August 17, 2023 • 80 mins
On today’s episode, Karen tells the heroic story of Charity Hospital during Hurricane Katrina and Georgia covers Dell Burke and the Yellow Hotel brothel.
While recording during a visit to Home Jim, Karen experienced some Zoom-related audio issues. Things will be back to normal next week.
For our sources and show notes, visit www.myfavoritemurder.com/episodes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hell, hello, who we have more exciting news from the
world of exactly right.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yes, we are thrilled to finally tell you about our
new limited true crime series, Infamous International The Pink Panther Story.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is a true story of the world's most infamous
jewel thieves.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
So in the early two thousands, the Pink Panthers planned
and executed a series of theatrical smash and grab heists
in cities like Dubai, London and Monaco.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
They targeted high end jewelry stores, making international headlines and
most wanted lists.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Every Thursday, host and former BBC correspondent Natalia Ontalava interviews journalists, experts,
and eyewitnesses to tell the spine chilling story of the
shadowy crime syndicate.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So stay tuned after this episode of My Favorite Murder
to hear the trailer for Infamous International The Pink Panther Story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And then head to the Infamous International feed and click
follows so you don't miss the two episode premiere on Thursday,
September fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And if you like the trailer, remember you can support
our newest show by leaving a review and don't forget
to click follow.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And one more thing you can listen early on Amazon
Music or early an ad for you by subscribing to
Wondery Plus and the Wondery app.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Goodbye, lass.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Hell and welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So my favorite Murder.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
That's grgel Hart Stark. That's Karen Kilgarriff, And we're heard
a podcast at you, all over.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
You, at you, upon you, around you, whatever area you
need it to be in, we'll put it. It's like
a massage, but it's us yelling at you about things.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's a massage for the little horn in your ear?
What is it a hammer in your ear?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
No, it's going through my ear horn. And I'm from
mill and it feels in my ear horn that it's familiar.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Ear horn is what comes out of it for an
old man's ear in Victorian English. And inside your ear
there's a bone shaped like I think it's a hammer.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Okay, ear murderinos, let us snow we're talking. Let us
know what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
NT Doctor renos Ooh love any kind of guidance, I
bet there's plenty.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I bet you're right. Heat And that's our show for today.
Nothing goodbye.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It's called wondering, wondering.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Wondering about shit. We have no idea about let's see
what's going on is did you hear in the news
that these people were searching a Florida lake for like
for a cold case.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Guess how many cars sunken cars they found in that
lake while looking for one cold case? God guess four
thirty thirty thirty cars.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It wasn't a flooded CarMax. What was happening.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I think it's like it was like a dumping ground
in Florida for the drug mafia. You know what I mean? Oh,
Miami Vice from the TV show Miami Vice. Uh, and
they found thirty fucking cars, man like that is. But
so far they haven't found anybody. So I think they're
(03:24):
just like stolen cars.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Leave it at the airport. Yeah, I mean, why pollute
our waterways truly anymore than you have to.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Beautiful Florida waterways? Can we please leave them alone?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I bet that things will come out of that, because
it's like, well, then they'll look up those ven numbers
and be like, that's where that car was, which means
this person never made it to blank. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So far, they're only like stolen vehicles though they're not like, oh,
none of them have any missing persons ties yet so
it's just nefarious.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Your missing person cold cases do this to me where
I'm like, now we need to live this up to why.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I means, Yeah, normally I would be definitive about the
same way I am about air canowns.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Just a straight up expert.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
That's gonna idea.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'm in Petaluma. I'm hanging out with my dad, quality
time with home gym, quality stuff. We watch a lot
of sports on television, and then I of course kind
of check out and just start looking at my phone
and watching TikTok, and then he goes, what are you
doing over there? Where I'm like, oh, so I have
(04:34):
to watch You're saying I have to watch.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
He's like, why aren't you paying attention to this?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You have to watch this golf with me. We're just
like that's literally like why don't we watch a live
cam of a park because it's very similar excitement, but
probably more exciting. I think.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I think that's like a sports person thing, you know,
like I have some work to do on a computer,
ourselves some on the couch, and fents will put on
like wrestling, and it's like we're on separate planes. Now,
Like you're doing your thing and I'm doing my thing. However,
he does start to go like, oh that guy did that,
like start telling me stories about that guy you know
on the wrestler, and I'm like, you want me to
watch this with you, and so I will. I I'll
(05:12):
watch it with you. But like I thought we were,
is that.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
When you pick up your laptop and you throw it
down on the couch.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I've smashed so many laptops in our relationship.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And then throw him an into a lake. That's right
to hide it.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Speaking of sports, I was going to tell you that
I ran to Stephen Ray Morris at a fucking dodgery
game of all people in places.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
What were either of you doing there?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
He was with his dad, so I looked very sporty
and like, you know, at a baseball cap on and shit.
And I went with Vince. We went for his birthday
and which just so happened. Nice Steven was there.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
That's just even living his best life in your face.
He's just like, really did it? Loving doing other stuff
besides working for you?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
He really is it in my face? Really? Did you
know how I like, you know how vindictive Stephen can go?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh my god, just vicious vicious to the core.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I think here's the thing. I don't follow sports, but
I understand. I feel like sports they have like automatic shammer.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Moments, yes, like going to them live.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, because it's like everyone's excited for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Hot dogs, hot dogsules fucking nachos, like everything about sports
are great.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah. Wait, let's take a sidebar into what did you
eat at the baseball game?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay? Oh my god, I kind of went crazy. So
we had a jersey mics that we brought.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Did you have to sneak that in? Sorry? Do you
have to sneak outside food? No?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
We brought some in? No? No, it was okay, Okay.
I had a hot dog Dodger dogs, I mean cost
I love Costco hot dogs. Why can't Costco just supply
like the Dodger dogs are not good?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Okay, but I'd be really careful about this, I don't.
I feel like people insanely passionate about stuff like this,
where we are blustering into territory.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I am not talking about the Dodgers. I am talking
about the janky ass fucking hot dogs. And I love
hot dogs. I'm a hot dog aficionado.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
My phone's bringing its elon mus who is it said,
we're both kicked off of Twitter. It's not Twitter a sex.
Those are the two messages he told me to tell you.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, good okay. And then we got a mini helmet
filled with nachos with nacho cheese and pickled hollapanos nice
and a pretzel and we dip that pretzel in that
nacho cheese. Yes, like motherfuckers.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Now was the pretzel good?
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, the pretzel was good. The nachos were good. You
know what I want people to comment is like, what's
your favorite snack at your favorite sporting place? Like I
want to show where it just goes different sports arenas,
and sure, watch baseball or whatever, but also eat like
Philadelphia obviously probably has really good food in whatever. I'm
not even gonna guess what their team name is called Orioles.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Anyway you're asking me, Yeah, I've heard of an Oriole
for sure. Isn't it the Baltimore Orioles.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Karen, You're right, Baltimore Oriols. Oh no, that's the worst
place to get wrong.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Oh no, we have to get out of this danger.
Getting him to get us out of here. This is
like we're just walking along the slapping fast eyes across
the face and then expecting things to go great.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
We're smacking e n T doctors were smacking hot dog aficionados. Okay,
all right, we're done with this. Let's move on. I
saw Steven. It was great.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I do like the idea, though, if you have a
sports arena or stadium and you think there's one good
piece of food there, then Georgia and Vince will go
on there and include Network show the tour sport stadium
food around the nation. My dream, it'll be an apology tour.
And the first place she'll stop is Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Oh, never going to Baltimore again. They're gonna kill me.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Oh my god, I'm sorry We've to Baltimore. That's crazy.
Show that had the catwalks, remember that. Yeah, it was
like we were in an eighties concert video. Yeah, it
was an amazing show.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Baltimore is the best city. I love you guys so much.
I love them there forever and never. Amen.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Good job, good job. All right, Speaking of Baltimore, we've
got some RM highlights for you. Okay, guys, we're just
here to tell you a couple of things that are
happening on the arm network lately. We are so thrilled
that you listen to our podcast. We have other podcasts
that we adore that are on this network that if
you are ever bored or on a long drive, we'd
(09:53):
love for you to check out. For example, I'm about
to do my own, which is hilarious. Aaron Brown writes
these and she's setting me up. Here's what she wrote
for me to say, are you listening to Doune to
Ride with Chris Fairbanks and me? It's not You're missing out.
I have to say about my own other podcast. We're
back in the car this week and our guest is
our very own Bridger Wine girl from I Said No Gifts,
(10:15):
who is recently featured in Vulture a great article about
I Said No Gifts.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And in additional Exactly Right crossover news, Kara Klank and
Lisa Traeger of That's Messed Up and Spu Podcast are
Roz's guests on Ghosted by Roz Hernandez.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
That's a power matchup right there. I keep seeing Lisa
Tregger clips on TikTok Oh my God, and I favor
them every time. I love her. She is just so funny.
She's such a funny comedian.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Her stand up is amazing. She's so vulgar and like
doesn't give a fuck. No, she's so funny.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
She's so funny, and she also is so herself. Yes,
I was talking to somebody that does sets with her
a lot at clubs and stuff. They're like, she just
destroys every time she gets up there and is like, hey,
here's my deal, and everyone's like, yes, we love it.
It's a great. So go see Liza Tregger live if
you can. And also, while summer is raging and full
effects saren, don't forget we have new SSDGM and Murderino
(11:19):
beach towels for you in the MFM store right now,
along with a bunch of other beloved goodies. So go
get your beach towel.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Those can be used at the pool too. Oh right,
so go to my favorite murder dot com to check
those out.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
They transition from beach to pools so easily you won't
believe it.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And finally, this is one more quick reminder to check
out the trailer for Exactly Right's newest limited true crime
series at the end of this episode. It's called Infamous
International The Pink Panthers Story, and it premieres on Thursday,
September fourteenth. Please check that out, Please like, rate review, subscribe,
all the above. It's a great show. We're really excited
(11:58):
about it.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
We're working with the amazing journalists, this awesome company that
brought the story to us. So it's a very cool
project and we have been working on it for a
long time. So we'd love for you guys to check
it out.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yay, and you're first, right.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I am, I believe, I am.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I'm going to start the story by telling you a
factoid that might surprise you. It definitely surprised me when
I read it. In a couple of days. On August
twenty ninth, it's going to be the eighteenth anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina. Oh shit, eighteenth, almost twenty years Yeah, so insane.
And for those of us who were around in two
(12:41):
thousand and five, you know, we all remember watching the
news that day. Just horrifying, just watching New Orleans be devastated.
The destruction was historical, and it's after effects, of course,
piled on in the weeks that followed. It was heart wrenching,
it was infuriating. But today I'm going to tell you
(13:02):
a story that you may not have heard about. It's
the story of New Orleans Charity Hospital, and it's almost
three hundred years of service to the city's residence, no
matter how much money they had in their pockets. If
you're from New Orleans, Charity needs no introduction. The hospital's
massive Art Deco skyscraper was a fixture in the Crescent City.
(13:25):
It was a place so meaningful to the people of
New Orleans that some even called it Mother Charity, as
New Orleans native John Johnston once told a documentary film crew, quote,
Charity Hospital gave birth to most of the citizens of
New Orleans and gave life to many dying people. Here
she stood by our side. She was here when we
came into the world. She was here when a lot
(13:47):
of us left. If there's something to be called your mother,
it was Charity Hospital. That's our mom end. Quote.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Oh that's heavy.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah. So on August twenty ninth, two thousand and five,
when Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke, the panic
and the suffering and the chaos enveloped the city. But
as the waters rose to Charity's emergency room doorstep, and
even after the lights went out, the doctors, the nurses
and the hospital staff there remained as committed as ever
(14:15):
to the people of New Orleans. This is the story
of the final days of operation at Charity Hospital, New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Holy shit.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah. So. Sources used today are the book Charity by
Jim Carrier, a Real Stories documentary titled America's oldest hospital Abandoned,
and a two thousand and five Houston Chronicle article by
journalist Tony Fremantle titled Trapped Hospital workers kept most patients alive.
(14:46):
And the rest of the sources are in our show
notes when Hurricane Katrina hit. Charity Hospital has been in
operation for two hundred and sixty nine years. It's one
of the oldest continuously operating hospital on the continent, only
rivaled by Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Charity was
established in the seventeen hundreds, back when France still controlled Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah. It was founded by a Frenchman named Jean Louis
who allocated a large chunk of his modest estate in
his will to creating a safety net hospital that would
treat anyone regardless of whether they could pay. Just like
absorb that for a second. In today's privatized healthcare system,
that is ruining the lives of so many people. This
(15:33):
country was established by this kind of charity and forward thinking,
and we need to return to it. So throughout his existence,
charity changed hands and buildings multiple times, but by the
early two thousands, when our story takes place, it's part
of the Louisiana State University system and it never strays
(15:53):
from its mission, and throughout the years it continues to
operate as a free hospital. There's a lot of French
names in this story, and I did take French one
and two in high school. But much like when this
hospital was founded, it was in the seventeen hundreds, so
I can't really speak for it anymore. So Peter W says, quote,
nobody asks you can you pay? Do you have money?
(16:16):
That's something that we've never ascribed to at a hospital.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, imagine that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Imagine Canada. Yeah, hey, Canada. So Charity Hospital even spawns
a unique safety net medical system across Louisiana, with nine
additional public hospitals offering free services throughout the state, and
they are at the time the only system of this
kind in the entire United States. And unfortunately, and sad
(16:42):
to say, they've all been privatized at this point, this
system does not exist anymore. So Charity Hospital provides some
of the best healthcare in the country. Their physicians, nurses, residents,
and medical staff basically have seen everything. You know, they
treat so many people, and they're able to treat so
many people. They've seen everything from the rarest diseases to
(17:05):
the most gruesome injuries. Writer Jim Carrier says, quote, for
every death, there were seven saves. So good was their
record that the Secret Service designated Charity Hospital's trauma center
for visiting presidents and popes whoa Yeah. So Behind the
hospital's er check in desk, Charity has a motto written
(17:26):
on the wall in gold lettering, and it says, quote
where the unusual occurs and miracles happen.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That sounds like a fun place to work.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, it sounds like it needs to be rebooted as
a medical drama. And then also through that drama gets
explained why privatized healthcare is ruining this country. Okay, that's
just a speech my mom used to give every night
at dinners, But I'll go into that later. Now, Charity's
success rate isn't just chalked up to exposure and technique.
(17:55):
It's also about the staff's dedication to the hospital, which
holds a special place in their hearts. Doctor w says, quote,
seventy percent of the doctors that practice within the state
of Louisiana came through the halls of Charity Hospital. Seventy percent.
We are committed to the care of our patients. That's
the mission of the hospital end quote. And doctor Ben
(18:17):
de bois Blanc, who ran Charity's intensive care unit, says, quote,
I think it's an understatement to say I have an
emotional connection to Charity Hospital. I first stepped into Charity
Hospital in nineteen seventy eight when I started medical school,
and I never left till the doors were closed.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
End quote. So by the early two thousands, Charities doctors
and nurses are treating one thousand sick and injured people
every day, around the clock, under every conceivable circumstance. And
so to protect the hospital from potential power failures, there
are two heavy duty generators outside the ground floor emergency wing,
(18:55):
fueling at power grid in the hospital's basement, which then
supplies electricity to the building. Most of New Orleans is
at or below sea level. It's surrounded by lakes and rivers,
and because it's on the Gulf Coast, it's no stranger
to tropical storms and hurricanes. New Orleans is protected by
a levee system, but flooding, of course, still happens from
time to time. Doctor Norman E. McSwain Junior, a pioneering
(19:19):
trauma surgeon at Charity, says, quote, I've waded through waste
deep water several times. It's no big deal. Like the pump,
right badass. The pumps take it out. People who live
in low lying areas have to put new carpet down
every few years, but they get used to it. End
Quote doctor Norman McSwain junior. He's just basically saying, if
(19:41):
you live in New Orleans, you're used to flooding, Its storms, flooding,
all these things that happen. But of course in New
Orleans there's also lingering fear about the big one, the
storm that puts all the others to shame. And with
human life at stake, Charity's medical staff knows they can't
afford to leave anything to chance. Hospital leadership routinely begs
(20:03):
the Louisiana state legislature for the money to move that
power grid to a higher floor, but their requests are
repeatedly denied. The trend at the State House is to
cut charity's budget, which they do routinely, not to increase it.
So each year charity staff prepares for hurricane season the
best it can, and in June of two thousand and five,
(20:24):
the hospital finds money in its coffers for six portable
diesel generators, some extra medicine and saline bags, and enough
canned food to supply the entire hospital for several days.
So that's basically their emergency setup, knowing that some storm
will happen and just to be prepared. So now it's
the end of that summer. It's Saturday, August twenty seventh,
(20:46):
two thousand and five, and a massive storm named Katrina
has just moved through southeast Florida as a Category one hurricane,
but as it hits the Gulf of Mexico, where the
water's warm, it gets stronger by the hour, So by
seven am on Sunday, August twenty eighth, Katrina is upgraded
to a Category five storm with sustained winds of one
(21:07):
hundred and seventy five miles per hour, and it's coming
straight at New Orleans with projections showing that it'll pass
right over the city's historic French Quarter, and so the
Mayor of New Orleans announces a mandatory evacuation of the city.
Around one point two million people leave New Orleans and
the surrounding communities, but an estimated one hundred thousand stay behind,
(21:32):
either by choice or because they have no way to
leave yeah or no ability to leave. So twenty six
thousand of these people will seek shelter at the Superdome,
which is its story all unto itself nightmare story like
horrible things that came out of that, but at the
time when they set it up, it was a refuge
(21:53):
and a last resort for a lot of people. Meanwhile,
the staff at Charity Hospital, it's just business as usual
for them. Before eight am there are already five hundred
patients checked in totally unrelated to the impending storm. It's
just business as usual for them. And among many other cases,
the staff at Charity is currently tending to gunshot wounds,
(22:15):
mental health crises, strokes, spinal cord injuries, heart attack patients,
and women in labor. So there are a thousand staff
members at Charity Hospital on site tending to these patients
and most of them have packed over night bags so
they know Katrina's coming. They're prepared. They've gone through hurricanes before,
(22:37):
so they all know they're just going to ride the
storm out. At the hospital, no one has any idea
how bad it'll be, and to the amusement of his colleagues,
an orthopedic resident named Duayne Belanga even brings a canoe
to work. He of course becomes the butt of everyone's
jokes because they all think he's overreacting. But Charity's staff
(22:58):
is prepared. They've seen these kind of storm, they know
what they can bring, and they're preparing to handle it
no matter what. ICU nurse supervisor Henrietta Walton Nunez says, quote,
we had made up our minds that we came in
here together and we were going to leave together. It
was that spirit that came up. I might die with
a uniform with Charity Hospital insignia on it, but nobody
(23:20):
abandoned their patients. It became like a spiritual bond. If
one leaves, we all leave, and that's what we decided. Quote.
So around four pm, with Charity's er full as usual,
the rain starts to fall in New Orleans, but the
storm hasn't left the Gulf yet, and this is just
a preview of what's to come. By seven pm, the
winds are picking up and at this point there are
(23:43):
now over thirteen hundred people staff and patients in Charity's
main hospital building. Though the storm hasn't made landfall yet,
Katrina is influencing the patients in unexpected ways, like as
the night passes, the hurricane's low pressure system that's incoming
reportedly induces labor in six of the pregnant patients. Oh no,
(24:07):
so that's something to consider. Watch those low pressure systems.
Don't storm chase please. So early Monday morning, August twenty ninth,
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in southeast Louisiana. Along the coast,
there are storm surges over twenty five feet tall, and
before long, the ferocious storm hits New Orleans and Charity Hospital.
(24:30):
Doctor du Bois Blanc is working in the ICU at
the time, and he says, quote, the hospital was a
civil defense shelter during the Cold War. It's not going anywhere,
but it was a little creepy to feel this big,
monstrous concrete building vibrating in the wind.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Damn end.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Quote. Yeah, So at the same time, Doctor du Boisblanc.
Here's a popping sound followed by the squeaking of nurses
shoes on the hospital floor because all around the building,
wind gusts are blowing the windows out of their window frames.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh no.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
In some cases they're falling out several stories down to
the pavement, crashing glass all below. And in other cases
they're being blown inwards through hospital rooms, sending shards of
glass everywhere.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Holy shit.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah right, I mean that's when it goes from like, oh,
this storm is crazy, to the windows blowing in Yeah.
So of course the nurses run and turn all occupied
beds as far away from the windows as they possibly can.
Over in the trauma wing, doctor Nick Swain Junior watches
in horror as quote, water blows sideways in big slats
(25:40):
like Venetian blinds through the now empty window frames. Holy shit.
And then the power goes out across New Orleans and
inside Charity Hospital, So the rain's pouring down in sheets,
the wind is howling through the hospital halls, and the
collective heart of Charity skips a beat as it waits
in the darkness. You're in a massive hospital with thirteen
(26:02):
hundred people in it. In pitch dark.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
No, and like in the middle of people giving birth
and people in the middle of surgery.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
And the people on ventilators, babies in the nicu. I mean,
it's a hospital. But thankfully those generators kick in, the
lights flick back on, monitors and machines start humming and
beeping again. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, but it
will be short lived, because within hours, one of Charity's
two backup generators is destroyed in the storm, and when
(26:35):
it goes, the powers cut again to an entire wing
of the hospital. An X ray and operating suite as
well as rooms with ventilated patients are instantly thrown back
into darkness, and for patients on those ventilators, it's now
a life or death situation. So the nurses run to
those rooms with what are called amboo bags ambu. You've
(26:57):
seen them probably on Gray's anatomy. They're the hand operated
breathing devices, so the patient has a mask on and
it's connected to a squeezable bag. The nurses throw the
masks on the critical respiratory patients. They create airflow, and
many of the nurses will be sitting there squeezing those
ambo bags for days at a time. Wow. So elsewhere
(27:20):
in charity, staffers from every department are now desperately trying
to restore power to the dark wing of the hospital.
So even though the hospital has just bought the six
portable generators in anticipation of hurricane season, they're still in
storage waiting to be set up and filled empty sell fuel. Yeah.
Oh no, I literally got to that part as I
(27:40):
was typing out. I was just like, oh, like, just.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
So much so rough.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, So a group of the strongest staffers
basically they run, they go, and they're lifting one of
the generators. It's five hundred pounds and they're lifting it
up several flights of stairs up to that wing where
the power's out.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
So doctor du BOISBC winds up connecting with two residents
who are running around with an extension cord. And here's
how he tells it. He says, quote, they literally ran
a twelve gage cord about three hundred feet down the hallway,
out the window, up to another floor and plugged into,
of all places, a coke machine outlet on the other
(28:23):
side of the hospital, and into that we plugged ventilators
using a search protector and then another search protector plugged
into that, and then another. We were running seven or
eight ventilators off this one extension cord. The son of
a Bitch was hot. Holy s end quote like, did
you ever watch Nurse Jackie? Just like the way hospitals
(28:45):
run and the intensity where it's like sometimes it's a
little bit quiet and sometimes it's really intense and big.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Things happen out of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, this is like you have that, and then on
top of that additional like now it's ten times harder,
now it's fifth t times harder. Now it's one hundred
times harder.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, And I'm like, what are you going to do
to solve it? Because you can't walk out?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. And they wouldn't walk out.
So that afternoon, the storm breaks New Orleans. It's moving
north of the city. There's a sense of peace and quiet,
even as the lights continue flickering throughout the hospital. At
least the major part of the storm is over. But
for the medical staff in the ICU, including doctor de
(29:26):
Bois Blanc and Henrianta Walton Nunez, one thing is obvious.
Their sickest patients need to be evacuated to a less
damage facility as soon as possible. Administrative staffers immediately call
city and state agencies looking for any indication of when
rescuers might show up to evacuate Charities patients, but they
can't seem to reach anyone outside of the hospital. Storm
(29:50):
damage has killed communications systems, and placing a phone call
from a cell phone or a landline isn't working no
matter how many times they try. Then one staff are
now says he has a receiver and a ham radio,
but they still can't connect with any government agencies. But
the receiver does come in handy. Between it and a
few hand crank radios from the hospital's emergency supply kit,
(30:14):
the staff starts getting news updates about what's happening out
in the rest of the world. Throughout the building, teams
are huddled around these radios, clinging to every word, and
what they're hearing is terrifying. The power is out for millions.
People's homes have been wiped off their foundations. Many people
are stranded and worse now, everyone is worried about their
(30:36):
own homes and families, not just the crises that they're
facing there at the hospital. But charity's employees know their
immediate responsibility is ensuring the health and safety of the
two hundred and fifty patients they're currently caring for. Not
one employee leaves the hospital, not one.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
It's amazing. Instead, the staff vows to stick by their
patients until andy responders can take every one of them
to safety. So for now, the staff goes back to
providing care as usual. But as this day turns tonight,
there's still no word or plan for an evacuation. So
now it's Tuesday, August thirtieth, and before the sun rises,
(31:16):
the power goes off throughout the entire hospital. Every heart monitor, incubator,
dialysis machine, ventilator stops working.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, and along with them, the air conditioner, the plumbing,
and the running water go out because they're also connected
to that power grid. So in total darkness, nurses go
back to bagging ventilated patients, never taking breaks unless someone
can take over for them. In the neonatal ICU, which
(31:47):
is called the NICICU, nurses have to pull premature babies
out of their incubators and cradle them in their arms
to keep them warm.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
By this point, the storm has passed and there's no
more or wind, so everyone's expecting the power to kick
back on any minute, but it doesn't, and so staffers
armed with flashlights go down into the hospital's basement to
see what's going on, and they make a chilling discovery.
The basement is completely flooded. The cafeteria and the morgue
(32:18):
are both underwater, and so is there electrical grid that
same one that charity's leadership had tried to get moved
to a higher floor and they were denied that funding.
So everyone's baffled. Why would the hospital be flooding now
Katrina has already passed, So again staffers search the dark hallways,
they go back to those radios, only to hear more
(32:40):
devastating news. New Orleans levees have burst, so while the
staff had been working through the night, billions of gallons
of water has been pouring into the bowl shaped city.
And when the sun rises, all of the staff looks
outside and what they see as apocalyptic. The city's underwater,
the hospital looks like it's set in the middle of
(33:01):
a debris filled lake, and now newscasters are reporting that
the floodwaters could rise another eight feet.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, So the situation goes from dire to catastrophic, and
the staff knows they have to get Charity's most vulnerable
patients to another facility as soon as possible. And then
a hospital administrator finally gets wored that FEMA is preparing
to evacuate Charity's patients. But there's genuine worry that the
water is going to keep rising all the way up
(33:32):
to the first floor emergency unit, and dozens of er
patients have to be moved to a higher floor in
the hospital immediately, So hour by hour, as floodwater slowly
swirls upwards, the doctors and nurses scrambled to set up
and improvised emergency room in a second floor auditorium. So
now all available staffers start moving patients out of the
(33:56):
er and upstairs, and for those patients who can't walk,
staff members strap them onto spineboards, and when they run
out of spine boards, they strap them onto broken off
tabletops and they move them one by one up the
pitch black stairwells.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
My god, that sounds so terrified. It's like legit apocalyptic.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yes, and kind of like this is a job that's
hard enough, so then it's like if something happens, and
you're like, oh, well, you just have to go up,
but you have to go up in the dark and
with water everywhere. So you're running around trying to make
sure that people are okay in this wing, in that wing,
while if you're anywhere near the ground floor you are
(34:40):
either walking on water or like slippery floor. Totally for
this already worn out staff, this move is extremely stressful
and of course physically exhausting. When the second floor auditorium
is at capacity, staffers and patients keep climbing all the
way up to the ICUs that are on the sixth
and twelfth floor.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
So as the doctors and nurses care for the rest
of the patients without electricity, they're forced to make difficult
decisions over in the NICU. For example, there are two
extremely premature babies who require both incubation and breathing support,
neither of which are available in the power outage. Neo
natologist doctor Brian Barkmeyer, who is caring for these babies,
(35:24):
knows that they have to get to a functional hospital
as soon as possible or they'll die. So doctor Barkmeyer
finds the staffer with the access to the HAM radio
and he sends out a signal and miraculously, this time
he connects with a team of firemen who are set
up on the nearby Interstate ten, which is elevated, so
(35:44):
it's part of this interstate that's above the floodwater. So
if the charity staff can get these babies to the interstate,
the firemen are standing by ready to bring them to
a more stable hospital. But the problem is Charity is
surrounded by waste deep water. But then doctor Barkmeyer remembers
that canoe the resident Duyanne Belange brought in ahead of
(36:08):
the storm.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Forgot about the canoe.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
No longer a joke. Now it's a lifeline for little
tiny babies.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
This is all about improv They're like, yes, anding, yes,
this fucking disaster.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
It's crazy, and they're doing it like separate from how
they feel, separate from what they're worried about with their
own personal lives, Like they're separated from their families. That
part of it must have been absolutely horrible. Yeah, they
have to stay and they have to like basically dig
in and it's like now they have to treat their
(36:43):
patients like their families. Yeah, it's so rough, And this
idea that like, I wonder if the resident Dwayne Belange
was joking when he brought that canoe in. I wonder
what he was really thinking.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Doctor Barkmeer rushes down the slick hallways, covered now with
discardedly text gloves, syringes, water bottles until he finds the
resident Belange and he explains what has to happen to
keep these infants alive. So Dwayne and two other residents,
Alan Butler and Michael Cox immediately sign on for this challenge.
(37:18):
The four of them grab the canoe and the infants
carry them downstairs, swing open the emergency room entrance door,
and they place the canoe in the floodwater, which has
now reached the er ramp, and the three residents step in.
Doctor Barkmeyer decides that the babies have to be carried
one by one, which is very smart, very smart. I
(37:41):
don't know if that would have struck me at the time.
He hands off the first child, who has a breathing
tube in her throat, and he says, quote, make sure
the tube stays in place. Squeeze the bag about once
a second, hard enough to make her chest rise. Keep
the child pink, keep her pink.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Oh my god end quote.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I mean, also, these are resident doctors. They're just you know,
this is how basically they're cutting their teeth on becoming doctors.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
It's incredible and it's so brave that they volunteered to
do it and they're in it. Yeah, here's the good news.
The mission is successful. Both of these babies live and
make it to a stable hospital. And this day is
filled with many of these highs, stories of quick thinking
life saved, set against extreme lows, the worst of which
(38:37):
was around noon that same day, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's
voice comes through those portable radios saying that New Orleans
Charity Hospital has been successfully evacuated.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
No, yeah, and they're like, ah, don't look like it.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
They're like, they're in total disbelief. Right. Obviously, there's been
a huge communit cation error. There's a serious problem. So
everybody grabs those phones. They try to contact the state government,
but there's no signal. Also, the phone lines, of course
are jammed because everyone across the city is trying to
find their families, their friends, so the calls don't go through,
(39:17):
so they just have to keep trying to call someone. Meanwhile,
charity's medical team works tirelessly to keep hundreds of patients
safe and cared for with no air conditioning, no running water,
no lights. Also, it's hot.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
It's August, so it's like that humid, sticky heavy hurricane heat.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Yes, low pressure system like holorrifying. Also, the doctors and
nurses can't wash their hands. Oh fuck yeah, the toilets
aren't flushing. Oh it's worst case scenario. Henrietta Walton Nunez
says that quote. At that point, it was the basic needs,
making sure that patients were clean, giving them water, keeping
(39:58):
them fed as best as possible, and surviving. But it
was getting kind of hairy because most of the nurses
had been working around the clock with no breaks. We
had to kick it into survival mode.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
So the doctors are fanning patients who are on the
verge of heatstroke. Nurses are emptying overflowing toilets. Anyone who
can is bagging ventilated patients. Groups of staffers are still
hauling the five remaining five hundred pound diesel powered generators
up as many as twelve flights of stairs to the ICU.
(40:32):
I mean that's that kind of thing where you know
when like big guys are always bummed because they're the
people that everyone asked to help them move. I could
do a ventilation bag. I'll do that for a while.
It's like no, no, no, go back to carrying that
five hundred pound block.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Yeah, And I bet it wasn't just like nurses and
doctors and like that. It was like all the staff
probably you know, oh, everybody, everybody, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Everybody, because there's you know what is that orderlies. There's
so many people that work at hospitals that make it go.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Janitors, yes, kitchen staff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
At the same time, other employees are roving the flooded
streets in Duayne's canoe looking for abandoned cars to siphon
gas from for those generators. It's all exhausting work. The
staff are saving the bottled water for the patients. They're
forced to hydrate themselves with ivs. Oh fuck. So by
(41:25):
Tuesday night, everyone's physically and emotionally exhausted. Of course, they're
also dehydrated. They're also overheated. Many staffers choose to sleep
on the roof of the hospital that night, hoping just
to catch a slight breeze. They're wrapped in hazardous waist
bags that are serving as impromptu sleeping bags, and they're
(41:45):
clinging to the hope that tomorrow someone will come to
help them. So by Wednesday, August thirty, first, the reality
is setting in that amid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina,
Charity Hospital has fallen through the cracks, one's coming to
evacuate them, and patients are starting to die. Doctor du
(42:06):
vois Blanc remembers sitting in the ICU with his team.
He says, quote we came to the conclusion that if
we were going to get out, we were going to
have to get ourselves out end. Quote. They have to
do everything they have to keep everybody alive, figure out
how to escape. It's insane. So in certain words of
the hospital staff members and patients start using spare bedsheets
(42:28):
to write SOS messages and they start hanging them from
the building's broken windows. So this was the thing that
I remember most from watching Katrina footage like on CNN,
which was people on the roofs of their own homes
hanging signs that say, you know, somebody's bed ridden inside,
like that kind of help they needed. That's how long
(42:49):
people were stranded. You really only saw that on the news.
The idea that a huge hospital in that city was
doing the exact same thing as like mind to me.
They had one sign hanging out the window that said
one thousand plus people and sick babies.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
My sign in.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Bold, colorful lettering. Everybody's still trying to place out going calls.
Only now they're not trying to call any government agencies.
Now they're trying to reach members of the media. And
by some miracle, an Ice resident named Jeff Williams gets
a hold of CNN. He explained to them what's really
going on at Charity Hospital, and that day Wolf Blitzer
(43:32):
interviews him, and Williams tells the world, quote, we have
not been able to evacuate almost anyone. We have at
least forty two critical patients as of early this morning,
a couple of died and a couple of people have
gotten worse end quote. So now, and thank god he
was able to do that because there were people watching.
(43:54):
And amongst those watching is a man named Richard Zuschlag,
who is the CEO of a large Louisiana based ambulance company,
and he immediately offers helicopters to help evacuate, and at
the same time there's a company called HCA which runs
Tulane's Hospital, and Tulane's Hospital is only about two blocks away,
(44:16):
and so that company contacts Charity's team and lets them
know that they can use their helipad. They're currently doing
air evacuations out of Tulane Hospital. They just have to
get to Tulane Hospital. So basically, now the staff has
to get their critical patients to Tulane Hospital, and one
(44:39):
canoe isn't going to do the job. So staffers sprint
to the er ramp and they flag down passing boats.
Remember how they were like people actually going through with
like small boats to try to rescue the people that
were on their roofs and whatever. So some staffers flag
down some boats, and many of them belonged to the
(45:00):
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries because they had been
rescuing stranded people. So, starting with the most critical patients,
doctors and nurses once again strap these people onto spineboards,
restrain their arms, tape their medical records to their chests. WHOA,
then they carry each patient down those dark stairwells. Now
(45:20):
they're going down. I think it'd be easier to carry
someone up, yeah, than how easy it would be to
be going. I thank guide. And also it's pitch black.
Doctor McSwain remembers, quote, one cardiac patient was on a
pump that weighed five hundred pounds and had two feet
of tubing. We had to carry him down five flights
(45:41):
without separating them by two feet in the dark.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Oh my fucking end quote.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So now it's like that one is almost a combination
of the generator challenge and the ICU challenge combined. It's
beyond It's like superhuman what they were doing. So once
they make it to the er ramp, patients are gently
placed on boats accompanied by members of the hospital's medical team.
For the dozen or so babies that need to be evacuated,
(46:10):
nurses carry them two at a time, one in each arm.
From here, the boats move through New Orleans flooded streets
down to Tulane Hospital or waiting medical staff carefully lift
them back onto dry land and carry them up several
more flights of stairs to the rooftop helipad, where doctor
du Bois Blanc and his staff have now set up
(46:31):
an impromptu ICU. They continue to treat patients as they
wait for available helicopters. So these trips to Tulane are harrowing.
At one point, doctor du Bois Blanc manages to wave
down a National Guard truck that is one of those
amphibious ones that can drive through deep floodwater. He loads
(46:51):
a sick patient inside and they set out toward Tulane.
But on the way, the patient stops breathing, so, thinking fast,
the stabs a hole in the man's chest to relieve
the air pressure. He would later say, quote, right there
in the back of that truck, in those floodwaters, we
stuck a big old tube in the side of his chest.
We had the wherewithal to bring surgical supplies with us,
(47:14):
but we forgot the sedation, the animal jesics and the anaesthetics.
Good night end quote right. As painful as it was,
and I'm sure as nightmarish, this treatment saved that patient's life.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
Oh my fucking God.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So that night, doctor du Bois Blanc and his team
head back to Charity Hospital, and inside they're greeted by
groups of staffers trying to console each other with jokes
and stories and sing a lungs. They're just whatever it takes.
All around the hospital, medical teams continue working in insane circumstances.
Just before midnight, a team of two doctors perform an
(47:51):
emergency c section on a pregnant patient.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
One doctor holding a flashlight while the other cuts into
the woman's body. The baby and the mother both survive.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Oh my god, like c sections are fucking dicey. Everything
on right, when everything's up and running.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
In the best circumstances, when everyone has washed their hands.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Thank god.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah, that's the thing I can't get over, is like
that they were in the least sterile thank you, sterile circumstances.
It's just horrifying, I'm sure, as they were incredibly horrified
compared to what they're used to dealing with. Doctors continue
escorting patients from Charity to Tulane until one am on
Friday morning, when there are no critical patients left in
(48:40):
Charity Hospital. At around three pm that afternoon, airboats and
heavy duty trucks finally show up to evacuate the rest
of the hospital patients. Tragically, eight icee you patients are
lost during these five hellish days after Hurricane Katrina, but
the other two one hundred and forty plus patients in
(49:04):
that hospital survive.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah, So the road to recovery post Katrina is a
long and difficult one, filled with anguish. Of course, people's
lives are not only uprooted, they're never the same. Within
days of the storm, eighty percent of New Orleans is
underwater and across the region, one million people are displaced
from their homes. Fourteen hundred people lose their lives, the
(49:30):
majority of those were in New Orleans and to this day,
Hurricane Katrina causes an estimated one hundred and twenty five
billion dollars in damage.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
Yeah, to this day it's the most expensive storm in
US history, and in today's money, it would be two
hundred billion dollars. As New Orleans begins to rebuild, there
are serious efforts to restore Charity Hospital to its pre
Katrina condition, but to the surprise of many, word spreads
that there are no plans to reopen the hospital. Instead,
(50:03):
state affiliated operators make the controversial decision to build a
brand new, more modern facility. This takes several years. It's
a very modern, top tier hospital that's open to the public,
but to the heartbreak of many in New Orleans, the
name Charity is dropped. The new hospital simply called University
(50:24):
Medical center, and it is no longer associated with free
health care. In fact, in the wake of Charity's closure,
nine of the ten public safety net hospitals across Louisiana
either close or privatize. Wow heartbreaking. Those now private hospitals
are still required to provide indigenent care, which means if
(50:45):
you can't pay, you still do get care. But of
course this is in addition to treating patients with private
insurance Medicaid, Medicare, and it's unclear how this new system
has affected healthcare for Louisiana's poorest and uninsured citizens. Meanwhile,
the abandoned Charity Hospital still sits in the same location
on New Orleans Tulane Avenue. Rumors occasionally will swirl about
(51:09):
it being redeveloped. Doctor du Bois Blanc, like many of
the doctors and nurses in this story, continues to work
in the LSU medical system, and he says, quote where
the unusual occurs and miracles happen in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. Of course it has no meaning. Those days
following Hurricane Katrina were our finest hour. Every day miracles happened.
(51:35):
I think the real story of Hurricane Katrina is not
the images that you saw on television. The real legacy
is that it peeled away all that isolates us from
each other and allowed for those human human connections. People
say what we did was heroic, but we were just
doing our jobs. And that is the story of the
staff of Charity Hospital and their heroism and resilience during
(51:58):
Hurricane Katrina. Wow, can you believe that shit?
Speaker 1 (52:02):
I can tell you're on the brink of tears through
the entire thing. Your eyes are like that bright blue.
Karen's gonna cry soon.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
My crying eyes. Well, you know, it's just to have
a mother that was a nurse. You kind of understand
the first responder dedication. First of all, it kind of
gets to me that I've never heard this ever. No, yeah,
in eighteen years. And maybe it was because there were
just so many stories and there was so much national
(52:30):
realization of what happened in New Orleans, the disparity of
like help and care and watching the race issue, all
of it was so big and awful and constant. And
this idea that throughout all of that Charity Hospital that
(52:50):
was all about the people kind of no matter what,
never faltered. Now, it's just it's incredible. I mean, those
people deserve, even have deserved, huge accolades.
Speaker 1 (53:03):
Totally. I can't believe I haven't heard that for sure.
It's epic, it really is. I can't believe it's in
eighteen bucking years. It does not seem that long.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
It really doesn't know.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Wow, great job, thank you. Well, I'm going to take
us back even further.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
Okay, to the.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Late eighteen hundreds. Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
I love it then.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
I mean, they didn't wash their hands ever, there was
no like they didn't know, they didn't know, they didn't know.
I'm going to tell you the story of Wyoming Madam
dell Birk and her brothel, the Yellow Hotel of Lusk, Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
They say the Yellow Hotel of Lusk, Wyoming was the
charity hospital.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Of Wyoming of the late eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
In a way where there was Karen, there's Karen.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Love and there was and you're right. The main source
I used for this story is a book by June
Read called Frontier Madam The Life of del Birk, Lady
of Lusk, and the rest of the sources can be
found in our show notes.
Speaker 2 (54:07):
I am positive that Allejandro and Hannah when they were
putting these stories together, were like, here's one institution of care,
now here's another institution of care.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
So I'm gonna tell you about the Madame Delberk. She's
born Mary Ada Fisher on July fifteenth, eighteen eighty eight,
in good Old Somerset, Ohio. She doesn't start going by
the name Dell until she's an adult, but I'm just
gonna call her Dell because it's easier, Okay. So in
eighteen ninety eight, when she's ten, the family moves to
the Dakota Territory. They live in a one room house
(54:41):
nicknamed a sadi because it's made out of sod. Oh
I mean, can you imagine?
Speaker 2 (54:47):
Yes, I can.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
It's actually the only widely available building material in the
Great Plains.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
So it's just basically dirt and grass.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
M wow, sod. As a teenager, Della is known around
town as quote, the most beautiful girl in Wolf Creek,
oh End quote. So she's gorgeous. She gets engaged at sixteen,
but for reasons we don't know, the wedding never happens.
Then at seventeen she gets engaged again, and this time
it works out. She marries a man named Stephen Law
(55:18):
in November of nineteen oh five. Stephen's twenty four years
old and a freight conductor for the Great Northern Railway.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
I think we have to imagine in our minds that
Stephen Law looks like Stephen Ray Morris just because you mustache.
Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yes, and he's on like a freak conductor.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Woo woo.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
You know, Stephen would totally woo woo.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
He would love that.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Yeah, except however, this is where he differs from Stephen.
We don't know much about the circumstances, but Dell will
later say that he was violent.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
So oh that's not yeah, Okay, that enough that.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
Also, multiple accounts say that Stephen, who is Canadian, has
a low opinion of American women and tells Dell about
this often, like we don't have In early nineteen ten,
now twenty two year old Dell was living with Stephen
and his sister in North Dakota, but by the end
of the year she writes to her family, who she
still you know, keeps in touch with, that Stephen's dead.
(56:12):
She says, Oh, Stephen is not actually dead, but this
was easier to explain than a divorce.
Speaker 2 (56:19):
I can relate.
Speaker 1 (56:24):
He's dead. Okay, can we not ever talk about it.
Speaker 2 (56:26):
It's not going to be a conversation. That's the thing.
That's the point.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
There's a vague he's dead. And so she moves to
the resort town of vamp Alberta, Canada, where Vince and
I had Christmas a couple of years ago. Gorgeous, and
she gets a job at the Bamp Springs Hotel where
Vince and I had Christmas dinner that year.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
Was it all fancy and old fashioned?
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It is like the Shining Hotel essentially is gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (56:53):
So she gets a job there in the early nineteen hundreds.
It looks like a fairytale castle. It's in the Canadian
rockies and it was popular at the time with wealthy
tourists looking to relax, and they'd hang out at the
Sulfur Springs, which we also did. Very lovely, touristytown.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (57:10):
One day, Steven tracks Delle down at the hotel and
he instigates an ugly confrontation, but Dell's boss protects her
calls the sheriff, and she tells the sheriff that she
and Stephen had divorced and that Stephen used to hit her,
and the sheriff like steps the fucking sends Stephen away.
We never hear from him again. So wow, Yeah, so
(57:32):
something happened.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
There, you know what, it's that they were in Canada. Yeah, yeah,
this is a classy country.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
Yeah. So, in the aftermath of the incident, Dell becomes
close with the sheriff and his wife and their son, Willie,
who was about her age. The problem is, Willie starts
to crush hard on Dell. She's not that into it.
He asks her to marry him a couple times, and
she starts to worry that being the sheriff's son, her
saying no all the time is going to be an
(57:58):
ish and so she starts to work on an excess
strategy to now get the fuck out of Banf because
she's being harassed by a boy.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
So, working in the dining room, Dell has heard her
wealthy customers talking about Alaska and the gold rush there,
and so Dell, being practical, wants to make more money
than she can as a waitress. And she also knows
her career options are very limited where she is, and
she knows that in areas where lots of men congregate,
jobs for women abound. So she uses all that she's
(58:31):
saved from her waitressing job to buy a ticket to Juno, Alaska.
Speaker 2 (58:36):
The capital.
Speaker 1 (58:37):
It's right, we know that gold has been discovered near
Juno in the late eighteen eighties. In the city has
two minds which attract men. They're mostly single and on
their own. So Dell, who is now twenty four years old,
spends only a year in Alaska, but she makes about
ten grand that year working as a dance hall girl.
(58:58):
It's considered adjacent to set work, but it's just dancing.
Oh and ten grand in that time is worth about
in today's money, three hundred thousand and ten dollars.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
She makes three hundred thousand dollars a year in a
year el, Yes.
Speaker 1 (59:15):
In the one year she's there dancing.
Speaker 2 (59:17):
Who cares what they say? I mean truly think yeah,
fuck yeah, do your thing, do your dance.
Speaker 1 (59:24):
So one of Dell's friends from Alaska has settled in Butte, Montana,
which is a copper boom town. So Dell and that friend,
her name's Bessie, both get jobs in one of the
well regarded high end brothels in that town, so they
later from Alaska to Butte, Montana. Business is really good
there until nineteen seventeen, when Montana is about to start
(59:45):
enforcing prohibition.
Speaker 2 (59:47):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (59:48):
So she's an avid reader. She stays on top of
the news. She's like, I know what's going on. Let's
get the fuck out of here. So she and Bessie
look for somewhere more tolerant, and they find the oil
towns of Casper, Wyoming. So in nineteen eighteen, Dell is
now thirty years old. She and Bessie settle in Lusk, Wyoming,
and she says that the reason she kicked Lusk is
(01:00:10):
because she misrite it as lust and she was like, well,
that's a great place to set up a brothel, perfection,
mm hmm. But she also knows it's strategically located on
the railroad near a new oil pipeline as well as
a new uranium mine. So she's like a businesswoman, she
knows what she's doing. Yeah, she's smart, Yeah, she's smart.
(01:00:31):
Here she also settles on the name Dell, So this
is when she officially takes her name del So, Dell
and Bessie first pitch a tent across from the railroad
depot and they work out of that tent. I'm imagining
more like a big old army tent at.
Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
Least at least five feet to walk. You don't have
to bend all the way over at the waist to
walk in.
Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Oh, you gotta hope.
Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
Also, it's really funny to put a tent up across
from the train depot where it's just like it is
over here.
Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
This away. Yeah, that's so. Two years later in Lusk,
thirty two year old Dell finally buys a property on
the same location across from the depot and builds the
Yellow Hotel. It's a two story stucco building that's painted
you guessed it yellow. Yeah, I know, you're right. And
(01:01:19):
it's an old, tiny, like western hotel building, like you
see it in your mind's eye you watch Tombstone, like
you know what the old timy buildings look like.
Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
So, her friend Bessie contributes some money towards the purchase
of the hotel, although it's in Dell's name on the
title and she puts most of the money down. So Bessie, unfortunately,
like many sex workers of her era, struggles with a
laudanum addiction, so shortly after buying the hotel, Bessie moves away.
When she comes back, she's very frail, and Dell takes
(01:01:49):
care of her until Bessie dies in nineteen twenty nine.
So very sad. But Dell is entrepreneurial. She's made a
fair amount of money so she can invest in the hotel.
She decorated it's it with fine fabrics and beautiful furnishings.
The first floor is divided by a center hall with
two sides, and on one side there's a client waiting room,
(01:02:10):
there's a bar, and a bathroom and a laundry room,
and on the other side is Dell's apartment. And upstairs
there are ten rooms where Dell's employees meet with clients.
Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Be hard to sell that as like a single family home.
Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
After right, which are the ten rooms?
Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
It's a ten and one. It's a one bathroom ten.
Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Kids, Look at you being entrepreneurial too.
Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
I love real estate.
Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
So shortly after the Yellow Hotel opens, Wyoming enforces its
own ban on alcohol, and then six months after that
prohibition goes into effect nationwide. But Dell quickly establishes good
working relationships with local bootleggers, and the Yellow Hotel develops
a reputation for serving clean whiskey. Oh yeah, Dell herself
(01:02:58):
doesn't drink she doesn't permit at her employees to drink
while they're working, and in addition, Dell instructs her employees
to dress conservatively but beautifully when walking around lask and
has them an understated makeup. So she's like making it
a classy joint, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
It's also kind of smart. Play it way down, and
then it's almost like it's a little bit lustier.
Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
It's right, lustier.
Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
It's lustier Lusk.
Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
But they still stand out from the other women in
town because the other women are like, you know, cowwomen,
and they're all wind swept in outdoorsy, but Bell cultivates
a dignified look.
Speaker 2 (01:03:35):
You can't call them cow women.
Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
I don't know. I can't say cowboys. That's not that's
not correct.
Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
I see, I see, sorry, I see what you mean.
Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
But I didn't want to say cowgirls. See, we're women.
What do you think I meant?
Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
I don't know. I thought you meant kind of like
prairie women. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
It could be that too.
Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
Cow women can see negative.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
Like I'm called No, that's not what I meant. Shortly
after opening the hotel, Dell starts to form a close
relationship with a dude named Jerry Dall who makes repairs
at the hotel from time to time, so they start,
you know, dating handyman. Oh yeah, gotta date the handyman.
Got to Over the next decade, some people in the
town complained about the Yellow hotel, but most tolerated. The
(01:04:21):
residents of Lusk know that in towns without saloons, where
sex workers are prosecuted more forcefully, the men who work
in the oil fields are more likely to harass local women,
which is such a sad, fucked up fact where it's like, yeah,
you got it, these cowmen. Dell's hotel is usually find
(01:04:42):
about one hundred dollars a month, which is like seventeen
hundred dollars in today's money. You know, she's kind of
like a little payoff, it seems, yeah, which she can afford.
In the wake of the nineteen twenty nine stock market crash,
Lusk doesn't suffer quite as badly as other parts of
the country because the oil industry insulates the town from
the worst of the depression. That said, times are still tight,
(01:05:04):
and in nineteen twenty nine, the Lusk light and power
generator fails and the town is without water or electricity, like,
they can't afford to keep it up, so Dell loans
the town. She goes to fucking city hall and to
like the town meeting and loans the town money to
replace the generator and effectively controls the town's water and
(01:05:27):
power for decades after because of me genious. When neighbors
occasionally complained about the brothel over the next decade or two,
Dell reminds them that she could always call in her
loan and shut down the town's lights.
Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
Uh huh. So city officials eventually redraw the city limits,
putting the Yellow Hotel outside of them so they don't
have authority over it anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Essentially gerrymandering.
Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
Yeah, essentially, they're like, we use this place, so why
would we shut it down? I'm sure, yes, you know, Okay,
like she has shit on everyone.
Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:06:02):
In nineteen thirty three, prohibition ends and this ushers in
the golden age of the Yellow Hotel. Authorities no longer
bother Dell. Everything's legal what she's doing. And they also
don't want Dell to turn the lights off outside the hotel.
It's still the depression people are suffering. Dell helps in
whatever way she can the town sees an influx of
(01:06:23):
transient men looking for work, and Dell employs several of
them on odd jobs around the hotel, and she feeds
hungry men from the hotel's kitchen. Oh, she's a fucking
community leader.
Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Yeah, she's great.
Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
When Dell walks around town, she usually walks by herself
or with her Pekinese dog. That's like her fucking thing,
which is the second story in a row that has
had Pekinese dogs.
Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Oh, that's right, isn't that weird? Yes, that's right. They're
very popular breed.
Speaker 1 (01:06:51):
Yes. So she doesn't speak to anyone unless spoken to first.
She knows that she can't be like, hey, Dave, he's
with his wife or whatever, right, like really.
Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
Know, she's in church waving back to the young people
that she's yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Says what's up?
Speaker 3 (01:07:06):
Okay okay.
Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
So when she hires a new employee, what she does
she has that employee take the dog out for a walk,
so that everyone knows this is the new girl in town. Like,
come to the hotel because we've got a new girl
in town.
Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
Genius, genius. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
And then in the nineteen forties, the oil boom had
initially been fading, but then World War two creates increased
demand for fuel. A new airbase nearby brings in a
steady stream of customers. I mean, this chick is fucking
killing it. She's becoming one of the wealthiest women in Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Also, I really love how she kind of like tried
a bunch of stuff pivoted, was like, this doesn't work.
This she made a mistake, the lust mistake that actually
then insulated her from what almost the entire rest of
the country went. But she was lucky enough to be
in like a rich area, a place that was insulated
(01:08:02):
from that horrible like everyone losing everything.
Speaker 1 (01:08:05):
Like there's prohibition, so many bars go bus because of that.
There's the Great Depression, there's the war, there's this, and
she's fucking fine. Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (01:08:16):
After the war, renewed demand for oil in the post
war economy keeps the Yellow Hotel busy as well. Then
the Korean War begins and those two military bases rev
up again, bringing even more business to the Yellow Hotel.
Like this chick has got love.
Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
You got her spot is like she got a spot
in Vegas or something.
Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
But that's right, Lusk. So by now the hotel is
well known across the state, and Dell herself is also
well known. While in person she's quiet and discreet, she
is an entrepreneur and she widely advertises with highway billboards
let's say Dell Birk's hotel, so like she's a known
person as well. Other similar brothels have been shut down.
(01:08:56):
So some people feel a bit proud to have this
piece of the Old West still around because it's the
nineteen fifties at this point, and this is from like
the early nineteen hundreds and it's kind of like historical,
right yeah. Yeah. Other people, of course, are less supportive.
That said. Dell is also well known because she's a
member of the Chamber of Commerce and she gives very
(01:09:17):
generously to every church and charitable cause in town.
Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
That's right, pay for those mfors, give them what they
want money.
Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Every year. She pays for several students college tuition as well.
Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
Yeah smart, that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:09:34):
So Dell also invests in real estate and stocks and
invests in a few other businesses in Lusk. She is
by this point very wealthy, so she has to keep
a low profile in town because it's you know, modest,
low profile city. But when she and her fucking hot
handby man boyfriend Jerry, travel and she makes frequent trips
(01:09:54):
to Cheyenne and Denver. She actually keeps a supply of
beautiful res clothing and fur coats to wear while she's
out of town where she can actually show off. So
she's like into the finer things. She's very fucking aware
that no one wants to see her showing off in Lusk,
and so she takes her fucking arm candy, gets out
(01:10:14):
of town and dresses up.
Speaker 2 (01:10:17):
And then she just goes for it in Denver.
Speaker 1 (01:10:19):
Yesr Hey, you know Denver.
Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:10:23):
So in nineteen fifty five, she suffers a blow when
her hot handyman boyfriend Jerry dies of a heart attack
while driving his car. Sadly, she's now in her sixties
and she's always remained in touch with her family. At
this point, they call her Marie. They come to visit
her at her now her ranch that's outside of town.
(01:10:43):
They just think Aunt Marie owns a really successful hotel.
They have no idea she's a madam like love. In
the seventies, all of the booms have died down. Lusk's
population has gone from ten thousand in the thirties and
forties to about fourteen hundred. Oh, she's a bummer. Most
of Dell's business now comes from tourists who come during
(01:11:05):
elk and antelope hunting season, and from cowboys who come
from South Dakota, Nebraska and other parts of Wyoming. So
by nineteen seventy eight, Dell is turning fucking ninety. Oh
she's finally winding down the business after sixty years in operation.
Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Wow, uh huh.
Speaker 1 (01:11:26):
In nineteen seventy nine, she slips on an icy sidewalk,
breaks her hip. She closes the hotel for good and
moves into an assisted living facility. When she's first assigned
to a room, her roommate fucking clutches her pearls and
is horrified to learn that she'll be bunking with the
famous Dell Burke, owner of the Yellow Hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
What kind of a true asshole do you have to
be where it's like you will have stories every night
until you pass over? That's right, make a friend.
Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
That's why a different woman gladly moves in with Della.
She's like, over.
Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
Here, please, yep, come sit by me.
Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
On another occasion of volunteer stops by Delle's room and
asks if she'd like to read the Bible, and Dell
tells her quote, get the hell out of my room
and turn the TV on as you leave. So she's
our best friend.
Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
At this point, hospital workers have to call in Dell's
family to come help take care of her, and this
is when they all find out that Aunt Marie is
the famous Dell Burk. Some of them clutch their pearls
and are horrified. I'm sure the older generation, I'm sure
the younger generation are fascinated by.
Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
It's like finger guns into the ceiling. It's a little
bit like my dad and I were watching TV last
night and we were watching something on PBS yea, and
my dad goes, oh, I know that guy. I saw
him at Woodstock And I go, what you went to Woodstock?
And he goes, hell, no, he was just lying for fun.
Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
He was fucking with and was like, yeah, like two.
Speaker 2 (01:12:59):
Seconds thought that I'd uncovered like a mysterious past story
from my dad's life.
Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
Jim's got jokes. Jim's got jokes.
Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
He knew how funny it would be. Of like, of
course I didn't go to Woodstock's everything. I stand together.
Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
That's right, that's right. So Dell dies of natural causes
in nineteen eighty one at the age of ninety three,
and it said she dies as one of the wealthiest
women in Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (01:13:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
Yes, the Yellow Hotel is so widely known in the region.
And here's a tidbit of trivia that fascinates me and
will fascinate you. Three thousand people came to Lusk for
the estate sale of the Yellow Hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
Can you imagine what was in that.
Speaker 1 (01:13:40):
A couple pieces of information. First of all, that's twice
the town's population that came to her in the state sales.
Speaker 2 (01:13:46):
No one was ready, No one was ready. No.
Speaker 1 (01:13:49):
The room keys each go for around one hundred and
fifty dollars, they do, and that's in the beginning of
the eighties. A metal ash tray with a saucy picture
on it goes for more than four hundred dollars. And
like everyone just say, you know, you go to estate
sales for deals like this is expensive. You would not
pay that at a normal estate sale. Right. The internal
bell system, which sex workers would use to signal that
(01:14:11):
they were ready for a new client, sales for eight
hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
A velvet while hanging inspires a fear spitting war goes
for well over one thousand dollars and in today's money
that's three thousand, three hundred and sixty two dollars. So yes,
people were there to spend money.
Speaker 2 (01:14:28):
Yeah, they were. And also it's a velvet painting. Yeah,
that is kitch upon kitch, I mean truly, and like
the original, it's not like some guy did it to
make it seem Jesus right, like no, No, it is
from a Wyoming brothel and it's.
Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Seen some shit. Yeah. So at the sale, Dell's grand niece,
she's thirty nine, we have to assume that she's cool
as shit, like awesome, because she goes to the estate sale.
Her name's Lorraine, and she says, quote, I only found
out about her real life two years ago. The notoriety
has taken some getting used to, but I'm having a
great time i've been. So she was like cool, y,
(01:15:09):
Auntie Dell is cool. Yes, lots of locals from town
work the estate sale, and the town of Lusk generally
embraces Dell's story in a way that they, of course
never really did openly while she was alive, so they
understand it's part of history. At the estate sale, the auctioneer,
a Lusk local, says, quote, everybody knows what she did
(01:15:29):
for a living, but she was widely accepted. She did
a lot of good things. She was certainly no drawback
to the community.
Speaker 2 (01:15:36):
Hell no.
Speaker 1 (01:15:36):
In a nineteen seventy three interview, a few years before
her fall, Dell reflected on her relationship with the town,
saying that after nineteen thirty, quote, no one's ever really
threatened to shut me down. Maybe it's because I know
too much for everybody's good. Unfortunately, in the following decades,
the Yellow Hotel falls into disrepair, and in twenty twelve,
the town of Lusk burns it down because it's deemed
(01:15:59):
a hazard.
Speaker 2 (01:16:00):
Oh, which sucks.
Speaker 1 (01:16:02):
Yeah, and that is a story of del Burke, an
entrepreneur who leveraged every big moment of the first half
the twentieth century to grow her business and support her community.
Speaker 2 (01:16:13):
Yeah, del Burke, another one I've never heard of or
even like the slightest reference to. That was great. I
love that story.
Speaker 1 (01:16:23):
The book is called Frontier Madam, The Life of del Birk,
Lady of Lusk, If anyone wants to read that so great.
Speaker 2 (01:16:30):
Yeah, So before we go. I just want to say,
I know everyone's been seeing this horrible, devastating fire on
Maui and what happened to the town of Leahina, which
is so horrible. I know on this podcast I've talked
about going to Hawaii so many times. It's one of
my favorite places to go, and the idea that that
(01:16:53):
happened there and it's just so sad. If you can
do anything, please donate to the Maui Strong Fund. You
can find information at Hawaii Communityfoundation dot org to donate,
and Georgia, if you're good with it, we're going to
donate ten thousand dollars. And please consider not going on
vacation to Hawaii because they don't have the services and
(01:17:14):
they don't have the support system. They are trying to grieve.
I mean, it's really amazing to see the way the
Maui community and the other islands are coming together to
get supplies over there to make sure people have generators, water, food,
all those things. That's Hawaii, that's that community.
Speaker 1 (01:17:34):
Definitely so devastating. I'm glad we can send that money
over there. Yeah cool, all right, Well, thanks for listening
everyone and being here and being a part of it.
Speaker 2 (01:17:45):
I mean, I really enjoyed both of these stories today.
A lot of good, inspiring stuff to think about.
Speaker 1 (01:17:51):
That's us, the feel good podcast that you know and love.
Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
You know how we are super positive? All right, Well
say sex.
Speaker 1 (01:18:00):
And don't get murdered.
Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
Good by.
Speaker 1 (01:18:04):
Elvis.
Speaker 3 (01:18:05):
Do you want a cookie? You can't get on a
plane with a million dollars in cash, Someone's going to
stop and ask you questions. But you can fit a
million dollars with the diamonds in your pocket. I'm Natalia Antalava.
Speaker 4 (01:18:26):
I'm a journalist based in Eastern Europe, and I'm going
to take you into the world of Serbia's most infamous
jewel feed.
Speaker 1 (01:18:36):
The amount that they're holding it in these two minutes,
I ice is so astonishing, it's like magic.
Speaker 3 (01:18:43):
They're called the Pink Panthers, and this is their story.
Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
They wanted to be known all around the world.
Speaker 3 (01:18:50):
They were brazen.
Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
They ventured a jewelry shop in Paris, threw out a
magnum and a grenade, and then they escaped with about
one hundred million dollars jewelry.
Speaker 3 (01:18:59):
And they seemed virtually untouchable.
Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
You know, in Serbia, this guy is like connected with
very powerful people.
Speaker 3 (01:19:07):
But when the heights are this spectacular, they.
Speaker 1 (01:19:10):
Entered, they stole the stuff, They were out of there within.
Speaker 2 (01:19:13):
Thirty two seconds.
Speaker 3 (01:19:14):
And there is this much money.
Speaker 1 (01:19:15):
You got a ten carrot flaws time and basically you're
talking about a million dollars storm.
Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
So they break the window like this and they have
took in an agglace. It was a lit bitrevillions.
Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
It's very very smart.
Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
Someone's bound to come after you.
Speaker 2 (01:19:32):
He did a couple of hides, one of them pretty spectacular,
but he didn't have the reason to believe that someone
would want to kill him in Serbia.
Speaker 4 (01:19:41):
From Exactly Right Media, a best Case Studios production.
Speaker 1 (01:19:46):
So Destiny of one good being Planter is a lot
of money, a lot of fast money, prison for sure.
Speaker 4 (01:19:53):
This is Infamous International The Pig Panther's Story.
Speaker 2 (01:19:58):
After the prison again, fast Money and again prison.
Speaker 4 (01:20:02):
Follow Infamous International The Pink Panther's Story on Amazon Music,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can
listen to the show early and add free on Amazon
Music download the Amazon Music app today.
Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
This has been an Exactly Right production.
Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
Our managing producers Hannah Kyle Creighton.
Speaker 1 (01:20:29):
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.
Speaker 2 (01:20:31):
This episode was mixed by Leona Scualace.
Speaker 1 (01:20:34):
Our researchers are Maren mcclashan and Ali Elkin.
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Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
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Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my Favorite
Murder and Twitter at my Fave Murder.
Speaker 3 (01:20:45):
Bye Bye,
Hell, hello, who we have more exciting news from the
world of exactly right.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yes, we are thrilled to finally tell you about our
new limited true crime series, Infamous International The Pink Panther Story.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is a true story of the world's most infamous
jewel thieves.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
So in the early two thousands, the Pink Panthers planned
and executed a series of theatrical smash and grab heists
in cities like Dubai, London and Monaco.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
They targeted high end jewelry stores, making international headlines and
most wanted lists.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Every Thursday, host and former BBC correspondent Natalia Ontalava interviews journalists, experts,
and eyewitnesses to tell the spine chilling story of the
shadowy crime syndicate.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So stay tuned after this episode of My Favorite Murder
to hear the trailer for Infamous International The Pink Panther Story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And then head to the Infamous International feed and click
follows so you don't miss the two episode premiere on Thursday,
September fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And if you like the trailer, remember you can support
our newest show by leaving a review and don't forget
to click follow.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And one more thing you can listen early on Amazon
Music or early an ad for you by subscribing to
Wondery Plus and the Wondery app.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Goodbye, lass.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Hell and welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So my favorite Murder.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
That's grgel Hart Stark. That's Karen Kilgarriff, And we're heard
a podcast at you, all over.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
You, at you, upon you, around you, whatever area you
need it to be in, we'll put it. It's like
a massage, but it's us yelling at you about things.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's a massage for the little horn in your ear?
What is it a hammer in your ear?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
No, it's going through my ear horn. And I'm from
mill and it feels in my ear horn that it's familiar.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Ear horn is what comes out of it for an
old man's ear in Victorian English. And inside your ear
there's a bone shaped like I think it's a hammer.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Okay, ear murderinos, let us snow we're talking. Let us
know what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
NT Doctor renos Ooh love any kind of guidance, I
bet there's plenty.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I bet you're right. Heat And that's our show for today.
Nothing goodbye.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It's called wondering, wondering.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Wondering about shit. We have no idea about let's see
what's going on is did you hear in the news
that these people were searching a Florida lake for like
for a cold case.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Guess how many cars sunken cars they found in that
lake while looking for one cold case? God guess four
thirty thirty thirty cars.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It wasn't a flooded CarMax. What was happening.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I think it's like it was like a dumping ground
in Florida for the drug mafia. You know what I mean? Oh,
Miami Vice from the TV show Miami Vice. Uh, and
they found thirty fucking cars, man like that is. But
so far they haven't found anybody. So I think they're
(03:24):
just like stolen cars.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Leave it at the airport. Yeah, I mean, why pollute
our waterways truly anymore than you have to.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Beautiful Florida waterways? Can we please leave them alone?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I bet that things will come out of that, because
it's like, well, then they'll look up those ven numbers
and be like, that's where that car was, which means
this person never made it to blank. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So far, they're only like stolen vehicles though they're not like, oh,
none of them have any missing persons ties yet so
it's just nefarious.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Your missing person cold cases do this to me where
I'm like, now we need to live this up to why.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I means, Yeah, normally I would be definitive about the
same way I am about air canowns.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Just a straight up expert.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
That's gonna idea.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'm in Petaluma. I'm hanging out with my dad, quality
time with home gym, quality stuff. We watch a lot
of sports on television, and then I of course kind
of check out and just start looking at my phone
and watching TikTok, and then he goes, what are you
doing over there? Where I'm like, oh, so I have
(04:34):
to watch You're saying I have to watch.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
He's like, why aren't you paying attention to this?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You have to watch this golf with me. We're just
like that's literally like why don't we watch a live
cam of a park because it's very similar excitement, but
probably more exciting. I think.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I think that's like a sports person thing, you know,
like I have some work to do on a computer,
ourselves some on the couch, and fents will put on
like wrestling, and it's like we're on separate planes. Now,
Like you're doing your thing and I'm doing my thing. However,
he does start to go like, oh that guy did that,
like start telling me stories about that guy you know
on the wrestler, and I'm like, you want me to
watch this with you, and so I will. I I'll
(05:12):
watch it with you. But like I thought we were,
is that.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
When you pick up your laptop and you throw it
down on the couch.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I've smashed so many laptops in our relationship.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And then throw him an into a lake. That's right
to hide it.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Speaking of sports, I was going to tell you that
I ran to Stephen Ray Morris at a fucking dodgery
game of all people in places.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
What were either of you doing there?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
He was with his dad, so I looked very sporty
and like, you know, at a baseball cap on and shit.
And I went with Vince. We went for his birthday
and which just so happened. Nice Steven was there.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
That's just even living his best life in your face.
He's just like, really did it? Loving doing other stuff
besides working for you?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
He really is it in my face? Really? Did you
know how I like, you know how vindictive Stephen can go?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh my god, just vicious vicious to the core.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I think here's the thing. I don't follow sports, but
I understand. I feel like sports they have like automatic shammer.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Moments, yes, like going to them live.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, because it's like everyone's excited for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Hot dogs, hot dogsules fucking nachos, like everything about sports
are great.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah. Wait, let's take a sidebar into what did you
eat at the baseball game?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay? Oh my god, I kind of went crazy. So
we had a jersey mics that we brought.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Did you have to sneak that in? Sorry? Do you
have to sneak outside food? No?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
We brought some in? No? No, it was okay, Okay.
I had a hot dog Dodger dogs, I mean cost
I love Costco hot dogs. Why can't Costco just supply
like the Dodger dogs are not good?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Okay, but I'd be really careful about this, I don't.
I feel like people insanely passionate about stuff like this,
where we are blustering into territory.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I am not talking about the Dodgers. I am talking
about the janky ass fucking hot dogs. And I love
hot dogs. I'm a hot dog aficionado.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
My phone's bringing its elon mus who is it said,
we're both kicked off of Twitter. It's not Twitter a sex.
Those are the two messages he told me to tell you.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, good okay. And then we got a mini helmet
filled with nachos with nacho cheese and pickled hollapanos nice
and a pretzel and we dip that pretzel in that
nacho cheese. Yes, like motherfuckers.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Now was the pretzel good?
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, the pretzel was good. The nachos were good. You
know what I want people to comment is like, what's
your favorite snack at your favorite sporting place? Like I
want to show where it just goes different sports arenas,
and sure, watch baseball or whatever, but also eat like
Philadelphia obviously probably has really good food in whatever. I'm
not even gonna guess what their team name is called Orioles.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Anyway you're asking me, Yeah, I've heard of an Oriole
for sure. Isn't it the Baltimore Orioles.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Karen, You're right, Baltimore Oriols. Oh no, that's the worst
place to get wrong.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Oh no, we have to get out of this danger.
Getting him to get us out of here. This is
like we're just walking along the slapping fast eyes across
the face and then expecting things to go great.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
We're smacking e n T doctors were smacking hot dog aficionados. Okay,
all right, we're done with this. Let's move on. I
saw Steven. It was great.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I do like the idea, though, if you have a
sports arena or stadium and you think there's one good
piece of food there, then Georgia and Vince will go
on there and include Network show the tour sport stadium
food around the nation. My dream, it'll be an apology tour.
And the first place she'll stop is Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Oh, never going to Baltimore again. They're gonna kill me.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Oh my god, I'm sorry We've to Baltimore. That's crazy.
Show that had the catwalks, remember that. Yeah, it was
like we were in an eighties concert video. Yeah, it
was an amazing show.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Baltimore is the best city. I love you guys so much.
I love them there forever and never. Amen.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Good job, good job. All right, Speaking of Baltimore, we've
got some RM highlights for you. Okay, guys, we're just
here to tell you a couple of things that are
happening on the arm network lately. We are so thrilled
that you listen to our podcast. We have other podcasts
that we adore that are on this network that if
you are ever bored or on a long drive, we'd
(09:53):
love for you to check out. For example, I'm about
to do my own, which is hilarious. Aaron Brown writes
these and she's setting me up. Here's what she wrote
for me to say, are you listening to Doune to
Ride with Chris Fairbanks and me? It's not You're missing out.
I have to say about my own other podcast. We're
back in the car this week and our guest is
our very own Bridger Wine girl from I Said No Gifts,
(10:15):
who is recently featured in Vulture a great article about
I Said No Gifts.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And in additional Exactly Right crossover news, Kara Klank and
Lisa Traeger of That's Messed Up and Spu Podcast are
Roz's guests on Ghosted by Roz Hernandez.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
That's a power matchup right there. I keep seeing Lisa
Tregger clips on TikTok Oh my God, and I favor
them every time. I love her. She is just so funny.
She's such a funny comedian.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Her stand up is amazing. She's so vulgar and like
doesn't give a fuck. No, she's so funny.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
She's so funny, and she also is so herself. Yes,
I was talking to somebody that does sets with her
a lot at clubs and stuff. They're like, she just
destroys every time she gets up there and is like, hey,
here's my deal, and everyone's like, yes, we love it.
It's a great. So go see Liza Tregger live if
you can. And also, while summer is raging and full
effects saren, don't forget we have new SSDGM and Murderino
(11:19):
beach towels for you in the MFM store right now,
along with a bunch of other beloved goodies. So go
get your beach towel.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Those can be used at the pool too. Oh right,
so go to my favorite murder dot com to check
those out.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
They transition from beach to pools so easily you won't
believe it.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And finally, this is one more quick reminder to check
out the trailer for Exactly Right's newest limited true crime
series at the end of this episode. It's called Infamous
International The Pink Panthers Story, and it premieres on Thursday,
September fourteenth. Please check that out, Please like, rate review, subscribe,
all the above. It's a great show. We're really excited
(11:58):
about it.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
We're working with the amazing journalists, this awesome company that
brought the story to us. So it's a very cool
project and we have been working on it for a
long time. So we'd love for you guys to check
it out.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yay, and you're first, right.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
I am, I believe, I am.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I'm going to start the story by telling you a
factoid that might surprise you. It definitely surprised me when
I read it. In a couple of days. On August
twenty ninth, it's going to be the eighteenth anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina. Oh shit, eighteenth, almost twenty years Yeah, so insane.
And for those of us who were around in two
(12:41):
thousand and five, you know, we all remember watching the
news that day. Just horrifying, just watching New Orleans be devastated.
The destruction was historical, and it's after effects, of course,
piled on in the weeks that followed. It was heart wrenching,
it was infuriating. But today I'm going to tell you
(13:02):
a story that you may not have heard about. It's
the story of New Orleans Charity Hospital, and it's almost
three hundred years of service to the city's residence, no
matter how much money they had in their pockets. If
you're from New Orleans, Charity needs no introduction. The hospital's
massive Art Deco skyscraper was a fixture in the Crescent City.
(13:25):
It was a place so meaningful to the people of
New Orleans that some even called it Mother Charity, as
New Orleans native John Johnston once told a documentary film crew, quote,
Charity Hospital gave birth to most of the citizens of
New Orleans and gave life to many dying people. Here
she stood by our side. She was here when we
came into the world. She was here when a lot
(13:47):
of us left. If there's something to be called your mother,
it was Charity Hospital. That's our mom end. Quote.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Oh that's heavy.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah. So on August twenty ninth, two thousand and five,
when Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke, the panic
and the suffering and the chaos enveloped the city. But
as the waters rose to Charity's emergency room doorstep, and
even after the lights went out, the doctors, the nurses
and the hospital staff there remained as committed as ever
(14:15):
to the people of New Orleans. This is the story
of the final days of operation at Charity Hospital, New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Holy shit.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah. So. Sources used today are the book Charity by
Jim Carrier, a Real Stories documentary titled America's oldest hospital Abandoned,
and a two thousand and five Houston Chronicle article by
journalist Tony Fremantle titled Trapped Hospital workers kept most patients alive.
(14:46):
And the rest of the sources are in our show
notes when Hurricane Katrina hit. Charity Hospital has been in
operation for two hundred and sixty nine years. It's one
of the oldest continuously operating hospital on the continent, only
rivaled by Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Charity was
established in the seventeen hundreds, back when France still controlled Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah. It was founded by a Frenchman named Jean Louis
who allocated a large chunk of his modest estate in
his will to creating a safety net hospital that would
treat anyone regardless of whether they could pay. Just like
absorb that for a second. In today's privatized healthcare system,
that is ruining the lives of so many people. This
(15:33):
country was established by this kind of charity and forward thinking,
and we need to return to it. So throughout his existence,
charity changed hands and buildings multiple times, but by the
early two thousands, when our story takes place, it's part
of the Louisiana State University system and it never strays
(15:53):
from its mission, and throughout the years it continues to
operate as a free hospital. There's a lot of French
names in this story, and I did take French one
and two in high school. But much like when this
hospital was founded, it was in the seventeen hundreds, so
I can't really speak for it anymore. So Peter W says, quote,
nobody asks you can you pay? Do you have money?
(16:16):
That's something that we've never ascribed to at a hospital.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, imagine that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Imagine Canada. Yeah, hey, Canada. So Charity Hospital even spawns
a unique safety net medical system across Louisiana, with nine
additional public hospitals offering free services throughout the state, and
they are at the time the only system of this
kind in the entire United States. And unfortunately, and sad
(16:42):
to say, they've all been privatized at this point, this
system does not exist anymore. So Charity Hospital provides some
of the best healthcare in the country. Their physicians, nurses, residents,
and medical staff basically have seen everything. You know, they
treat so many people, and they're able to treat so
many people. They've seen everything from the rarest diseases to
(17:05):
the most gruesome injuries. Writer Jim Carrier says, quote, for
every death, there were seven saves. So good was their
record that the Secret Service designated Charity Hospital's trauma center
for visiting presidents and popes whoa Yeah. So Behind the
hospital's er check in desk, Charity has a motto written
(17:26):
on the wall in gold lettering, and it says, quote
where the unusual occurs and miracles happen.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That sounds like a fun place to work.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, it sounds like it needs to be rebooted as
a medical drama. And then also through that drama gets
explained why privatized healthcare is ruining this country. Okay, that's
just a speech my mom used to give every night
at dinners, But I'll go into that later. Now, Charity's
success rate isn't just chalked up to exposure and technique.
(17:55):
It's also about the staff's dedication to the hospital, which
holds a special place in their hearts. Doctor w says, quote,
seventy percent of the doctors that practice within the state
of Louisiana came through the halls of Charity Hospital. Seventy percent.
We are committed to the care of our patients. That's
the mission of the hospital end quote. And doctor Ben
(18:17):
de bois Blanc, who ran Charity's intensive care unit, says, quote,
I think it's an understatement to say I have an
emotional connection to Charity Hospital. I first stepped into Charity
Hospital in nineteen seventy eight when I started medical school,
and I never left till the doors were closed.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
End quote. So by the early two thousands, Charities doctors
and nurses are treating one thousand sick and injured people
every day, around the clock, under every conceivable circumstance. And
so to protect the hospital from potential power failures, there
are two heavy duty generators outside the ground floor emergency wing,
(18:55):
fueling at power grid in the hospital's basement, which then
supplies electricity to the building. Most of New Orleans is
at or below sea level. It's surrounded by lakes and rivers,
and because it's on the Gulf Coast, it's no stranger
to tropical storms and hurricanes. New Orleans is protected by
a levee system, but flooding, of course, still happens from
time to time. Doctor Norman E. McSwain Junior, a pioneering
(19:19):
trauma surgeon at Charity, says, quote, I've waded through waste
deep water several times. It's no big deal. Like the pump,
right badass. The pumps take it out. People who live
in low lying areas have to put new carpet down
every few years, but they get used to it. End
Quote doctor Norman McSwain junior. He's just basically saying, if
(19:41):
you live in New Orleans, you're used to flooding, Its storms, flooding,
all these things that happen. But of course in New
Orleans there's also lingering fear about the big one, the
storm that puts all the others to shame. And with
human life at stake, Charity's medical staff knows they can't
afford to leave anything to chance. Hospital leadership routinely begs
(20:03):
the Louisiana state legislature for the money to move that
power grid to a higher floor, but their requests are
repeatedly denied. The trend at the State House is to
cut charity's budget, which they do routinely, not to increase it.
So each year charity staff prepares for hurricane season the
best it can, and in June of two thousand and five,
(20:24):
the hospital finds money in its coffers for six portable
diesel generators, some extra medicine and saline bags, and enough
canned food to supply the entire hospital for several days.
So that's basically their emergency setup, knowing that some storm
will happen and just to be prepared. So now it's
the end of that summer. It's Saturday, August twenty seventh,
(20:46):
two thousand and five, and a massive storm named Katrina
has just moved through southeast Florida as a Category one hurricane,
but as it hits the Gulf of Mexico, where the
water's warm, it gets stronger by the hour, So by
seven am on Sunday, August twenty eighth, Katrina is upgraded
to a Category five storm with sustained winds of one
(21:07):
hundred and seventy five miles per hour, and it's coming
straight at New Orleans with projections showing that it'll pass
right over the city's historic French Quarter, and so the
Mayor of New Orleans announces a mandatory evacuation of the city.
Around one point two million people leave New Orleans and
the surrounding communities, but an estimated one hundred thousand stay behind,
(21:32):
either by choice or because they have no way to
leave yeah or no ability to leave. So twenty six
thousand of these people will seek shelter at the Superdome,
which is its story all unto itself nightmare story like
horrible things that came out of that, but at the
time when they set it up, it was a refuge
(21:53):
and a last resort for a lot of people. Meanwhile,
the staff at Charity Hospital, it's just business as usual
for them. Before eight am there are already five hundred
patients checked in totally unrelated to the impending storm. It's
just business as usual for them. And among many other cases,
the staff at Charity is currently tending to gunshot wounds,
(22:15):
mental health crises, strokes, spinal cord injuries, heart attack patients,
and women in labor. So there are a thousand staff
members at Charity Hospital on site tending to these patients
and most of them have packed over night bags so
they know Katrina's coming. They're prepared. They've gone through hurricanes before,
(22:37):
so they all know they're just going to ride the
storm out. At the hospital, no one has any idea
how bad it'll be, and to the amusement of his colleagues,
an orthopedic resident named Duayne Belanga even brings a canoe
to work. He of course becomes the butt of everyone's
jokes because they all think he's overreacting. But Charity's staff
(22:58):
is prepared. They've seen these kind of storm, they know
what they can bring, and they're preparing to handle it
no matter what. ICU nurse supervisor Henrietta Walton Nunez says, quote,
we had made up our minds that we came in
here together and we were going to leave together. It
was that spirit that came up. I might die with
a uniform with Charity Hospital insignia on it, but nobody
(23:20):
abandoned their patients. It became like a spiritual bond. If
one leaves, we all leave, and that's what we decided. Quote.
So around four pm, with Charity's er full as usual,
the rain starts to fall in New Orleans, but the
storm hasn't left the Gulf yet, and this is just
a preview of what's to come. By seven pm, the
winds are picking up and at this point there are
(23:43):
now over thirteen hundred people staff and patients in Charity's
main hospital building. Though the storm hasn't made landfall yet,
Katrina is influencing the patients in unexpected ways, like as
the night passes, the hurricane's low pressure system that's incoming
reportedly induces labor in six of the pregnant patients. Oh no,
(24:07):
so that's something to consider. Watch those low pressure systems.
Don't storm chase please. So early Monday morning, August twenty ninth,
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in southeast Louisiana. Along the coast,
there are storm surges over twenty five feet tall, and
before long, the ferocious storm hits New Orleans and Charity Hospital.
(24:30):
Doctor du Bois Blanc is working in the ICU at
the time, and he says, quote, the hospital was a
civil defense shelter during the Cold War. It's not going anywhere,
but it was a little creepy to feel this big,
monstrous concrete building vibrating in the wind.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Damn end.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Quote. Yeah, So at the same time, Doctor du Boisblanc.
Here's a popping sound followed by the squeaking of nurses
shoes on the hospital floor because all around the building,
wind gusts are blowing the windows out of their window frames.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh no.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
In some cases they're falling out several stories down to
the pavement, crashing glass all below. And in other cases
they're being blown inwards through hospital rooms, sending shards of
glass everywhere.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Holy shit.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah right, I mean that's when it goes from like, oh,
this storm is crazy, to the windows blowing in Yeah.
So of course the nurses run and turn all occupied
beds as far away from the windows as they possibly can.
Over in the trauma wing, doctor Nick Swain Junior watches
in horror as quote, water blows sideways in big slats
(25:40):
like Venetian blinds through the now empty window frames. Holy shit.
And then the power goes out across New Orleans and
inside Charity Hospital, So the rain's pouring down in sheets,
the wind is howling through the hospital halls, and the
collective heart of Charity skips a beat as it waits
in the darkness. You're in a massive hospital with thirteen
(26:02):
hundred people in it. In pitch dark.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
No, and like in the middle of people giving birth
and people in the middle of surgery.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
And the people on ventilators, babies in the nicu. I mean,
it's a hospital. But thankfully those generators kick in, the
lights flick back on, monitors and machines start humming and
beeping again. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, but it
will be short lived, because within hours, one of Charity's
two backup generators is destroyed in the storm, and when
(26:35):
it goes, the powers cut again to an entire wing
of the hospital. An X ray and operating suite as
well as rooms with ventilated patients are instantly thrown back
into darkness, and for patients on those ventilators, it's now
a life or death situation. So the nurses run to
those rooms with what are called amboo bags ambu. You've
(26:57):
seen them probably on Gray's anatomy. They're the hand operated
breathing devices, so the patient has a mask on and
it's connected to a squeezable bag. The nurses throw the
masks on the critical respiratory patients. They create airflow, and
many of the nurses will be sitting there squeezing those
ambo bags for days at a time. Wow. So elsewhere
(27:20):
in charity, staffers from every department are now desperately trying
to restore power to the dark wing of the hospital.
So even though the hospital has just bought the six
portable generators in anticipation of hurricane season, they're still in
storage waiting to be set up and filled empty sell fuel. Yeah.
Oh no, I literally got to that part as I
(27:40):
was typing out. I was just like, oh, like, just.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
So much so rough.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, So a group of the strongest staffers
basically they run, they go, and they're lifting one of
the generators. It's five hundred pounds and they're lifting it
up several flights of stairs up to that wing where
the power's out.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
So doctor du BOISBC winds up connecting with two residents
who are running around with an extension cord. And here's
how he tells it. He says, quote, they literally ran
a twelve gage cord about three hundred feet down the hallway,
out the window, up to another floor and plugged into,
of all places, a coke machine outlet on the other
(28:23):
side of the hospital, and into that we plugged ventilators
using a search protector and then another search protector plugged
into that, and then another. We were running seven or
eight ventilators off this one extension cord. The son of
a Bitch was hot. Holy s end quote like, did
you ever watch Nurse Jackie? Just like the way hospitals
(28:45):
run and the intensity where it's like sometimes it's a
little bit quiet and sometimes it's really intense and big.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Things happen out of nowhere.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, this is like you have that, and then on
top of that additional like now it's ten times harder,
now it's fifth t times harder. Now it's one hundred
times harder.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, And I'm like, what are you going to do
to solve it? Because you can't walk out?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. And they wouldn't walk out.
So that afternoon, the storm breaks New Orleans. It's moving
north of the city. There's a sense of peace and quiet,
even as the lights continue flickering throughout the hospital. At
least the major part of the storm is over. But
for the medical staff in the ICU, including doctor de
(29:26):
Bois Blanc and Henrianta Walton Nunez, one thing is obvious.
Their sickest patients need to be evacuated to a less
damage facility as soon as possible. Administrative staffers immediately call
city and state agencies looking for any indication of when
rescuers might show up to evacuate Charities patients, but they
can't seem to reach anyone outside of the hospital. Storm
(29:50):
damage has killed communications systems, and placing a phone call
from a cell phone or a landline isn't working no
matter how many times they try. Then one staff are
now says he has a receiver and a ham radio,
but they still can't connect with any government agencies. But
the receiver does come in handy. Between it and a
few hand crank radios from the hospital's emergency supply kit,
(30:14):
the staff starts getting news updates about what's happening out
in the rest of the world. Throughout the building, teams
are huddled around these radios, clinging to every word, and
what they're hearing is terrifying. The power is out for millions.
People's homes have been wiped off their foundations. Many people
are stranded and worse now, everyone is worried about their
(30:36):
own homes and families, not just the crises that they're
facing there at the hospital. But charity's employees know their
immediate responsibility is ensuring the health and safety of the
two hundred and fifty patients they're currently caring for. Not
one employee leaves the hospital, not one.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
It's amazing. Instead, the staff vows to stick by their
patients until andy responders can take every one of them
to safety. So for now, the staff goes back to
providing care as usual. But as this day turns tonight,
there's still no word or plan for an evacuation. So
now it's Tuesday, August thirtieth, and before the sun rises,
(31:16):
the power goes off throughout the entire hospital. Every heart monitor, incubator,
dialysis machine, ventilator stops working.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, and along with them, the air conditioner, the plumbing,
and the running water go out because they're also connected
to that power grid. So in total darkness, nurses go
back to bagging ventilated patients, never taking breaks unless someone
can take over for them. In the neonatal ICU, which
(31:47):
is called the NICICU, nurses have to pull premature babies
out of their incubators and cradle them in their arms
to keep them warm.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
By this point, the storm has passed and there's no
more or wind, so everyone's expecting the power to kick
back on any minute, but it doesn't, and so staffers
armed with flashlights go down into the hospital's basement to
see what's going on, and they make a chilling discovery.
The basement is completely flooded. The cafeteria and the morgue
(32:18):
are both underwater, and so is there electrical grid that
same one that charity's leadership had tried to get moved
to a higher floor and they were denied that funding.
So everyone's baffled. Why would the hospital be flooding now
Katrina has already passed, So again staffers search the dark hallways,
they go back to those radios, only to hear more
(32:40):
devastating news. New Orleans levees have burst, so while the
staff had been working through the night, billions of gallons
of water has been pouring into the bowl shaped city.
And when the sun rises, all of the staff looks
outside and what they see as apocalyptic. The city's underwater,
the hospital looks like it's set in the middle of
(33:01):
a debris filled lake, and now newscasters are reporting that
the floodwaters could rise another eight feet.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, So the situation goes from dire to catastrophic, and
the staff knows they have to get Charity's most vulnerable
patients to another facility as soon as possible. And then
a hospital administrator finally gets wored that FEMA is preparing
to evacuate Charity's patients. But there's genuine worry that the
water is going to keep rising all the way up
(33:32):
to the first floor emergency unit, and dozens of er
patients have to be moved to a higher floor in
the hospital immediately, So hour by hour, as floodwater slowly
swirls upwards, the doctors and nurses scrambled to set up
and improvised emergency room in a second floor auditorium. So
now all available staffers start moving patients out of the
(33:56):
er and upstairs, and for those patients who can't walk,
staff members strap them onto spineboards, and when they run
out of spine boards, they strap them onto broken off
tabletops and they move them one by one up the
pitch black stairwells.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
My god, that sounds so terrified. It's like legit apocalyptic.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yes, and kind of like this is a job that's
hard enough, so then it's like if something happens, and
you're like, oh, well, you just have to go up,
but you have to go up in the dark and
with water everywhere. So you're running around trying to make
sure that people are okay in this wing, in that wing,
while if you're anywhere near the ground floor you are
(34:40):
either walking on water or like slippery floor. Totally for
this already worn out staff, this move is extremely stressful
and of course physically exhausting. When the second floor auditorium
is at capacity, staffers and patients keep climbing all the
way up to the ICUs that are on the sixth
and twelfth floor.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
So as the doctors and nurses care for the rest
of the patients without electricity, they're forced to make difficult
decisions over in the NICU. For example, there are two
extremely premature babies who require both incubation and breathing support,
neither of which are available in the power outage. Neo
natologist doctor Brian Barkmeyer, who is caring for these babies,
(35:24):
knows that they have to get to a functional hospital
as soon as possible or they'll die. So doctor Barkmeyer
finds the staffer with the access to the HAM radio
and he sends out a signal and miraculously, this time
he connects with a team of firemen who are set
up on the nearby Interstate ten, which is elevated, so
(35:44):
it's part of this interstate that's above the floodwater. So
if the charity staff can get these babies to the interstate,
the firemen are standing by ready to bring them to
a more stable hospital. But the problem is Charity is
surrounded by waste deep water. But then doctor Barkmeyer remembers
that canoe the resident Duyanne Belange brought in ahead of
(36:08):
the storm.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Forgot about the canoe.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
No longer a joke. Now it's a lifeline for little
tiny babies.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
This is all about improv They're like, yes, anding, yes,
this fucking disaster.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
It's crazy, and they're doing it like separate from how
they feel, separate from what they're worried about with their
own personal lives, Like they're separated from their families. That
part of it must have been absolutely horrible. Yeah, they
have to stay and they have to like basically dig
in and it's like now they have to treat their
(36:43):
patients like their families. Yeah, it's so rough, And this
idea that like, I wonder if the resident Dwayne Belange
was joking when he brought that canoe in. I wonder
what he was really thinking.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Doctor Barkmeer rushes down the slick hallways, covered now with
discardedly text gloves, syringes, water bottles until he finds the
resident Belange and he explains what has to happen to
keep these infants alive. So Dwayne and two other residents,
Alan Butler and Michael Cox immediately sign on for this challenge.
(37:18):
The four of them grab the canoe and the infants
carry them downstairs, swing open the emergency room entrance door,
and they place the canoe in the floodwater, which has
now reached the er ramp, and the three residents step in.
Doctor Barkmeyer decides that the babies have to be carried
one by one, which is very smart, very smart. I
(37:41):
don't know if that would have struck me at the time.
He hands off the first child, who has a breathing
tube in her throat, and he says, quote, make sure
the tube stays in place. Squeeze the bag about once
a second, hard enough to make her chest rise. Keep
the child pink, keep her pink.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Oh my god end quote.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I mean, also, these are resident doctors. They're just you know,
this is how basically they're cutting their teeth on becoming doctors.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
It's incredible and it's so brave that they volunteered to
do it and they're in it. Yeah, here's the good news.
The mission is successful. Both of these babies live and
make it to a stable hospital. And this day is
filled with many of these highs, stories of quick thinking
life saved, set against extreme lows, the worst of which
(38:37):
was around noon that same day, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's
voice comes through those portable radios saying that New Orleans
Charity Hospital has been successfully evacuated.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
No, yeah, and they're like, ah, don't look like it.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
They're like, they're in total disbelief. Right. Obviously, there's been
a huge communit cation error. There's a serious problem. So
everybody grabs those phones. They try to contact the state government,
but there's no signal. Also, the phone lines, of course
are jammed because everyone across the city is trying to
find their families, their friends, so the calls don't go through,
(39:17):
so they just have to keep trying to call someone. Meanwhile,
charity's medical team works tirelessly to keep hundreds of patients
safe and cared for with no air conditioning, no running water,
no lights. Also, it's hot.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
It's August, so it's like that humid, sticky heavy hurricane heat.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Yes, low pressure system like holorrifying. Also, the doctors and
nurses can't wash their hands. Oh fuck yeah, the toilets
aren't flushing. Oh it's worst case scenario. Henrietta Walton Nunez
says that quote. At that point, it was the basic needs,
making sure that patients were clean, giving them water, keeping
(39:58):
them fed as best as possible, and surviving. But it
was getting kind of hairy because most of the nurses
had been working around the clock with no breaks. We
had to kick it into survival mode.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
So the doctors are fanning patients who are on the
verge of heatstroke. Nurses are emptying overflowing toilets. Anyone who
can is bagging ventilated patients. Groups of staffers are still
hauling the five remaining five hundred pound diesel powered generators
up as many as twelve flights of stairs to the ICU.
(40:32):
I mean that's that kind of thing where you know
when like big guys are always bummed because they're the
people that everyone asked to help them move. I could
do a ventilation bag. I'll do that for a while.
It's like no, no, no, go back to carrying that
five hundred pound block.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Yeah, And I bet it wasn't just like nurses and
doctors and like that. It was like all the staff
probably you know, oh, everybody, everybody, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Everybody, because there's you know what is that orderlies. There's
so many people that work at hospitals that make it go.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Janitors, yes, kitchen staff. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
At the same time, other employees are roving the flooded
streets in Duayne's canoe looking for abandoned cars to siphon
gas from for those generators. It's all exhausting work. The
staff are saving the bottled water for the patients. They're
forced to hydrate themselves with ivs. Oh fuck. So by
(41:25):
Tuesday night, everyone's physically and emotionally exhausted. Of course, they're
also dehydrated. They're also overheated. Many staffers choose to sleep
on the roof of the hospital that night, hoping just
to catch a slight breeze. They're wrapped in hazardous waist
bags that are serving as impromptu sleeping bags, and they're
(41:45):
clinging to the hope that tomorrow someone will come to
help them. So by Wednesday, August thirty, first, the reality
is setting in that amid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina,
Charity Hospital has fallen through the cracks, one's coming to
evacuate them, and patients are starting to die. Doctor du
(42:06):
vois Blanc remembers sitting in the ICU with his team.
He says, quote we came to the conclusion that if
we were going to get out, we were going to
have to get ourselves out end. Quote. They have to
do everything they have to keep everybody alive, figure out
how to escape. It's insane. So in certain words of
the hospital staff members and patients start using spare bedsheets
(42:28):
to write SOS messages and they start hanging them from
the building's broken windows. So this was the thing that
I remember most from watching Katrina footage like on CNN,
which was people on the roofs of their own homes
hanging signs that say, you know, somebody's bed ridden inside,
like that kind of help they needed. That's how long
(42:49):
people were stranded. You really only saw that on the news.
The idea that a huge hospital in that city was
doing the exact same thing as like mind to me.
They had one sign hanging out the window that said
one thousand plus people and sick babies.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
My sign in.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Bold, colorful lettering. Everybody's still trying to place out going calls.
Only now they're not trying to call any government agencies.
Now they're trying to reach members of the media. And
by some miracle, an Ice resident named Jeff Williams gets
a hold of CNN. He explained to them what's really
going on at Charity Hospital, and that day Wolf Blitzer
(43:32):
interviews him, and Williams tells the world, quote, we have
not been able to evacuate almost anyone. We have at
least forty two critical patients as of early this morning,
a couple of died and a couple of people have
gotten worse end quote. So now, and thank god he
was able to do that because there were people watching.
(43:54):
And amongst those watching is a man named Richard Zuschlag,
who is the CEO of a large Louisiana based ambulance company,
and he immediately offers helicopters to help evacuate, and at
the same time there's a company called HCA which runs
Tulane's Hospital, and Tulane's Hospital is only about two blocks away,
(44:16):
and so that company contacts Charity's team and lets them
know that they can use their helipad. They're currently doing
air evacuations out of Tulane Hospital. They just have to
get to Tulane Hospital. So basically, now the staff has
to get their critical patients to Tulane Hospital, and one
(44:39):
canoe isn't going to do the job. So staffers sprint
to the er ramp and they flag down passing boats.
Remember how they were like people actually going through with
like small boats to try to rescue the people that
were on their roofs and whatever. So some staffers flag
down some boats, and many of them belonged to the
(45:00):
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries because they had been
rescuing stranded people. So, starting with the most critical patients,
doctors and nurses once again strap these people onto spineboards,
restrain their arms, tape their medical records to their chests. WHOA,
then they carry each patient down those dark stairwells. Now
(45:20):
they're going down. I think it'd be easier to carry
someone up, yeah, than how easy it would be to
be going. I thank guide. And also it's pitch black.
Doctor McSwain remembers, quote, one cardiac patient was on a
pump that weighed five hundred pounds and had two feet
of tubing. We had to carry him down five flights
(45:41):
without separating them by two feet in the dark.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Oh my fucking end quote.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So now it's like that one is almost a combination
of the generator challenge and the ICU challenge combined. It's
beyond It's like superhuman what they were doing. So once
they make it to the er ramp, patients are gently
placed on boats accompanied by members of the hospital's medical team.
For the dozen or so babies that need to be evacuated,
(46:10):
nurses carry them two at a time, one in each arm.
From here, the boats move through New Orleans flooded streets
down to Tulane Hospital or waiting medical staff carefully lift
them back onto dry land and carry them up several
more flights of stairs to the rooftop helipad, where doctor
du Bois Blanc and his staff have now set up
(46:31):
an impromptu ICU. They continue to treat patients as they
wait for available helicopters. So these trips to Tulane are harrowing.
At one point, doctor du Bois Blanc manages to wave
down a National Guard truck that is one of those
amphibious ones that can drive through deep floodwater. He loads
(46:51):
a sick patient inside and they set out toward Tulane.
But on the way, the patient stops breathing, so, thinking fast,
the stabs a hole in the man's chest to relieve
the air pressure. He would later say, quote, right there
in the back of that truck, in those floodwaters, we
stuck a big old tube in the side of his chest.
We had the wherewithal to bring surgical supplies with us,
(47:14):
but we forgot the sedation, the animal jesics and the anaesthetics.
Good night end quote right. As painful as it was,
and I'm sure as nightmarish, this treatment saved that patient's life.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
Oh my fucking God.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So that night, doctor du Bois Blanc and his team
head back to Charity Hospital, and inside they're greeted by
groups of staffers trying to console each other with jokes
and stories and sing a lungs. They're just whatever it takes.
All around the hospital, medical teams continue working in insane circumstances.
Just before midnight, a team of two doctors perform an
(47:51):
emergency c section on a pregnant patient.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
One doctor holding a flashlight while the other cuts into
the woman's body. The baby and the mother both survive.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Oh my god, like c sections are fucking dicey. Everything
on right, when everything's up and running.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
In the best circumstances, when everyone has washed their hands.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Thank god.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah, that's the thing I can't get over, is like
that they were in the least sterile thank you, sterile circumstances.
It's just horrifying, I'm sure, as they were incredibly horrified
compared to what they're used to dealing with. Doctors continue
escorting patients from Charity to Tulane until one am on
Friday morning, when there are no critical patients left in
(48:40):
Charity Hospital. At around three pm that afternoon, airboats and
heavy duty trucks finally show up to evacuate the rest
of the hospital patients. Tragically, eight icee you patients are
lost during these five hellish days after Hurricane Katrina, but
the other two one hundred and forty plus patients in
(49:04):
that hospital survive.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah, So the road to recovery post Katrina is a
long and difficult one, filled with anguish. Of course, people's
lives are not only uprooted, they're never the same. Within
days of the storm, eighty percent of New Orleans is
underwater and across the region, one million people are displaced
from their homes. Fourteen hundred people lose their lives, the
(49:30):
majority of those were in New Orleans and to this day,
Hurricane Katrina causes an estimated one hundred and twenty five
billion dollars in damage.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
Yeah, to this day it's the most expensive storm in
US history, and in today's money, it would be two
hundred billion dollars. As New Orleans begins to rebuild, there
are serious efforts to restore Charity Hospital to its pre
Katrina condition, but to the surprise of many, word spreads
that there are no plans to reopen the hospital. Instead,
(50:03):
state affiliated operators make the controversial decision to build a
brand new, more modern facility. This takes several years. It's
a very modern, top tier hospital that's open to the public,
but to the heartbreak of many in New Orleans, the
name Charity is dropped. The new hospital simply called University
(50:24):
Medical center, and it is no longer associated with free
health care. In fact, in the wake of Charity's closure,
nine of the ten public safety net hospitals across Louisiana
either close or privatize. Wow heartbreaking. Those now private hospitals
are still required to provide indigenent care, which means if
(50:45):
you can't pay, you still do get care. But of
course this is in addition to treating patients with private
insurance Medicaid, Medicare, and it's unclear how this new system
has affected healthcare for Louisiana's poorest and uninsured citizens. Meanwhile,
the abandoned Charity Hospital still sits in the same location
on New Orleans Tulane Avenue. Rumors occasionally will swirl about
(51:09):
it being redeveloped. Doctor du Bois Blanc, like many of
the doctors and nurses in this story, continues to work
in the LSU medical system, and he says, quote where
the unusual occurs and miracles happen in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. Of course it has no meaning. Those days
following Hurricane Katrina were our finest hour. Every day miracles happened.
(51:35):
I think the real story of Hurricane Katrina is not
the images that you saw on television. The real legacy
is that it peeled away all that isolates us from
each other and allowed for those human human connections. People
say what we did was heroic, but we were just
doing our jobs. And that is the story of the
staff of Charity Hospital and their heroism and resilience during
(51:58):
Hurricane Katrina. Wow, can you believe that shit?
Speaker 1 (52:02):
I can tell you're on the brink of tears through
the entire thing. Your eyes are like that bright blue.
Karen's gonna cry soon.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
My crying eyes. Well, you know, it's just to have
a mother that was a nurse. You kind of understand
the first responder dedication. First of all, it kind of
gets to me that I've never heard this ever. No, yeah,
in eighteen years. And maybe it was because there were
just so many stories and there was so much national
(52:30):
realization of what happened in New Orleans, the disparity of
like help and care and watching the race issue, all
of it was so big and awful and constant. And
this idea that throughout all of that Charity Hospital that
(52:50):
was all about the people kind of no matter what,
never faltered. Now, it's just it's incredible. I mean, those
people deserve, even have deserved, huge accolades.
Speaker 1 (53:03):
Totally. I can't believe I haven't heard that for sure.
It's epic, it really is. I can't believe it's in
eighteen bucking years. It does not seem that long.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
It really doesn't know.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Wow, great job, thank you. Well, I'm going to take
us back even further.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
Okay, to the.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Late eighteen hundreds. Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
I love it then.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
I mean, they didn't wash their hands ever, there was
no like they didn't know, they didn't know, they didn't know.
I'm going to tell you the story of Wyoming Madam
dell Birk and her brothel, the Yellow Hotel of Lusk, Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
They say the Yellow Hotel of Lusk, Wyoming was the
charity hospital.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Of Wyoming of the late eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
In a way where there was Karen, there's Karen.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
Love and there was and you're right. The main source
I used for this story is a book by June
Read called Frontier Madam The Life of del Birk, Lady
of Lusk, and the rest of the sources can be
found in our show notes.
Speaker 2 (54:07):
I am positive that Allejandro and Hannah when they were
putting these stories together, were like, here's one institution of care,
now here's another institution of care.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
So I'm gonna tell you about the Madame Delberk. She's
born Mary Ada Fisher on July fifteenth, eighteen eighty eight,
in good Old Somerset, Ohio. She doesn't start going by
the name Dell until she's an adult, but I'm just
gonna call her Dell because it's easier, Okay. So in
eighteen ninety eight, when she's ten, the family moves to
the Dakota Territory. They live in a one room house
(54:41):
nicknamed a sadi because it's made out of sod. Oh
I mean, can you imagine?
Speaker 2 (54:47):
Yes, I can.
Speaker 1 (54:49):
It's actually the only widely available building material in the
Great Plains.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
So it's just basically dirt and grass.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
M wow, sod. As a teenager, Della is known around
town as quote, the most beautiful girl in Wolf Creek,
oh End quote. So she's gorgeous. She gets engaged at sixteen,
but for reasons we don't know, the wedding never happens.
Then at seventeen she gets engaged again, and this time
it works out. She marries a man named Stephen Law
(55:18):
in November of nineteen oh five. Stephen's twenty four years
old and a freight conductor for the Great Northern Railway.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
I think we have to imagine in our minds that
Stephen Law looks like Stephen Ray Morris just because you mustache.
Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yes, and he's on like a freak conductor.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Woo woo.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
You know, Stephen would totally woo woo.
Speaker 2 (55:37):
He would love that.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Yeah, except however, this is where he differs from Stephen.
We don't know much about the circumstances, but Dell will
later say that he was violent.
Speaker 2 (55:46):
So oh that's not yeah, Okay, that enough that.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
Also, multiple accounts say that Stephen, who is Canadian, has
a low opinion of American women and tells Dell about
this often, like we don't have In early nineteen ten,
now twenty two year old Dell was living with Stephen
and his sister in North Dakota, but by the end
of the year she writes to her family, who she
still you know, keeps in touch with, that Stephen's dead.
(56:12):
She says, Oh, Stephen is not actually dead, but this
was easier to explain than a divorce.
Speaker 2 (56:19):
I can relate.
Speaker 1 (56:24):
He's dead. Okay, can we not ever talk about it.
Speaker 2 (56:26):
It's not going to be a conversation. That's the thing.
That's the point.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
There's a vague he's dead. And so she moves to
the resort town of vamp Alberta, Canada, where Vince and
I had Christmas a couple of years ago. Gorgeous, and
she gets a job at the Bamp Springs Hotel where
Vince and I had Christmas dinner that year.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
Was it all fancy and old fashioned?
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It is like the Shining Hotel essentially is gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (56:53):
So she gets a job there in the early nineteen hundreds.
It looks like a fairytale castle. It's in the Canadian
rockies and it was popular at the time with wealthy
tourists looking to relax, and they'd hang out at the
Sulfur Springs, which we also did. Very lovely, touristytown.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (57:10):
One day, Steven tracks Delle down at the hotel and
he instigates an ugly confrontation, but Dell's boss protects her
calls the sheriff, and she tells the sheriff that she
and Stephen had divorced and that Stephen used to hit her,
and the sheriff like steps the fucking sends Stephen away.
We never hear from him again. So wow, Yeah, so
(57:32):
something happened.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
There, you know what, it's that they were in Canada. Yeah, yeah,
this is a classy country.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
Yeah. So, in the aftermath of the incident, Dell becomes
close with the sheriff and his wife and their son, Willie,
who was about her age. The problem is, Willie starts
to crush hard on Dell. She's not that into it.
He asks her to marry him a couple times, and
she starts to worry that being the sheriff's son, her
saying no all the time is going to be an
(57:58):
ish and so she starts to work on an excess
strategy to now get the fuck out of Banf because
she's being harassed by a boy.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
So, working in the dining room, Dell has heard her
wealthy customers talking about Alaska and the gold rush there,
and so Dell, being practical, wants to make more money
than she can as a waitress. And she also knows
her career options are very limited where she is, and
she knows that in areas where lots of men congregate,
jobs for women abound. So she uses all that she's
(58:31):
saved from her waitressing job to buy a ticket to Juno, Alaska.
Speaker 2 (58:36):
The capital.
Speaker 1 (58:37):
It's right, we know that gold has been discovered near
Juno in the late eighteen eighties. In the city has
two minds which attract men. They're mostly single and on
their own. So Dell, who is now twenty four years old,
spends only a year in Alaska, but she makes about
ten grand that year working as a dance hall girl.
(58:58):
It's considered adjacent to set work, but it's just dancing.
Oh and ten grand in that time is worth about
in today's money, three hundred thousand and ten dollars.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
She makes three hundred thousand dollars a year in a
year el, Yes.
Speaker 1 (59:15):
In the one year she's there dancing.
Speaker 2 (59:17):
Who cares what they say? I mean truly think yeah,
fuck yeah, do your thing, do your dance.
Speaker 1 (59:24):
So one of Dell's friends from Alaska has settled in Butte, Montana,
which is a copper boom town. So Dell and that friend,
her name's Bessie, both get jobs in one of the
well regarded high end brothels in that town, so they
later from Alaska to Butte, Montana. Business is really good
there until nineteen seventeen, when Montana is about to start
(59:45):
enforcing prohibition.
Speaker 2 (59:47):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (59:48):
So she's an avid reader. She stays on top of
the news. She's like, I know what's going on. Let's
get the fuck out of here. So she and Bessie
look for somewhere more tolerant, and they find the oil
towns of Casper, Wyoming. So in nineteen eighteen, Dell is
now thirty years old. She and Bessie settle in Lusk, Wyoming,
and she says that the reason she kicked Lusk is
(01:00:10):
because she misrite it as lust and she was like, well,
that's a great place to set up a brothel, perfection,
mm hmm. But she also knows it's strategically located on
the railroad near a new oil pipeline as well as
a new uranium mine. So she's like a businesswoman, she
knows what she's doing. Yeah, she's smart, Yeah, she's smart.
(01:00:31):
Here she also settles on the name Dell, So this
is when she officially takes her name del So, Dell
and Bessie first pitch a tent across from the railroad
depot and they work out of that tent. I'm imagining
more like a big old army tent at.
Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
Least at least five feet to walk. You don't have
to bend all the way over at the waist to
walk in.
Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Oh, you gotta hope.
Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
Also, it's really funny to put a tent up across
from the train depot where it's just like it is
over here.
Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
This away. Yeah, that's so. Two years later in Lusk,
thirty two year old Dell finally buys a property on
the same location across from the depot and builds the
Yellow Hotel. It's a two story stucco building that's painted
you guessed it yellow. Yeah, I know, you're right. And
(01:01:19):
it's an old, tiny, like western hotel building, like you
see it in your mind's eye you watch Tombstone, like
you know what the old timy buildings look like.
Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
So, her friend Bessie contributes some money towards the purchase
of the hotel, although it's in Dell's name on the
title and she puts most of the money down. So Bessie, unfortunately,
like many sex workers of her era, struggles with a
laudanum addiction, so shortly after buying the hotel, Bessie moves away.
When she comes back, she's very frail, and Dell takes
(01:01:49):
care of her until Bessie dies in nineteen twenty nine.
So very sad. But Dell is entrepreneurial. She's made a
fair amount of money so she can invest in the hotel.
She decorated it's it with fine fabrics and beautiful furnishings.
The first floor is divided by a center hall with
two sides, and on one side there's a client waiting room,
(01:02:10):
there's a bar, and a bathroom and a laundry room,
and on the other side is Dell's apartment. And upstairs
there are ten rooms where Dell's employees meet with clients.
Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Be hard to sell that as like a single family home.
Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
After right, which are the ten rooms?
Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
It's a ten and one. It's a one bathroom ten.
Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Kids, Look at you being entrepreneurial too.
Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
I love real estate.
Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
So shortly after the Yellow Hotel opens, Wyoming enforces its
own ban on alcohol, and then six months after that
prohibition goes into effect nationwide. But Dell quickly establishes good
working relationships with local bootleggers, and the Yellow Hotel develops
a reputation for serving clean whiskey. Oh yeah, Dell herself
(01:02:58):
doesn't drink she doesn't permit at her employees to drink
while they're working, and in addition, Dell instructs her employees
to dress conservatively but beautifully when walking around lask and
has them an understated makeup. So she's like making it
a classy joint, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
It's also kind of smart. Play it way down, and
then it's almost like it's a little bit lustier.
Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
It's right, lustier.
Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
It's lustier Lusk.
Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
But they still stand out from the other women in
town because the other women are like, you know, cowwomen,
and they're all wind swept in outdoorsy, but Bell cultivates
a dignified look.
Speaker 2 (01:03:35):
You can't call them cow women.
Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
I don't know. I can't say cowboys. That's not that's
not correct.
Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
I see, I see, sorry, I see what you mean.
Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
But I didn't want to say cowgirls. See, we're women.
What do you think I meant?
Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
I don't know. I thought you meant kind of like
prairie women. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
It could be that too.
Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
Cow women can see negative.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
Like I'm called No, that's not what I meant. Shortly
after opening the hotel, Dell starts to form a close
relationship with a dude named Jerry Dall who makes repairs
at the hotel from time to time, so they start,
you know, dating handyman. Oh yeah, gotta date the handyman.
Got to Over the next decade, some people in the
town complained about the Yellow hotel, but most tolerated. The
(01:04:21):
residents of Lusk know that in towns without saloons, where
sex workers are prosecuted more forcefully, the men who work
in the oil fields are more likely to harass local women,
which is such a sad, fucked up fact where it's like, yeah,
you got it, these cowmen. Dell's hotel is usually find
(01:04:42):
about one hundred dollars a month, which is like seventeen
hundred dollars in today's money. You know, she's kind of
like a little payoff, it seems, yeah, which she can afford.
In the wake of the nineteen twenty nine stock market crash,
Lusk doesn't suffer quite as badly as other parts of
the country because the oil industry insulates the town from
the worst of the depression. That said, times are still tight,
(01:05:04):
and in nineteen twenty nine, the Lusk light and power
generator fails and the town is without water or electricity, like,
they can't afford to keep it up, so Dell loans
the town. She goes to fucking city hall and to
like the town meeting and loans the town money to
replace the generator and effectively controls the town's water and
(01:05:27):
power for decades after because of me genious. When neighbors
occasionally complained about the brothel over the next decade or two,
Dell reminds them that she could always call in her
loan and shut down the town's lights.
Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
Uh huh. So city officials eventually redraw the city limits,
putting the Yellow Hotel outside of them so they don't
have authority over it anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Essentially gerrymandering.
Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
Yeah, essentially, they're like, we use this place, so why
would we shut it down? I'm sure, yes, you know, Okay,
like she has shit on everyone.
Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:06:02):
In nineteen thirty three, prohibition ends and this ushers in
the golden age of the Yellow Hotel. Authorities no longer
bother Dell. Everything's legal what she's doing. And they also
don't want Dell to turn the lights off outside the hotel.
It's still the depression people are suffering. Dell helps in
whatever way she can the town sees an influx of
(01:06:23):
transient men looking for work, and Dell employs several of
them on odd jobs around the hotel, and she feeds
hungry men from the hotel's kitchen. Oh, she's a fucking
community leader.
Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Yeah, she's great.
Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
When Dell walks around town, she usually walks by herself
or with her Pekinese dog. That's like her fucking thing,
which is the second story in a row that has
had Pekinese dogs.
Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Oh, that's right, isn't that weird? Yes, that's right. They're
very popular breed.
Speaker 1 (01:06:51):
Yes. So she doesn't speak to anyone unless spoken to first.
She knows that she can't be like, hey, Dave, he's
with his wife or whatever, right, like really.
Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
Know, she's in church waving back to the young people
that she's yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Says what's up?
Speaker 3 (01:07:06):
Okay okay.
Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
So when she hires a new employee, what she does
she has that employee take the dog out for a walk,
so that everyone knows this is the new girl in town. Like,
come to the hotel because we've got a new girl
in town.
Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
Genius, genius. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
And then in the nineteen forties, the oil boom had
initially been fading, but then World War two creates increased
demand for fuel. A new airbase nearby brings in a
steady stream of customers. I mean, this chick is fucking
killing it. She's becoming one of the wealthiest women in Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Also, I really love how she kind of like tried
a bunch of stuff pivoted, was like, this doesn't work.
This she made a mistake, the lust mistake that actually
then insulated her from what almost the entire rest of
the country went. But she was lucky enough to be
in like a rich area, a place that was insulated
(01:08:02):
from that horrible like everyone losing everything.
Speaker 1 (01:08:05):
Like there's prohibition, so many bars go bus because of that.
There's the Great Depression, there's the war, there's this, and
she's fucking fine. Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (01:08:16):
After the war, renewed demand for oil in the post
war economy keeps the Yellow Hotel busy as well. Then
the Korean War begins and those two military bases rev
up again, bringing even more business to the Yellow Hotel.
Like this chick has got love.
Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
You got her spot is like she got a spot
in Vegas or something.
Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
But that's right, Lusk. So by now the hotel is
well known across the state, and Dell herself is also
well known. While in person she's quiet and discreet, she
is an entrepreneur and she widely advertises with highway billboards
let's say Dell Birk's hotel, so like she's a known
person as well. Other similar brothels have been shut down.
(01:08:56):
So some people feel a bit proud to have this
piece of the Old West still around because it's the
nineteen fifties at this point, and this is from like
the early nineteen hundreds and it's kind of like historical,
right yeah. Yeah. Other people, of course, are less supportive.
That said. Dell is also well known because she's a
member of the Chamber of Commerce and she gives very
(01:09:17):
generously to every church and charitable cause in town.
Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
That's right, pay for those mfors, give them what they
want money.
Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Every year. She pays for several students college tuition as well.
Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
Yeah smart, that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:09:34):
So Dell also invests in real estate and stocks and
invests in a few other businesses in Lusk. She is
by this point very wealthy, so she has to keep
a low profile in town because it's you know, modest,
low profile city. But when she and her fucking hot
handby man boyfriend Jerry, travel and she makes frequent trips
(01:09:54):
to Cheyenne and Denver. She actually keeps a supply of
beautiful res clothing and fur coats to wear while she's
out of town where she can actually show off. So
she's like into the finer things. She's very fucking aware
that no one wants to see her showing off in Lusk,
and so she takes her fucking arm candy, gets out
(01:10:14):
of town and dresses up.
Speaker 2 (01:10:17):
And then she just goes for it in Denver.
Speaker 1 (01:10:19):
Yesr Hey, you know Denver.
Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:10:23):
So in nineteen fifty five, she suffers a blow when
her hot handyman boyfriend Jerry dies of a heart attack
while driving his car. Sadly, she's now in her sixties
and she's always remained in touch with her family. At
this point, they call her Marie. They come to visit
her at her now her ranch that's outside of town.
(01:10:43):
They just think Aunt Marie owns a really successful hotel.
They have no idea she's a madam like love. In
the seventies, all of the booms have died down. Lusk's
population has gone from ten thousand in the thirties and
forties to about fourteen hundred. Oh, she's a bummer. Most
of Dell's business now comes from tourists who come during
(01:11:05):
elk and antelope hunting season, and from cowboys who come
from South Dakota, Nebraska and other parts of Wyoming. So
by nineteen seventy eight, Dell is turning fucking ninety. Oh
she's finally winding down the business after sixty years in operation.
Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Wow, uh huh.
Speaker 1 (01:11:26):
In nineteen seventy nine, she slips on an icy sidewalk,
breaks her hip. She closes the hotel for good and
moves into an assisted living facility. When she's first assigned
to a room, her roommate fucking clutches her pearls and
is horrified to learn that she'll be bunking with the
famous Dell Burke, owner of the Yellow Hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
What kind of a true asshole do you have to
be where it's like you will have stories every night
until you pass over? That's right, make a friend.
Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
That's why a different woman gladly moves in with Della.
She's like, over.
Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
Here, please, yep, come sit by me.
Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
On another occasion of volunteer stops by Delle's room and
asks if she'd like to read the Bible, and Dell
tells her quote, get the hell out of my room
and turn the TV on as you leave. So she's
our best friend.
Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
At this point, hospital workers have to call in Dell's
family to come help take care of her, and this
is when they all find out that Aunt Marie is
the famous Dell Burk. Some of them clutch their pearls
and are horrified. I'm sure the older generation, I'm sure
the younger generation are fascinated by.
Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
It's like finger guns into the ceiling. It's a little
bit like my dad and I were watching TV last
night and we were watching something on PBS yea, and
my dad goes, oh, I know that guy. I saw
him at Woodstock And I go, what you went to Woodstock?
And he goes, hell, no, he was just lying for fun.
Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
He was fucking with and was like, yeah, like two.
Speaker 2 (01:12:59):
Seconds thought that I'd uncovered like a mysterious past story
from my dad's life.
Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
Jim's got jokes. Jim's got jokes.
Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
He knew how funny it would be. Of like, of
course I didn't go to Woodstock's everything. I stand together.
Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
That's right, that's right. So Dell dies of natural causes
in nineteen eighty one at the age of ninety three,
and it said she dies as one of the wealthiest
women in Wyoming.
Speaker 2 (01:13:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
Yes, the Yellow Hotel is so widely known in the region.
And here's a tidbit of trivia that fascinates me and
will fascinate you. Three thousand people came to Lusk for
the estate sale of the Yellow Hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
Can you imagine what was in that.
Speaker 1 (01:13:40):
A couple pieces of information. First of all, that's twice
the town's population that came to her in the state sales.
Speaker 2 (01:13:46):
No one was ready, No one was ready. No.
Speaker 1 (01:13:49):
The room keys each go for around one hundred and
fifty dollars, they do, and that's in the beginning of
the eighties. A metal ash tray with a saucy picture
on it goes for more than four hundred dollars. And
like everyone just say, you know, you go to estate
sales for deals like this is expensive. You would not
pay that at a normal estate sale. Right. The internal
bell system, which sex workers would use to signal that
(01:14:11):
they were ready for a new client, sales for eight
hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
A velvet while hanging inspires a fear spitting war goes
for well over one thousand dollars and in today's money
that's three thousand, three hundred and sixty two dollars. So yes,
people were there to spend money.
Speaker 2 (01:14:28):
Yeah, they were. And also it's a velvet painting. Yeah,
that is kitch upon kitch, I mean truly, and like
the original, it's not like some guy did it to
make it seem Jesus right, like no, No, it is
from a Wyoming brothel and it's.
Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Seen some shit. Yeah. So at the sale, Dell's grand niece,
she's thirty nine, we have to assume that she's cool
as shit, like awesome, because she goes to the estate sale.
Her name's Lorraine, and she says, quote, I only found
out about her real life two years ago. The notoriety
has taken some getting used to, but I'm having a
great time i've been. So she was like cool, y,
(01:15:09):
Auntie Dell is cool. Yes, lots of locals from town
work the estate sale, and the town of Lusk generally
embraces Dell's story in a way that they, of course
never really did openly while she was alive, so they
understand it's part of history. At the estate sale, the auctioneer,
a Lusk local, says, quote, everybody knows what she did
(01:15:29):
for a living, but she was widely accepted. She did
a lot of good things. She was certainly no drawback
to the community.
Speaker 2 (01:15:36):
Hell no.
Speaker 1 (01:15:36):
In a nineteen seventy three interview, a few years before
her fall, Dell reflected on her relationship with the town,
saying that after nineteen thirty, quote, no one's ever really
threatened to shut me down. Maybe it's because I know
too much for everybody's good. Unfortunately, in the following decades,
the Yellow Hotel falls into disrepair, and in twenty twelve,
the town of Lusk burns it down because it's deemed
(01:15:59):
a hazard.
Speaker 2 (01:16:00):
Oh, which sucks.
Speaker 1 (01:16:02):
Yeah, and that is a story of del Burke, an
entrepreneur who leveraged every big moment of the first half
the twentieth century to grow her business and support her community.
Speaker 2 (01:16:13):
Yeah, del Burke, another one I've never heard of or
even like the slightest reference to. That was great. I
love that story.
Speaker 1 (01:16:23):
The book is called Frontier Madam, The Life of del Birk,
Lady of Lusk, If anyone wants to read that so great.
Speaker 2 (01:16:30):
Yeah, So before we go. I just want to say,
I know everyone's been seeing this horrible, devastating fire on
Maui and what happened to the town of Leahina, which
is so horrible. I know on this podcast I've talked
about going to Hawaii so many times. It's one of
my favorite places to go, and the idea that that
(01:16:53):
happened there and it's just so sad. If you can
do anything, please donate to the Maui Strong Fund. You
can find information at Hawaii Communityfoundation dot org to donate,
and Georgia, if you're good with it, we're going to
donate ten thousand dollars. And please consider not going on
vacation to Hawaii because they don't have the services and
(01:17:14):
they don't have the support system. They are trying to grieve.
I mean, it's really amazing to see the way the
Maui community and the other islands are coming together to
get supplies over there to make sure people have generators, water, food,
all those things. That's Hawaii, that's that community.
Speaker 1 (01:17:34):
Definitely so devastating. I'm glad we can send that money
over there. Yeah cool, all right, Well, thanks for listening
everyone and being here and being a part of it.
Speaker 2 (01:17:45):
I mean, I really enjoyed both of these stories today.
A lot of good, inspiring stuff to think about.
Speaker 1 (01:17:51):
That's us, the feel good podcast that you know and love.
Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
You know how we are super positive? All right, Well
say sex.
Speaker 1 (01:18:00):
And don't get murdered.
Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
Good by.
Speaker 1 (01:18:04):
Elvis.
Speaker 3 (01:18:05):
Do you want a cookie? You can't get on a
plane with a million dollars in cash, Someone's going to
stop and ask you questions. But you can fit a
million dollars with the diamonds in your pocket. I'm Natalia Antalava.
Speaker 4 (01:18:26):
I'm a journalist based in Eastern Europe, and I'm going
to take you into the world of Serbia's most infamous
jewel feed.
Speaker 1 (01:18:36):
The amount that they're holding it in these two minutes,
I ice is so astonishing, it's like magic.
Speaker 3 (01:18:43):
They're called the Pink Panthers, and this is their story.
Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
They wanted to be known all around the world.
Speaker 3 (01:18:50):
They were brazen.
Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
They ventured a jewelry shop in Paris, threw out a
magnum and a grenade, and then they escaped with about
one hundred million dollars jewelry.
Speaker 3 (01:18:59):
And they seemed virtually untouchable.
Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
You know, in Serbia, this guy is like connected with
very powerful people.
Speaker 3 (01:19:07):
But when the heights are this spectacular, they.
Speaker 1 (01:19:10):
Entered, they stole the stuff, They were out of there within.
Speaker 2 (01:19:13):
Thirty two seconds.
Speaker 3 (01:19:14):
And there is this much money.
Speaker 1 (01:19:15):
You got a ten carrot flaws time and basically you're
talking about a million dollars storm.
Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
So they break the window like this and they have
took in an agglace. It was a lit bitrevillions.
Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
It's very very smart.
Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
Someone's bound to come after you.
Speaker 2 (01:19:32):
He did a couple of hides, one of them pretty spectacular,
but he didn't have the reason to believe that someone
would want to kill him in Serbia.
Speaker 4 (01:19:41):
From Exactly Right Media, a best Case Studios production.
Speaker 1 (01:19:46):
So Destiny of one good being Planter is a lot
of money, a lot of fast money, prison for sure.
Speaker 4 (01:19:53):
This is Infamous International The Pig Panther's Story.
Speaker 2 (01:19:58):
After the prison again, fast Money and again prison.
Speaker 4 (01:20:02):
Follow Infamous International The Pink Panther's Story on Amazon Music,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can
listen to the show early and add free on Amazon
Music download the Amazon Music app today.
Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
This has been an Exactly Right production.
Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
Our managing producers Hannah Kyle Creighton.
Speaker 1 (01:20:29):
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.
Speaker 2 (01:20:31):
This episode was mixed by Leona Scualace.
Speaker 1 (01:20:34):
Our researchers are Maren mcclashan and Ali Elkin.
Speaker 2 (01:20:37):
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:20:40):
Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my Favorite
Murder and Twitter at my Fave Murder.
Speaker 3 (01:20:45):
Bye Bye,
Hosts And Creators
Georgia Hardstark
Karen Kilgariff
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Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!