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You're listening to a morbid network podcast. Many put their hope in Dr. Serhat. His company was worth half a billion dollars. His research promised groundbreaking treatments for HIV and cancer. But the brilliant doctor was writing a secret. You can listen to Dr. Death, bad magic, ad free by subscribing to Wondry plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena.

I'm Ash.

And this is morbid.

Oh, my God, it's morbid again.

Oh, my God.

Have you guys been?

How have you been? Good. Tell us right now. Bad.

Heinous.

I hope not.

Everybody's like, it's been a long year. And it's like that meme that's like, we're three days in.

We're three days in. But, you know, it's all right. It hasn't been that long of a year. Okay. Yet there were beautiful little whimsical flurries in the air this morning. Really? For a little bit. And I said, oh. And then they went away.

I didn't see those. There's going to be big old flurries this.

Yeah.

And I'm actually pretty excited. It didn't snow at all last year.

Yeah, it didn't snow literally at all. And the girls love snow. And I can't wait to see Sydney and Blanche in snow. Oh, that's going to be. Because they're going to lose their damn minds.

See, the thing that I like about the snow is staying out of it. But watching it, I like being in my house like cozy as hail. Make it cozy as hail. As hail. I like to make some pancakes from scratch if it's a snowstorm. And then maybe have like a little pancake party.

A little pancake party.

Watch a documentary or like a movie. Just like cozy.

See, with kids of a certain age. Oh, yeah, that's. You just know that your snow day is going to be spent putting on and off wet snow suits all day.

Yeah.

And having red cheeks.

Red cheeks.

But also having so much fun because sledding with them is hilarious.

Oh, I love sledding with them.

And also with dog snow, it's going to be cleaning up all the dog like shenanigans when they run in from the snow. It'll be a pretty relaxing weekend.

Yeah, I have, like, beautiful. More years before I have to do that.

And even after that, a couple more years because newborns don't go in the snow. Yeah.

No, I'm not going to take my newborns.

That's a bad idea. I think they advise a good spot. You're good for a little while.

Yeah, that's kind of nice. I have, like, six years at least. Well, no, probably, like. No, maybe like four or five. Yeah, I don't know.

Once they hit two, you're doomed.

So I got, like, five years. Yeah, hopefully. Anyways, that's my timeline.

You're like, well, babies.

Babies. That's my sole focus. But anyways, my sole focus for this hour is a really tragic true crime case.

Oh, what a lovely sole focus. Yeah, that's my job right now. That's my job.

That's your job.

Yeah, that's our job.

So, yeah, I have a story about, like, a love rectangle.

Love rectangle.

Correct or square, if you will.

Okay.

But two of the parts of the rectangle square did not know what was going on. And it's a cheating scandal.

Oh, no. It's awful. And it's terrible.

God, it's got, like, preachers in there being bad.

Oh, my.

It's wild.

Okay. The affairs that your cases have been shedding light on, I am in a.

Place of affair with my cases.

Well, thank you for adding with your cases.

I quite literally just got married, and I would quite literally never have an affair. And drew quite literally would never because.

Whoa. Oh, my God. Stress.

But my case is, they're all up.

In there because I like a little.

Bit of a scandalo. And then also, I think it's the high societies that I usually do.

Yeah. And they're all cheating on each other.

God always has an affair. This is not high society.

This is just affair.

It's just a Kansas affair.

And you love Kansas, too. I love the. Yeah.

Oh, shit.

Kansas was in my last stories of your cases.

You were in Kansas earlier this week.

I was in Kansas, yeah. Hey, Kansas. Auntie M. Auntie M. All right, so let's start. I'd say we're not in Kansas anymore, but we are. But we are. I was like, you can't say that.

Because here we are in Kenzos.

I thought it was really, like I said, in Ken's ass. You definitely did. That's what you said. We're in Ken's ass.

We're in Ken's ass.

Here we are in Ken's ass. Reporting from. Wait. Okay, we'll get it to it eventually, but sometimes on TikTok, I get, like.

News gone wrong clips.

Do you ever get those? And it's like, the girl and she.

Looks at the camera and she goes, I so pale. And the lady's like, we're live.

And she's like, reporting live from.

Reporting live from Ken's ass.

From Ken's ass.

Oh, God, I almost got the hiccups, you know, when you're about one.

Yeah.

I'm not a fish, and I don't have gills.

I'm glad we could be with you through that. So we could hold your hand through that. Don't try time.

So let's start. When Tom and Sandy Bird packed up their three children and left West Memphis, Arkansas, for Kansas in 1982, everybody assumed that they were off to bigger and better opportunities. Tom had graduated with a master's degree in sacred theology in 1976, which I feel like that would be, like, kind of a fun degree to get.

Is he the preacher? Correct. Yeah. What gave it away? You know what? Sacred theology, to me, just felt like it might be something a preacher would take, but doesn't that.

I think I would take that.

It sounds very important.

It sounds whimsical as fuck.

Sacred theology.

Yeah. I'm not saying it sounds easy, like, want anybody? It's just that impression.

Very interesting. Yeah.

I feel as though I would be interested in that. But anyways, he had graduated with that master's degree in sacred theology.

Sounds like Hollywood. It does.

Sacred theology, yeah. But then ever since that, he had been working as an associate pastor in Little Rock. Like, pastoring?

Yeah.

His big hope, though, was to one day lead his own congregation. And the opportunity finally came in 1982, when the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod assigned Tom the task of establishing a new congregation in Emporia, Kansas. So while he worked to build up the New Faith Lutheran Church, Sandra split her time between. Listen to everything she was doing.

I'm listening.

Raising their three children, ages two, three and which.

Just do that damn alone.

You're a hero in my eyes. She was also teaching part time at Emporia State University and at the same time pursuing a graduate degree in computer mathematics. Sandra, like, I'm sorry, what?

Boss? Bitch alert. Did you just say superwoman? I did. Did you just say Wonder Woman?

Synonymous.

Yeah, that's what I heard.

Sandra, Sandra, superwoman, wonder Woman, doing it all. And the thing was, both of them at this time were both thriving in their new roles. And by the end of the year, the Faith Lutheran church had become an established part of the community, with the church elders praising Thomas, one of the best spiritual leaders they ever had.

The church elders always sounds like it's from middle earth, doesn't it? It really does. I know that's a real thing. And I know there's, like town elders and shit.

There's town elders?

I think so in some towns. That's cool. I feel they had them in Gilmore girls. So maybe I'm just thinking, I think.

Those are just townies.

No, they call them the town elders they had to speak to for Luke to buy a certain know.

You guys don't care.

Yeah, you're right. But they had to talk to the town elders about it in.

Yeah, so that's where I would be.

If I was a town elder. Elders and Tom. I was a Tom elders. Any kind of elders, I feel like, is very middle earth.

Yeah, I agree. Even just like the elderly.

Yeah, just the elderly is elderly.

If you listen to Buffy.

And Mikey just said he's the pod lab elder. You are.

You're from Middle earth.

It's true.

What earth am I from then? I'm the pod lab child.

I thought you were just going to say you're the pod lab. I'm just the lab.

No, but anyways, these elders of the church, they said that he was the fucking tits. Except they didn't say it like that.

I was wondering, from the outside, Tom.

And Sandy's marriage, of course, looked strong.

That type of relationship.

It was the type of relationship that their friends and family admired and actually aspired to. But like I'm always saying, behind closed doors, things between the couple were not how they appeared to be to everybody on the outside. Tom's work at the church was keeping him busier than he'd ever been before. And obviously, Sandy's responsibilities at work, school, and home left her really little time to pay attention to Tom. And privately, he complained to his friends about Sandy's job and the fact that she never had any time for him. And she likewise confided to friends that she was worried that he didn't love her anymore.

Oh, jeez.

So it's like they were both just really steering away from each other at this point.

Growing apart.

Yeah, definitely. Outside of the church, Tom's greatest passion was for sports, and he wasted no time getting involved in local athletics, which, totally cool to have a hobby, but if you feel like your wife has no time for you and you're trying to make time for each other, why go out and grab a hobby that's.

Like, away from each other?

Yeah, because he joined the optimist club basketball team, and then he became the first baseman for the church softball team. So it's like you didn't even get one hobby. You got two but anyways, it was through sports that he met Martin Anderson and his wife, Lorna. Martin and Lorna Anderson had moved to emporia from Hutchinson, Kansas, in the mid 1970s. And just like Tom and Sandy, they also had several young children. Between two and eight years old, Martin Anderson managed the laboratory at Newman hospital, and he also had a love of sports. So that's how him and Tom kind of got along and struck up a casual friendship. Yeah, they didn't know it when they first met, but the couples had a lot more in common than just sports like Tom and Sandy. By 1982, the cracks in Martin and Lorna's marriage had started to show, unfortunately. But neither of them really seemed like they wanted to address the problem. Or they could address the problem. In 1982, Lorna alarmed a friend when she casually asked whether or not he knew someone who would kill her husband.

I'm sorry that escalated so fucking quickly.

Sure did.

It went from like, they're pretty instagram curated on the outside, and some shits kind of unravel a little bit on the inside to like, she was actively trying to get a hit on her husband.

I think that's how the friend that she asked felt like, whoa, this really escalated. I know you guys were growing apart.

Or whatever, but I always wonder, what.

Kind of friend do you think you have?

What kind of friendship do you have where you feel comfortable asking that person if they, first of all, confiding that you would like your husband murdered? And then two, thinking your friend knows somebody that could get your husband murdered. It's like, there's many dynamics involved in that friendship that I myself am just not privy to in my friendships.

I would call that columns.

But, yeah, I love my friends. Yeah. But one, I don't want to kill my husband.

But two, good news.

I don't think any of them know someone who would if I wanted to.

Well, don't ask, because you'll end up in a story later.

It's just always kind of wild to me. I'm like, wow.

Yeah.

It's like when two serial killers find each other, I'm like, how'd that conversation start?

It's true.

Like, did one of you be like, hey, you know what I do sometimes. And it's like, the other one's like, same. Where does that it? Lorna just feels like. I'm like, that was bold.

It was bold. And her friend felt that way.

Reckless.

Yeah, because her friend was like, I don't actually know anybody that would kill anybody specifically not your husband. Also. What?

She's like, weird. Conversation we just had like this was kind of alarming.

But Lorna was like, oh my God. I'm just kidding. JK. Joking, girly. So jokey. But that incident obviously hinted at the problems that would later escalate way beyond measure. This show is sponsored by care of. And care of is a subscription service that ships high quality, personalized vitamins, supplements, and powders conveniently to your door every single month. New year's is right around the corner. I can't believe it. And care of wants to celebrate you with a personalized experience that will help you feel like you're youist. Push against sameness and celebrate what makes each of us unique. All you have to do to get started is take a short, simple online quiz about your lifestyle and health goals, and care of will give you doctor backed recommendations. It's that easy. And that is exactly what I did. I absolutely love a little morning ritual, and care of just fit completely, seamlessly into my morning ritual. I went online, I took the quiz, I answered all the questions about myself because who knows me better than me? And I got the whole list of the vitamins and supplements that I should be taking. I said, check out.

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And you better get better help.

Listen, guys, this new year, I watched Saltburn, evidently. But I did other stuff, too. I made new year's resolutions, but I didn't get crazy with it because around New Year's, we get obsessed with how to change ourselves instead of just expanding on what we're already doing, right? Maybe you finally organized one part of your space.

I did.

I did my closet. And now I want to tackle another space. Or maybe you're taking supplements every morning, and now you want to actually eat breakfast, too. Therapy helps you find those strengths so that you can ditch the extreme resolutions and make changes that really stick. If you're thinking of starting therapy, I definitely recommend giving Betterhelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. And all you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Personally, I'm such a big proponent of therapy, I think every single person on this planet could benefit from a little oneonone with a therapist. Celebrate the progress you've already made. Visit betterhelp.com morbid today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp he lp.com morbid. That same year, Lorna had her attorney actually prepare divorce papers, which, you know, maybe you should have gone there first.

A little backwards.

But later she claimed that Martin talked her out of the divorce. So it's messy, messy, messy.

So the man you were fully willing to have killed talked you out of divorcing him? I feel like you should be like, no, this is better for both of us. Yeah, very much for you.

You would think.

Yeah.

Well, in early 1983, Lorna appeared to be the quintessential midwestern housewife. She was delicate, vulnerable. She doted on her husband and children. She was always, quote, quick to smile and quick to cry. That's how people described her.

Okay.

But under the surface, however, she was deeply unhappy in her marriage, as we know, and also, as we know, desperately looking for a way out.

Oh, this is upsetting.

Privately, she told friends that Martin was abusive toward her and sometimes toward the children.

Oh, no.

I don't know how true that is. Personally. It was that desperation, though, that eventually led her to accept a part time job as Tom Bird's secretary at Faith Lutheran, just a few weeks after their first meeting. It sounded at first like maybe she was kind of trying to beef up some personal funds and try to become more independent to prepare to get out of her marriage. That's the vibe I got at first. But then I read more about it, and I was like, I don't think that you had pure intentions with this.

Yeah.

And unfortunately, she wasn't solely focused on her job. Once she got it later, she said, I had a real problem not feeling good about myself. Tom was very supportive, very encouraging.

I bet.

I'm sure he was.

I bet.

So the new job got Lorna out of the house and offered new opportunities for socialization.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

But what she really liked most was talking to Tom. At first, the relationship was casual. It was friendly. But within a month or two, friends and church members were noticing some things. And specifically, they were noticing kind of an intimacy between Tom and Lorna that know, usually absent in friendly relationships, friendly, platonic relationships.

People who are married to other.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom insisted, though, that their closeness was, quote unquote, due to the counseling he was giving his secretary and nothing more.

Uh oh.

Just like, remember that other case that I did the Don Hackney murder and that all had to do with counseling?

Yep.

Not good.

That's always the excuse.

Now, in no time at all, Tom became Lorna's primary confidante. He was a shoulder to cry on every time things weren't going well at home. And within a few months of starting the job, the relationship became sexual. Looking back, she said, he told me that I was not what he needed in a wife, but that he could make me into what he needed. Sweet. And you wanted to continue what I feel like.

That should have been how he breaks up with you. That doesn't sound like a compliment.

And I can make you into what I need.

I don't like that at all.

Fuck.

And he's like, you're not what I need for a life partner, but I could mold you into what I need right now. It's like, what about that sounds appealing?

Couldn't tell you.

Oh, boy. Yeah. Sad.

But as Tom and Lorna's relationship grew, so did the suspicion and the rumors about them spreading around the church. According to journalist Scott Kraft, witnesses described an electricity between the two and said they had pet names for each other.

Oh. Ew.

Guys, you should try to hide this a little better. But to try to avoid being found out, they started meeting in nearby towns or renting motel rooms in the country where they knew that they could be together away from the prying eyes of small town emporia. Despite their efforts at secrecy, though, Lorna couldn't help but tell someone about her relationship with Tom.

This is where it begins.

One night in January, before her affair with Tom had actually begun, though, she went out for drinks with one of her friends and actually her supervisor, Jan Mead. When the conversation turned to guys, relationships, all that, Lorna stunned Jan when she told her about her crumbling marriage and admitted that she had cheated on her husband more than once in the past. And again, that was before she had even started sleeping with Tom.

Oh, damn. Yeah.

With that second confession, it was most likely less of a surprise when just a few months later, Lorna told Jan that she had taken the job at the church to be close to Tom.

Oh, so she had intentions going into this. It wasn't like, I just want to.

According to what she told Jan.

Allegedly.

Yeah. Now she told Jan, tom and I are seeing each other, and this is one chance that we have to be alone. And I enjoy working there. Just a few months later, she would tell Jan, I know this sounds really awful, but I just wish something would happen to Marty and Tom's wife so we could be together for the rest of our lives.

There's like, such. What is the word? Divorce? I think it's. Divorce is what could happen for both of you. Yeah. And then you could be together.

Just know that you want that be final in your terms. Like, you're not going to be able to talk me out of this. I want a divorce. Hell, even say, I'm cheating on you. I want a divorce.

Yeah. And that's the thing. And it's like, we don't know because Lorna was claiming later that Martin was abusive.

We don't know what the situation was.

So there's also that to take into consideration, because I immediately am like, just get a divorce. Like, Tom. Get a divorce from your. Like, just divorce your partners and be together if that's what you really want. Like, you don't need to have an affair. There's an. Out here. But then I'm like, if you put in there. If that is true, which we don't know.

No, if that is true, that he's.

Abusive towards her and the children, then maybe that is the most dangerous time for somebody in an abusive relationship is trying to get out of it.

And that's important.

There is that. To at least hang on to there when we're like, guys, what the fuck? Right? Still not saying it's awesome to have an affair because it's with somebody else's husband, too. And it's like, also kind of your friend. Yeah. Well, a little bit, I guess.

Not really.

Not really. But you knew that he has a.

Wife and you knew of her.

Yeah. You know of her. Yeah. So that's not cool. But I guess me quickly saying get a divorce is like me saying it without having knowledge of being in an abusive relationship. That know. An allegedly abusive relationship. Exactly. It's important to at least consider in that situation.

It is a consideration. Very good point. But Lorna wasn't the only one trying to escape a crumbling marriage. As we know, Tom and Sandy's relationship was also falling apart, which was pushing Tom closer to Lorna. Like the other members of the church, Sandy just recognized it for what it was. And Tom wouldn't outright admit to the affair, but he didn't exactly shy away from his unhappiness in the marriage and constantly complained. Like, we know that Sandy's work and education left her little time for him.

And it's definitely not his sports hobbies and having a full blown affair. No, it's definitely Sandy's work and education and taking care of the children. That's the other thing.

I love that you're complaining that she's taking care of the kids too much.

Yeah, taking care of those kids. She's working, bettering herself. What about me educating herself? Here I am playing baseball, right. A little bit basketball, a little bit.

Of affair, and pursuing my own.

She's the problem.

And that's the other thing. It's like, okay, she's pursuing her dreams. You're acting like you don't have any dreams to pursue. You're pursuing your dream right now. You wanted to lead your own personal congregation, and here you are doing it. That's the thing. Why can't she do the thing that makes her happy?

If you had a strong relationship, then this would not be a problem. And you guys could understand that. It might be a little tough for a little while, and you might not see each other as much, but you're working towards goals, and once you get there, things will be different. Yeah. Kids will get older, things get a little easier. Like, you see more of each other. But this obviously was not a relationship that could stand that test.

No. And I think the thing was, Tom had always envisioned a marriage where his wife would be content just being a pastor's wife.

Yeah, that seemed like it to me.

That's not Sandy. And I had to imagine that part of him knew that getting into the marriage. You must have known that she had all these aspirations. Maybe. I'm just assuming.

Well, I mean, she's already doing this stuff. Like, you know, she's a very motivated, highly dedicated. Dedicated and just like, driven. Exactly. Like driven human being. And it's like. So why is this a shock to you that she's still that way?

Right.

Just also putting into your kids and stuff, too.

And I feel like that's what happens a lot in marriages that we cover. When we hear this, it's like, well, I always wanted this. And it's like, then you should have.

Been up front what you sought out, and it's like. And you should be upfront about that. Yeah, let someone know.

But I wonder if it was when he started having an affair with Lorna that he realized what he wanted. Yeah, I wonder if that's really what it was.

Yeah.

And what he wanted, he often complained to Lorna, was someone who, quote, considered being a pastor's wife a full time job.

Good luck. Interesting.

So the more time he spent away from home, the more sandy began to worry about the marriage. Eventually, the worry started actually affecting her health and well being. She was losing weight, she was having trouble sleeping. And like I said, this was when on more than one occasion, she was telling friends, I'm afraid he doesn't love me anymore. Which is, like, heartbreaking. Truly gut wrenching. Later, Sandy's friend Angie deucing, would say that Sandy, quote, was hurting a lot over her husband's relationship with his secretary. According to Angie, whenever the subject of marriage came up, quote, sandy's voice would break and her eyes would fill with tears.

Oh, I just want her to get out of there. Yeah. Because I'm like, it's perfectly acceptable if somebody wants to consider being a pastor's wife a full time job. If that's what fulfills you, then more power to you. If that's what you. But if that's not you, then like somebody else. Bye. Yeah.

But by summertime, Sandy's attitude towards her husband's not so subtle infidelity had changed. Her mother, Jane, explained to reporters that Sandy felt like her life was good in the eyes of God and that it was up to tom to make sure that his was. And in early June, she ended up getting a promotion at Emporia State University. So that meant she was going to begin teaching additional classes in the fall, which to her was a welcome distraction from the increasingly dysfunctional marriage. Yeah, but unfortunately, she would not live long enough to embrace or experience that career advancement.

Oh, come on.

Despite their spouse's best attempts to address the problems in their respective marriages, neither tom or Lorna seemed particularly interested in the marriages anymore. Instead, they convinced themselves that they were meant to be together, and their marriages were nothing more than a roadblock to their happy future together.

Okay, then leave them.

And that's the thing. Their problem could have been somewhat remedied by getting a divorce. Obviously, we've talked about Lorna's particular issues.

Potential issue.

Potential, which we have no proof whether.

That'S true or if that's the case, then, yeah, that's a roadblock.

That's a roadblock.

If not sure, then what are you waiting for?

But the other thing was, and this is, according to later witness testimony, and this is a quote, lorna didn't want a divorce because Martin Anderson had a large insurance policy and she wanted money, not the divorce.

Okay?

So that was at least a part of it, according to witnesses.

Okay.

And divorce also wasn't a permanent solution to what they really wanted. At the end of the day, Martin and Sandy completely out of their lives.

Don't have children with people that you want completely out of your life, because that will never be the the.

And if they had just divorced their respective spouses, Tom and Lorna would have likely found themselves with a net deficit. He would end up paying alimony and a lot of child support with three children, and she would be responsible for four small children with little more than alimony to support them. So instead, together, they devised a wicked scheme where they would kill Sandy and stage the scene to look like an accident, and then they would use the money from Sandy's life insurance policy, which was valued at $300,000, to hire somebody to kill Martin Anderson. This is like, dBI abolical.

Damn.

So Tom was like, we'll kill my wife. Make it look like an accident, get the money from her life insurance, and with that money, hire somebody to kill your husband.

Wow.

And they came up with that together? Evidently.

Damn.

In May 1983, Lorna contacted her friend and former lover, Darryl Carter, and asked him to meet her at the church, saying that she had something important to discuss with him. He went to the church a few days later, completely unaware of what Lorna actually wanted to talk to him about. And when he arrived, Lorna introduced him to Tom, who was also there to meet Daryl Carter. They explained that they were in love and wanted to be together, but that couldn't happen as long as they remained married to other people. Lorna explained that they had come up with this plan to murder Sandy and Martin, but they needed Daryl's help in order to pull it off. Initially, Daryl Carter was like, absolutely not. I don't want anything to do with murder. And also, why don't you just get divorced from your spouses if you want to be together?

Same question everybody's having. They're like, guys, there's an easier way.

But Tom explained that he loved Lorna and was going along with the plan in order to help her get out of an abusive marriage. He told Carter Lorna didn't want a divorce because Martin Anderson had a large insurance policy and she wanted the money. And Daryl Carter explained that he wasn't a killer and he had never engaged in anything like what they had planned, to which Tom replied, haven't either. I'm a man of God, and I'm going to kill Martin Anderson, implying that his actions were rooted in love for Lorna.

Wow.

But that he was still a man of God.

Yeah, obviously.

Isn't it like a commandment, like, thou shalt not kill?

I feel like that's a pretty solid one.

I think that's a big one.

I think that's one. That's like. There's really no interpreting that any different.

Yeah, like, word on the street, yeah, I don't know. That's kind of a big one.

But who off?

So it's rather unclear why Daryl Carter didn't just walk away from this conspiracy then and there, but instead of doing the rational thing, he stuck around to hear their plans. As Lorna and Tom saw it, there were two viable ways to successfully achieve their ends. In the first plan, they would get Martin drunk or drug him and then put him in his car and take him to a remote location in the country and push the car over an embankment, making it appear like a drunk driving accident.

My God.

If they went with this scenario, Daryl Carter's role would be to pick Tom up at the accident site and drive him back to the house, leaving Lorna at home all night with an alibi. The second option involves staging a robbery at the home where Martin stayed each month during his army reserve duty and shooting him to death, making it appear like a robbery gone wrong. And actually, if they went with the second option, they wouldn't actually need Daryl's help. So Darryl was like, wow, okay. Lot to unpack.

I was just going to say, that's a lot to consider.

He's, like, upsetting that I know you.

Yeah.

So he left the church completely stunned after telling both of them that he was going to need some time to think about this before getting back to them. A few days later, when they still hadn't heard from him, Tom actually ended up paying a visit to the construction site where Daryl was working and was like, did you make up your mind, dude? But Daryl told Tom that he still needed more time to think about it. And a short time later, he called Lorna and told her that he couldn't help them with their plan and assumed that without his involvement, they would drop the whole idea. I was like, wow, good that you didn't help them, bad that you didn't report.

That's the thing. You could have saved two people's lives at the end of the day.

Now, on the evening of July 16, just a few days after learning about her promotion at the university, Tom suggested that he and Sandy go out to dinner in a movie to celebrate the occasion. After the movie ended, they went home around 09:30 p.m. And Sandy ran inside to grab a bottle of pink champagne for herself and a bottle of whiskey for Tom. And she told the babysitter that they'd be back in about an hour. According to Tom, they then went back to his office at the church, where they had a couple drinks and then parted ways when Sandy left to go to her office at the university with plans to return a short time later to pick up Tom after he had gone over his sermon for the next morning, which, like this already sounds. Yeah, you just went on a date, you're celebrating something, you have a couple drinks together, and now you're going your separate ways to get work done.

No, I don't think so.

Maybe, but it's just a little weird. And also, wow. To get your sermon done.

Well, that's what really struck out to me. Yeah.

So Tom claims that he went out for a jog to think about his sermon and returned to the church expecting to find Sandy waiting because she was supposed to pick him up, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. After a little while longer, he got concerned and walked around town for a little while, looking for Sandy, before finally returning to home to relieve the babysitter without Sandy. On the morning of July 17, Sandy Bird's body was discovered by Kansas state trooper John Rule when he stopped to investigate what looked like an accident when a car went over an embankment on Rocky Ford Bridge.

God.

When Rule made his way down to where the car landed, he found Sandy's body lying face down in the river just in front of her overturned car. Based on the scene, it looked like Sandy had missed the 290 degree s curves leading to the bridge and then went through the railing and over the embankment to the river below, obviously causing fatal injuries in the process. But while the scene appeared to be that of an accident almost from the moment he arrived, something about it didn't feel right to the officer. He told Scott Kraft in a 1985 interview, I started to feel hinky about the whole thing.

Hinky.

I like that. For one thing, there were no skid marks anywhere on the road leading up to the point where the car went over the.

That would stick out.

So that's strange.

Yeah.

And while she might have missed the original curve, sending her in the direction of the railing, surely she would have tried to stop the vehicle at some point before it went over the edge.

You would think, right?

The lack of skid marks on the road were not the only problem. There was other evidence that directly contradicted what had ostensibly happened on Rocky Ford Bridge. Officer Rule found Sandy's watch under the bridge, far away from the car and the body, with no obvious explanation as to how it had gotten there. And even more troubling were the spots of blood that he discovered on the bridge, on the guardrail, and on the leaves on the trees below.

Oh, geez.

So how did that happen? Yeah, he told Kraft. I thought something happened on that bridge. But before he could investigate any further, additional officers and emergency workers arrived on scene, and they started trampling on Eddie evidence as they removed the car and Sandy's body.

Awesome.

And he's not, like, a homicide. He's. He just happened to be the officer that stumbled upon this.

Oh, jeez.

So that's not even, like, his expertise. But he brought his concerns to the sheriff, who immediately dismissed his theory, telling him it was highly unlikely that anyone would kill a preacher's wife.

Why is this, like, a weird running idea? Isn't it, that preachers and preachers wives just are, like, immune to all the things? No one would kill a preacher's wife. And it's like, what?

Somebody who's mad about religion, maybe somebody.

Who'S fucking a preacher. I feel somebody. Things happen. People are not good all the time. I love that. That job. It affords you immunity. Couldn't possibly. And it's like, no, everyone could possibly.

Of course. Have you not seen that evil is in the world?

Just because you have a job where you walk around saying that everybody should stop being shitheads and I'm the extra, not shithead because I'm a pastor. Right. Doesn't mean that you're not a shithead.

Have you ever heard a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Exactly.

I'm like, anybody.

They're not above it. No, they should be, but they're not.

I could name you. There's a whole fucking show dedicated to it.

Exactly.

But Rule later said there was a mountain of evidence down there. If you had been working a homicide, I was sure she didn't die in a traffic wreck, but I didn't have the training to prove otherwise.

That must be infuriating.

So frustrating to feel it in your bones that you know what you saw and what you saw wasn't right. And to have everybody tell you, no.

Preacher'S wife to prove this, but I don't know how, and he doesn't want to fuck it up more. Right. So he's just, like, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Right.

And if. I mean, you're reporting to the sheriff.

Yeah. And you don't want to contaminate shit or make certain things. If you did find it, be inadmissible.

Or get yourself into trouble. There's a whole laundry list of things would make this incredibly frustrating. So the coroner essentially agreed with the sheriff that Sandra Byrd's death was the result of a tragic accident and nothing more. In his autopsy, Dr. Juan Gabriel noted that many of Sandy's injuries could have resulted in death. But the most likely cause of death was a transacted kidney, which he stated was the kind of injury people receive in motor vehicle accidents.

Ouch.

Despite some of the evidence contradicting the coroner's findings, like Sandy only having a small trace of alcohol in her blood, no one contested the findings, and the cause of death was officially logged in. Accident.

And it's like, we're just going to ignore all the other stuff, like, no skid marks or anything.

Wipe your hands of that.

No. Wow.

Preachers wives don't use their brakes?

No, they're immune to that.

Like what? So, when Officer Scott Cronk delivered the news to Tom Bird that morning, he was surprised by the preacher's reaction, and he started to feel a little bit like Officer John rule was feeling. Tom responded to the officer asking, what was she doing out there? We never go out there.

Where is it? What?

First of all, so many questions.

Second of all, strange questions.

Strange questions. And you're really going right off the bat being like, she's never gone there.

We never seen that road. Whatever. What is a road? Who's a vehicle? What? Nope. Talking about a pterodactyl. What? I don't know what that is.

It's strap Kronk. Is strange that Tom would immediately assert that his wife never went to the location she was discovered before. Even knowing where that location was, by the way. That's tough, because he said, we never go there. Where is it?

You don't know where it is.

But you also know that you've never gone there.

I just know that we have never been there. You don't know where it. What?

But that wasn't the only thing that seemed off. In Tom's version of events, when Sandy didn't arrive to pick him up, he ran around town looking for her. It seemed a bit strange, at least to this officer and a few others, that he wouldn't just call the babysitter first to find out if Sandy had just gone home and maybe forgot to pick him up immediately. He assumed the worst, obviously. Why? But like rule's suspicions, Officer rule, there. Officer Kronk put his own curiosities out of his head, not wanting to assume a religious leader capable of anything nefarious. Because, you know. Because you can't never happen.

No, you cannot consider that ever you just can't.

So although he had acknowledged the coroner's determination that Sandy's death was accidental, Officer John Rule just couldn't shake the feeling that everyone had either gotten something wrong or was just simply ignoring the obvious. Yeah, he recalled. I kept thinking, what was she doing out there alone after dark? And although he struggled to imagine someone wanting to kill a preacher's wife as.

Well, because at this point it's been put in his head, I guess he.

Was convinced that he had come upon the scene of a homicide that night and he wasn't ready to let it go. So he quietly continued to pursue the case on his own.

Oh, John Rule.

I know John rules.

He does.

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So if you're feeling run down from the holidays or just kind of blah and ready to get back into self discipline mode, then get you some squeeze juices. Head to squeeze and enter code morbid for free same day local delivery or fast free delivery nationwide. While the coroner and rural superiors were unwilling to hear his theories, he was by no means alone in his suspicions. Kansas Bureau of Investigations, aka the KBI agent Jay Vernon Humphrey said, we heard rumors, faint rumors about him having an affair, being tumbered, but no one wanted to tell us anything about, you know, that this is happening, but nobody wants to talk about it. That's even more sus yeah, where there's smoke, there's fire. Friends and family might not have wanted to speculate on whether Tom was having an affair, but that didn't mean that they didn't want to talk about Sandy altogether. They did. Rule spoke to those who knew her best, and what emerged from those conversations was a portrait of a woman that rule described as very diligent, very intelligent, and the sort of person who ran at 100 miles an hour, 18 hours a day.

Just like we heard she did it all, Sandy.

And he also learned that, among other things, she was a stickler for safety and always wore her seatbelt.

You know what? That makes sense. Of course it does. Obviously, none of us know Sandy, but that just fits that vibe of like, she was doing everything she needs to do, working hard. She would be one of those that's like, wear your seatbelt, put your seatbelts. She's got three young kids.

It just makes sense.

Sandy breaks my heart, truly.

So the fact that Sandy always wore her seatbelt was yet another thing about the scene that didn't make sense. When Ruel initially made his way down to the crash site, he discovered Sandy's body face down in the creek, suggesting that she had been forcibly ejected from the car when it went over the rail. Had she been wearing her seatbelt like she supposedly always did? There was only a very small chance.

That that could have happened. Yeah.

And then there was also the interior of the car itself. After it had been removed from the site, rule learned that the driver's seat had been adjusted much farther back than would have been safe or even comfortable for Sandy, who stood at five one.

As someone who's also five one, you are smashed up against that steering wheel to reach those pedals.

And I've seen when John drives the car before you how far back you are.

Yeah. Or like when he tries to get in after I've been on it, he can't get in without moving the seat back. Yeah, there's a very noticeable difference.

So obviously that suggested that somebody much taller had been driving the car when it went off the brake.

I mean, that alone should be a massive.

Well, why didn't nobody red flag that?

Should be a massive red flag. Yeah. It's very easy to tell when someone, five one has been driving a car.

Let me tell you, because you've even driven my car before and I can't get in. As Ruel continued quietly investigating Sandy's death, Tom and Lorna began putting the second phase of their plan into action. Because remember, they wanted both of their.

Sandy is dead now.

In September, Lorna placed another call to Daryl Carter, who again declined to help them. So Lorna reached out to Daryl's brother, Danny Carter.

Jesus.

And enlisted his help. Why does she know so many people that she's willing to ask to kill someone?

I got to wonder that myself, Lorna.

The thing was, Danny also wasn't a killer. But he thought he knew someone who was and agreed to act as a middleman.

Okay.

A few days later, Tom cashed a $5,000 check, which was a portion of the proceeds from Sandy's life insurance policy and delivered that money to Danny, who claimed he, quote, sent it to a man in Mississippi who was to arrange the job. Several days passed, then a week, but neither the couple or Danny ever heard back from the contact in Mississippi. On the afternoon of November 4, 1983, Lorna and Martin, along with their four children, drove out to Fort Riley to pick up a new uniform for Martin's army reserve position. On the way home, Lorna was driving and claimed that she started to feel sick, so she pulled off the road and ran into an adjacent field to vomit.

Their four children are in the car right now? Yes. What the fuck is about to happen?

Something terrible.

Oh, boy.

Yeah, it's very sad that their kids were in the car when this happened. So she claimed that she felt sick. She pulled over and ran into an adjacent field to vomit. She said as she walked back to the car, she realized she had dropped her keys. So she asked Martin to come help her find them. And as they searched in the ditch near the car, a man, quote, cloaked in a black ski mask, seemed to come from nowhere and demanded that Martin hand over his wallet. Before Martin could even respond, the man shot him three times in the head, killing him, according to a statement given to the press by Tom Bird a few days after the killing.

I'm sorry, what?

So Tom Bird gave a statement about.

Martin's murder, which he was, not president. Yes. Allegedly. Yep.

He said the man went berserk shooting. He shot Marty a number of times. He grabbed Lorna and pulled her down, then took Marty's wallet. Then a car was coming by, so he threw her in the ditch, jumped on top of her and told her not to scream. Then he got scared and ran. She didn't see where he went. I'm sorry, but that's the most fucking ridiculous story I've ever heard in my entire life.

And why are you telling me what happened when you weren't there?

Well, he's her counselor.

Oh, excuse me. Don't forget also, everybody, how are the kids doing?

I know.

In this whole planned thing that just was done in front of your children. Yeah. That's like.

That's really gross aspect.

That's really gross.

Unreal.

I'm terrified by this.

They're young. After the attack, a passing driver stopped to help Lorna and flagged down a school bus, transporting a local high school football team to a game nearby. This is, like, so small town. Several of the football players tried to revive Martin, actually, but it was too late. I mean, he'd been shot in the head multiple times.

Oh, but the football players tried. Yeah.

In their own statement to the press, Junction City, under Sheriff John Depersio, told reporters they were, quote, interviewing witnesses trying to solve the bizarre killing. But he said, they don't have a suspect, they don't have a weapon, and most importantly, they have no sensible motive.

For the murder of Anderson, except someone's got to come out of here and be, ah, there is something weird. She is having an affair. So, like, somebody look into this? Yeah, that would be my first thing. I'd be like, there's all these rumors about her having an affair. Everybody.

Exactly. Check into it, at least don't you worry.

Okay, good.

So the undersheriff might not have had any suspects or motive, but authorities in and around Emporia were starting to think that they might have some insight into who would want to kill Martin Anderson and why, after hearing the surprisingly detailed yet also suspiciously vague statement that, again, Tom Bird question mark gave reporters on Lorna's behalf.

Yeah. Miraculous.

The editor of the Emporia Gazette, Ray Call, told another editor, if you believe that, I'd like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

That's honestly the truest statement. No.

Our friend Jay Vernon Humphrey from the KBI also noted the unusual connection between Tom Bird, whose wife had also just died under mysterious circumstances.

That's the other thing. I'm like, you two are reckless. You're many things, but you're reckless.

You're many things, and reckless is one.

Reckless is one of them, because it's like you have this whole plan that you're going to run away together and just be together after both your spouses die under suspicious circumstances, and you're just. While everyone knows that you're having an.

Affair already and you're going to raise seven kids between the two of you.

Seven kids who are going to know what happened eventually to their other. Wow. Yeah. That's interesting. Interesting. Wow.

But, yeah, like I said, jay, Vern and Humphrey was like, there's a weird fucking connection between the two of these, quote unquote widow and widowers. So he called his colleagues in nearby, I think it's Geary county, to let them know of the connection. The tip prompted investigators to look into both Tom and Lorna, where they learned that not only had Tom recently received a payout from his wife's insurance and cashed a check of $5,000, but Lorna had also recently taken out a policy on her husband not long before he was murdered. Weird.

Strange.

So crazy.

Yeah.

So after just a few days of investigation, detectives traced the $5,000 to Danny Carter, and he and Darryl were immediately arrested in connection with the shooting. Danny told police that he indeed received the money from Lorna Anderson as a payout for the murder of her husband. But he said the man to whom he sent the money had never contacted them to arrange the hit. But still, the Carter brothers were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Damn.

On November 18, while they were being held in jail, Darryl contacted their lawyer and told him pretty much flat out that Reverend Tom Bird was absolutely involved in the deaths of both Sandy and.

Damn, they were just like, let's spill the tea, since we're already getting in trouble anyway.

They're like, we're not getting.

We're not going down for this, at least alone.

So realizing the very serious nature of the trouble that he was in, Danny Carter told police about his role in the crime, specifically noting that while he did act as a go between for Lorna and the hitman that was supposed to be hired, he never committed an act of violence. And he also explained that as far as he knew, the person to whom he sent the money had never followed through. So if Martin Anderson was murdered, and he was, it wasn't by anybody that Danny Carter knew. Interesting, because he was like, the guy in Mississippi never answered.

So I don't know what happened here. The intention was there. We did not do it. Right.

Based on what Danny Carter told them, the detectives were still missing a lot of pieces to the puzzle. And actually, at this point, really only knew one thing for certain. Lorna Anderson had conspired with the Carter brothers in an attempt to have her husband murdered.

Wow.

That's brutal. It's crazy. A week later, on November 23, she was arrested, and on November 30, she was charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder. In his statement to the press, chief investigator Al Busky, or Busky, excuse me, told reporters Anderson conspired with Carter to have Martin Anderson done away with $5,000, changed hands, and Mr. Carter's function was to find someone to take care of Marty. That's what Mr. Carter alleges, so she's kind of like, telling everybody what's going on. Lorna, at this point, was held without bond and continued to assert her innocence in the entire scheme. She was like, I have no idea what these people are talking about. And at the same time, she was pretty much refusing to talk to investigators. But it didn't matter, because a lot of other people were willing to be way more forthcoming.

Don't worry. We got you. Yeah.

By the first week, of December, detectives had managed to track down Gregory Curry, the man to whom Danny Carter had given the money to murder Martin. So many people to keep track of. After being extradited from Ohio back to Kansas and now charged as a co conspirator alongside Lorna and Danny, Gregory, Curry accepted a deal from the prosecutor, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal solicitation in exchange for a lesser penalty. He was not compelled to assist the prosecution in the case against Lorna, but there was an implicit understanding that he could be called as a witness for the prosecution. But he didn't shoot.

Wow. Okay, what's happening?

He collected the money, but he never followed through. So that's why he only got the charge for criminal solicitation.

Okay.

During this period now, the rumors of an affair between Tom and Lorna were going everywhere, persisting throughout emporia. But shockingly, few, if any, actually believed that Tom Bird was involved in these crimes.

Honestly, that doesn't shock me. It shocks whenever it involves. It just shocks me. It's shocking in my core of my being.

But you're like.

But on the outside, I'm like, this is always. What happens is everyone just goes, no way. No way.

Bonkers.

Not with a job like that. And it's like this wild that we are just like, no, he likes God. His occupation is too wild for that. And it's just like, what? No, that's just his job. That's just his job, right? Why are we not this guy over here who's a janitor? He's more likely to do it because he's not working in a church.

And it's like, any sense.

No, it's all bad.

And there are plenty of honorable jobs in the world, I would say. Teachers have honorable jobs.

Nurses.

They kill janitors. Janitors.

Everybody in any job could end up. Mothers kill their children, but pastors do not. But pastors don't kill anyone. And it's like, what is wild? We've been proven time and time again that they are real people, like anyone else. And they can be evil pastors.

They're just like us.

They're just like evil people. Sometimes they're great. We get the both. We get the boom. We get the get bad. And what is it? The facts of life.

Don't. You stuck in my head.

Love that. Love that choice so much.

Anyway. So at first, anyway, shockingly few believed. But that changed on December 1 when Darryl Carter's girlfriend, another person coming in here, her name was Jennifer Peterson. She got a call from Tom Bird saying that he needed to speak with Daryl as soon as possible.

Uh oh.

Fearing for his safety, Daryl informed his lawyer of Tom's request, and together they went to the KBI.

Jesus Christ.

I didn't even move.

Did you see that? No, I just saw it when it landed.

I didn't even move it.

Just. Sorry.

So, fearing for his safety, Daryl informed his lawyer of Tom's request, and together they went to the KBI. And sensing an opportunity to fill in some of the missing pieces in the story, KBI agents convinced Daryl to arrange the meeting with Tom and record the conversation. Oh, they were like, oh, you are definitely going to go see him. If he needs to talk to you.

This urgently, let's fucking go talk to him. So Darryl was like, okay, awesome. This isn't terrifying.

And on December 10, the two men met in a local parking lot, where Darryl secretly recorded the conversation and where Tom Bird acknowledged the original meeting in the church, wherein he, Darryl, and Lorna all spoke of killing Sandy and Martin.

My goodness.

The recording of the conversation went a long way to confirming what investigators had already come to suspect, that Martin's murder was the result of an affair between Tom and Lorna. But while the tape was an important piece of the story, they still needed more evidence if they were going to arrest Tom. Because it wasn't like a smoking gun.

No.

So they spoke to the babysitter who was watching the bird children the night of Sandy's murder.

Oh, my goodness. That upsets me.

Contrary to Tom's claims of having gone for a jog the night of the murder and returning home still in his jogging clothes, the babysitter told police he came home a little after midnight, and he was, quote, wearing dress slacks, a shirt, and tie. But he said that he had gone for a jog to think about his sermon. And then he came back and was still wearing his jogging clothes. And she's like, no.

She's like, no. I like that. This babysitter was like, no.

So they kept talking to different people. It took nearly four months, but finally, on March 21, 1984, Tom Bird was arrested and charged with criminal solicitation to commit first degree murder.

Thank goodness. But also, who did this?

The question, to be quite honest, may never be answered.

Get answered. That's upsetting. Yeah.

I think people have their own opinions, and I have mine that I might not tell you.

And you can have yours.

And you can have yours.

Exactly. Okay.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of wonderies podcast, American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U. S. History. Presidential lies, corruption in sports, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we go to Baltimore, where, in the spring of 2017, a police corruption scandal shocked the city. At the heart of it was an elite plainclothes unit called the Gun Trace Task Force. It was supposed to be the Baltimore Police Department's best of the best, a group of highly decorated detectives who excelled at getting drugs and guns off the streets. But they operated with little oversight, creating an environment where criminal cops could flourish by falsifying evidence and robbing suspects. Follow american scandal on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge american scandal, police corruption in Baltimore early and ad free right now on wondre.

So he was arrested, and at the time, Lorna, who had been free on bond, was re arrested. And after dropping the previous charges against her, they were like, oh, let's get rid of those. It's okay, Lorna. It's not okay, though, because we're charging you with far more serious things, like, boom, aiding and abetting first degree murder. And we're going to hit you also with two counts of conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the shooting death of your husband.

Good.

So welcome back.

Welcome back, Lorna.

On May 31, a preliminary hearing was held during which Darryl and Daniel Carter testified that Tom Bird had solicited both men to help kill Martin Anderson. Darryl told the jury, Tom Bird told me at the time he loved Lorna Anderson and that he was doing this to help her because he loved her. Additional evidence at the hearing included the 45 minutes recorded conversation between Darryl and Tom that happened in December of the previous year. And based on the evidence presented by the prosecution, Judge William Dick ordered Tom bound over for trial, and the date was set for July 1, 1984.

Let's go.

So many trials are better in a.

Way that is satisfactory.

It kind of does, man.

Okay, man.

And just so many trials are about to happen.

Oh, boy.

Just strap in. So Tom's trial for the charge of criminal solicitation began in August of 1984, during which one witness after another testified about Tom's relationship with Lorna. They were like, we are ready to talk.

They were so good at hiding it.

Except not at all. The jury also heard critical testimony from Daryl and Daniel Carter and Gregory Curry, who was the one that had been.

Hired, but never just want to keep you. I appreciate it because I was like, who's Greg? Exactly. I got it.

So they all told of their role in the conspiracy to kill Martin Anderson, although authorities at the time acknowledged that the plot to kill Martin Anderson was never carried out. With Greg shooting the man, Tom, was still found guilty and sentenced to two and a half to seven years in prison.

Two and a half to seven years?

Yeah, that's it. But don't worry. I told you there were more trials.

A toddler to a second grader. Amount of time. Yeah.

Okay, because it's only conspiracy to. I mean, I don't mean only, but.

In the eyes of the law, the.

Eyes of the law, only conspiracy to commit. Which, again, seems like that needs an.

Overhaul a little bit.

Well, and also this guy did end up dead.

Yeah. So, like, the conspiracy kind of went into practice here, right? I don't know. And I still don't want anyone who conspired to commit murder out of prison to be my pastor. Do it again.

Like you're going to serve seven years. You could come out. I mean, you could fucking conspire in prison.

Yeah, you're conspiring. I'm saying what you do, once a.

Conspirer, always a conspiracy.

I've always saved that conspiracy. I've always saved that. You know what?

I always have that, too. But as Tom began serving his sentence for the solicitation charge, the investigation into Sandy's death had finally gained some traction.

Goodness. Because remember Sandy?

Two people were killed.

Yeah.

And in October of 1984, they actually had her body exhumed. And a second autopsy was performed by Dr. William Eckert, a certified forensic pathologist. Hell, yeah, I know.

Right? Let's get in there with this forensic pathologist.

I think he may have been involved in other cases that we've talked about.

Because his name is very familiar.

Yeah, it is.

But my memory is so bad.

Retweet. And we've done so many cases.

Exactly.

But in addition to the injuries noted in the previous autopsy, which were consistent with the accident, Eckert noted a number of other significant blunt force injuries that could not be accounted for by an accident, by a car accident, and injuries to the wrists and arms.

Oh, that's awful.

According to his final report, the latter injuries were consistent with defensive injuries, as injuries caused when a person has his arms outstretched in an effort to ward off blows in the attack.

Oh, that's so awful. Of course. That's the mother of his children. Yeah. And it doesn't even sound like. It sounds like their marriage was not good. No, but it's not like, it's like.

They took vows at one point.

You just have, like, a shitty marriage, and this is the path it takes.

Like, wow, it's so diabolical.

Just really upsetting.

It's even sadder to think that in both of these cases, specifically because we're talking about Sandy right now, he asked her out on a date while their marriage wasn't doing so well, to celebrate an achievement that she had just made. And that must have made her feel so seen and happy and like, maybe.

Things are going to turn around. Maybe we got through it. Maybe we're going to come out the other side.

And then the night ends, like, with this. And it's like him standing over you, presumably murdering. Yeah, like, that's horrific. And then on the other side of things, Martin Anderson just thought he was going for a drive with his family to form.

Yeah.

Just happy to be out for a drive. You would.

Just driving with your four, I think, those four kids.

Four kids, yeah. And then you think like, oh, no, my wife is sick. And then, oh, crap, let me go help her lose.

Fix. Find the keys.

The keys that she lost. And then that. Boom, you're done.

And you just wonder how much the kids saw. I know.

And it's like, I didn't really look too much into that because I'm like, kids stuff, bump.

And you said they were young, so it's like, that's a whole other set of traumas that you have put on your children for your own selfish reasons. And it's like, damn.

You didn't take into consideration that maybe I won't get away with this, and then my kids don't have parents.

Any parents.

Like, then I am leaving my kids.

And it's just like, you could put that kind of trauma on them for your own selfish needs. You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

That's so much trauma on kids, I.

Can'T even fathom considering them. And that's your number one job, is to consider them at all times, in all decisions.

It's just really upsetting. But, yeah, this could have ended in so many different ways.

It really could have. But back to Dr. William Eckert's findings here. So he found all these defensive wounds, and similarly, he theorized that the wounds to Sandy's head and shoulders, quote, could have been caused by an instrument such as the branch of a tree, a baseball bat, a pool cue, or a tire iron.

Holy shit. These were.

She was beaten intensely.

Oh, my God.

Finally, he noted a lack of injuries one would expect of somebody who had been forcibly ejected from a vehicle. In his opinion, the injuries believed to have been caused by the accident could have just as likely been caused by a fall from a significant height.

Wow.

Like, these were intense injuries and they were not totally different accident injuries.

Wow. That's interesting. It is.

In February 1985, investigators went back to Lorna, who had ended her relationship with Tom and was now dating a new.

Oh, wow. Wow.

All for not wow.

Yeah.

And isn't that always the way? He goes to jail, and it's like, wow. Thought you guys were. You guys were so in love that you conspired to commit murder.

Both of. Yep. Okay.

Got it.

Wow.

So the police tracked her down, and she gave a statement to police alleging that Tom had told her on the night of Sandy's death. And this is her statement. She alleged that on the night of Sandy's death, he had driven Sandy out to Rocky Ford Bridge. And as they walked out onto the bridge, Tom struck Sandy with a tire.

Which is exactly what the doctor said.

Exactly what he said. He's believing Sandy to be unconscious. He tried to throw her over the side, but she held onto the railing, and he kicked her until she fell.

Oh, my God.

So she put up a fight, which explains the defensive wounds.

That's horrific.

Yep. And it gets worse. After moving Sandy's body into the position, it was discovered in the water, tom drove the car, which accounts for the seat being pushed back as it was over the edge of the embankment there and jumped out before it went off the bridge. Once he staged the scene, he ran back to the church, ditching his clothes along the way, and changed into the suit that he was wearing when he and Sandy left the house that night. And that's why he did not return home in jogging clothes like the babysitter.

Am.

And also, you beat your wife to death. Or. Excuse me. You beat your wife up to the point of death. She's still holding on for dear life, and you kick her until she is completely dead and falls down. And then you drive the car that you presumably. Presumably was your family car off the side of an embankment. And then you go to church.

I have no words.

You go back to church after all of that. Truly, no words after all of that.

And this is after you, like you said, have been like, we're going to have a date night. Yeah.

To celebrate you and what you have achieved.

Wow. That like a man. Sandy. Damn. Yeah.

So, based on the second autopsy and Lorna's statement of what allegedly happened, a grand jury indicted Tom yet again, this time with the first degree murder of his wife, Sandy. And the trial began in July of 1985. At trial, Lyon County District Attorney Rod Simmons told the jury that Tom, quote, had murdered his wife out of love for Lorna Anderson, which was supported by the evidence and the testimony heard from the Carter brothers, the bird's babysitter, and several of Sandy's friends, who testified that she had discovered his affair not long before her death. Most significant were the results of that second autopsy and the circumstances of the scene, which supported the prosecution's theory that Sandra Byrd had been killed on the bridge before being thrown into the ravine, which explained why her blood had been found on the trees leading down to the embankment. And, I also believe on the guardrail.

This all makes so much more sense now.

Exactly. And shout out to Officer John rule for immediately recognizing those. Shout out.

It's a good John.

If he didn't become like an actual homicide investigator after that. My goodness.

I hope John rule. Like, I hope you're still ruling John rule. Right.

So the defense, on the other hand, of course, argued that the prosecution's case was full of inconsistencies and relied heavily.

On hearsay, except for that whole forensic.

Pathologist and, you know, the blood on everything above where her body was found. Got it.

But cool.

Defense attorney Robert Heck told the jury no one saw a damn thing, adding that his client had spent the night looking for his wife.

Okay. Yeah, totally okay.

Also, nobody saw a damn thing, including that no one saw him looking for his.

No one saw that. So.

Objection, hearsay.

The babysitter saw him in different clothes, so nice try.

After a brief investigation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict. And Tom Byrne was.

Jesus Christ.

Tom Byrd was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Sandy Byrd. And he was already serving that two to seven year.

I like. I like life better than two to seven years.

Life is much better.

Much better.

Now, it was Lorna Anderson's statement to police that led to Tom's arrest and eventual conviction for murder. But it's unlikely that she expected at any point to find herself in the same position.

Probably not.

By the fall of 1988, though, she was facing very serious charges and a strong case against her for the murder of her husband. So she took a deal, and she agreed to plead guilty to one count of second degree murder in exchange for a 20 year sentence. In her statement given to investigators, Lorna identified Tom as the shooter in Martin's murder.

I wondered if that was possible, leading.

To additional murder charges being brought against Tom. But in March of 1990, a jury acquitted Tom of the charges related to Martin's death. And that's why I say we don't know who shot Martin.

Okay. He was acquitted. Yes.

So Tom ended up appealing his conviction to the state supreme court in 1986 at the one where he received life for the murder of Sandy. But the verdict and the sentence were upheld. Since then, he is said to have been a model prisoner. And he got remarried in the late.

Eighty s. Oh, my.

He continues to assert his innocence and claims that while he and Lorna were sexually intimate on three or four occasions.

I don't need to know how many. My brit, my guy doesn't matter to me.

They never had a relationship. Sexual relations are a relationship also.

Excuse me, pastor. That doesn't constitute a relationship. I thought that was like a big thing. No. Okay.

No, exactly. And he said that he never agreed to participate in any murders.

He said, except aren't you on like recording saying that you talked about it, at least?

Talked about it. You at least talked about it?

Yep. That's pretty fucked up.

Which is participating in.

That's participating in talking about it at least. Yeah. So there's that.

But he says of Lorna, she was emotionally attached to me and on my end, there was a need to be needed. I like the idea of being needed. So I unprofessionally let it happen. It was more emotional than physical.

Thank you, Tom. Yeah. Thank you, Tom, for your time. Yeah.

There are many people, though, who believe that Tom was convicted on circumstantial evidence and questionable testimony from people with faulty memories.

Are the people in the room with us right now? Like who? No. Who is that?

He ended up being released from prison. He got parole. He was released in 2004, and his supervision period ended in 2006.

Okay.

And he's gone on to lead a quiet life.

Wow.

But he was convicted for murdering his wife.

He certainly was.

But not for shooting Martin artisan.

He was acquitted of that.

He was acquitted of that. I want to be very clear.

Interesting.

Lorna served nearly her entire sentence and was released on parole in 2007, with her supervision period officially ending in 2014. And from everything I could find, also has gone on to live a quiet life. But apparently they both live in Kansas.

I am shook by that. And wow.

Didn't think it was going to end like that.

I just feel really bad for Sandy and their fam and Martin and those fucking kids. I feel so bad for both sets of these kids.

I know. I hope.

Because I can't imagine what they've gone through.

I hope that wonderful lives.

I hope they've gone on to just be happy and healthy and got whatever.

They needed to get.

Yeah. Because it breaks my fucking heart to know what they all just went through. That was a lot of kids to have involved in all that. Seven kids, four of which at least.

Were there when it was.

That's. That's really. And then, like, just to think of, I mean, both those murders were horrific. Oh, my God. Brutal.

So brutal.

Like, Martin was shot in the head three times nearby his children, and he.

Was shot in the chest once. He ended up being shot four times.

Yeah. And it's like.

And then thrown off an embankment.

Yeah. She was beaten and thrown off an embankment. Like, that's unthinkable, truly. It's unthinkable, truly.

And the fact that we really never will like, the fact that we don't know concretely who shot Martin Anderson is the biggest thing for me because I'm.

Like, I got to know who that was. Yeah.

And his kids deserve to know.

Absolutely.

His parents, his family. And I'm sure everybody has their own opinions, but none of us know for certain.

Yeah.

Which is, like, incredibly frustrating and furious. I can't imagine if that was my loved one.

Thank goodness for John Rule. Yeah. In the situation and for Dr. Eckert.

Yup.

Like, coming in, know, we had a coroner the first time around.

The fact that this could throw in.

A forensic pathologist the second time around, and look what you got. Yeah.

And just the fact that this could have gone so differently. Sandy's death could, if John Rule hadn't had his suspicions, know, looked around at certain things, a couple other people hadn't had their, she still would have been listed as dying from an accident.

Yeah.

When we know that that's not the case.

Damn. Yeah. That's a horrifying case.

I know in every way, and I.

Feel really bad for those people that had to deal with it because, holy.

Shit, I do, too. So treat people nicely.

Yeah.

And don't cheat on your spouse.

Just be honest. Yeah.

Just honesty is the best policy. And with that being said, we hope.

You keep listening, and we hope you.

Keep it weird as any of this because we'll disown you.

Absolutely not.

Alina Nash.

Bye.

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