I'm About To Save Your Life | Criminal Podcast | Forensic Files

Phoebe Judge: So, we aren't going to be using the victim's real name in this story. And that's
for a couple of different reasons, and we're respecting your wishes on that. Why do you feel so
strongly about not using the victim's real name? Stephanie Nally: The victim in this case endured
extraordinary psychological pressure from the defendant for 20 years. He spent all of the '80s and all of the '90s not telling people what was happening to him. There was also
a defense proffered in this case that is quite truthfully embarrassing to him. I don't want
to talk about that and use his real name. He's got family out there, there were people that worked
with him, there is his neighbors Phoebe Judge: That had no idea this was going on? Stephanie Nally: ... They had no idea.
And this man, he deserved none of it. Phoebe Judge: Stephanie Nally used to be a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
She worked with special victims who were typically more vulnerable: the young, the elderly, the sexually abused. And back in 2002, just as she was about to leave that
unit, she got one more case involving a victim we've agreed to call Robert. Who was so polite and so discreet that he unwittingly became the perfect target.
I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal. [Music.] The story starts in the middle of a traffic jam, around 1977. Robert was on his way home
from work in Southern California. He was in the aeronautics industry, some sort of engineer.
Also, he was small, he was maybe five feet tall. Stephanie Nally describes him as slight with an
adolescent face, a white man in his late 40s. Stephanie Nally: He was coming home from work
on a highway, it's an east-west artery highway, the 91 Freeway, and there was a traffic jam.
And he decided to get off the highway and run along a parallel road to try to avert the
congestion and then get back on. And when he did, he got off in the city of Compton, California.
Phoebe Judge: In the late '70s, Compton was on its way to becoming the internationally
notorious high-crime city, overrun with gang violence. Robert would later say he was scared,
he didn't know where he was. Stephanie Nally: As he wound his way through the streets looking for a way to parallel the freeway and get back on,
he accidentally sideswiped a Cadillac that was parked on the side of the street.
Phoebe Judge: He stopped, pulled over, and looked up in his rearview mirror. Robert says a group of boys were running towards him, he didn't know why and he was terrified. All
of a sudden out of nowhere his car door opens, the driver-side door, and a guy about 18 years
old pushes him over into the passenger seat. Stephanie Nally: Remember this is the era of big
bench seats and nobody wore seat belts. Slid him over to the passenger seat, jumped in the car,
and said, "I'm about to save your life." Phoebe Judge: It was only a matter of seconds.
Robert was completely out of his element and not physically in a position to defend himself.
Stephanie Nally: So he let this man drive him away. Phoebe Judge: Where did they go? Stephanie Nally: They just went around
the corner. They went to a different part of the neighborhood where it was safe, and
the defendant looked over to him and said, "I just saved your life and that was my mother's
car that you hit and you need to pay for the damages." And Robert said, "Okay."
Phoebe Judge: Robert gave the guy his name, his phone number, and address, and he told them to please be in touch with an estimate for the car repairs. His name was Leon
Moore. The next day he got a call, Moore said he had an estimate. Robert told him to come over.
Stephanie Nally: $4,500. Phoebe Judge: In 1977. That's like $18,000 in today's money. Stephanie Nally: And Robert knew that it
was excessive. He knew that that was too much money, but he was grateful. He really
thought that this boy had saved his life. He thought that he was going to get beat up by the
men he saw in the mirror. I don't think the money meant much to him. He lived very
simply and I think he was a fairly well-paid engineer, and he just gave him the money,
willingly. And at that point, I think, was happy to do so, that first day. [Music.] Phoebe Judge:
What do you mean that first day? Did it keep going on? Stephanie Nally: It did. Phoebe Judge: It's not exactly
clear what happened next. What we do know is that Leon Moore didn't just take the car repair money
and go on with his life, he came back asking for more money, not just once, but again and again. In
a lot of ways his request. Seemed pretty innocent, maybe it was something to do with school or work.
One time he said his mom needed new dentures. And he wasn't asking for much: $100 here,
$200 there. Not nothing, but like Nally said, Robert was single, well-paid, and had no kids.
Stephanie Nally: And for a little while, Robert was still grateful. Still grateful to this kid who he thought had saved his life — or at least gotten him out of
a big pinch — and so he gave the money. Phoebe Judge: For about two years, almost like a favor, thousands of dollars. Then around 1980, things changed.
Stephanie Nally: Robert came home from work one day and this apartment complex where he
lived had the kind of carport where all the cars park lined up, but there's one covering.
So there's a partial view into where you are. And Robert came out to the carport and
Leon was waiting for him, sort of crouched down. And when he got there, he stood up and he told
Robert that his kids had been kidnapped. Robert: And he was down in front of the
car, sitting down, where I couldn't see him. Phoebe Judge: This is Robert, from an interview
he recorded with the police many years later. Robert: So I went directly to my car and opened —
unlocked the door and opened it. And I heard this rustling, and he stood up and he was looming
over the front of my car. Police Officer: Okay. Robert: And he had a gun. In front of me, with the gun. And told me that his kids are
being held hostage because of a drug deal. That if he didn't get that money from me,
he was going to kill me. Stephanie Nally: At that point everything changed. [Music.] Phoebe Judge:
Robert gives the $10,000, the gun gets pulled, and still, does he go to any authority?
Stephanie Nally: No. He was embarrassed. He was a little ashamed. And at this point,
he was the only one being affected. And he, quite truthfully, just kept hoping it would
go away, that it would be the last time. Phoebe Judge: So as a lawyer, what are you
thinking Robert should have been doing here? Stephanie Nally: If I could go back in time and
tell him what to do, he should have gone to the police. He should've filed an insurance claim,
he should have demanded proof that the car belonged to him. There's a lot of should'ves,
could'ves along the way. But he didn't. He's not me, he wasn't a lawyer. He was a
simple man leading a simple life, and he just wanted it to stop, he wanted it to go away.
Phoebe Judge: It kept going. For the next six or seven years the demands continued.
Robert says the only periods when he wasn't giving Moore any money were when Moore was in prison for
other, unrelated crimes. And it's around this time that it starts to become clear how sophisticated
a con this really is. Things progress from opportunism, to outright threats, to creating a
whole cast of characters for total manipulation. Stephanie Nally: In 1986, a female contacted
the victim, Robert, and said, this female said that she was the wife of Leon Moore. Robert: And Leon,
according to them, had been killed. Stephanie Nally: And so now, Robert had to pay her. Phoebe Judge: The woman said she
was moving to Jackson, Mississippi, and she wanted Robert to send her money while she was there.
Stephanie Nally: And Robert said, "No, I'm not going to do that." And then a man got on the phone
and said that they had people and, "We're going to kill you unless you give this woman money."
Phoebe Judge: Nobody knows exactly who this man was, but Robert was pretty sure it was not Leon Moore. Stephanie Nally: And Robert was scared enough
that he went once a month for six years and got a $400 cashier's check and sent it to a P.O. Box
in Mississippi. And it turns out during that time that Leon Moore was incarcerated in Mississippi.
Phoebe Judge: So he was paying for God-knows-what, but something. Stephanie Nally: Something. Robert: And then Leon reappeared
and that stopped. Phoebe Judge: By 2002, Robert had been paying off Leon Moore for 25 years. He says he didn't want to
get anyone else involved. It's tempting to speculate on Robert's thinking, to say, "He
should have just gone to the cops, moved away. He should've done something." Whatever his reasons,
he just didn't. And Leon Moore kept coming. Did Leon Moore ever say to Robert, "Give me $10,000 and I'll never contact you again." Stephanie Nally: Many times. Many,
many times he would say that. Phoebe Judge: So he was saying, "This is the last time." Stephanie Nally: "This is the last time, this is
the last time." And, of course it wasn't the last time. You and I can see that. And Robert probably
knew it on some level, but he just kept hoping. His mother lived right there, there were various
threats made, his imagination was going wild, he was scared and embarrassed. And at some point,
it had been going on so long that he knew that if he went to the police, he'd look like a fool.
And so he just endured it. Phoebe Judge: Robert kept meticulous records of all these transactions. One time, Leon Moore asked for $2,800 so he could move into a house.
When Robert told him no, Moore and his sister showed up at the apartment yelling and beating
on the windows. Robert was worried about causing a scene, so he wrote the check. There are copies of
nine checks and 67 cashier's checks he wrote over the years. Coupled with all the cash he says he
withdrew and handed over, it's estimated Robert gave Leon Moore more than a hundred thousand
dollars over the course of 25 years. [Music.] When Robert finally went to the cops, it's because he thought Moore had killed or was about to kill
somebody. In his final letter, Moore asked Robert for $8,000. He said he was going to "do away with
his girlfriend and move to Belize." The letter also threatened Robert's family. And for some
reason perhaps because other people were being endangered, Robert finally went to the police. It
was November of 2002, and he was 72 years old. Police Officer: May I ask you some questions
about your memory? Robert: Sure. Police Officer: Okay. I'm going to say three words, and you say them back after I stop. Pony,
quarter, and orange. And what are those words? Robert: Pony, quarter, and orange. Phoebe Judge: The state was building
a case against Leon Moore. Robert was going to be a key witness. In the interview, Robert's funny.
He makes jokes about being bad at math. He's remarkably upbeat for someone who's been extorted
for the last quarter century. But there are moments when he's trying to make sense of it
all himself, recognizing that he probably should have done something about it earlier.
He calls himself a coward twice. Robert: I guess maybe I'm a coward, I don't know. Phoebe Judge:
At the end of the interview, he explains to the detective what he wants to have happen.
Robert: I just wish he'd go away. I'm not seeking money. If this thing would go away, I'd be happy.
I guess if I'd have to put it simply, I'd like him to be in jail till the day I die of natural causes. Police Officer: Yes.
Robert: And unsuspicious. Police Officer: And unsuspicious. Robert: Yeah. Phoebe Judge: Four months later, Robert died.
[Music.] Stephanie Nally: It was about two weeks before trial, and I was engaging in trial prep:
getting my witnesses together, re-interviewing the officers who responded, lining up the checks,
things like that. Just getting my witnesses in order. And I got a phone call from the
court clerk, and she said, "You need to come up here, you need to come up right now." So I did.
I walked up and I walked in the courtroom, and it was the court reporter and the court clerk
and a man that looked almost exactly like Robert, but taller. And the man had a piece of paper in
his hand that was a subpoena. And he turned to me and he said, "This subpoena has my brother's name
on it. Was he the victim of a crime?" Phoebe Judge: What did you find out? Stephanie Nally: Robert had never told anyone about what was happening to him. He'd never
told his mother, he'd never told his brother, he'd never told anybody what had happened to him, and
he had subsequently died. In between the preliminary hearing and the trial, he had died in his bed, in his bedroom. And his brother was
cleaning his apartment, they were going through his effects, and they had found the subpoena and
that was the only reason they even know about it. So I sat down with his brother and I explained
to him, not in every detail, but basically what had happened and explained that his brother had
endured it and had finally come forward when he thought somebody else had been hurt. And
explained to him that I was going to keep going. Phoebe Judge: And what was his brother's response
when he heard what Robert had been through for so long? Stephanie Nally: He was devastated. He was devastated. This man, his brother,
was just as sweet as Robert was. They were just two very nice, well-meaning, wonderful citizens.
He was devastated and heartbroken. Phoebe Judge: Does anyone actually know how Robert died? Stephanie Nally: After I found out that he
was dead, I obviously talked to... My first phone call was to the detective. And I went with the crime scene unit, and we immediately went to the apartment.
But if it was a crime scene, it was cleaned up. There was — the effects were half packed up,
the bedding that he was sleeping in was gone, there were no blood or urine samples to be had.
The crime scene unit did go over the entire apartment, but there was no evidence.
Phoebe Judge: Do we know what it says on the death certificate as cause of death?
Stephanie Nally: I never saw the death certificate. An educated guess would say that he died of natural causes. Phoebe Judge: What did the defense argue?
Stephanie Nally: They put forth the argument that the money had exchanged hands because
of sexual favors. Phoebe Judge: That Robert was paying Leon Moore for sex. Stephanie Nally: Yes. And it turns out that the
victim suffered from a medical condition that made any engagement in those sort of acts impossible.
Phoebe Judge: The jury didn't buy it. Moore was initially convicted on two counts of fraud against
an elder, and one count of sending a threatening letter for the purpose of extortion. For various
technical reasons, only the letter conviction ended up sticking, and Leon Moore was sentenced to
eight years in prison. The last time he appeared in the California prison system was in 2013,
a three-hour misdemeanor stint. [Music.] The interview Robert recorded, the one you've been hearing throughout this story, turned out
to be a key factor in the trial. California law allows such interviews to be shown in court.
Stephanie Nally: So the jury actually heard from Robert on a six-foot screen, and they got to see him and feel his affect. Phoebe Judge: But the strange thing is,
they weren't allowed to know Robert was dead. They weren't allowed to know why he was missing it all.
Because technically, it wasn't pertinent to the case. Whether or not he was alive didn't change
the fact of what Leon Moore had or had not done to him. Which seems strangely fitting — that the
last people to get to know Robert, the jury, still didn't know quite everything. Up to the very end,
there was always some big secret. [Music.] Criminal is produced by Eric Mennel, Lauren Spohrer, and me.
Our artwork is by Julienne Alexander. Special thanks to Carol Jackson and Katie Herzog.
Our website is thisiscriminal.com, and that's where you can sign up for our newsletter or get
in contact with us. We're on Facebook and Twitter, @CriminalShow. And we have links
to the Kickstarter in all of those places. Consider pitching in — it means a lot to us.
I'm Phoebe Judge, and this is Criminal. 8

In 1977, an aeronautical engineer sideswiped a parked car in Compton, CA. When he stopped his car to survey the damage, Leon Moore opened the driver-side door, shoved him over, and started driving. He said, “I’m about to save your life.” Lawyer Stephanie Nally about a con that spanned decades.

Criminal is a show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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Episode transcripts are posted on our website https://thisiscriminal.com/

Episode 11 originally published 10/30/14 https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-eleven-im-about-to-save-your-life-10-30-2014

Brief Summary

Robert endured 25 years of extortion by Leon Moore after a chance encounter, leading to a tragic story of manipulation and fear.

Key points

The Start of a Nightmare. Robert's encounter with Leon Moore begins with a car accident and a false sense of safety.
Years of Extortion. For 25 years, Robert is manipulated and extorted by Leon Moore, leading to devastating consequences.
A Tragic Revelation. After Robert's death, his brother discovers the truth about his brother's long suffering.
The Courtroom Drama. Robert's recorded interview becomes crucial evidence in the trial against Leon Moore.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He deserved none of it.

Stephanie Nally reflects on the victim's suffering.

0:46WatchOct 25, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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