Hey prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mister Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Todays story centers around one of the dumbest criminals ever. It will be confusing at first, but trust me, at the end, everything will fall into place and youll be left wondering how in the world people like this actually exist. But before we get into todays story, if youre a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then youve come to the right podcast.

Because thats all we do.

And we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if thats of interest to you, the next time the Amazon music follow button has a cold, please give them some afrin decongestant spray and ensure them its perfectly safe to use it for more than three days in a row. Okay, lets get into todays story.

A little birdie tells me, Colin, that you in your youth were quite a promising distance runner.

Middle distance until cider, which is something that Mo Farah managed to avoid. And really, that's the only difference between the two of us. Everything to play for is back with a two parter to celebrate Olympic summer. Paris 2024 on Mo Farah. Of all of the athletes we could have chosen, why Mo Farah?

Well, he's a distance running icon. He did the double double 5010 thousand meter gold at two Olympics.

One of those gold medals formed part of Super Saturday, maybe the most famous day in british Olympic history. It's fantastic to see Sir Moore, Farrah.

But what a career.

Brendan or Steve? Follow everything to play for on the onetree app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge seasons early and ad free right now on one tree.

Plus.

Em, what do you look for in a globally massive pop star?

Oh, I want sensationally inappropriate outfits, incredible glamor, and an almost unapproachable call.

Well, for the latest series of terribly famous, would you settle for some plaid shirts, ginger hair and an acoustic guitar?

No.

No, I won't.

What if there's a loophole?

All right, keep talking.

That is actually it.

It just sounds a bit ordinary.

Emily, this is Ed Sheeran. You really won't believe the twists and turns his story takes.

Okay, fine. Sell me ed.

Addiction. Shame spirals. Family interventions.

Grief.

Massive court cases. Obsession.

Okay, okay, I'm listening.

Ed mapped out his whole career when he was just a teenager. And he has followed that path to some very strange places.

How strange?

Jennifer Aniston, sun lounger just an ordinary guy, followed terribly be famous wherever you listen to podcasts, or listen early and ad free on wondery on Apple podcasts or the Wondery app.

At around 09:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, 1988, a 33 year old woman named Cheryl Petry grabbed the candy bar off the rack inside of PJs Market. PJ's market was a little convenience store in the city of Port Orchard, Washington, and it was where Cheryl worked. She was the cashier. And without ringing this candy bar up, Cheryl simply handed it across the counter to a female college student who had just come into the store to talk to Cheryl. This student had temporarily moved right next door to PJ's market. And the student, after coming into the market and meeting Cheryl, they had immediately taken a liking to her. And so it became kind of like her routine to come into the market basically every night and just sit down and chat with Cheryl. Sometimes for hours. The student would talk about their day at school. They'd talk about their personal life. They'd tell Cheryl all of their problems and secrets. I mean, Cheryl really became this student's confidant. And believe it or not, this was an effect that Cheryl had on lots of people. Cheryl was incredibly kind. She was empathetic. She was a great listener.

She never acted like she was judging you, and she never gossiped about people. And also, Cheryl had a very disarming sense of humor. It was very goofy. She was always cracking up at jokes that she had made. And so people just felt at ease around Cheryl, and they typically left interactions with her in a good mood. And on this night, when the student had come into the market, they had told Cheryl that they actually had found an apartment in Port Orchard that they were going to be moving to. So they were going to be leaving PJ's where they were now. But the student had said that they really had no money. And so it was going to be a challenge to furnish this apartment. Heck, it was going to be a challenge just to buy groceries for this apartment. And when Cheryl heard this, she first congratulated the student, but then also said, well, hey, I'll give you some of my own furniture because I don't need it all, and that will help you furnish the apartment. And then also, Cheryl had grabbed that chocolate bar off the rack and given it to the student for free as a sort of like, you know, here's your first grocery as well.

The student was totally floored by Cheryl's generosity and tried to tell her, you know, keep your furniture and you can keep this chocolate, or I'll pay for it. But Cheryl insisted. She was like, nope. Tomorrow I will bring you furniture, and please take this candy bar. And so the student finally relented and thanked Cheryl profusely. And really, this behavior was so typical of Cheryl. She was a single mom raising a nine year old girl and a baby boy. And so she worked two jobs to make ends meet. On the weekends, she worked at PJ's market, and then during the week, she worked at a Ford car dealership. But despite being totally swamped, basically all the time providing for her family, any spare time Cheryl had, she tried to give it to other people, whether that was helping a co worker with their resume or baking some goodies for a sick friend at church, Cheryl was all about helping other people. The area of Port Orchard where Cheryl lived was only about an hour away from the big city of Seattle. But to Cheryl, this part of Port Orchard felt much farther away than that. She lived in this tiny, little blue, single story house that was tucked away in the woods, surrounded by all these tall trees.

The road to her house was very rural and winding, and so where she lived Alby said he had been fishing with when he cut his hand. And in separate interviews, all of those people confirmed that Alby was telling the truth. And also, police knew that even though circumstantially, Alby looked really suspicious, there was not a single shred of actual evidence that tied him to Cheryl's death. And so, pretty quickly, Alby was let go. And the police, at that point, kind of hit a dead end in this case. And, in fact, the case went totally cold at this point. And then one day in 2002, so, 14 years after Cheryl was murdered, a man in prison got word out to police that he actually knew exactly who killed Cheryl. He said the murderer's name was Frederick J. McKee and that he was currently incarcerated for cooking meth. Now, we don't know exactly how this inmate knew Frederick was the killer, but this inmate who called police was cellmates with Frederick McKee.And so, very likely, he overheard Frederick say something incriminating. And so this inmate called the police. And so police got a DNA sample from McKee, and they compared his sample to the skin cells that were found on the duct tape that had been used to bind Cheryl's hands when she was killed. And unbelievably, it was a match. Frederick was the killer. But as police dug deeper, they quickly realized that, you know, Frederick's heinous actions of actually killing Cheryl was not the worst part of the story. The story of what really happened to Cheryl Petrae was so insanely nonsensical that right away, newspapers all over the country began to cover it. It was converted into a true crime documentary, and even a famous author wrote a book about it. I mean, this story really was just totally sensational. First, I'm going to give you the facts of what happened to Cheryl, and then I'm going to give you the absurd and tragic explanation for why these things happen to Cheryl. Late on the night of October 15, 1988. So, the night that Cheryl disappeared, the meth cook, Frederick J. McKee, ambushed Cheryl as she came home from PJ's market.We don't know exactly where the ambush happened, but we think it happened right outside of Cheryl's home. And after he ambushed her, he forced her into her own trunk. He bound her hands and then began savagely beating her. Now, based on her injuries, Cheryl obviously put up a big fight, kicking and punching and trying her best to get out of the trunk. But eventually, Frederick had taken the actual metal of the trunk and began slamming it down on Cheryl's face. And that allowed him to overpower her and eventually beat her to death. And then after she was dead, he shut the trunk with Cheryl inside of her car. And then he drove her car all the way out to Lake Union. And then he abandoned the car with Cheryl still inside of it and chucked her purse into the water. But this terrible night was not supposed to go this way. Here's what was going on in the background. At the same time that Cheryl was closing up shop at PJ's market and beginning her trip back home, her ex husband Roland, on the other side of town, was sitting in his house, anxiously checking his watch, waiting for the right time to launch this big plan that was going to win Cheryl back, Roland's big plan was that he was going to save Cheryl's life.He had hired his buddy, Frederick J. McKee, the meth cook who he had met in prison, and he had given Frederick a spare key to Cheryl's house. McKee was instructed by Roland to sneak into Cheryl's place before 11:00 p.m. so before she came home from work. And then when she got home, McKee was supposed to jump out and ambush her and tie her up and abduct her. Roland had actually gone with McKee to a hardware store to purchase the rope and duct tape that McKee would use to tie Cheryl up. But when McKee actually got to the point in the plan where he was physically removing Cheryl from her home to go take her who knows where. That was when Roland was going to jump in and save the day. And Roland had really thought about how this moment was going to go, he was going to kick the front door in and jump inside and scream at McKee, you can't do this. And then attack him with his judo skills. Until McKee ran off, scared. At which point, Roland would cut Cheryl free, and she would grab onto him and say, oh, my goodness.You saved me. I love you. I need you. And then after this, Roland believed they would get back together and they would live happily ever after. However, on the night of October 15 at 1130, when Roland looked at his watch and saw it was time to go save his ex wife, he stood up so quickly from the couch because he was so excited to go do this thing that he had one of his low blood pressure episodes, and he fainted. And then when he came to a little while later, instead of going out the door to really, at this point, stopping this abduction from happening, Roland just kind of trudged upstairs and went to sleep. And this was a really big problem because Frederick J. McKee, the meth cook, he was hired to actually abduct Cheryl. He was not aware that this was actually a setup for Roland to come in and save the day. McKee literally believed Roland wanted him to abduct his wife. And he didn't ask any questions. He just said, okay, I'll do that. And then when Roland didn't show up, Frederick went through with the actual abduction of Cheryl. And during this abduction, things got out of hand, and Frederick wound up beating Cheryl to death.Both Roland and McKee would be convicted for the murder of Cheryl Petry. And by the time the cops had finally solved this cold case, Roland was actually already in prison for attempting to kidnap the son of another ex wife. In an effort to impress this ex wife, it had not worked. Roland was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison, which was on top of the 25 years he was already serving. And McKee would get 20 years.Thank you for listening to the Mister Ballin podcast. If you enjoyed today's story and you're looking for more strange, dark, and mysterious content, be sure to check out all of our studio's podcasts. We have this, which is Mister Ballin podcast. Also Mister Ballin's medical mysteries, bedtime stories, and runful. To find those shows, just search for Ballin Studios wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you want to watch hundreds more stories like the one you heard today, head over to our YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's gonna do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time.See ya.Hey, prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mister Ballin podcast one month early, and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. And before you go, please tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondry.com. survey if you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good you are a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious. And if that's the case, then I've got some good news. We just launched a brand new strange, dark, and mysterious podcast called Mister Ballin's medical Mysteries. And as the name suggests, it's a show about medical mysteries, a genre that many fans have been asking us to dive into for years. And we finally decided to take the plunge, and the show is awesome. In this free weekly show, we explore bizarre, unheard of diseases, strange medical mishaps, unexplainable deaths, and everything in between. Each story is totally true and totally terrifying. Go follow Mister Balin's medical mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're a Prime member or you can listen early and ad free on Amazon music.

Alby said he had been fishing with when he cut his hand. And in separate interviews, all of those people confirmed that Alby was telling the truth. And also, police knew that even though circumstantially, Alby looked really suspicious, there was not a single shred of actual evidence that tied him to Cheryl's death. And so, pretty quickly, Alby was let go. And the police, at that point, kind of hit a dead end in this case. And, in fact, the case went totally cold at this point. And then one day in 2002, so, 14 years after Cheryl was murdered, a man in prison got word out to police that he actually knew exactly who killed Cheryl. He said the murderer's name was Frederick J. McKee and that he was currently incarcerated for cooking meth. Now, we don't know exactly how this inmate knew Frederick was the killer, but this inmate who called police was cellmates with Frederick McKee.

And so, very likely, he overheard Frederick say something incriminating. And so this inmate called the police. And so police got a DNA sample from McKee, and they compared his sample to the skin cells that were found on the duct tape that had been used to bind Cheryl's hands when she was killed. And unbelievably, it was a match. Frederick was the killer. But as police dug deeper, they quickly realized that, you know, Frederick's heinous actions of actually killing Cheryl was not the worst part of the story. The story of what really happened to Cheryl Petrae was so insanely nonsensical that right away, newspapers all over the country began to cover it. It was converted into a true crime documentary, and even a famous author wrote a book about it. I mean, this story really was just totally sensational. First, I'm going to give you the facts of what happened to Cheryl, and then I'm going to give you the absurd and tragic explanation for why these things happen to Cheryl. Late on the night of October 15, 1988. So, the night that Cheryl disappeared, the meth cook, Frederick J. McKee, ambushed Cheryl as she came home from PJ's market.

We don't know exactly where the ambush happened, but we think it happened right outside of Cheryl's home. And after he ambushed her, he forced her into her own trunk. He bound her hands and then began savagely beating her. Now, based on her injuries, Cheryl obviously put up a big fight, kicking and punching and trying her best to get out of the trunk. But eventually, Frederick had taken the actual metal of the trunk and began slamming it down on Cheryl's face. And that allowed him to overpower her and eventually beat her to death. And then after she was dead, he shut the trunk with Cheryl inside of her car. And then he drove her car all the way out to Lake Union. And then he abandoned the car with Cheryl still inside of it and chucked her purse into the water. But this terrible night was not supposed to go this way. Here's what was going on in the background. At the same time that Cheryl was closing up shop at PJ's market and beginning her trip back home, her ex husband Roland, on the other side of town, was sitting in his house, anxiously checking his watch, waiting for the right time to launch this big plan that was going to win Cheryl back, Roland's big plan was that he was going to save Cheryl's life.

He had hired his buddy, Frederick J. McKee, the meth cook who he had met in prison, and he had given Frederick a spare key to Cheryl's house. McKee was instructed by Roland to sneak into Cheryl's place before 11:00 p.m. so before she came home from work. And then when she got home, McKee was supposed to jump out and ambush her and tie her up and abduct her. Roland had actually gone with McKee to a hardware store to purchase the rope and duct tape that McKee would use to tie Cheryl up. But when McKee actually got to the point in the plan where he was physically removing Cheryl from her home to go take her who knows where. That was when Roland was going to jump in and save the day. And Roland had really thought about how this moment was going to go, he was going to kick the front door in and jump inside and scream at McKee, you can't do this. And then attack him with his judo skills. Until McKee ran off, scared. At which point, Roland would cut Cheryl free, and she would grab onto him and say, oh, my goodness.

You saved me. I love you. I need you. And then after this, Roland believed they would get back together and they would live happily ever after. However, on the night of October 15 at 1130, when Roland looked at his watch and saw it was time to go save his ex wife, he stood up so quickly from the couch because he was so excited to go do this thing that he had one of his low blood pressure episodes, and he fainted. And then when he came to a little while later, instead of going out the door to really, at this point, stopping this abduction from happening, Roland just kind of trudged upstairs and went to sleep. And this was a really big problem because Frederick J. McKee, the meth cook, he was hired to actually abduct Cheryl. He was not aware that this was actually a setup for Roland to come in and save the day. McKee literally believed Roland wanted him to abduct his wife. And he didn't ask any questions. He just said, okay, I'll do that. And then when Roland didn't show up, Frederick went through with the actual abduction of Cheryl. And during this abduction, things got out of hand, and Frederick wound up beating Cheryl to death.

Both Roland and McKee would be convicted for the murder of Cheryl Petry. And by the time the cops had finally solved this cold case, Roland was actually already in prison for attempting to kidnap the son of another ex wife. In an effort to impress this ex wife, it had not worked. Roland was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison, which was on top of the 25 years he was already serving. And McKee would get 20 years.

Thank you for listening to the Mister Ballin podcast. If you enjoyed today's story and you're looking for more strange, dark, and mysterious content, be sure to check out all of our studio's podcasts. We have this, which is Mister Ballin podcast. Also Mister Ballin's medical mysteries, bedtime stories, and runful. To find those shows, just search for Ballin Studios wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you want to watch hundreds more stories like the one you heard today, head over to our YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's gonna do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time.

See ya.

Hey, prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mister Ballin podcast one month early, and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. And before you go, please tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondry.com. survey if you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good you are a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious. And if that's the case, then I've got some good news. We just launched a brand new strange, dark, and mysterious podcast called Mister Ballin's medical Mysteries. And as the name suggests, it's a show about medical mysteries, a genre that many fans have been asking us to dive into for years. And we finally decided to take the plunge, and the show is awesome. In this free weekly show, we explore bizarre, unheard of diseases, strange medical mishaps, unexplainable deaths, and everything in between. Each story is totally true and totally terrifying. Go follow Mister Balin's medical mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're a Prime member or you can listen early and ad free on Amazon music.