S7, Chapter 1: Jacob Jeremiah Landin

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I had to open the bruise up
and let some of the blues blood come

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out to show them. Tapes from
the Dark Side contains descriptions of violence and

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sexuality. Listener discretion is advised.
Why don't we start with you telling me

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about Jacob, what you remember about
him. I just remember he was funny,

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and he liked to laugh, and
he liked to put drawers and make

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all silverware flay out, and he's
just a silly boy. Is really smart.

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The two voices you're hearing right now
are that of Eric and his mother,

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Brenda, and they're discussing their loss. In Eric's case, of his

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brother and Brenda her son, Jacob
Jeremiah Lyndine, who died when he was

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only nine months old, and like
the whole thing backwards and just lay there

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and laugh, flip it over and
he'd be like his little laugh. Yea,

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his laugh was amazing. It brought
me joy just to hear it.

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He was so happy. He was
happy. Little baby, well, big

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baby, yeah, he was big. It was big. It was ten

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pounds, like huge for me.
I remember right before you got pregnant and

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I told you, mom, I'm
gonna have a brother. Yeah, And

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he didn't believe me. I thought
it was going to be a girl and

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I was a boy. Sure you're
right. Today, I want to tell

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you a true crime story that is
close to me, closer than perhaps any

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other story I've told so far.
The reason for that being that it's the

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story worry the death of my friend
Eric's brother, Jacob was killed in nineteen

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eighty seven, and Eric was only
six years old at the time. His

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mother, Brenda was only twenty five, But shockingly, Eric was blamed for

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his baby brother's death. Most of
us barely remember what it was like to

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be six years old. You're getting
your first glimpse of the larger world.

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You maybe have just started dressing yourself, can tie your own shoes, perhaps

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for the first time, and you're
just beginning to develop an understanding of your

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place in the world. Imagine suddenly
you're blamed for physically abusing your brother,

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your mom sends you away to a
strange city to live with your dad,

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who was now divorced from your mother, and then the devastating news you find

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out your brother has died suddenly in
what is called an accident. I remember

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being I remember being very confused,
and you know, I think you know

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me better than most people, and
I, especially at that age, really

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wanted to make everybody around me happy. And so I think I said what

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people wanted me to say or what
was being said to agree with him,

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because I didn't want to cause problems. This is kindergarten time. I remember

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that because I remember I love my
kindergarten teacher. She was so cool.

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And then I had to go to
California and get a new teacher. Yeah,

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it's not I felt that I needed
to remove you because even if something

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would happen, I don't want you
to be blamed. And I knew that

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he would use you and blame you
no matter what regardless. So you call

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my dad, Yeah, I called
you Dad and myself. You know this,

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and this is happening, and I
don't know what's going on, but

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I want or a gremove from this
situation because I just I couldn't understand what

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was happening, and I kept hearing. You know, he dropped him,

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He picked him up out the crib, he dropped him. I walked by,

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he kicked him. You know,
everything was like Eric did this,

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Eric did that, and Eric's O
jealous and you know it wasn't true,

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and so I had to make sure
that no matter what happened, you were

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protected. How exactly did nine month
old Jacob die and why was Eric a

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six year old claimed for his death? Let's investigate. On April seventh,

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nineteen eighty seven, Jacob Lendin died
from a brain injury, a subdural hematoma,

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which is a build up of blood
on the surface of the brain.

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When blood pools in the space between
the protective layers and the brain, it

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increases pressure on brain tissue. Essentially, our rigid skull offers no release valve,

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and so when the brain is squeezed, the blood flown to slow The

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compression of the brain creates a lack
of oxygen rich blood, which in and

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of itself creates additional swelling. This
pressure eventually forces the brain to travel down

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through the small hole at the base
of the skull, which is called the

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Fraymen magnum. This is an oval
opening through which the brain is connected to

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the spine, and when brain matter
comes into contact with a bone around this

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opening, it's often too late.
Brain function is already severely compromised, and

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because we need the brain to control
breathing and heart rate death often occurs,

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and in Jacob's case, death did
occur. He was only nine months old

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when he died. Although this story
is filled with tragedy, it also has

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many twists and turns that I think
make it one of the most compelling true

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crime stories that we've covered to date. But before we begin, I want

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to make a note that creating this
episode presented me with what might have been

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my greatest challenge to date, and
that is because of my friendship with Eric.

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I knew I was starting off with
a bias, and no matter how

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clear cut a case might seem on
the surface, I do believe there are

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two sides to every story. I
did my best to balance my pre existing

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notions and come at this case with
a fresh set of eyes. I intentionally

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avoided reading any coverage of this case
from other podcasts so that I could at

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least try to present an unbiased account. But with that being said, I'm

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sure that there is some bias on
my part, and I want to acknowledge

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that. With that being said,
I'm honored to present to you the case

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of Jacob Jeremiah Lendin. I think
everyone has a bit of a fascination of

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the dark side. Let's start with
the facts of the case. In April

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of nineteen eighty seven, New Mexico
State Police officer sued to Walt was assigned

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to investigate the death of Jacob Blundein, a nine month old baby who had

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died from quote a blow to the
head. That autopsy report reads Jacob Blundein

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died of a subdural hematoma, which
compressed the brain and caused irreversible damage.

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The autopsy examination also revealed the evidence
of an old, partially healed subdural hematoma,

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as well as a partially healed skull
fracture and a healing fracture of the

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fifth rib. The microscopic characteristics of
all the healing injuries indicated that they occurred

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approximately three to four weeks prior.
It could not be determined solely on the

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basis of the autopsy that these injuries
occurred at the same time, but their

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ages suggested that they did. The
coroner reported that the skull fracture and the

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old subdural hematoma were directly related and
that these injuries were possibly associated with an

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episode or episodes of child abuse.
The healing phase of the subdural hematoma is

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particularly susceptible to re hemorrhaging with trauma
of a lesser degree than usually required to

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cause severe head injuries, and such
an acute reaccumulation of blood within the subdural

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space was deemed at least partially responsible
for Jacob's death. Jacob had died from

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some kind of blow to the head, but what the autopsy uncovered was equally

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horrifying. It pere Jacob had been
the subject of severe and repeated physical abuse,

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and so the obvious question becomes,
who would want to hurt a nine

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month old baby. Sue de Wald
was assigned as the investigating officer, and

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her report gives us a firsthand look
at exactly what happened on the day that

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Jacob was killed. From to Walt's
report. At eleven thirty eight pm,

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I interviewed Brenda Valerie Lundein, mother
of Jacob Lundein, at the University of

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New Mexico Hospital. Brenda is employed
as a checker at the Supermart in Skora,

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usually working three to nine pm.
However, on this day she was

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scheduled to work eleven am to seven
thirty pm. Her mother, mer Linda,

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normally babysits Jacob while Brenda's working.
Brenda's stated on this day she told

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her mother to take the baby to
John, who is Brenda's boyfriend with whom

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she lives, if she wanted to
go to church. A quick note here

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that the name John is a pseudonym. I have been asked by Eric at

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this time to not use this person's
real name, and so we will simply

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refer to him as John. Brenda
said her mother took the baby to John

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at approximately six pm. Approximately seven
pm, John entered the Supermark where she

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works in hysterics and told her the
baby was in an ambulance and not breathing.

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John told her that Jacob had fallen
off the couch. So I was

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chunking out the customer. I heard
the ambulance as by. At that moment.

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He run into the store. He
said, ambulance. I don't know

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what happened. I said, what
do you mean? Jucubs in the ambulance

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and he just he said, we
gotta go, we gotta go, and

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I just ran out the store.
I left the customer there. I don't

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know what happened. I just left
and I got to the er and my

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mom and dad were there. I
don't even know how they got there or

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what happened. And Jacob was in
the room and I walked in and I

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touched my baby, and he took
a deep breath. Why can't you Mama.

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Mama was there with him. There
defly him to Albuquerque. They took

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him to Presbyterian and the injuries were
so bad to lift them to you and

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I'm trauma sinner. So Jacob was
airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital

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and he was rushed into emergency surgery. He didn't make it. He died

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shortly after they took him in for
surgery. So from my perspective as a

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six year old, I was asleep
in my bed in California. My dad

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woke me up to tell me that
there had been a terrible accident and that

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my brother was being rushed to the
hospital. I didn't really understand what happened,

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but my dad told me that I
needed to get my stuff together so

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that we could go back to New
Mexico. I believe it was that same

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morning we jumped on a flight and
went back to Albuquerque. I remember that

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there was a state police officer along
with my mom and my grandmother waiting for

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us. At the airport. As
soon as we got there, my mom

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told me what had happened. Jacob
passed away overnight. My sweet little brother

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was gone. And I'll never forget
that day. I'll never forget that feeling.

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If Eric was in a different state, a different time zone, how

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could he be blamed for his brother's
death. Coming up, we will hear

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firsthand from John's first interview with police, in which he explains in his own

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words, exactly what happened during that
mysterious one hour time period from six pm

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to seven pm on April ninth,
nineteen eighty seven. Stay with us Before

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we dive into John's interview with police, I thought it'd be helpful for you

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to have a bit of background information
about John's relationship with the Landine family.

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You see, John was not just
a random boyfriend of Brenda's. He was

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a longtime family friend, and his
history was intertwined with that of the Landin's

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going back decades. Eric's father,
Jean, was a preacher in the Pentecostal

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church, and John's father was also
a preacher. John's father was a mentor

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towards Jean and helped him to get
established in his career in the church.

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Jean, Brenda, and John were
all friends growing up. Jean and Brenda

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would get married and have kids,
Eric and later Jacob, but things went

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south when Jean began having an emotional
affair with another woman and Brenda found out

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about it. This became the impetus
for their divorce and was also a motivating

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factor in Brenda's decision to start dating
John. She wanted to get back at

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Jeane. She wanted to show him
the emotional pain that he had caused her,

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and what better way than by dating
one of his closest friends. But

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this also opposes a question what kind
of friend would so readily jump at the

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opportunity to date their good friend's ex
wife. I talked with Eric directly to

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get more information on the relationship between
his father, Jean, his mother,

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Brenda, and John. So,
my mom and dad they were very young

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when they got married. My mom
was seventeen, I think my dad was

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maybe twenty, and my dad had
aspirations of being like a really famous televangelist.

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That was his goal, and so
he spent a lot of time on

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the road, and my mom was
stuck with me and Jacob trying to figure

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out how to feed us because she
couldn't work because she had a baby and

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a preschooler. You know, there
were times where we didn't have any food

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house and we didn't know where we
were going to get food from. And

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then my mom finds out through John
that my dad was having an emotional affair

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with another woman. I don't believe
that it was a physical affair. I

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think that they were just spending a
lot of time together. But for my

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mom it was very it was a
betrayal. It was a huge betrayal of

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her trust. You know, she's
struggling to keep food on the table,

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struggling to keep hold of the house
and take care of the kids and all

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this other stuff, and my dad's
just out hanging out with his friends.

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So she laughed, and she did
see John as this potential revenge against my

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dad. She wanted to hurt him
in the way that he hurt her.

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And John was already grooming her for
this anyway, Like he swooped in as

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soon as she came to down and
started trying to sweep her off her feet.

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I think that's where my mom's motivation
was. It was probably due to

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her age and her heart being broken
and all the pain that she endured and

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stressed that she had and how old
was she and how old were you at

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that time? So she's twenty years
older than me, So I was five

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and she was twenty five. And
then because Jacob is your full brothers,

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so there was a time when she
got back together with your dad while dating

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John. No, Jacob was born
before that. Oh, okay, okay,

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true, so it would have been
right right at that time. Basically,

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Jacob was about three months old when
they separated. Okay, can you

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tell me about John's relationship with your
mom, which is something I didn't know

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you You were telling me where we
were chatting, that she actually knew him

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from childhood, which I thought it
was just kind of like this boyfriend who

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she had just met. Can you
give us a little bit of background on

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that. So his dad was a
minister in town. My mom, my

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grandma, my grandpa, my aunts
and uncles. They all went to the

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church, so the kids all grew
up together. His sister married my mom's

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brother. His aunt is my godmother, So we had known this family.

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We had known him for a long
time. He was also my dad's best

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friend and my dad was being mentored
by his dad. My dad was a

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preacher. He was trying to get
in there and try to become, you

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know, this big evangelist. And
so this person was not a stranger.

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This person was somebody that we all
knew. It was somebody my whole family

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knew. Did you know his father
edel Yes? Yeah, what what was

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that relationship like? Had you ever
seen his father be abusive to anyone?

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No? No? And I think
that probably John was abused at some point.

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I believe that in my heart.
I think that's why he behaves the

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way that he does. But I
don't know that it was his father.

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It could have been anybody from Sue
to Waltz. Police report. I interviewed

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John living, boyfriend of Brenda Landine. John has been living with Brenda since

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late December or January of nineteen eighty
seven. He's employed as a maintenance man

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for the County of Sakora. John
states Brenda's mother bron Jacob to him at

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approximately six pm. He seemed to
be failing all right. John put him

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in his walker and gave him a
teething cookie in his bottle. John was

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on the floor dubbing some cassette tapes
for his brother the baby was playing in

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the living room and his walker.
One of the wheels kept getting stuck in

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the box which contains the tapes.
John stated he moved the baby away from

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the tapes, but the baby kept
wanting to play with him. John took

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the baby out of the walker and
placed him on the floor behind him.

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He gave the baby two or three
old tapes to play with, his teeth

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and cracker and his bottle. After
playing on the floor for a while,

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the baby became sleepy. John stated
he picked the baby up and was carrying

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him to the bedroom when the tape
clicked. John put the baby on the

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couch and went to change the tape. He then heard the baby make noise,

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and when he turned around, the
baby was lying on the floor between

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the couch and the coffee table.
John stated he picked the baby up and

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saw a yellowish liquid coming from his
mouth and nose. He turned the baby

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over and pattered him on the back
in an attempt to clear his mouth.

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He said the baby's eyes were rolling
back into his head, so he ran

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to the neighbor's house with the baby
to have them call the rescue unit.

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The baby was throwing up and John
placed him on the floor and tried to

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clear his throat and gave him mouth
to mouth resuscitation. He said the neighbor

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also attempted to revive the baby.
After the rescue unit arrived, John went

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to the supermart to notify Brenda of
what had occurred. John stated he did

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not know if the baby had struck
his head on the coffee table. It's

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at this point in the police report
that there's a market shift in focus from

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John and what happened on that particular
night to Eric. John is aware of

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two previous injuries to the baby,
both of which he believes were inflicted by

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the six year old brother Eric.
The first injury was the first part of

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March. His children were visiting and
he was taking care of Jacob and Eric

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Brenda was not home. He took
his children home, leaving Jacob with Eric

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00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:02.680
for a short time. The next
day, Brenda noticed the baby had a

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skinned ear, and she took the
baby to the doctor. John stated Brenda

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finally was able to get Eric to
admit he had taken the baby out of

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the crib and dropped him. John
stated the second injury occurred two or three

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weeks later, on Saturday night.
Jacob was fussy, so Brenda gave him

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some medication and went back to sleep. On the next day, Sunday,

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Brenda's mother felt he had a soft
spot and knocked on his head. Brenda

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took him immediately to the doctor,
who treated the injury and advised Brenda that

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came from a blow to the head. Jacob was in the hospital for a

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couple of days. According to John, when Brenda came home, she asked

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Eric if he had done something to
the baby. Initially, Eric said no,

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and Brenda talked to him about lying. Eric asked her what would happen

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if he was lying, and she
told him if he told the truth,

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he would not be in trouble.
Eric then admitted he had kicked the baby.

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He said his father told him,
when someone hurts you, you hurt

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them back. Jacob was pulling Eric's
hair, so Eric kicked him. John

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stated they took Eric to the hospital
when they went to pick up Jacob.

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When Jacob came out with his head
bandage, John said Eric seemed to be

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scared. After that, Brenda sent
Eric to live with his father in California.

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John stated he knows of no other
injuries or broken bones that Jacob had

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Jacob has not been well since the
first head injury. He has been fussy,

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vomiting frequently, and had an ear
infection, consilitis and an allergic reaction

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to the medicine. John said he
has two children who he sees frequently,

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and they have not had any unusual
injuries. He does not know how Jacob

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was injured this time, except that
he must have hit his head on the

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coffee table, He said. Brenda
is an excellent mother and her mother,

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bre Linda takes good care of the
children. From everything we've earned up to

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this point, it shouldn't be much
of a surprise to hear John avoid responsibility

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for Jacob's death. It's also not
surprising to hear him describe multiple incidents in

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which Eric had been the one to
Jacob. But what was surprising to me

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is that when I first read Brenda's
interview with police, she described the same

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things she said Eric had kicked Jacob, and then in Merlinda's interview, who

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is Brenda's mother, Eric's grandmother,
she also describes the same things. She

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says that Eric had kicked Jacob in
the head and that Eric was jealous of

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his baby brother. I was suddenly
faced with a dilemma. Everything I knew

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up to this point told me that
Eric was in no way responsible for the

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death of his brother. But now
I was staring at interviews with his mother

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00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:53.039
and grandmother, who had no reason
to lie, saying that Eric had kicked

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his brother in the head. Though
on the other hand, even if that

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was true, Eric was in another
state at the time of Jacob's death.

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It seemed like a stretch to me
that a six year old living in another

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state could in any way be responsible
for the death of this baby. But

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in my attempts to remain a neutral
third party and to get the truth,

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00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:25.400
and decided to ask Eric directly about
this. Here my raw exchange with Eric

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00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:30.319
Carter Landine on the next episode of
Tapes from the Dark Side. And you

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had one memory of kicking or correct
me if I'm wrong, but I think

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00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:41.119
you said you had a memory of
kicking Jacob one time. Yeah, can

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00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.440
you tell us what you remember from
that? We were laying on the floor

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00:24:45.920 --> 00:25:06.400
and Episode two in the Jacob Lendine
Story will be released next week, though

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00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:11.119
it's available right now on Patreon,
as well as all four episodes of this

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00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:17.759
season, plus all early releases for
future episodes. Thank you to everyone who

290
00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:22.759
supports me on Patreon. I really
couldn't do this without you guys. I

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00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.640
know financially times are really tough right
now with inflation and the rental market being

292
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:33.079
crazy, the housing market being crazy. So if you can't afford to subscribe

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00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:40.200
to me on Patreon, please don't. If there's any bonus episode that you

294
00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.599
want to hear and you can't afford
it, just message me on Instagram at

295
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:48.119
the dark Side Pod and I'll send
it to you for free. But if

296
00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.839
you can afford to give five dollars
a month, then you will get all

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00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:57.920
the bonus episodes that we have,
and you will get my undying gratitude.

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00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:03.759
We also read out the names of
our supporters and the credits, which because

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00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:07.160
the episodes in this season are a
little bit shorter, we're going to wait

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00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:11.119
until the finale to read out our
Patreon supporters. I just thought that made

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00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.559
sense. Thank you all again so
much. If you want to support me,

302
00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:22.319
go to patreon dot com slash tapes
from the Dark Side, where the

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00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:26.720
link will be in the show notes. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight