Shaker Heights - Episode 4: Chinese Whispers | Forensic Files

thank you [Music] foreign welcome to Shaker Heights episode 4 Chinese Whispers sixteen-year-old Lisa Pruitt was stabbed
to death behind a mansion in Shaker Heights Ohio on September 14 1990. her murder remains unsolved
this is the story of how the police detectives in a small town were led to believe the weird kid in school did it
based on nothing but testimony from a group of teens who were friends with Lisa's boyfriend Dan dreyfer
what you will hear are actors reading from actual police interviews conducted during the course of their investigation
no words have been changed and the interviews remain in chronological order so that you can see
how the case against Kevin young was constructed [Music] this is detective Richard mullaney at
the Shaker Heights Police Department interviewing one Christopher in Jones Mr Jones can you continue your statement
Dan was pretty angry about being a suspect or the way they portrayed that pretty much from there many people came
and left Dan's house that night eventually me and Dan Messinger got a ride from Scott Fierro to the Pruitt's
house we talked to Mr Pruitt we went up into their house and spent a little time in
Lisa's room then me and Dan Messinger were going to walk home we got a ride about halfway to
Dan's house from Randy Stokes we got back to Dan dryford's house and I spent the night there we then went
down to Dan's basement and talked there for a while Debbie driver came down and discussed
the possibility that Kevin young might have done it started from Shane and John who had
heard about a month or four that Kevin young wanted to kill both Dan and Lisa because he had been with Lisa for two
years and Dan had stolen her or taking her away from him after a while we went back up to Dan's room
we just talked until pretty late and went to bed then the next morning Saturday September 15 1990 Dan had to go
to the police station and I got a ride home for Mrs dreifert to the best of your knowledge
who knew that Lisa was planning to come to Dan's house on Thursday night Dan dreifert myself Tex and Kim Cole may
have because she was over at Lisa's house that night so they may have talked about it
how long have you known Dan dryford I've been friends with him since winter of 1989.
could you briefly describe Dan dryford had a rough family life because of that he's been kind of
extroverted in a sense he's pretty much always joking around he's truly social if he feels something different he'll
always put on show of being in a good mood talking and stuff under that he's afraid to trust people
he's intelligent and he has a sense of what he should do Lisa was one of the only persons he really trusted
he hasn't had that many people that he can trust he loved her very much how long have you
been friends with Lisa Pruitt pretty much the same as Dan I had done some stuff with her before
but I became good friends with her that winter of 1989. how long have you known Tex I don't
really know him that well just pretty much know of him and probably no more than six or seven
months could you briefly describe texts from what I know he's not really concerned
with school more rebellious he's not really violent but he's got a lot of anger at things
seems like a really nice guy as a person how long have you known Kevin young I know him through Dan dreyfert and
probably about six or seven months also could you briefly describe Kevin young extremely touchy very powerful a sense
of that physical sense of strength very angry he likes to joke around about things
but you never really know if he's serious or not he's always on edge like wired I really
don't know him that well have you ever observed dramatic changes in Kevin Young's personality
I haven't but I've heard about these changes taking place he always seems like he's sort of about
to burst out or go over the edge or something he makes you feel uncomfortable to be
around can you describe Kevin Young's relationship with girls he takes things too seriously about them
if they'll do anything like be nice to him or something he'll take that as a fact that they like him more than they
actually do with the girls he's around he's very possessive about them he misconstrues and takes too personally
what their actions towards him are Annie Conrad and I were at a party she was one of the girls I felt he was
in love with because he knew her from band I was kind of going out with her at the
time whenever she would come over and talk to me or come and sit by me he would give
me this really dark glances he was trying to get drunk and he was acting really angry and hurt kind of
he basically simmered down after I talked to him a little bit and he said to him that she didn't want to be around
a guy who gets violent when he drinks he just made me feel really uncomfortable basically
can you think of any other example of Kevin Young's Behavior with girls he asked Becca Boatwright to prom
but I can't really remember if she refused I believe she refused he began to hate her for that and
verbally disparaged her and he made a lot of rude comments about her seemed angry
he then asked Ellen Donald who is a freshman and he was a senior she told him that her parents wouldn't let her go
he seemed angry at her too about this but that's all I heard to the best of your knowledge have any of your friends
abused Robitussin cough syrup yes several I tried it once and Andy Conrad Becca Boatwright and Dan dryford
Intex and Debbie dreyfert also could you describe what effects using Robitussin had on you
I took it along with alcohol nobody else really did that I became extremely nauseous I couldn't
see straight really I had distorted perception of what things really seemed like it became
extremely talkative a dizzy giddy feeling but really nauseous that's the only time I ever
tried it how does a young man with no ties to the crime scene become the main suspect in a
murder investigation it happens one flimsy story at a time remember that game we used to play in
school Chinese Whispers we called it the telephone game a rumor starts and it's passed like a
virus through words from one person to another until it changes into something new and altogether dangerous listen for
it in this interview with Jennifer Margolis a 16 year old high school student who is about to point the finger
at Kevin young simply because she heard his name at the right time when I first found out that Dan dryford
had come back I wasn't a youth ending hunger meeting after school Judy Miller came into the room to tell
me that Daniel was back she was very excited once I realized who she was talking about I was also very excited
shortly after she came in Kim Rathbone came to the meeting and she was very excited and emotional which is how Kim
gets there was an element of surprise because we expected him to be in there longer
because he said he had fulfilled his requirements to be able to leave the program at the clinic
basically we were all surprised and excited that he was back I talked to Lisa Pruitt that night it
was before her flute lesson she was rambling on about how wonderful her life was and how wonderful that day
was she was excited like the rest of us about Dan being back and especially because he was special to her
she had been down about band camp and the beginning of the school year because she couldn't do anything for him and she
missed him a lot and she kept saying that the only thing bad about the day was that she could not see him as much
as she liked she saw him momentarily after school and I asked her if she could go over later
that evening and she said she had to go over to her lesson and her mom was making a special dinner in honor of her
getting her driver's license she said her father and she might stop at Dan's house after her flute lesson
and her father only wanted to stop and say hi so they could get home for her celebration
when we were talking about what a good day it had been she was listing the things that had made it that day
primarily Dan being back as she got her driver's license I told her not to forget that I had
given her a necklace that day that she had ordered from my grandmother's jewelry store when we were discussing
her going to Dan's house after her flute lesson I mentioned can't you see him later that night because sometimes they
met then because with his family situation the way it was they didn't get a chance to see each other often
she said yeah I was planning on it I think then we just talked for a few more minutes about everything was great and
then we both had to go that was the last time I spoke with Lisa so I think that about wraps it up about
my impressions of the day that Dan came back I also needed to talk to you guys about Kevin Young
I found out that Kevin was a suspect or I heard the rumor that he was a suspect on Saturday night right after Lisa was
killed it was Judy who told me that because she heard it from Becca Boatwright that was a dance house on Saturday night
the minute Judy told me I got really upset for some reason it had never occurred to me before that he could be a
suspect because I was running through a list of people in my mind that I thought might
be capable of doing something like this or knew she might have been going over there and although I thought of everyone
I had ever seen at Arabica Kevin never came into my head but the minute Judy told me I believed
it I mean not so much in my head but in some non-thinking way I believed it because he was the only person that had
ever entered my mind that I felt was capable of doing something like that that really shook me up so I started
thinking about why I was so convinced that it was he and the more I thought about it I remembered about three or
four conversations I had with him plus the general knowledge that he was pretty Disturbed
Rachel lowenthal and Ted folkman and Aaron Miller and I had gone to see you Hunt for Red October at the colony
theater I know it was a bridge night for my parents afterwards we went to Arabica and Kevin
was there and Eric and Anthony Garvin their brothers Kevin started talking about gays and was making offensive
comments and I always felt bad for him but I was never able to tolerate it when he talked like that so Aaron and I got
up and went downstairs and when we came back upstairs they were talking about Kevin's favorite topic of
discussion which was how all women hated him and how he hated all women and why he even tried to have relationships this
was how he had talked in the past but there was a specific time that I was reminded of as I listened to him talk
that night which was another night when I was up at Arabica and he was telling me and I think Rachel and I don't
remember who about a girl he had liked in Middle School I mean one of those archetypical perfect
people whose parents were going out of town and she was inviting Kevin over to her house he got the impression that
there would be something of interest to him going on or just interests that she wanted to spend time with him
he said when he got there he was already a little bit drunk and she and her boyfriend and I think
that some friends of hers were also there I'm not sure about that had laughed at him and kicked him out
they made him leave he was upset about it and he went from this one situation to condemning all
women he referred to women as [ __ ] and [ __ ] and [ __ ] that was the way he talked
I remember feeling bad for him that he would feel that way I think except for that incident that's
pretty much it that's what I was thinking the night we saw a Hunt for Red October and when I
was listening to him I remember he was talking about Dan and Lisa specifically he was saying that he could never get
any women himself and I'm sure they were derogatory usually he said I hate [ __ ] I hate [ __ ] a lot of kids talk
that way it's an insecurity thing he was complaining how guys like Dan could get
[ __ ] like Lisa to suck on [ __ ] and how Kevin didn't have anyone and raving on
about how unfair it was the conversation changed to more normal topics the next thing I remember that
scared me was that same night but later on when we were sitting out on the lawn in front of Arabica and Rachel and
myself and this guy Chris who worked at Captain Tony's and Kevin and I think one or two fight guys people
who hang around school and don't attend classes and Kevin was talking about how he didn't ever seem to have any
successes with women at all he said to Rachel and I that if we ever got the chance he was sure we would
reject him and our friends would reject him he said that if he would go out with
a girl he would call her a week later and she would put him off and ignore him basically
he said how he didn't like to be ignored and said I won't let people ignore me Rachel said how can you change how
people feel if they don't want to see you there isn't much you can do about it and he repeated that he wouldn't be
ignored and that people can make Impressions on people and it has been done and then Chris who is a serious
pragmatist said well a good impression or a bad impression Kevin said whatever works
it was kind of chilling at the time and worse when I remembered it in this context in the context of what happened
Kristen asked Kevin well are you talking like Hitler or something and Kevin said well it made an
impression didn't it there was a silence and we changed the subject I think the most recent time I talked to
him was when Dan was at the clinic and Rachel and Charlie Martin and I had stopped at Arabica and Kevin was there
with Ken mitsumoto the two of them came and sat down next to us and were talking about Dan
Ken said to Rachel I haven't seen you all summer where have you been she had been to Interlaken
and she was kidding and said I was in rehab he believed her and she said she was kidding and then we
talked about Dan and then Ken said well isn't Dan in rehab neither Kevin nor Charlie said much
about the situation of Dan being at the clinic then Rachel and I set them straight
where Dan was and why they talked about some ridiculous rumors they heard and Ken talked about when he
was in rehab then Kevin said well I'm sorry he's there meaning Dan Kevin said I have some unfinished
business to take care of I remember thinking that sounded ridiculous I think I laughed at the time then he said with
him and the [ __ ] and it was either the [ __ ] or [ __ ] or [ __ ] in reference to
Lisa Kevin continued and said I was gonna [ __ ] with him real good but now he's not
around or something along those lines when Kevin said that I looked at Rachel and she looked at me and I said you
don't need to talk about her friends like that and he apologized and said sorry and continue to talk about Dan
when Kevin said what I said before then Rachel said it was nice to know your friends support you when you're in
trouble and she was trying to guilt-trip him into shutting up as far as I remember that was all I wanted to talk
to you guys about when you refer to Lisa going over to Dan's house late late that night did she
usually go to Dan's house or did he come over to her house she had gone over there at least once
before because she talked to me about it but I think more often he went to her house late at night when I talked to Dan
last night he said whenever she came over I waited for her and it gave me the impression that she had gone over there
more than once have you ever known Lisa to use any drugs or alcohol drugs no when we were in Germany she got a little
bit tipsy and we all laughed about that because it was so uncharacteristic of her other than that no
is there anything else that you wish to add to your statement no the date is now September 22nd 1990. it
is one week after Lisa's murder Kevin young the weird kid in school is the primary suspect
they have consulted with the FBI already about how to get Kevin to confess to the
crime and only now do police detectives sit down for a formal interview with Kim
Rathbone the 16 year old girl who lives behind Dan dreyfert's house she has been holding on to some very
important Clues though her memory is already a bit foggy are you a student yes where at Shaker
Heights High School what grade are you in 11th are you aware this statement is being recorded yeah and is this being
recorded with your permission yeah is your father aware that we are recording this statement at this time
yeah Kim could you basically explain how you know Lisa Pruitt and also how you know
Dan dryford and go back and give me a little bit of background information on how you know these people I met Lisa
once in fifth grade in the band and we both played the flute together and I didn't uh that's how I knew her in fifth
and sixth grade seventh grade I went to middle school with her and we were all part of the same group all kids that
hung around together in middle school and in high school but I grew closer to her from eighth grade on as friends like
closer friends I Know Dan dryford's in sixth grade he lives right behind me so we've always been people who if you
can't find anything else to do you just go over to their house so I knew him better than I knew Lisa he's one of my
very best friends and um oh I went out with him in sixth grade which is nothing it was like for a month
or something and we walked to school together and stuff like that is that all you want to know okay what contact did
you have with either Lisa Pruitt or Dan dryford on the date of Thursday September 13th 1990 to the best of your
knowledge okay well first I'll tell you about Dan first because he's not um that was the first day that he came back
from the hospital and Lisa and I were sitting down together I was helping her with chemistry which is funny because
she's the smart one and um we were sitting down and he came around the corner like he'd been there
the entire time so um I saw him then got hugs and everything because I hadn't seen him for
a while except for like on weekends when we had a pass home and uh then after school I went over and I was cutting his
hair because that was my special treat for seeing him at home because he never let anybody cut his hair I got to do
that and then my boyfriend asked to go to Danny's house so he came and picked me up and said hi to Dan and then we
left not till I saw Dan we were just talking and uh Lisa I saw at school I had lunch with her and band with her and
maybe now and then in the Halls when everybody else saw her oh and shake a right with her that was 10th period and
that's when we we had both finished our articles so that's why we were seen in the Halls on our way home we were
anxious to get home and um then I saw her briefly after school and then I went home and then I went
home and I saw Danny and cut his hair that's all I'd seen except I had heard her scream that night
not knowing that it was her but I didn't know that she was coming over either there screams all the time around Lee
Road in South Woodland and I was doing my history and I had put it off and when I heard the scream woke up and looked
and walked through the house and it happened toward the back of the house my little brother leaves his window open
and our rooms are connected we're through a bathroom and the bathroom doors were opened and his window was
open and I hear her scream and I went off and I looked in my window to see if there were any bicycles or cars or
anything and there wasn't anybody I thought it was weird but I still didn't do anything about it and I found out
Friday at like seven o'clock seven in the morning yeah and we didn't even know it was Lisa it was like tapes and dogs
and everything and we didn't even know it was Lisa and stuff so my parents were all in front of the house my grandmother
lives with us and my brother sleeps like a bump on a log and he didn't notice anything and I guess my grandmother's
windows were shut I don't know why she didn't hear do you remember about what time that was
you heard those screams around like 12 30 just a little bit after 12 30. I was hoping that it wasn't
her but but just from I heard from other people and everything putting everything
together it seems to be so I'm not even absolutely sure that it was her but it just seems like the normal way or how do
you know about what time it was were you aware then what time it was or did you just kind of hear what time it happened
later and then no no I glanced at the clock when I heard it I don't know why because I was just like working really
hard and it was distracting me out of my work so I just glanced to see what time
it was so you were awake at the time yeah I was up doing your homework studying my history
do you remember what the clock exactly what the clock said in other words between 12 30 and 12 45
because I went to bed at one but it hadn't it was then so that I understand you correctly your
bedroom faces segwick yes on what side of the house towards facing the house towards South Woodland say if you're
facing your house is your bedroom towards South Woodland or towards Shaker Boulevard towards South Woodland my
parents are towards Shaker Boulevard the last time you saw Lisa Pruitt was on Thursday at school is that correct
and did you see her anytime after that did you hear or mention or did she tell you what her plans were for the evening
no I didn't even know that she had been over at Dan's house before she had left the house for the night I didn't even
know that she had been over there for then I think I must have I don't even remember what I was doing that night eat
dinner with my family that's about all I remember sometimes you can hear from Dan's
backyard you can all the time here if our screen doors are open you can hear what goes on in the houses themselves so
I guess I just really wasn't concentrating on what was going on over there describe for me as best
you can what the scream sounded like like a scream like somebody was scared I was just it didn't exactly sound like a
play scream like when you hear people are driving by and stuff and that's why I got alarmed and I looked and stuff but
it still didn't actually occur to me that it might be somebody really getting hurt because I don't know why it was
somebody being scared did it sound like a male or female oh a female definitely yeah
did you hear was it a long scream or just like series of short screams [Music] was it like continuous
um it was uh it didn't last for hours you know it was a long one and then there was a long one and I don't know
how you define which are short and which is long but long did you hear the person that was
screaming yell out any words or any names or was it just a scream just a scream I
didn't hear anything else what time did you go over to the dryford's house on that day
um it had to be after four because um you'd last until then it wouldn't have been much after uh oh I
remember why my friend came over we were studying for the history test in the afternoon also I just switched from a
higher to a lower class and she was making me take the test anyway ah it must have been like 4 15 or 4 30 p.m
so about half an hour or 45 minutes or something so you went over there between 4 15 and 4 30 P.M
and you are over there for about 45 minutes yeah I guess so who else was at dryford's at that time
outside with us no one just you and Dan um yeah me and Dan and Babbitt after my boyfriend had come he came over
and said hi that's Brian Keating yeah Brian Keating did you see anybody else at the dryford's house
um I'm trying to remember whether his mom was home or not I don't really remember whether anybody was home did
you go in the house at all no we stayed out in his backyard in that porch area yeah and you cut his hair
then right yeah in general did you and Dan talk about that day oh well he had just
gotten back he was telling me about the people that he had seen and just for some reason I remember Brian coming
over and saying well how do you like Freedom now I guess oh oh I had sent him a care package it was just mementos and
stuff when he had entered the hospital I gave it to his sister and his mom to bring but I wanted some of it back
because it was the only things that I had about him and he had stuff about me so I still needed those things so he
returned them back to me uh he gave me a little stamp just as a joke then like a big surprise was cutting his
hair and we were talking about how short he wanted his hair and whether he wanted
me to put it in a point in the back or not just the way he wanted it and said that he trusted me and I could just do
whatever I wanted to he had complete faith in me and uh I guess that's just about it did he talked about his plans
for the afternoon or evening no did he mention anybody was coming over that night to visit him no
if I had the chance then I was supposed to call him again but I had to study for
the history and then eat dinner and then I had other work to do so I didn't end up calling him so you never talked to
him the rest of the evening after that no okay and did you talk to Lisa Pruitt at
all the rest of the evening either in person or on the phone no [Music] I'm going to ask you about some people
that are friends or of maybe you friends of Lisa's that are friends of Dan's or maybe all mutual friends and tell me
what you know about them do you know a fella named Ken Workman uh-uh they call him Tex oh yeah sorry
about that how do you know him he's Debbie's boyfriend Debbie who dreyfert he's Dan's sister's boyfriend and I went
to see Dan with him and her and Andy once when he was in the hospital Andy who Conrad she's a girl and back of boat
right and uh he was really nice he didn't look like the kind of guy that would be really nice to somebody just
being the first time that I had met him and I just liked him a lot he was a really nice person and he seemed to care
about Debbie a lot did you see him that evening Tex yeah no I had just seen Dan do you know Chris Jones yes okay how do
you know him from school yeah I can't even remember how long I've known him probably just since ninth grade but this
year I have more classes with him and stuff I have study hall with him and lunch in English he's really nice he's a
sweetie he has these odd necklaces that he wears and always lets me wear it if I
like it he's friends with um oh I forgot to tell you Tex I think had met Lisa a couple times but he
didn't really know her and then Chris knew Dan real well and he knew Lisa real well too
how about Dan Messinger I've known him since either 7th or ninth grade oh and uh in ninth grade I hung around with him
a lot and that kind of drifted off I guess he knew Lisa real well and he knew Dan real well and him and Dan used to go
over to Dan's house and they'd mess around with the camera and stuff like that these odd pictures that they would
take he was real good friends with both of them he was really upset do you know anyone that might want to hurt either
Dan driver or Lisa Pruitt that you are aware of that would actually do it or that I think might do it that might you
know saying somebody would actually do something is you don't know we we don't know yeah I have a hard time believing
that anybody's capable of it but my guess is Kevin young Kevin young well he used to threaten them all the time he
used to say weird stuff like what he said he wanted to well he was in a mental or psych ward or something when
he was a sophomore and he said that he wanted generally he said he wanted to get back
at the rest of the world for putting him through what he had been put through and
he was going to do something to make everybody remember him and he said that he was gonna get Lisa
he said that how come Dan could get any good girl he wants getting something girl that he wants to and to suck his
dick but he can't get anybody stuff like that he's scary but you never think that
anybody's actually going to do something even though they talk have you ever heard of any of these threats from Kevin
young directly or do you just hear about them to me not to you but did he ever make threats against Dan or Lisa in your
presence um stem in biology because he couldn't finish it his sophomore year when he was
in the institution whatever it's called he must have said something like that every now and then not really often but
do you remember any instance that he actually made threats in your presence I don't remember a day it was in biology
he did that one but you heard it and you were present do you remember what it was exactly or as close to it
exact as you can remember he was saying like well it was nearing senior project do you know what that is no explain it
that's in the high school when seniors uh I think it must be in May or something when seniors don't have to
take their last set of finals because they do like a project or a working project or something okay I know what
you mean and they don't have to take the set of finals and he was just um it was nearing then because he was
only in their second semester with me and he said he was just so happy to be out of there and he just wanted to hurry
up and get out and he was gonna make everybody remember him that's the one when he was angry at the world for
putting him through this but what I was talking about specifically did he threaten Dan dryford
or Lisa Pruitt directly in your presence no just the world just the world and this was in his senior year
yeah that he was going to make everyone remember him what did that mean to you in your mind well it was kind of freaky
to have something like that said to you but I guess I'm kind of weird because I just put those kinds of things out of my
mind just Kevin's weird I'll stay away from him and that's it and I won't have to worry then Brian
Keating sat next to him and banned all the time in like concert band and he said that he used to hear Kevin talking
all the time but he never thought anything of it and that he'd actually act on it did you go on any of these
band trips like to Germany like to Germany yeah was Kevin young there yeah did anything happen on that trip out of
the ordinary significant uh that's when Dan and Lisa were really kind of started
like going out I guess was there any difficulty on the trip with any member of the band
did anyone get in trouble you mean with any relation to this or did anybody get in trouble in general no not anybody
anybody that's connected with this group of friends that we have discussed no I don't think so I remember this one
girl but she's in the band and so she had some kind of relation to Lisa but I don't really know her did you see Kevin
young at all the day of Thursday September 13th 1990. I haven't seen him for a long time I haven't seen him since
school I guess now I'm going to ask you a question and the answer I don't care about who's involved and what but did
you ever hear anything about any kind of parties at dryford's involving Robitussin drinking Robitussin to get
high do you mean did I ever hear of a party that we did that or did I ever hear about them doing that period did
you ever hear about them doing that period yeah okay what do you know about that I know it
doesn't show up on your drug test it always comes up negative and you can just tell them that you had a bad cold
uh you want me to tell you who did it or how they did it or yes both yes I don't really know how they did it I
could never figure it out really I guess they drink a lot of it maybe they like the taste were you ever present when
anybody ever did this I just I saw the bottles but I was never present when they ever did it okay
so how did you know just just by seeing the bottles that somebody didn't just have a bad cold oh
no what what did he tell you about it he told me that he got high off of those because that way he wouldn't ever really
be using using any real drugs and he could still feel good I guess and that was just uh I can't remember
who the people he said he'd done it with they were I remember when I was there Jamie Greenfield was there with me in
the same room and I think Steve somebody I don't remember do you know who they are no they're friends of Dan's I don't
think they ever met Lisa what are their names Jamie Greenfield and Steve something they go to my youth group and
that's how they know Dan it's through the Unitarian youth group I just remember it was in his dining room
that they like took off the bottoms and he showed them to me and I was just like
what are those Dan showed you those yeah Dan pulled them out of like a paper bag
full I mean not all the way up to the rim there was like seven bottles or something did he ever tell you what he
felt like when he took Robitussin he said the first time that he did it I'm trying to remember the words he used
what he used to describe being high did he mention other than being high any kind of unusual reaction or effect that
it had on him well I remember him talking about his friend was just totally like out of it
talking about like going into a forest or something like there are trees right there hallucinating or something
do you remember who the friend was he talked to no you have to talk to Dan about that he knows that but I don't
ever remember him talking about I mean he never hallucinated like that I don't think he ever did it to the point where
he was like that why are you asking me about the Robitussin anyway it's just something that's come up in other
statements and conversations so we have to clarify that well Dan doesn't drink anymore because he was Ill
with Robitussin I don't even know how he heard of it I don't know how he did it either that's why I asked if you might
have known anything about it all right I'm going to turn the tape over to the other side now
to your knowledge would Dan dryford have invited Kevin young over to his house for any reason lately yeah lately I
don't think so because he and uh am I allowed to swear on this sure he had called Kevin an [ __ ] which he
is I mean he's a jerk really so uh I remember him talking before like at the end of 10th grade who talked to him
before Dan he just said that that's when Bill DeMarco was there and the three of us
were sitting down and he said that you know you don't know who that is either Bill Demarco
no he's home this weekend from Bowling Green he just graduated last year and I said damn I heard you've been hanging
out with Kevin why and he said that he had done one or two things with Kevin and decided that he was kind of a jerk
and just Kevin kept hanging around Kevin was kind of being pushy but Dan didn't want him around I remember that I
hadn't even thought about Kevin since back in the 10th grade when was the last time you saw Kevin young that you can
recall that I think I recall ever talking to him or just saw him last time you saw him
in the 10th grade you haven't seen him since then I didn't know if he went to college
early or I didn't really care so that would have been in the spring or early summer of 1990 this year right yes
what do you know of Kevin Young's feelings towards Lisa Pruitt if he had any feelings towards her
um you mean out of his mouth I don't really know we're calling from other people's mouths and just
everything that I've heard you mean since Lisa's death or before then and before but mostly since Lisa's
death um that uh it seems like he might have been jealous of Lisa spending time with Dan
not like him being jealous of Dan because he has Lisa it seemed like it was the other way around just from what
I've heard it sounded kind of weird okay so this is what you've heard from other
people yeah who has been talking to you about it Jennifer Margulies I've seen her around
lately Lisa and me and her had diet jokes going on which was we had a scarvana sisters and I had just gotten
grounded a lot in ninth grade that's when it started and we just thought about a lot of weird names Jennifer was
Svetlana Lisa was Chicana and I was a No-No and we were the turkavana sisters what sisters turkavana
it's just a name we made up and we had I guess we had taped a whole bunch of commercials and put them all together
and it was something like Oh Henry bars and Sprite and something and then it was
just like a simple thing uh just to make us laugh because we had sat next to each other like in a Rowan
band and uh once I was grounded they brought me a package of the pop and the Ten of those Oh Henry Barr thingies and
gave them to me in a care package to make me feel better because I was grounded have you ever heard or do you
know of Lisa Pruitt sneaking out of her house going to Dan's house prior to the incident or Dan sneaking out of his
house and going to Lisa's have you ever heard of that have I heard it from them yes from Dan or Lisa no have you heard
of it from anyone else before the incident yeah but it wasn't even a big deal it should have been but it wasn't
what did you hear that Dan used to go all the time like to Lisa's house I don't think that I'd ever heard of Lisa
going to Dan's house but he used to go to her house and they'd sit down in his basement and bring his guitar and they
play and sing songs but that's all I heard I just kind of disregarded it you never heard of Lisa coming to his house
no and he never talked about it to you not really well he was gone for a month I had been working I had driver's ed in
the morning on weekdays and I worked in the afternoon so there wasn't really a lot of time for me to see him in the
beginning of Summer and then I had called him to see if he wanted to go out to a movie with me or
something and that's when I found out he was in the institution so then every chance I got I talked to
Debbie and his mom to see how he was doing things like that what were you aware of of anything or did Dan mention
anything to you about the relationship between Mr and Mrs dryford and Dan how did they get along well Dan and his
father have always had this thing going I mean it's a lot it's a lot less worse now I mean I haven't uh because I told
you when the screen doors are open you can hear everything you could hear Dan's father screaming at
him for whatever reason just clean your room and shave and why don't you help me
with this and stuff like that I always heard stories about what had happened when they were younger like what
like what well they're kind of far-fetched I never knew whether to believe them or
not um but I had heard that his father had gone violent with Dan and Deborah and I
think his mom I'm not sure and that's why Dan's started lifting weights in like the sixth grade he wanted to stand
up to his father and uh I had heard it once and this sounds really far-fetched but I remember it and
I don't remember whether I heard it from Debbie or Dan but when Dan was little he
had to use the bathroom and his father said no hold it as long as you could and then he couldn't hold it any longer so
we ended up wetting his pants and his father got mad because he wet his pants and like pushed his head into the toilet
or something it sounded very far-fetched and I had always known Mr drayford as long as I've known Dan and I've always
known him to yell but I had known him to use violence is there anything that you
know or anything that you feel that could perhaps help us in any way in this investigation
is there anything other that I could tell you some tip or something anything that you've heard or anything that you
might have thought about telling the police or thought about calling us and letting us know something that you heard
something that you feel that maybe no one else has thought about like maybe a threat or maybe some reason that
somebody would want to kill Lisa Pruitt all I know is what I've heard some of the rumors about who has texts and stuff
like that and I really don't believe that Dan or Stan or Tex either or any of the three of them are actually capable
of they they wouldn't have done it because first of all they wouldn't have done it to Dan Stan or Tex wouldn't have
done it to Dan Tex wouldn't have done that to Debbie and they had no reason in the world to hurt Lisa anyways they
barely knew her I really strongly don't believe that they did it that's just all
that I've really thought about to tell you just who didn't do it I don't know who did it who is Stan who are you
talking about I heard that stand with somebody Stan's just a friend of mine no you know Stan yeah you know his last
name no it's funny I've known him since the ninth grade but I don't even know his last name but I can recognize him
from a mile away can you describe him for me he is big Well everybody's big to me but he's big and he has long hair
probably down to his well well it's shorter than his shoulders now he looks awkward he smokes
I'm trying to remember whether he had an earring or not I don't think so well maybe he does I don't know about that
one don't no just just disregard that does he go to the high school well he was kind of he did last year and then
he ended up dropping out and then this year he was enrolled again and he was caught smoking on school grounds and he
was suspended then he was caught on school grounds when he was suspended so now he's supposed to pay something or
serve something in jail or I don't know I don't remember what the outcome is but
he's supposed to go to school the night that you heard the screams well it was actually the morning of September 14
1990. did you hear just before or just after that did you hear any other type of noise that might have caught your
attention no that's why I thought it was so freaky because I heard the scream and
just looked and I couldn't see anything else so I just said oh it must have been
somebody in their car or something you didn't hear any kind of maybe a car pulling away or screeching tires or not
even the police when they came in the middle of the night you went to bed about 1am
just about exactly when the police were all around looking around he didn't get up at all I didn't hear it at all I was
so tired from staying up so late studying and the screams that you said you heard
seem to be coming from behind your house yeah because my windows in my room are closed and so was the uh I have two
closets and the door to the hall two windows and the door to the bathroom the only one that was open was the door to
the bathroom so I figured it came from any other direction it would have sounded more muffled did you know Lisa
to keep any type of diary or anything like that I knew that she she always shared her thoughts with her friends I
know that she had little poems and stuff that she liked that she would share not
worth sharing it with some of them worth sharing it with certain people though who else besides yourself would
you consider to be her best friends I don't think I'm her best friend just Jennifer was really close to her and
Rachel lowenthal was very close to her and Kim Cole grew close to her in the summer Dan was really close to her and
Judy Miller was close to her I guess I'm kind of on the outskirts of people that
were close to her who would you say would be Dan's best friends Dan's best friends well
Lisa he was very special to me I don't know whether he would call me a best friend
we spent a lot of time together used to share a lot of hidden thoughts uh I don't know if he would actually
call me one I would like to think that I was one um he uh I I don't know who he would call
his best friends now all of the people that I just named were close to Dan also I know there was one guy that he met in
the institution with him but I don't know if he would call him his best friend do you know his name
oh he was just talking um I was just over at Dan's house yesterday and he was talking to him on
the phone Mike Pagel Maybe that's the closest I can call him I think that's it his first name is Mike
yeah I answered the phone I said this is the dry fruit residence and he said is Dan there this is Mike so
I'm really not sure on the last name I know Bill DeMarco spends a lot of time with him before they left they used to
call each other over the summer know a kid named David Branigan uh-huh he used to babysit for me he lifts a
couple houses down he's really nice I'd see him at all on Thursday no I didn't even know he was home I just saw
him last night at Arabica I was with my parents and I just said oh wait a minute
that's David and I went over and I said hi the last time I saw him was I think it
was right when school was ending and uh he saw me in the hall and caught me and took me to Arabica and we were talking
and he told me about this girl he met and da da da da do you know what the girl's name was
Megan I think he's roaming with her now or he's going to be rooming with her soon
I don't think he's going back to school this year but he's working down at the in the flats at the Arabica
he's working at Arabica yeah I I forgot where he's working in the flats though he told me but I can't
remember is there anything else you wish to add to your statement that would help you really I don't think
so [Music] and here we come to the moment the detectives make their move it happened
on September 26 1990 12 Days After Lisa Pruitt's homicide six police officers from Shaker Heights
drive down to Ohio State University in an attempt to get Kevin young to confess to the crime they have been briefed by
FBI agents on how best to do this the profilers told them their best chance would be to surprise Kevin and
talk to him at night [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music]

Shaker Heights - Episode 4: Chinese Whispers

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

In the early morning hours of Friday, September 14, 1990, 16 year old Lisa Pruett was stabbed to death in Shaker Heights. This is a 6 part true crime series. The bulk of the story comes from actual police interviews. As the story unfolds, ask yourself, who do you think killed Lisa Pruett?Directed and produced by True Crime Garage. Co-produced by The Philosophy of Crime and narration written by James Renner

A BIG Thank You to all of our voice actors!Jordan Bonaparte - www.NightTimePodcast.com Tyler Allen - www.MindsofMadnessPodcast.com Jessica Bettencourt - True Crime Garage & Scene of the Crime Podcasts Mike Bussing - Executive Producer of Truth & Justice with Bob RuffBob Ruff - www.TruthandJusticePod.com Tim Pilleri - www.CrawlSpace-Media.comAaron H - www.GenWhyPod.com & www.FramedPod.com Maggie Freleng - www.MaggieFreleng.com Bill Huffman - My Passion Case and Who killed Podcasts - www.SloBurnMedia.comMorgan - The Captain & Morgan Podcast Jessica Yuan - www.AsianMadnessPod.Podbean.com Melissa Lee - Victimology PodcastScotty Boombox - www.ScottyBoombox.com Jesse P Pollock - Author of “Death on the Devil’s Teeth” & “The Acid King”James Renner - www.PhilosophyOfCrime.com

The full archive of True Crime Garage is available on the Stitcher listening app - for FREE. Our show “Off the Record” is only on Stitcher Premium. For a FREE month of listening go to http://stitcherpremium.com/truecrimegarage and use promo code GARAGE

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Brief Summary

The episode investigates the unsolved murder of Lisa Pruitt and how Kevin Young became a suspect through rumors and testimonies.

Key points

The Unsolved Murder of Lisa Pruitt. Sixteen-year-old Lisa Pruitt was stabbed to death in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and her murder remains unsolved.
The Weird Kid Becomes a Suspect. Kevin Young, the 'weird kid' in school, becomes the primary suspect in Lisa's murder.
The Scream. A chilling scream is heard, raising alarm and fear.
Kevin Young's Threats. Discussion of Kevin Young's disturbing threats against Lisa and Dan.
Robitussin Parties. Revelation of parties involving Robitussin drinking to get high.
The Investigation Deepens. Detectives make their move to get a confession from Kevin Young, 12 days after the homicide.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Her murder remains unsolved.

0:47WatchNov 17, 2022

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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