's doing this make her stop yeah Wenlock McCormick first heard a belly ax screams he looked to her home and told his grandmother quote mr. Stanford is hitting miss ponds all end quote which was at dahlias maiden name McCormick later explained that he'd assumed it was Stanford based on his clothing and the fact that the man was walking back towards Stanford's house but he didn't see the man's face or really know if it was him the police also noted a blood trail that cut across her driveway to a concrete wall that demarcated the divide between her property and Stanford's well that's all not looking great that doesn't look good okay that's a little bit more than hearsay at that point yeah actually this makes me wonder let's say you want to murder someone would it make sense to study them for a long time you know see who's in their life and then sort of try to disguise yourself or make it look like you're a different acquaintance of theirs so if I want this lady dead and I'm she's got a feud going on with her at the Stanford right over there he tends to wear these kind of things I'll put those on I'll just I'll put those on dress up like him Wacha thwack run through his yard yeah just roll around in the grass yeah his front lawn that blood all around there of course they're gonna hose it off but it is Florida so you know they're gonna make sure that Bloods really in the grass yeah yeah yeah it's close to a perfect crime maybe but it's certainly giving you an edge as a murderer that is true the sheriff took McCormack to a hypnotist in the hopes of unlocking further memories but the results were inconclusive that sounds about par for the course for investigative methods in Florida what do we got how's the evidence looking well we hosed it all down okay what do you want next a hypnotist bring me a metronome recall Dewey Lee had discovered a package of evidence including a bloody shirt and a watch while the shirt had been sitting in salt water and mud for too long to determine conclusively if the blood on the shirt was a Dalia's blood type a forensic expert was able to identify a laundry mark a Stanford's name ultimately however it was decided that mark was too faint and garbled to be conclusive it just seems like this guy murdered it really does who me is it maybe the fact that the name on the laundry that was found that was bloodied it was his is that is that what it is I just know none of my laundry's laying out there one I don't have my name on my lawn yeah what is it things were different I don't know or he's Andy from Toy Story does name on everything and two I don't think any articles of my clothing are covered in blood no matter what crime comes up Shane has no bloody clothing and I don't not even a nosebleed I was in a church once it happened in a church wall I don't go to church I was just with one of my friends and he was like he won't go to church and I was like all right man I was like 9 so you're telling me at 9 years old you don't go to church the first time you crossed the threshold into holy ground what expels from your nostrils yeah they ran out of tissues mopping that up it was wild that sounds wild more damning for Stanford was the watch which a jeweler identified as Stanford's Stanford claimed that after the murder he had discovered his watch was missing Stanford was indicted for the murder his friends and fellow church members raised $20,000 for his bail and an estimated two hundred and fifty thousand dollar Defense Fund which would have the same buying power of more than 1.3 million dollars today as a quick sidenote at the time of francis be mrs. murder stanford was out on bail with the money raised by his friends stanford mounted a formidable defense Stanford's defense posited that sheriff Dudley Garrett Dewey Lee and natalia's husband James Linsley had all worked together to frame Stanford quote isn't it strange that all the deputies and trained police officers didn't know what to look for or where to look for it and without stopping Lee went right to the spot walked up to the bank and there it was I submit to you that Dewey Lee put it out there that morning end quote the defense posited Dewey Lee as a scammer while he was on the stand a defense attorney asked Dewey quote isn't it a fact that you were looking for a spot where nobody could see you put that stuff in the swamp end quote it does seem like they're desperately grasping at straws yeah because if you were trying to frame someone you would want it to look that yeah I mean you'd go overboard you probably you'd probably try a little too hard to make it a little too obvious looking this is confusing I got a feeling it's gonna end up unsolved we'll see key to the defense was the testimony of one Adele McLaughlin a data processing clerk and neighbor who was riding her bike past at dahlias home at the time Adele testified that she had seen Dewey in a dahlias yard less than two hours before the murder took place after two and a half hours of deliberation On February 3rd 1975 the jury declared Stanford innocent afterward sheriff garrett told reporters quote yes I think Stanford did it I signed the complaint against him and I don't concur with the verdict and quote there is something weird to be said about a town believing so much that this man did not do it they literally raised 250,000 dollars and only deliberated in the jury for two and a half hours before saying yeah he didn't do it if I murdered someone in the entire town was like no he didn't how do you like this is this is this rule he earned enough goodwill tickets yeah to cash it in for that card like I've been a great guy my entire life and then you get that tenth punch and it's like all right here's your freezer Shetty is your machete f-1 murdering you get a free one in 1974 in a span of less than 10 months two women were violently murdered by hand in the same Florida community the person responsible for either or even both deaths is a mystery could it have been a disgruntled husband a fed-up neighbor a scheming mechanic or someone else entirely the answer remains unsolved I think it was the neighbor look I'm a simple man I see a trail of blood going to someone's house even if they didn't do it come on you're going to jail I think it might have been a random person all right it just seems too obvious okay there's a paper trail of their feud why the hell would he be that dumb rage you know lust rage rage just just just building up bursting out well I've never really got on that angry I don't really have that capacity it's building its building inside you everyone sees it that's great oh man I can't wait for Krakatoa then I'll shudder I hope no one's in the way [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 10,538,821

Keywords: BuzzFeed, Buzzfeed unsolved, SffZ, buzzfeed ryan, buzzfeed shane, buzzfeed unsolved network, case, cold case, cold-case, creepy, crime, criminal, detective, detectives, eerie, florida crime, florida murder, haunted, investigate, investigation, investigative, machete, mystery, ryan begara, scary, shane madej, spooky, strange, theories, theory, true crime, unexplained, unsolved, unsolved mystery, weird

Id: Bh9lIfocRMk

Length: 21min 4sec (1264 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2019