Ruthie Mae's Reflection | "Candyman" | "48 Hours" Podcast (Episode 6) | Forensic Files

[Music] in the spring of 1990 a judge and jury considered whether John hondras and
Edward Turner were guilty of killing Ruthie May McCoy their attorneys argued they were innocent but throughout the
investigation their names came up most frequently as suspects and when the time came for the prosecution's key witness
to take the stand he changed his story at the last minute now their Fates were up in the air we're talking a lot about
Ruthie may now but back then her murder got very little attention not a lot of folks came to the trial and it's thanks
mostly to the doggedness of Steve beira that we're talking about Ruthie May's case now and we aren't the only ones
turning our attention to Ruthie May a new Museum set to open later this year will highlight her story We Tell The
Good the Bad and the Ugly Lisa Yan Lee is the executive director of the national public housing Museum
they renovated a three-story public housing building in Chicago the museum will showcase how Apartments looked
decades ago the objects and artifacts that we have found that have we've saved and salvaged and that people have given
to us one object they salvaged from back then was a medicine cabinet Lee knows that there's no Story related to those
medicine cabinets that's more well known than Ruthie Mays for many people one of
the like most famous stories in public housing they'll hang a cabinet on the wall and then on each side of the
cabinet they'll put two different portrayals of life in public housing on one side this medicine cabinet tells the
story of really incredible health programs and medical care that was always available in public housing
complexes and then on the other there's the story of Ruthie McCoy which is also through about this medicine
cabinet to Lee the tragedy of Ruthie May's death holds lessons for how the country approaches public housing today
housing precarity being what it is today it's like one of the biggest issues facing all of us this history is
incredibly relevant and even as history reminds us of its failures Ruthie May's story still
shows us some of the valuable things that public housing can do for people she had a consistent place to stay after
her home flooded and was provided access to a psychiatric center where she received
care despite so many challenges Ruthie may use public housing to set a path toward a better life we're asking people
to take a moment and to care to look a little more deeply the medicine cabinet exhibit is called care to look it's a
capacious history history is big and never again will a single story be told as if it's the only one how big history
is Ruthie May's story manages to stay relevant for Generations I think I wrote a lot of
stories that really shed light on what poverty was like in Chicago in the 80s and 90s here's reporter Steve beera but
people don't pay attention to most of those stories but this one is kind of revived so that people do pay attention
to it more than three decades later he credits Candyman for generating attention around Ruthie May's Legacy but
plenty of real life events get mentioned in movies there's something deeper at play when we remember Ruthie May Ruthie
May's experience was concentrated poverty It's a combination uh deep poverty and racial
segregation what is her Legacy what has come of these public housing projects today and were her Killers ever brought
to Justice you never know what a jury is going to do I'm Doma Pongo from 48 hours this is Candyman the true
story behind the bathroom mirror murder episode 6 luthie May's reflection Ruthie May McCoy's Legacy
will forever be intertwined with the 1992 Candyman film I mean mainstream stories and meths have a lot of power
Lisa youngan Lee from the national public housing Museum believes the film and its sequels have kept Ruthie May
story alive but each one has also done something different I think the original Candyman contributed to inscribing some
terrible racialized stereotypes about these places and on the flip side I kind of feel like the remake of Candy Man
actually did something very different in 2021 fans of the franchise got to see Candyman in a new light it was the first
time a Candyman film was written and directed by people of color director Nia dasta used the Remake to challenge
stereotypes around public housing and historically black neighborhoods it'll take a minute and
the people will be studying over and talking about her film for years to come remember Robin means Coleman she's a
media professor at the University of Virginia she told me that this more recent film is part of a movement to use
horror to examine deeper issues Within American society especially about race so
inevitably that that real life horror is going to inform entertainment horror and
the social issues appear in lots of horror films but they're particularly acute in Black horror films the fourth
Candyman is set in 2019 decades after the original Helen the graduate student who investigated Candyman for her
research paper and died in a bonfire is referenced but is not the film's focus instead of a white protagonist the
central character is black he's an artist named Anthony McCoy the kind of connective tissue is like trauma it's
violence the Candyman is sort of violent Cabrini is violent the government is violent there structural violence that
sends people to where they are in these films a reference to the details of Ruthie 's murder is in the fourth film
too the main character Anthony starts researching Candyman and gets a tape recorder from the library as he becomes
more obsessed with Candyman there's a scene where Anthony is vigorously painting and listening to a recording of
two women from the original film as they retell the murder of a woman named Ruthie so Ruthie called 911 and she said
there's somebody coming through the walls and they didn't believe her they thought the lady was crazy right
so she called 911 again and they still didn't believe when they finally got there she
was [Music] dead by 2019 Cabrini Green and the Abbott homes where Ruthie May lived were
long gone in the movie and in real life the high-rise projects had been demolished many low-income residents of
the neighborhood were forced to leave their homes were replaced by new development and housing designed to
attract wealthier residents I should warn you if you haven't seen the movie yet there are
going to be some spoilers as we get into the differences between the fourth and the first Candyman I think that the
chief difference is now certainly there's the absence of Helen and a focus on black
communities black families black relationships extended families that's the other thing in the 92 movie you're
like where are these people's kin it's revealed that Anthony the painter was the baby that Helen the blonde grad
student from the first Candyman saved from the fire in the original film at the end of the 2021 film Anthony
becomes Candyman and this movie makes some big changes to the lore surrounding the
Candyman character's history the police gunned down the character anthy McCoy at the end of the most recent movie keep
in mind this film was released only a little more than a year after George Floyd's death and his murder was
weighing heavy on America at the time but in the movie Anthony gets his revenge once he's Candyman he kills the
officers who murdered him even though Anthony is turning into something he's an unwilling martyr to
the kind of black pain and Trauma that we see Coleman read me something the director Nia dasta once said so Nia says
I love this quote can I read this quote absolutely he says Candyman at the intersection of white violence in Black
pain is about unwilling Martyrs the character Anthony McCoy is an unwilling martyr in the 2021 film the
police kill him your original Candyman character Daniel robati was an unwilling martyr he was tortured and lynched by an
angry mob and in a way Ruthie May was an unwilling martyr too she's remembered for how she died remembered for how she
was let down when we talk about speaking names and saying names and reminding about Justice denied we do want to say
Ruthie May McCoy's name and keep saying her name because it isn't just about her
murder that's a core to how we know her but Ruthie May McCoy symbolizes all of the sort of failures
one of the reasons Ruthie May's story still resonates today is we're still Reckoning with these failures a lot of
us can relate to not feeling safe in our own homes worrying that when a call for
help is made no one will come [Music] in the 2021 movie a black woman summons Candyman for protection which is much
different from the original and that subtle change makes saying the name Candyman an act of
empowerment rather than victimization Coleman thinks that that idea Echoes the real life movement to keep the names of
victims of Injustice alive so in saying candyman's name in 199 2 doesn't get us Justice and this candy man you say his
name because we're asking for justice for Coleman Ruthie May is on a long list of names that she intends to
say out loud Ruthie May mcoy is a real life person her family are alive and out there back in 1990 Ruthie May's family
was still waiting for justice they were about to learn whether the two men accused of killing Ruthie May would be
found guilty her older brother Willie McCoy had watched the whole trial unfold finally after 3 years he was about to
find out what would happen to the two young men accused of her murder he wanted to make sure that the right
people got convicted Steve begira was there as the prosecutor ution and the defense made
their closing arguments I always feel it's pretty poignant to see these cases where there's an awful lot on the line
and there's there's so little interest but that is quite common in Chicago the family of the defendants and Ruthie
May's Brother Willie McCoy were there to watch John hondras had chosen a bench trial where judge Michael Getty decided
his fate while Edward Turner had chosen a jury both trials were taking place simultaneously Turner's attorney focused
his closing arguments on the circumstances of Turner's life and the choices available to him like the choice
not to call the police he argued that if Turner had called 911 police might have
thought he was a suspect or his neighbors could consider him a snitch putting his life in danger Steve said
the jury left the room and came back with the verdict in less than 4 hours Turner was sweating as he looked down at
the table Edward Turner told me that he was scared when the jury came back he said I would have went off if they told
me I was guilty I wouldn't have known how to take that garbage life in prison for something I didn't do the clerk read
the verdict on the charge of first-degree murder not guilty Steve remembered someone in the
court cheered to which the judge threatened jail time the clerk continued reading off three more verdicts not
guilty not guilty not guilty the jury decided Turner had not committed armed robbery or invaded
Ruthie May's home Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and even though Turner had admitted on the stand that he had taken
Ruthie May's TV the jury also found him not guilty of burglary he was free to go back in April 1990 Steve watched
Turner sit back in his chair and smile his ordeal was over Steve said Turner told him back then he didn't know who
killed McCoy and he didn't regret any of his actions on the night she was killed
not even his failure to call police after he saw McCoy's body if he had it to do over he said to me I would have
seen it and didn't seen it just like I did I wasn't going to jeopardize my family's life
Willie had spoken to family members of the accused Edward Turner's mother Altha repeated something to Willie that she'
said to Steve the fact that Edward Turner wouldn't call police when he saw Ruthie May lying in the apartment his
mother I think said he should have he should have called police but if he did he would have been suspect number
one um so she could understand how in the milu of the project that would be a a an understandable
response and Willie was okay with that explanation he said that he felt the defendants aren't the only ones that
should be on trial he said that the people who design these projects should be on trial will he showed his
understanding once again when he walked past Turner's family on his way out of the courthouse in the hallway outside
the courtroom Turner's mother is screaming my child's coming home and crying and Willie McCoy walked past the
relatives and he looked relieved not disappointed and he told me maybe he was innocent but even if he wasn't you can't
convict an individual on such little evidence Willie left and didn't return to hear the verdict in John hr's case he
wanted Justice for Ruthie may but he also wanted the right people convicted if anyone was got to be convicted Steve
wrote that in the closing arguments of H's case the prosecutor admitted Tim Brown had been a flawed witness but
argued the detectives had conducted an honorable investigation he said quote they didn't choose their Witnesses and
neither did we but the detectives wouldn't be the focus of Judge Michael Getty's frustration he was upset with
the responding officers the night Ruthie May died well this was a veteran judge he knew knew how police were supposed to
work so to him it was unconscionable that the officers didn't go into the apartment that night that they got that
call not just from Ruthie may but from two neighbors reporting gunshots that they could somehow leave without going
in and seeing what was up in that apartment judge Getty said quote this case was lost not by the State's
Attorneys this case was not even lost by the detectives who got the only evidence
that they got in a damaged and sanitized crime scene this case was lost by the Patrol Division of the Chicago Police
Department who stood by with a death ear to the multiple reports of gunshots being fired in
1109 they just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of entering a locked door so
they let them get away with it end quote he went on to say about John hondras this defendant may or may not be guilty
but the state has clearly failed to establish guilt Beyond a reasonable doubt this court must accordingly find
the defendant not guilty he's discharged and with that no one would be held accountable for Ruthie May's
murder hondras never spoke to Steve for a story back in the day and never never responded to our attempts to reach out
to him either but Steve did speak with hess's half brother who had attended the trial his half brother Darnell Dean told
me in the hallway I feel good about him getting out but there's no reason to celebrate he wanted the truth to come
out as to he did but everyone over there meeting in the projects knows who killed
that lady just ain't nobody at Liberty to say but it wasn't John Willie McCoy hadn't come back to hear the hress
ruling prosecutors had already told him that hress was going to walk as well Steve decided to call Willie and
tell him the prosecutor's prediction was correct his sister's killer or Killers whoever they were Got Away the first
thing McCoy did was lean on his religious faith I thought it was a travesty former
Chicago detective Anthony Manina thought it was a travesty that the two men he arrested for Ruthie May's murder were
acquitted judge Getty you know he gave a fair statement of what he believed and his statement was that it wasn't on the
the detectives and you know it was he claimed it was on the Patrol Division but an actuality I also add that to the
cha police in a phone call he reiterated that he believes the cha police not the
patrol officers are the ones at fault for not letting Patrol officers into Ruthie May's apartment sooner how could
you show up in an apartment with a wrong key and then say I'll be back tomorrow from his perspective the patrol officers
hands were tied even though police regularly break into private property he simply doesn't think the patrol officers
had enough cause in this situation they were on cha property and the cha did not
want to break down the door it's a CH property the cha would have to give the okay he said this might have been
handled differently if the police had permission to break in from a relative but that wasn't the
situation plus to Manina at least they ultimately arrested the right men he doesn't consider this a Cold Case a cold
case is a case that occurred where the offender was not caught and the case is still pending but cold in this
circumstance we believed we had the right guy so therefore it's it's already in the course so with that fact it's not
a cold case as far as I'm concerned again this is former detective mana's opinion hress and Turner were found not
guilty of killing Ruthie may still for Manina as far as we were concerned we cleared this case clearing a case means
that the officers met the criteria to consider the case solved once cops say a case has been cleared that means from
their perspective they don't have to reopen it [Music] as for Willie McCoy Ruthie May's brother
he dealt with the fact that the criminal justice system failed to catch his sister's killer his reaction wasn't
that's so unfair there was as often happens in these cases some meeting of the minds
between family and friends of the defendants and in this case uh the relative Willie Steve said that Willie
relied on his religious Faith he said God will take care of them eventually I believe that the killers
are free but they're not free in spirit they know what they did and it's always going to be in their mind they can boast
they can say oh man we beat it but that's just going to open a trapo for them they'll think they can get away
with something again but sooner or later the ax will fall as their conversation went on Willie did let some of his anger
seep out here's Steve again reading straight from his notes if that would have been a
white woman that called police like my sister did you know they would have gone in her apartment you know it this whole
system we're living in is corrupt he said he tries not to dwell on the injustices in it if you do you will
explode you will explode he said Steve didn't stay in touch with Willie and we tried different contact
information for him but never heard back from anyone one if he's alive he'd be in
his 90s according to Edward Turner's mother Altha her son would want to have a good
life he died in his 50s from cancer but John hondras was arrested again about a year after his acquittal in Ruthie May's
case in 1993 he was convicted of second deegree murder for a different [Music] killing Steve gir was the one who posed
the question what killed Ruthie May a bullet in the chest or life in the projects the
answer was both I do think that things are much better because habit homes no longer exists nor do the highrises at
Cabrini and Robert Taylor and Stateway everything was knocked down around the year 2000 now at Ruthie May's old
address was Resource Center for unemployed adults it's next to an empty field Steve has written a book and
retired from the Chicago reader for his book courtroom 302 Steve spent one year in a Cook County courtroom he said that
way back when he wrote his stories about Ruthie may his intention was never to write an indictment of all public
housing the concentration of deep poverty in my mind was the more important factor people can get along
just fine and highrises and with back-to-back medicine cabinets but because concentrated poverty leads
inevitably to more violence filling those high-rises with deeply poor is a recipe for disaster a disaster that the
buildings themselves then exacerbate and then the violence worsens physical and mental health and the residents are
caught in a downward spiral Deborah lassley Ruthie May's neighbor blames those circumstances for her friend's
death and when asked the question what killed Ruthie May McCoy she blamed the projects
and the people who used to run him so to me the people that work for the project
and because the project didn't get their together they didn't care cuz they wasn't living it the way whoever killed
Ruthie May entered her apartment can make any of us question whether something could be lurking behind our
own reflection Ruthie May's reflection is her Legacy and that we say her name all
these years later we retell again and again how she died and it's not that different from how the 2021 Candyman
explains the ghost's relevance in the 21st century but a story like that a pain like
that lasts forever that's Candyman in the same way the latest film helped to change the narrative maybe
this telling of a story does too the scariest part is that the film is fictional but not the
[Music] horror from 48 hours this is Candyman the true story behind the bathroom
mirror murder I'm your host and co-executive producer domati Pungo Judy igard is the executive producer of
48 Hours Jamie Benson is the senior producer for Paramount audio and Mora walls is the senior story editor
development by 48 Hours field producer Morgan KY recording assistance from Marlon polycarp and Alan pay special
thanks to Paramount podcast vice president Megan Marcus Candyman the true story behind
the bathroom mirror murder is produced by Sony music entertainment it was reported written and produced by Alex
Schuman our executive producers are Katherine St Louis and Jonathan hirs our associate producer is summer tamad theme
and original music composed by Cedric Wilson he sound designed and mixed the episodes we also use music from
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take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts
[Music]

The judge and jury announce the fates of the two men accused of killing Ruthie Mae McCoy. Host Dometi Pongo looks at how the fourth Candyman film upends the franchise and the new exhibit honoring Ruthie Mae set to open in Chicago.

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Brief Summary

Ruthie May McCoy's murder trial highlights systemic failures in public housing and justice, influencing the Candyman film's narrative on race and trauma.

Key points

Ruthie May McCoy's Tragic Story. Ruthie May McCoy's murder case highlights systemic failures in public housing and justice.
The Impact of Candyman. The 1992 film Candyman revived interest in Ruthie May's legacy, intertwining horror with real-life issues.
Justice Denied. The acquittal of the accused in Ruthie May's murder case raises questions about justice and accountability.
Ruthie May's Legacy. Ruthie May's story continues to resonate, reflecting on her tragic death and its implications.
The Pain of Trauma. The narrative explores how trauma and pain can have lasting effects on communities.
Fiction vs. Reality. The narrative blurs the lines between horror fiction and real-life tragedies.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You never know what a jury is going to do.

3:57WatchNov 7, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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