The Life and Death of “Lobster Boy”, Grady Stiles Jr. | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is [Music] Morbid. This is morbid. And we're we're
not going to get right into it, but I just wanted to say we're talking about a case today that is rough. Oh, so we
should do some some bitty banter at the beginning. Yeah, we should prep everybody. Okay. Ahead of time. Well,
let's see. We all in this office have brand new tattoos. We do. We went to Black Veil in Salem, of course. So, Matt
and Ryan are besties. If you ever need a tattoo, you need to go to Black Veil. You do have to for many reasons. Yeah.
For the company, for the aesthetic, the ambiance, the tattoos, the vibes, the vibes. You
got to do it all. Yeah, it's true. Do it. So, that was delightful. That was super fun. It was a nice little like
treat yourself day. Yeah, it was. Um, what else is going on? I'm trying to think what's what's the news? What's the
hot goss? What's the 411? The 411s that I Oh, what? Mike, you just reminded me. What? Conclave. Oh,
Conclave Watch came to a crashing halt very quickly. Yeah, it started just as quick as it ended. Yeah, I was watching
live though. You were. So, I had it up on my computer cuz I was ready. She screamed, "Oh, new poe." I said, "Oh,
it's happening." I said, "Oh." Soon as that white smoke came out, I said, "Oh my god, we got an American. We got"
Which I'm shocked. That's the first time ever, right? first time ever and like especially right now I'm like wow
shocking I know that that we managed to pull that off and we can say pope lear par
uh he seems pretty cool as far as popes go. Yeah, I think he's like progressive and [ __ ] Yeah, very outspoken. Yeah, he
picked a cool name. We've had a lot of Francis's. We've had a lot of John Paul's and all that shenanigans. So, you
know, it's nice to see a Leo in there. Yeah, let's [ __ ] go. John said he's um cuz John looked him up because I've
been obsessing over Conclave, so he was like, "I should probably know this." Uh he looked him up and apparently he's
from Villanova, which meant nothing to me. Uh until John said that a lot of the Knicks players are from Villanova. And
so he was like, "Uh-oh, Villanova is having a moment." And I said, "You get Pope or you get finals. You do not get
both." No, you [ __ ] don't. So, Knicks, listen to me right now. You chose Pope. Okay, so you got Pope. You
don't get Pope. You don't get the NBA finals. So, I know. Honestly, I think that's a good thing. John thought it was
Villanova having a moment and that's bad. I say you get Pope or you get finals. Yeah, that's what I feel. And I
think the the Celtics that we just have to hope and pray that they're going to make history for, you know, another
year. Yeah, there's this is all on purpose. It's not at all. But I I know I just became a fan. So, let me have this.
But yeah, I'm sitting here in my brand new Celtic sweatshirt. You are. We really are. Because you know what? I'm a
fan no matter how it's going. It's true. But you should. I hope it upticks. I also hope that we are um on the
precipice of game three. We'll let you know, guys. I know. But of course, happy Mother's Day everybody. Mother's Day
weekend. We have to like go do stuff. There's a Celtics game. I'm like, gosh darn it. I'm going to be like that that
sports bro at the table with my phone watching it on your phone. I know. Uh but yeah, so that's cool that um I mean
Pope watch 2025 ended as quickly as it began. But yeah, it was still fun watching them close the doors on the
Systeine Chapel. I was like, this is so metal. They're sealing them in there and
they're all sitting down. It looked very like cinematic. We need more traditions.
We don't have any like cool traditions. Yeah. Well, and I'm, you know, I don't, again, like the Pope really doesn't
affect my day-to-day life in any way, shape, or form, but like I was interested. Yeah. Because it is nice to
see a more progressive uh mouthpiece for Jesus uh talking. I think that's important because we don't need somebody
spewing hate and [ __ ] um to people who will take what he says very seriously because he is seen as the word
of of the Lord. He's young though. He's 69. So, this one might be hanging around
for a while. Okay. So, we might we might have Leo Dynasty happening. Jesus's word
will be pretty pretty lit for the next 20 years. For a while, let's hope. So, you know, that's that's an interesting
interesting little update. Yeah. Thought we were going to have Conclave Watch for
a little while. Thought I was going to get to talk about it for a little longer, but uh I did find out there was
a weird Conclave that happened a while ago that took like 3 years, though. And I think they ended up taking the build
like the roof off the building that they were in and everything. It was a long time ago. Wait, why' they take the roof
off the building? Uh to force them to make a decision. They also rationed their food to bread and water. Like
stopped feeding them actual food. That's dark. Uh well, they were like three years, pick a pope.
Oh, let's let's do this. So maybe maybe we'll cover that cuz that seems like a very interesting little I know you
brought that up the other day and I was like that sounds interesting. It's a weird one. Yeah. Uh but yeah, that was
that was an interesting update that happened yesterday. Yeah. I think that's like all the news. Celtics Pope tattoos.
Yeah. Other than that, we're going to get into a really uh shitty person. Okay. Now, I think we we have briefly
touched upon this man. I believe in a crime countdown. Oh, okay. Uh cuz when I was reading about him, I was like, why
do I know this? And then I was like, "Oh, that's always the worst feeling because then you're like, have I done
this?" I know. I'm like, "We didn't cover this in full." Uh, but yeah, it's the life and death of Lobster Boy, Grady
Styles. All right. I don't know. It's not ringing a bell in my crime countdown part of my brain. This is one of those
things that um he So, obviously, the life and death, he dies. Uh he's murdered. Um murder is
never okay. Um, but you are going to hear me say he's a [ __ ] bag of a human being. Oh, is this like a Ken a Ken
Mckelroy deal? He's a he's a an abusive awful person to the to his daughters and to his wife. Oh. So,
obviously no one deserves to be killed, but I'm just saying like you're going to
hear me talk some [ __ ] about him because he deserves it. Yeah. You I mean, you
got to be real no matter what. Yeah. I'm just I'm just going to let you know. Uh,
so who is Grady Styles? Tell me. Grady Franklin Styles Jr. Not Franklin was born. I know. Was born June 26th, 1937.
What does that make him? So I think at that point he's a cancer. He's a cancer. Okay. I don't know a lot about cancer
men. I do. He fits. Oh yeah. Yeah. He fits. Uh the third child of Edna and Grady Styles Senior. Uh Grady Styles
Senior was a carnival worker and performer. Uh he was buil as uh one of life's human oddities. Oh, that's
terrible to say. There's a lot of this kind of like Yeah, carnivals were white talk quote unquote freaks and such. Um
Grady Senior was born with electrodacty uh which is a physical deformity where one or more fingers on the hands or toes
on the feet are missing. Oh, okay. Um, this condition though gave Grady Senior and it often gives people who are
dealing with it the appearance of having claw-like hands. Okay. So, um, kind of like those of a lobster. Uh, this led to
his being build on the side show circuit as the lobster man. Now, despite being a
very rare condition, it affects actually roughly one in every 100,000 babies born. Wow. electrodactyl ran in the
Styles family as far back as the 1840s. That's crazy. Uh in some cases, it'll occur in both the hands and feet, but in
Grady Styles case, it only occurred in his hands, uh the senior. So, when the couple's third child, Grady Jr., was
born, no one was really surprised to discover that this child had inherited the condition which was present in Grady
Styles Jr.'s hands and feet. Oh, okay. Now, according to author Fred uh Fred Rosen, the Styles family had
always not really listened to the advice of doctors who warned against having children because of the likelihood of
them inheriting this condition. Um because especially when it's of the hands and feet, it leads to a very
difficult life, you know, right? Um and according to Rosen, their attitude was quote, "Hell, if a child was born a
freak, it was the child's problem. the childs and gods. Oh, okay. That's one way to look at it. Which is like, damn,
what an outlook. That's that's your problem, little baby. Yeah. A child that didn't ask to be brought into this
world. Like, that's [ __ ] up in a way I can't describe. Uh, in fact, Grady Junior's sister, Sarah, had also
inherited their father's condition, but it only affected one arm and one leg. Uh, years into her adulthood, actually,
Sarah had her nonfunctional leg amputated and replaced with an artificial limb. Okay. Unlike his
sister, Grady's affliction was far worse than even their father's. Oh. And prevented him from being able to walk.
He was he had to rely on a wheelchair for mobility. Okay. Now, at the time of his birth, the Styles family was living
in relative poverty in Pittsburgh's north side. Uh they were barely getting by on the the wages they were getting
from the Carnival Circuit. And for Grady, early life was a challenge to say the very least. Again, you feel really
bad for young Grady. Yeah, he was given a lot to deal with. A lot to deal with right out the gate. Uh with his father
constantly on the road with the sideshow, there was no one around to normalize his condition really. Oh.
Which was a problem. And so he was treated as a spectacle whenever his mother took him out of the apartment,
which is that must be very difficult. Uh fortunately, just a few years after he was born, they did relocate to Gibson,
which is a small town in central Florida. And this is very interesting. In the decades that had preceded them
moving there, um this had become a popular place to move for retired circus workers. Oh. And those who were seeking
refuge during the offseason of the circus and the carnival. So due to the large number of performers in town, they
had also the local administration had also established very like um unusual zoning laws. And this allowed the
residents to keep elephants, tigers, and other large exotic animals on their property. Damn. Which would solve the
problems also of boarding the circus animals, right? But for young Grady, this kind of solved the problem of him
feeling like an outcast because now he's hanging out with a bunch of circus workers and sideshow workers and the
kids are sideshow workers and a bunch of exotic animals. Like he fits in. He's not weird. Like he's just one of them.
But it didn't do anything to solve their financial issues. That's um as a result,
the Styles children were all expected to just kind of forego traditional schooling and just pitch in at the
circus to help support the family. Uh, as the only able bo fully able-bodied child, Margaret, the oldest, worked the
ticket booth until she actually ended up um passing away from a brain aneurysm in
1951 at the age of 18. Oh, wow. This family had so much to deal with. Yeah. For Grady Jr., his he was just going to
live a life of performing. That was what he was going to do. Uh just as his father had. Uh from one small town to
another, the family spent the majority of their lives traveling with the carnival and they were buil as the
lobster family. Oh yeah. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, circuses
like Ringling Brothers and Barnaman Bailey were so popular around the country, particularly during the depression and
war years. You know, when a family could expect a day's worth of entertainment for a very small fee and just to take
them away from all the [ __ ] that was going on. Exactly. reality for the carnival workers and performers. The pay
might not have been great, but it was consistent and the work offered, you know, a a stable and supportive
environment that a lot of them had not experienced outside of the circus. They kind of treated like [ __ ] Um, in fact,
Fred Rosen said, "In those days, the carnival was indeed a family. In those days, people joined up for the duration.
They stayed with the same carnival through thick and thin. They were there for each other. the fat man, the bearded
lady, the rustabouts, and the strippers. You just became like a kind of, you know, it's like um American Horror Story
Freak Show, how they become like a family, you know, in the present, it would obviously be very illegal for
parents to just take their kids out of school and be like, you're working at the circus for good reason. Like, but
under the circumstances and given his experiences in a, you know, quote unquote ordinary community, Grady Jr.
was honestly happier with the sideshow than he had been just go in Pittsburgh going that's good. Not only was his
family be able to just be together all the time, but he also loved performing and he liked being in the spotlight like
it he was okay seemed to feed him like he really liked it and when they weren't on the road they retired to Gibson and
there he was treated as just any other child in town. So it was he wasn't dealing with that [ __ ] you know.
And he was able to live a relatively normal childhood among other children of circus workers. Yes. Like their normal.
I was going to say a different kind of normal. What they saw is that despite the acceptance he found in Gibson and
his ability to, you know, help the family by working at the sideshow circuit, Greedy Styles's life was
definitely one of hardship. It's not like he was just coasting through. He had a lot to deal with. And it wasn't
long before this kind of hardship that was just kind of hardwired inside of him was leading to a lot of bitterness
because again, it's not like he was treated nicely by everyone he came in contact with. You know what I mean? Like
he people who understood his struggles. Yeah. And some people I'm sure the people that came to the circus sometimes
would probably dehumanize him and like that. I'm sure that's going to live in your nervous system at some point. Yeah,
definitely. So he was often frustrated, often bitter. Um but he was very determined to prove himself to be as
capable as anybody else. Yeah. Uh he be so one thing he could do which he did like he very much fixated on was
building up his strength in his early teens and he developed incredible upper body strength. Really? Yeah. Um, and
that he used this kind of to compensate for his lack of, you know, dexterity, lack of being able to really move around
like he felt everybody else could. At the same time, he adapted to his condition really well and had learned to
use his hands in like a claw-like fashion. Um, so he could hold objects, he could write, he could do other like
very complex tasks with his hands. Okay. Uh, which when you look at it, you're like, at this point, you're like, good
for you, man. like you really like took lemons and you made lemonade out of them. Like good for you. Now, by the
early 1950s, Grady Senior, his father, had decided it was going to be much more lucrative for the family to go into
business for themselves. And they struck out on their own. Now, around this time,
17-year-old Grady Jr. married his first wife, Deborah Brady. That was in a small
ceremony in Tampa, Florida. Now, unfortunately, that was only going to last about a year before they divorced.
Um, and Grady ended up just really focusing on the business for a little while. Uh, it he's a horrible husband.
Okay, just to put that out there. It lasted a year. I not surprised by that. I don't I don't know how based on what
we find out later. Uh, marriage to him was not a fun time. Now, Grady didn't have to wait long to find love again,
though. In the spring of 1959, during a stop in Trenton, New Jersey, Grady met Mary Teresa Herszog, who was went by
Teresa. Okay. one of the Carnival's newest ticket booth workers and instantly they were in love. Now, by the
time she'd met Grady Styles, 21-year-old Teresa's experiences with men had been universally bad. Oh. Um, so when she
was, this is awful. When she was 6 years old, Teresa's mother divorced Theresa's
father and remarried a monster named Frank Tyler, who would go on to sexually abuse her for years. Oh, that's
terrible. Frank Tyler, piece of [ __ ] Yeah. uh given the terrible conditions of her home life, Teresa would like lose
herself in carnivals, you know? It was just like one of those things like escaping reality. Yeah, it really was.
It was It reminded me of like a movie we just watched for Scream where the devil
roams. One of the characters in that talks about how his father was abusive when he was younger and he would escape
to the circus. Yeah. Just to get out of that reality, right? Um which is just so
sad. Yeah, it is sad. Uh Teresa, so she found refuge in these carnivals and circuses that would travel and they
would come to her small Vermont town in the spring and summer months. Okay. Uh she later said, "The carnival fascinated
me. I guess it fascinated most young people. I thought the lights and the excitement were just great." Yeah. Now,
in a bid to get closer to the carnival and really like just envelop herself in it, she began working as a ticket taker
during the summer. Then when she turned 18, she joined up with the circus on a full-time basis. and finally got away
from her stepfather for good. Good. [ __ ] that guy. Yeah. Before long, she met and
fell in love with one of the rustabouts, Jerry Plameumber. Not Grady Styles. Not
Grady. And soon they were married. Now, while things started out fine in the relationship, Teresa soon found herself
in a relationship with yet another abusive man. For more than a year, she suffered verbal, physical, and emotional
abuse at her piece of [ __ ] husband's hands. Uh she was beaten with his fists. She was pushed down the stairs while she
was pregnant with their child. Oh my god. And at one point he even threw a pot of scalding coffee at her. What a
[ __ ] monster. And finally he just cuz you know he was a piece of [ __ ] in every way. He just
grew tired of the relationship and he didn't really want to be a father. So Jerry Plameumber took off leaving Teresa
to raise their daughter Deborah on her own. Probably much better off and she was earning very little money at the
circus. So obviously it was hard, but to her credit, she was very resourceful, very determined. So she found a lawyer
and scraped together enough money to file for divorce, and Jerry didn't contest it good. When Grady first saw
Teresa in the ticket booth, he was immediately struck by her beauty, her charm. He just was into it. The problem
was at the time, Grady and his father were a top draw for the circus. And there's like a hierarchy, okay? And he
would have been looked down upon for dating one of the ticket takers. Oh, okay. Uh cuz that's like the job at the
bottom of the hierarchy. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, that is interesting. Uh so he he wasn't he wasn't going to
move on though. He was like, I'm not moving on and finding somebody else. Like I like this girl. Yeah. So he began
talking Teresa up to one of the owners, Stan Wright, encouraging him to consider
her for a job as a Bali girl, which is apparently a term for one of the singing or dancing girls in the show. Cuz he was
like, "She's beautiful. like why not bring her up there. Yeah. As a ticket taker, dating a performer was off
limits, but as a Bali girl, she would be another performer in the show and their
relationship would be very acceptable. Okay. So, fortunately for everyone, Wright did see something he liked in
Teresa and was like, you know what, you're right. Well, that's good. Hopefully, she made some more money.
Yeah. And that's the thing, he gave her a chance as a performer. So, for Teresa,
it was a huge step up. she got some more money and she so she was able to better
provide for Deborah, which Teresa seems like I feel really bad for Teresa because she seems like she's had this
awful life. She's been really taken advantage of and treated horribly by the men in her life, but she just wants to
be like she wants to take care of her kids. Yeah, she wants that really does seem like there's a lot of like I really
just want to do right by my kids and she wasn't done right for. So, it's really hard to break that cycle, especially
back then when you had no like no resources really to count on as far as therapy and mental health help. Like,
she's not being taught how to break this cycle or that it's important to break it
all in her. You can just tell that Teresa does have something inside of her that just desperately wants to break
that cycle who she is. Um, she doesn't make she makes some poor choices later, but I do believe that like deep down in
there, she just really wanted to do right by her kids. Yeah. Um, but this so this move up also moved her closer to
the action at the center of the show and more importantly to her closer to Grady
cuz she liked him too. She liked him too. Within a few months she had moved up from a dancing girl to become a sort
of jack of all trades within the performances. One of her more prominent roles was um Blade Box Girl, which was a
kind of assistant to the magic act where she would step into the box and appear to be stabbed a million times with
swords to come out and be like, "I'm fine." Oh my god, that must have been real scary. Yeah. So, she was the lovely
assistant essentially. Uh, at the same time, as she was so excited to be on stage, she was so excited that Grady
Styles had chosen her as the object of his affection, having only ever known very negative and abusive attention from
the men in her life. Being with Grady, she said, was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. He was showering her with
gifts, with praise, attention, making her feel wanted and adored. She said Grady was such a charming man.
Everyone enjoyed being in his company. Yeah. Now, not long after beginning their relationship, they started living
together. And with Grady, Grady was now stepping in as a father to Deborah. And it seemed like everything was going
great. In the off season, they returned to Gibson, where Teresa found work in a Tampa shrimp factory during the offse.
And within a few years, their first child, Margaret, was born. Unfortunately, less than a month after
Margaret was born, she died from pneumonia. Oh, that's terrible. The situation repeated itself with their
next child, David. Oh, God. Who also died a month after his birth from pneumonia. And it was attributed to the
poor living conditions of life in a traveling circus. Wow. Now, the health problems continued for the Styles family
because a few months later, Grady Styles senior was struggling with poor health,
too. Finally, he decided to retire from traveling altogether. Now, unable to afford the cost of living in Florida,
Grady Senior moved back to Pittsburgh and found a small apartment there. Mhm. So, now Grady Jr. is worried about his
parents pit Pittsburgh because they're in poor health and he's in Florida. So he started renting an apartment in the
city so he could check on them and be around them. The apartment was a huge financial strain on them obviously
because it's just another expense. So to help support them in the off season, Grady Jr. began performing in a one-man
show to make extra money when they weren't on the road. Mhm. The work allowed him to support himself and his
wife, but this additional work, plus the stress of traveling back and forth to Pittsburgh and the unexpected tragic
deaths of two children, like a lot on your plate. It brought out a meanness in Grady that Teresa said she had never
seen even the slightest hint of before. So, this came She was like, "This came out of nowhere. He didn't deal well with
stress, which grief." A lot of people say that the death of a child will change you can change a relationship and
it really depends on one the strength of the relationship to begin with and you know things that are lying dormant in
the people that are experiencing it. So obviously something was lying dormant in
Grady Styles that that's just brought it right out brought it all out. Um, so the
bitterness, the frustration, the the rage, it all and what he saw as his constant misfortune. Uh, it led him to
start drinking heavily, which only exacerbated the anger. And before long, he was directing it all at Teresa. Oh,
no. According to Fred Rosen, Grady was a good provider. However, when he was drinking, Grady started beating Teresa,
taking care to keep his blows to her body so no one would see the bruises. Wow. To me that is diabolical. That is
diabolical cuz you know what you're doing is wrong and you're not even just to have the wherewithal to think like
that clearly doing somewhere that someone can see. Yeah. That's [ __ ] up. That's dark. In 1963, Teresa gave birth
for a third time. And this time, the baby would not only survive, but also managed to not inherit Grady's
condition. Okay. The healthy birth of their daughter Donna was a relief to Teresa, who' obviously already
experienced two traumatic births and traumatic deaths. But the girl's health, like seemingly quote unquote normal
mobility, seemed to fuel Grady's anger. Oh. Uh, following Donna's birth, Grady began to drink even more than he had. He
was staying out late with other carnese and sometimes not coming home for days. Fred Rosen said when he did come home,
he would genu generally make it to the living room and pass out on the floor. Sometimes he'd throw up first and sleep
in his own vomit. Oh, [ __ ] In the morning, Deborah and Donna would get up and they would have to step over Grady
to get out of the trailer. So, the children would have to just step over him and his own vomit to get out of
their house. That's horrific. Now looking back on her childhood, Donna reflected on her childhood saying there
was nothing really good I can recall. Yeah. I mean when you're stepping over your dad in his own vomit you're abused
at home. That's she said he always drank continually drank. I really started noticing at it at about seven because he
would yell at us if he was drinking at home. That's so sad. Seven years old to realize that at 7 years old is [ __ ]
For a time, the girls could rely on school to get away from this whole abuse, but even that was unreliable
because Grady would routinely pull them out of school three or four months before the end of the year to help the
traveling show. It's like, how are they even moving on? Exactly. In 1969, Teresa
gave birth again, this time to a daughter they named Catherine, who was born with the condition. Okay. Uh the
birth of their second daughter should have been a joyous occasion. Yeah. for any couple, but it didn't do anything to
stop Grady's drinking or lessen the violence in the household. Uh things finally came to a head one night in the
mid 1970s when Grady and Teresa got into a really bad argument. Um after the show, Donna said that night after
closing, he called mom out in the show. They were arguing. She came back into the trailer crying, and then he came
back in the trailer, pulled the door open, let it slam real hard, and he took $20 and he threw it at her. After
throwing the money at her, he screamed, "Take your [ __ ] kids and get out of my face." Oh, her kids. Her kids. Okay.
Yeah. Literally, [ __ ] this guy. Like, he's awful. Um because he does this and then when he does later, I'm like, "Go
[ __ ] yourself." And in front of his kids. Oh, he does awful [ __ ] To the girl's surprise. And this is where you
you you really see moments of Teresa just making like very smart choices for her kids. And then obviously, you know,
she's a very abused woman. Yeah. Very abused, very traumatized. So, she obviously makes some questionable ones
later, right? Uh but this is one that really shocked the girls as well because he's a scary guy. So, they were
surprised because their mother did not say like, "Oh, he's just, you know, drunkenly ranting like just leave him
alone," which often would happen. Instead, she just looked at them and she said, "Pack a bag and we're leaving."
Wow. and she packed her own suitcase and they all left and they got a room at a motel across the street. Once they were
there, she called her friend Harry Glenn Newman who was part of the circus as well. He was known, and this is what he
was known by back then, he was known as [ __ ] Man. Oh man. Due to his small stature. Gotcha. Um things were
different then. Things were real. Things were uh bad then. Yeah. Uh after leaving
Grady that night, Glenn became a lifesaver for Teresa. Um he allowed them all the girls and her to live in a small
camper until they all on his property until they all moved to Ohio to live with Glenn's mother. Wow. For several
months the children finally got to enjoy stability and normaly of children their
age like things were happy. Yeah. Without the chaos of this traveling show or you know a rageful abusive like
alcoholic father. Unfortunately, that was shortlived because about four month five months after leaving Grady, Teresa
received a summon and traveled to a Pennsylvania courthouse with the girls. Unbeknownst to her, after she left
Grady, he filed for divorce and petitioned the court for custody of the children, even though he literally told
her to leave with her children. Oh, they're Oh, they're yours now? Yeah. Okay. You get to pick and choose. Now,
she had been unaware of the divorce cuz he did it without her knowing, right? And he didn't she didn't know that he
had filed for custody. Yeah. So she didn't contest anything because she didn't know what had happened. Right.
And the court awarded awarded full custody of the children to Are you [ __ ] kidding me? Which is so [ __ ]
up. Yeah, it is. Grady took the girls back to Florida with him. Wow. Which just breaks my [ __ ] heart cuz I truly
believe if these girls have been allowed to live with Teresa and Glenn, they would have had a totally different
childhood. They could have started healing Yeah. from things. They're young enough to hopefully forget some things.
They get even more traumatized. Oh, no. Um, so Grady takes the girls back to Florida with him, but only long enough
to sell the house they lived in and get rid of all his wife's belongings. Oh, that's normal. Um, Kathy later said,
Catherine said he gave all of mom's whatnotss, lamps, and all of her stuff to his sister. He would not let her come
back to get her clothes, which included a fur coat and some evening dresses. He gave away all of her clothes. That's so
[ __ ] up. Yeah, that's that's abusive in its own way. Yeah, you know, oh, he's just an [ __ ] With Teresa out of the
picture, Grady began seeing a woman named Barbara, who quickly moved herself and her daughter in with the Styles's
family full-time. Catherine said later, "She wanted to put herself in my mom's place. She wanted to be our mother. She
tried to force herself onto us, but she wasn't trying to be like a mother. She was she cuz Teresa disciplinarian was
known by her children. They all agree she was a loving, caring, kind mother. Yeah. Like flat mama. She was a mama.
Barbara only seemed interested in playing the role to the extent that it got her closer to Grady. So she's that
stepmother. She's Meredith blaking it. Yeah. Rather than actually do any parenting, most of the responsibility
for raising the children, including Barbara's daughter, Susie, fell to Donna since Deborah had decided to move out of
the house after the divorce. Oh. Now, after moving the family back to Pittsburgh to be near his parents,
Grady's drunken violent behavior continued without interruption, including the period where Barbara was
pregnant with their child. In 1976, Barbara gave birth to a boy. The couple named Grady III, uh, who was born with
the same condition as his father and his halfsister at this point. Okay. In the meantime, Teresa kept living with Glenn
Newman, who turned out to be a pretty good husband and a good provider. In 1974, she gave birth to a boy, Harry
Glenn Jr., known as Glenny. Everybody, um, they were obviously very happy to have a new little baby boy, but she had
a profound sense of pain and loss of having lost her children to give Grady because he was refusing to let her see
them. Wow. Wow. So, she was trying her everything she could to see them or have contact with them and he wouldn't let
them. And it's like, why did he get full custody? I mean, very different time again, but yeah. Despite everything
though, Teresa was still hopeful that one day she was going to be able to have a relationship with her daughters again.
So, she convinced Glenn to move to Pittsburgh. Wow. And Glenn was like, "Let's go." Glenn seems like the best
guy. I know. He So they moved to Pittsburgh to be closer to the girls so she could start really trying to get
them back. Yeah. Now this pissed Grady off in a massive way. In the winter of 1976, the full extent of Grady's cruelty
became apparent when after some conversation, he agreed to let Teresa take the girls to visit her mother in
Vermont for Christmas. Oh, this is going to ruin me. But rather than have Glenn and Teresa just pick them up, Grady
insisted they meet him at a bar near his apartment where he proceeded to get violently drunk. After downing five or
six drinks, they all went back to the apartment to get the girls only to discover that none of the girls were
there. The place was empty. Sitting on the couch, Grady reached beneath him and pulled out a revolver. Oh god. Pointing
it at Glenn and Teresa. Moments later, Paul Fishbaw, who was the Sideshows known as the Fat Man,
emerged from another room holding a shotgun. Holy [ __ ] With Paul Fishbaw now guarding Glenn, who remember is is
has very small stature, right? So, this giant man is holding this smaller man, so he can't protect so he can't protect
his wife with a shotgun. Grady then started beating Teresa viciously in front of her husband, her helpless
husband. Baby Glenn was also there and was screaming the entire time. Oh my god.
Yeah. When he'd finally tired of hitting Teresa, he let them leave before but not
before telling them, "Don't bother me anymore. Next time I'm going to kill you, Glenn, and your son."
Wow. That was because she had agreed to to let her daughters go for Christmas. Why don't you just say no? Yeah, cuz
he's a cruel son of a [ __ ] He is. His cruelty continued in the years that followed, and even moving out of the
apartment wasn't enough to escape it. In April 1978, when Donna was 15 years old,
her cousin introduced her to 18-year-old Jack Lane, and the two hit it off immediately. Knowing her father would do
anything he could to drive Jack away, cuz why would you allow your daughters to have happiness? Uh, the couple
frequently met in secret, often spending time together in a park a few blocks away from the apartment. One evening in
September, after hearing countless stories of Grady's abuse, Jack was like, "I can't let you go back there. Like, I
I can't just keep sending you back to this place and hearing what he does to you." Oh. So, Jack took Donna to his
sister's apartment trying to give her some space to be safe, right? When she called home a few days later, Grady
[ __ ] lost it, screaming at her, demanding she return home immediately. And he told her, "I got detectives
looking for you. They'll find you and when I find that boy that's with you, I'm gonna kill him. Oh no. Now for and
she's telling him like he's a good guy. He just wants to keep like take care of me because you [ __ ] violent. For
years, Donna had listened to her father's drunken rants and threats of violence against her mother and her
siblings. And she'd suffer more. She'd suffered more than the others when it came to physical abuse. But when it came
to threats of killing Jack, Donna was like, I didn't believe that he was going to go through with it. Oh no. Like I
understood that he like beat the [ __ ] out of us and threatened us, but like I didn't think he would do it outside of
our family, kill someone. What she didn't know was on September 11th, Grady went down to Pit Loan, a local pawn
shop, and submitted an application to purchase a new H&R 32 caliber pistol. Donna didn't return home, but kept
living with Jack's sister for several more days, fearing what was going to happen if she went home. Yeah. Donna and
Jack decided the only way to get her away from her father for good was for them to get married. Mhm. But she was
only 15 years old, right? So, she would need parental consent. And in late September, she called her father and
explained what she wanted to do. And to her surprise, he didn't object. That's terrifying cuz it sounds like Christmas.
Yeah. Donna and Jack planned to get married in a small ceremony on September 28th. And in the days before it, they
took all the details, took care of everything, including applying for the marriage license, getting the blood test
you had to get back then. You had to do a blood test. On the morning of September 27th, Donna met Jack at his
house and the two went out to do some shopping before returning to Grady's apartment where Donna was planning to
clean for the wedding reception. So, like, he was going to be involved in this. It was going to be They weren't
running away to get married. She was doing it all. She was involving him. When they arrived, Grady wasn't home,
but he had instead gone down to a bar, of course, where he stayed until 700 p.m. and drank 12 double whisies. Holy.
Yeah. So, 24 whisies. Yeah. So, they went out to get some food for the reception and when they got home around
7:30, they found a very drunk Grady sitting on the couch. Uh, his wheelchair was nowhere in sight. Grady said he had
left it out by the front door and someone stole it. So, they all were like, "Oh shit." So, they volunteered to
go out into the neighborhood and look for it. As they were all leaving the house, Grady said, "Actually, Jack, why
don't you stay back with me?" "No." and Donna recalled. Barbara and I went around into the metered parking lot out
back looking for the wheelchair. We were just about halfway around and I heard a
bang and then I heard a bang again immediately after and I ran towards the house. When I got there, Jack came
stumbling out of the house. He was holding his chest in the middle. Oh god. When he reached Donna, he collapsed on
the ground and began coughing out blood. And they were just going to get married.
And he's like her protector. Yeah. And she Donna said it didn't seem real. It seemed like a joke. I looked up and dad
was standing on his knees looking out the window smiling at me. What a son of a [ __ ] When she asked why he'd done
it, he said, "Because I told you I would." Why? He is. Cruel isn't even the word.
And he goes so far beyond. He's a piece of absolute [ __ ] Demon. By then, they could hear sirens coming. When they
arrived, Barbara explained, so the stepmother explained what they believed happened and pointed them in the
direction. And so she was like, "He did it." Like, yeah. She was like, "That's [ __ ] up." Um, and Grady was sitting in
a large oversted chair, the gun sitting on an end table next beside him. And according to Detective Joseph Stoddle
Meyer, when the arresting officers entered the room, he said, "Take me. I'm ready." And he was arrested without
incident. Okay. The bullet entered Jack's chest on the left side and exited um from his right shoulder. He was
rushed to the hospital by ambulance, but he died a few hours later from his wounds. Oh, that's just awful. That also
escalated the crime from attempted murder to seconddegree murder. Grady was taken to the county jail to await his
arraignment. Also, I wonder why seconddegree. I think it was because he said he was going to. That's very much
first degree. That's what I'm saying. I think that should have been first degree, but it I don't think it would
have mattered either way because in the meantime, a coroner's inquest was held to determine exactly what the [ __ ]
happened in that in that apartment. Um, and during the inquest, Donna explained that she and Jack had run off together a
few weeks earlier and that her father had quote not been happy about the impending marriage, though he had
consented to it. During his testimony, Detective Stoddle Meer recounted Grady's statement, telling the panel of juries
that of the jury that Grady claimed he had heard talk in the street that Lane, which is Jack, had been saying nasty
things about his daughter, and he had taken all he could take, pulled out his 32 caliber revolver, and shot Lane.
Yeah, that's not how it happened. That's not it at all. Grady was arraigned on a
charge of thirdderee murder, and in early 1979, the case went to trial. Over the course of several weeks, a number of
family members testified that Grady had made threats towards Jack and Donna. And
Donna herself testified that she had been with her father when he purchased the gun. Mhm. However, several other
witnesses, including Grady, indicated he had purchased the gun because Barbara had been receiving threatening phone
calls. Okay. Testifying in his own defense, Grady told the jury that Donna had changed since she started dating
Jack. She was probably happier, more independent. She would sneak out of the house late at night and come home
sometimes with beer on her breath. Oh, honey. Okay, glass house. For real. Okay, glass house. Um, Grady also
claimed that once they were alone, Jack had come at him in a menacing fashion. I
bet. And he said, "I don't know what came over him, but I was scared, I guess, of him killing me." Okay. I doubt
it. Yeah. Um, the projection here is wild. Yeah. As for all the contradictory evidence and witness statements, Grady
claimed all those people, including the police, got together and fabricated their stories. That the police often do
that. That's a real dumb thing to say. For sure. Totally. On February 22nd, 1979, the jury retired for deliberation
and returned a little over 3 hours later to find Grady guilty of thirdderee murder. When the verdict was read, Grady
began weeping at the defense table. The verdict came as a surprise to many, including the prosecutor, who actually
expected an acquitt would come because of sympathy for his condition. Okay. However, while the verdict was like,
yippee, it also posed uh some complications. Primarily, was there a jail or prison in Pennsylvania capable
of accommodating someone in Grady's condition for as long as 15 or 20 years? And there wasn't. After careful
consideration, the answer was no. That's ridiculous. Yes. In the end, Judge Thomas Harper did his best to find
middle ground and sentenced Grady to 15 years of probation, noting, quote, "No prison in
the state can accommodate a person with his physical deformities." That's a quote. After reading the sentence in
court, he the judge said, "I'm not sure that a prison term would not be cruel and unusual punishment in this case.
Society doesn't require vengeance and I felt a probationary term met the best interests for society and the defendant.
The prosecution though disappointed with the sentence didn't make a comment. I mean that's a tough That sucks. That's
awful. He killed a man. Yeah. Like it sucks that nobody was willing nobody could cuz that's the thing. It's like
you can't just acate him. And it's like nobody could accommodate him and that now he gets to be because I wonder what
he what he would have required aside from like something wheelchair accessible. I think that's enough.
That's it, right? I think that's enough for it. And they didn't have anything. They didn't have that cuz think about it
just wasn't a priority back then. 70s though. Like it's crazy. Yeah. Anyway, now after Jack's murder, coldblooded
murder, his sister and other family members blamed Donna for his death, and refused to allow her to stay with them
any longer. So, she was allowed by court order, luckily, to return to Florida to
live with her mother, Teresa. And Glenn finally, that's great. Under the circumstances, really shitty like that.
She didn't do anything wrong. I know. And under the circumstances, I love this too because Teresa also insisted Donna
bring Catherine with her and Grady did not put up a fight. Oh wow. So they were able to go live with Theresa and Glenn
and those were the only two of the daughters left in his care, right? Because Deborah had moved out early on
and she was older. Yeah. Okay. Now throughout the 1980s though, life for Glenn, Teresa, and the kids was a
struggle. Yeah. Uh after his tire business went under, Glenn was forced to return to the Carnival Circus to pro um
to perform his role as the world's smallest man. Mhm. And once again, Teresa found herself kind of back where
she started trying to figure stuff out. Every year when the school year would come to an end, they would have to pack
up the kids and join Glenn on the road to help with responsibilities. It was seeming to like a pattern was repeating
here because that's difficult. Yeah, of course. And Glenn was having difficulty because he was getting older. Yeah, it
was not easy. For more than a decade, they had had a good marriage. He had been a stable, very constant presence in
Teresa's life, and he had treated her better than any other man. Um, and he was a good father to the children. But
as the 80s came to a close, she was starting to feel a little restless in the marriage, and she was kind of
growing tired of being, you know, a constant helper and just going along for the ride, you know, like having to go
out on the road and doing all that stuff. And she Yeah. and she she sees that she's doing the same pattern just
with a nicer man. You know what I mean? But it's still the same like I'm not doing right by these kids by taking them
on the road. It's a tough life, you know? And so in 1990, Teresa and Glenn divorced and she moved out, taking the
kids with her. Uh it should have been a liberating moment, you know, cuz she she
spent her entire life waiting on accommodating, following, having to be the assistant for men. Mhm. But she
quickly found herself lonely cuz she's also a human being. Mhm. In response, she called up Grady. And this is where
we get to uh where I say, "What? What?" Yeah. Uh what? Here's the thing, though.
So, he had separated from his wife, and in the years since his conviction, I know me and Mikey are literally like
looking at each other like, "What the fuck?" I agree. I'm with you on this. I'm shocked. I am shocked. I am
dismayed. Uh Grady had been on house arrest during this time because of the probation [ __ ] years for murdering
murdering her daughter's fiance. So he could not continue drinking the way he was on probation. So he had scaled back
and for the first time in many years he was pretty sober. Okay. Um so for Teresa, she thought she was seeing a
glimpse at the Grady. she knew when they were first dating. Okay. Because remember, she got kind of lovebombed.
Yes. Or not kind of, she got love bombed. Love bombed. And she saw this amazing man who was like and they had
gone so far as to get married happily. Yeah. Had children very happily. And then it was like everything just
imploded at once and then he became a heavy drinker and things got worse. So for her, I'm just trying to like I'm
just trying to like not [ __ ] on Teresa because like I feel like Teresa had such
a [ __ ] life and such hardships that I Yeah. And I just feel for the family. You know what I mean? Like I feel for
these children. I feel for I don't know. It's just a very sad situation. I'm sure
being in a relationship like that like [ __ ] alters your brain chemistry. That's the thing. I I'm trying not to
like judge too hard for her because I'm like I don't know what it's like to have
been in that kind of no turmoil children with somebody and have your children be
in that ter like I can't fathom it. I really can't. So while I don't understand this decision. Yeah. I don't
I don't understand it. I can at least stand from back here and say I don't know what your life feels like, right?
And I don't know what it felt for you to think you were seeing a hint of who you
fell in love with. You have to have empathy for the thing. So that's why I'm like stepping back from my full-blown
judgment here and trying to look at it from like you were seeing someone you you fell in love with or you thought you
were. You know what I mean? It's just a really [ __ ] up sad situation. I really
feel just awful for these children. For them for really especially Donna. That's
the thing. Well, that's the thing. That's where I say, "What the fuck?" Like, that's just a level for your
father to kill your husband like days before you're to marry him. Yeah. Not go to prison because of all the different
circumstances. Finally get away from him even though like his his family thinks that it's your fault. Then you get to go
live with your mother again and she brings that man back into your life right back into his. That's the thing.
Like Donna, all of them, all those kids I feel bad, but the person I feel most most for is Donna. I feel so horrible
because that's just such like trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma. And it's
like compounding trauma. It's also like Teresa has kind of been molded since she
was a child truly to bend to the whims of men and accommodate them and kind of, you know, demean yourself for them like
not really think of yourself as an independent person who can who can do this, who can break out on their own.
And even in her moments of doing it, you know what I mean? Like it's I feel like
she always gets sucked back in with some man who's who's kind of taking the reigns. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she's a
victim. She's a victim of her own right. But then it's like these children are a
victim of these men and also they're unfortunately their mother's trauma of not being able to be without these men.
And it's like so there's this awful and that's what I meant when I was saying like you can see that there was Teresa
wanted to break this cycle but there was something for a time broken that was I she was struggling to fix and I think it
just makes me really sad that like all of these young women and all of them were embroiled in this Yeah because it's
like what the [ __ ] Like it's just like this guy is a monster. It's just tragic.
A straight up monster. And it's like Teresa wanted to break free. I That's why I just am like I wanted her to break
free with Glenn and those kids right off the jump. I know. Cuz it's like this would have been such a different story.
Yeah. But Grady had to be cruel and he had to pull those kids back just to abuse them. Right. Just to traumatize
them. And it's like I don't think they would have lived with this much trauma if they had lived with Teresa. So she
goes she goes back and does he does he step out again like so for again for Teresa this whole thing is and I'm just
speaking from what she's saying is that she's saying she saw a glimpse of who she fell in love with. She saw a sober
Grady who she thought could you know be who he was. So they were talking regularly over the phone. Mhm. Still,
Teresa knew her children, especially Donna, disapproved of any of this, any kind of relationship with Grady. So, she
wouldn't bring him up around them. But they knew. Yeah. Like, obviously. And also, why are you even doing it? If you
know that they can't have a part of this, it's like, why are you even doing it? It's just not something you should
be doing. Yeah. Um, old habits die hard. Donna later said, I still wouldn't talk
to him on the phone and she wouldn't talk about him with us. Okay. Following her divorce from Glenn, Teresa moved the
kids to Okachchobee, Florida. And and again, they're moving everywhere, all the time. And soon, Grady had relocated
back to Gibson, Florida, where he'd spent much of his life. Um, as he and Teresa got kind of requ reacquainted
with one another, she encouraged the kids to spend time with him. Okay. I can understand. I'm sure like I can't
understand it but I'm sure in her mind it was important for them to have their father and it's again something is
broken here. Yes. Like Teresa has dealt with things that and it's again it doesn't give anybody uh a past to be a
bad parent. No. And I think she would probably agree that this was one of the worst choices she could have made
because honestly uh she does regret this choice later. She does. So there's that. And we have to remember
that we're looking at this through a lens where like we know so much about so much now that that we didn't know about
back then. But again, it does not give a pass to put your children through this kind of stuff. It just doesn't. And I
personally I cannot understand it. I'm trying to look at it through a very logical like
totally kind of disconnected lens of like well this is what she's thinking because of what she said and I don't
want to like [ __ ] all over her because she's been through a lot. No, that's it.
You can't understand but you can empathize. Exactly. I can't understand I can empathize with what she's gone through
but I cannot understand this parenting decision. I simply cannot I'm in awe right now. Um and again all the kids and
they're getting older now especially too. They're like becoming teenagers and stuff. They're all reluctant to go down
this road again because uh you know there was there was the murder of somebody's fiance. There was that. At
first they were like no, we're not into this. But when they saw that Grady was trying to
maintain sobriety and he was showing them that he was and he was very open about the fact that he was very
interested in rebuilding a relationship. This is their father. Yeah. Again, I have a good dad, so I
can't speak from somebody who has a shitty parent who has made steps I so can to make the relationship better. You
know what I mean? So, actually, I can't do that. Exactly. So, I don't want to speak from this like experience to say
like I I don't understand how they could even, you know, entertain this because again, I didn't have I was lucky enough
to not have this situation. Well, I think when you have such a shitty parent, like you all you want is for
them to be better and all you want like abandonment issues are insane. Like these I can't imagine what these kids
must have felt. They can paint every single part of your life. Yeah. The rest of your life and they do like I I'm
fine. I'm very well adjusted, but like I still struggle with that [ __ ] I'm sure.
So if you if your parent is actually making the effort, that's all you want. So, of course, you're going to go along
with it. I mean, obviously, I've just never been in a position of somebody making effort. Well, yeah, there you go.
And I have people close to me, like very close to me, who had awful relationships
with their their parents and then their parents tried to make it right later. And it is a very conflicting, very hard
thing for somebody, even as an adult to deal with. Yeah. Because no matter what,
no matter how shitty your parents are, they're still your parents. And some weird part of you is always going to
want them to be your parents. Well, they're always your parents when your parents suck. I think it's so hard to
make those kind of decisions like when somebody is making an effort because you're always their child that Yeah. I
can't imagine. You know what I And you go back into the role of being the child and feeling the things that you felt
when you were a child like wanting your parent. Yeah. Cuz like biologically we all have an we want our parents to be
our safe place. And when they're not, I can't imagine how that throws you into like cuz again I'm very fortunate enough
that I do not have parents who made me feel unsafe. Yeah. Mom and papa rock out loud. They do. They rock out loud. So,
it's like I'm speaking from a place where like I can't tell you how this feels. And I know a lot of you listening
are speaking can come from a place of the total opposite where your parents weren't and aren't and couldn't be your
safe space. And I'm sorry cuz I can't imagine how that feels. And it can trans it can really transform how you make
decisions. Yeah. It can color every part of your existence for the rest of especially like with like I'm just
thinking of like how therapy just like was not a thing back then and like Not not really at all. No, I would be so
different if I hadn't done years and years of therapy. That's the thing. And we're adding on again. I know like
people I really love and care about who have gone through like dealing with parents coming back and trying to build
a relationship and really putting an effort. But those parents also didn't kill their uh spouse. That's a whole
other layer of it. That's a whole layer on to this where I'm like cuz then you had grief into it and blame and and you
took someone I love from me like quite literally like you literally took someone I love and that's where I say
like Teresa how could you ask them to do this? That's the thing with Donna. It's
just how can you ask her to do this? And again you're her mother. She's going to
want to please you. Mhm. And you're supposed to protect her. It's like and that's where the safe space gets snipped
for a minute. You have no safe space because that you your mother shouldn't be asking you to do this. Yeah. I also
think it's probably and I'm sure people listening feel this way. It's so again I
I can't understand but I can have empathy but it is hard to have empathy in a situation like this. Would you I
haven't even gone through something similar to that exactly at all. But like when so when somebody wrongs their child
and you're a child who's been wronged, you're just like, "God damn it." Well, that's the thing. And I have like I I
always have to pull myself back a little bit because I get real [ __ ] mad when people mistreat their kids. Well,
because you I'm not even a mistreated kid. I just I think of my kids. And I'm like, you think of your kids? And like
frankly, like just for everybody who thinks that me and Elena have a weird relationship, Elena's my protector. like
genuinely like you're people's protector and the other people in your life who have gone through similar things, you're
their protector. So you're like don't I'm going to [ __ ] you up like you are this kid. That's the thing. So that's
why you feel that way cuz cuz you're the safe space. Yes. Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. No, you are. That's what
I strive to be for my little You are goobins in my life. But and you are you are one of my little goobins in my life.
And I think of like who wronged you and I want to [ __ ] you know, become therapy. Anyway, what
happened? What happened? But yeah, I think it just he seemed like he was trying to get sober. He was doing his
best with that and then he was making it clear to them that he wanted to rebuild
the relationship and that he felt some kind of some kind of regret. Yeah. And remorse. And so they softened. Okay. Uh
but still genuine or not, he couldn't wipe wipe away the lifetime worth of horrible, abusive, violent, horrific,
traumatizing memories. You just can't. And Donna says, "I don't think I ever started loving my father like a dad
again." Which is very sad for him. Well, you know what though? It is very sad that like she didn't ever get that
ability to do that. He wasn't her dad. Well, that's the he took I hope she knows that that is not her inability to
love him again. It was his inability to be a lovable person, right? He never was
a father to like give that to her. How can you love somebody like a father when they're not a father to you? He was
never a father to and when they take away somebody who finally did protect you and wanted to protect you, right?
Like so that I really hope that like Donna and their kids like know that they have done nothing wrong in this
situation and that they they were totally valid in their feelings and their hesitation here. Now, not long
after Grady moved back to Florida, he and Teresa got remarried. Okay. Which seemed to have been his goal. Seemed
that since that first phone call Teresa made to him after her divorce. And unfortunately, once Grady got what he
wanted, he began sliding right back into his old ways. That's tragic. That is truly tragic for
everyone involved. And I'll say fortunately for some of the children, all of them had moved out by
then this except for Glenny who was a teenager. Okay. And he's not Grady's child. So I can only imagine how Grady
felt about that. Exactly. But soon enough, even the kids that were out of the house were starting to notice that
their father wasn't very around very often and they would call or visit and he wouldn't be there. And you know, he'd
be spending time at bars again. He was out for days. And eventually Teresa did admit to Donna that Grady was fully back
in his old ways, like spending all their money at bars. It was just right back. Yeah. Right back to it. Um, and because
his temper came right back. the frustrations, the anger, the rage. He was abusing her. He was abusing like
like it was bad. One night in late 1991, after a night out drinking, he returned
home and demanded that Teresa bring him a drink in bed. So Teresa did, but she handed him the drink and she said, "This
is the last drink I'm going to get you." Uhhuh. And in response, he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her back
on the bed hard enough to pull clumps of it from her scalp. Oh, [ __ ] who do remember too, she's
horribly afraid of this man now. Of course she is. He's beaten the [ __ ] out of her for years, which makes it worse
that she is now in this position again because like I wish you had stayed away from him. Yeah, because like he has gone
most of his life also um keeping that upper body strength. So he's I didn't even not only is he a frightening and
very rage like like raging guy, he's very very strong. And when you're you have crazy upper body strength, you can
do a lot of damage. Yeah, of course. Um now after this whole incident happened, Teresa felt that feeling she hadn't felt
in years, which is I'm [ __ ] tired of this. Yeah. Um she'd had enough. And so getting she said this whole that whole
thing was a mistake. I should have never got she says it. I should have never gotten back together with him. Um and
she said but now I am facing the consequences of my actions. Oh god. there. She thought about leaving again,
but by then she didn't have the same resources or willpower that she'd had the last time she left him. And he had
been getting he had been using all their money at bars. Mhm. Um so she stayed and
endured the abuse, which was inevitably followed by the sense of guilt for having fallen right back into Grady's
trap. It's a cycle. Exactly. by November, it it really shows you how too scary the abuse cycle is. Yeah. And
that like people will go back into it just because of how deeply rooted the abuse cycle is. It's like really scary
and really sad. The fact that we treat each other this way and the fact that like we treat people we supposedly love
this way as like a society. We're the only species. We got to get it together. I say that every time. Like we got to
get it [ __ ] together. I do like this kind of [ __ ] pisses me off so much. I'm
like, you don't have to be this way. You do not have to be a [ __ ] cruel piece of [ __ ] to the people who look to you
for protection and to be a safe place. No. So, by November 1992, life with Grady was [ __ ] unbearable for Teresa
and Glenny. Despite his attempts at sobriety a few years earlier, he had just he was fully back fully back to
being abusive, cruel, an alcoholic. Um the same man who had beaten her while her husband watched helplessly by the
way and then had threatened to murder her son Glenn when he was a child. Yep. Uh so that Yeah. And now that same son
is living under the roof with him. Yep. She was desperate to get out of the house and away from him. But it seemed
like no matter what she did or where she looked, there was just no options for escape. In the end, it wasn't Teresa who
took charge of the situation. It was Glenny, but 17-year-old Glen Gene. I knew it was headed that way. He resolved
to do something about his stepfather, and he wanted to save his mother. That November, Glenn called up the toughest
person he could think of, which was 17-year-old Chris Wyant. Uh, even though he was just 17, Chris had an occasional
sideshow performer, had a very long criminal record, and Glenny was certain Chris would know what to do about his
stepfather. And remember, this kid Glenn has watched his mother be beaten by this
man his entire life. While his father was held down with a shotgun his entire life. Uhhuh. Just saying. I don't know
what happens, but that's what I have in my mind right now. You can't. Again, no one will ever say that murder is the
correct end game for anything. It's not a good choice. So, if you take that from
what we're saying, then like you didn't listen. You're clearly not listening. But but no one's saying that. But what
this is a clear show of like evidence of is you cannot beat someone down their entire life. You just can't like people
explode. You just can't do that. You can't treat someone like this for their whole life. As we saw with Ken McElroy,
that whole thing, you can't do that. No. Cuz you do lose people lose their humanity for you because you have you
have treated them subhuman your whole life. Like you know what I mean? It's like I this kid wanted to protect his
mom and it's like really sad and he didn't know any other option and it's like obviously he made the wrong
decision, right? But [ __ ] like the whole thing is just like godamn like none of
this happened. It's really sad. So on November 26th, Glenny and Chris met at a local park where Glenny gave his friend
the details of everything that was happening and said, "Can you just help me? Help me end this." The price would
later be disputed in court, but Chris initially told Glenny he would take care of the situation for 300
bucks. In the end, um he would be paid $1,500. Uh regardless of the actual price, though, Chris Chris did agree to
take care of Grady and Glenny agreed to pay him. Okay. A few days later, Glenny would try to call the whole thing off
and get his money back. So, you can tell he just he was desperate and then he was
like, "Fuck, I I shouldn't do this." But by then Chris had already bought a gun and spent the rest of the money. So the
deal went forward as planned. On the evening of November 9 29th, Glenny broke down and told his mother about the
arrangement, which also shows you that this he has remorse already. He hasn't he hasn't
even done it and he's like, I [ __ ] up. Yeah. But you can tell the desperation in this
case to break down and tell his mom. He's just like, I don't know what to do. Like I just want to help you.
Heartbreaking. Yeah. To his surprise though, his mother didn't express a sense of shock or attempt to call the
police to put an end to the whole thing. Instead, she and Glenny left the house quietly, leaving Grady asleep in his
chair watching television. A few hours later, around 11 p.m., Chris Wyant slipped into the
trailer through the back door they'd left open. Having been there a few times, he knew the layout, so he tried
to go silently and be quiet, but he made a noise and he woke Grady up. He began shouting at Chris to get out and never
come back. And Chris went back a few steps into the kitchen like he was going to leave. But then he aimed aimed the
gun and fired. And the bullet hit Grady in the back of the head and killed him instantly. Wow. Then just to be sure, he
fired two more shots. Both hit Grady in the head just a few centimeters from the
first wound. With Grady now dead, Chris ran out the back door and fled into the night. From where they were sitting in
the neighbor's living room, Glenny and Teresa could hear the gunshots. Uh Glenn, they're just next door. Yeah,
they're just next door. Glenny even remembered see looking out the window and seeing Chris run from the trailer.
Damn. And he said when he saw him fleeing the scene, he knew the terror they'd been living with that his mother
had been living with for decades had finally come to an end and that they would not have to worry about the
lobster boy again. Wow. That was what Glenny said. Um to detectives at the scene, things in the house were
immediately suspicious. Obviously, the killer had clearly entered through an unlocked door. Nothing was missing. And
so, they were like, "This wasn't a robbery. This was clearly a targeted assassination." Yeah. Um, a spokesperson
for the sheriff's office told reporters the next day, "We've got some leads, but
we're not saying much." So, they were being ky with the press, and it's likely because they already knew what happened
in the Styles house, and they didn't want to let out any details before they were ready. Um, by the time they
finished taking Glenn Jr.'s statement that night. They more or less had a pretty accurate understanding of how
things had unfolded from his contracting Chris Wyant through the murder. The following morning, they arrested Teresa
Glenn Jr. and Chris Wyant on a charge of first-degree murder based on the statements of Teresa and her son. So,
they basically just they just it wow. The trial for all three began in July of the next year with the defense attorney
arguing that Terresa and Glenn had been pushed to the point of murder after years of domestic violence. At the time,
the domestic violence aspect of the case, which was known as battered wife syndrome, Mhm. was relatively new and
pretty novel, but it turned out they wouldn't get a chance to try it because the judge ordered that self-defense
cannot be argued if it's a contract murder. Yeah. The case was further disrupted a
few days later when a mistrial was declared because there was issues with the jury and the prosecution moved for a
retrial. It turned out that they wouldn't end up they would end up waiting for like over a year for their
trial to start. Um and that's when they were all being tried for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder
which could carry the death penalty. Yeah. But the prosecution didn't have any interest in pursuing that. Okay.
Under the circumstances, Chris Wyant had pretty uh limited defense since he had been identified by his two codefendants.
In late January 1994, he was found guilty of secondderee and guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
and he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for each charge. [ __ ] Uh he was but it was going to be served
concurrently. He was released from prison in 2009 after serving a minimum of 15 years and he has lived out of the
spotlight. Okay, just out he goes. Uh, having been ordered for a new trial, though, Teresa once again offered a
self-defense argument. Her attorney, Arnold Lavine, told the jury she honestly believed she had no other
alternative but to participate in this terrible act. Uh, in response to her defense, the judge ruled that the
self-defense argument could be allowed, but only if Teresa was willing to admit the role she played in hiring her
husband's killer, which she did. The stipulation struck a lot in the legal a lot of people in the legal community as
like weird and unusual. Uh law professor Steven Goldstein told a reporter, "I don't understand why she has to testify
to it." Like saying that whether she testifies to her role or not, it wouldn't change the outcome. Right. Why
are we making her say she has like this much of a role in it? Yeah. Especially when she really didn't. Yeah. She was
just told after the fact she didn't do anything to stop it. But it's like Right. But I mean like she didn't really
Yeah. But regardless of whether it was an appropriate stipulation, she did confess her role and offered the
domestic abuse stories as her motive. All of which were backed up by testimony from her children and others who'd known
her over the years. All of them knew how he was with him. I mean, this is clearly
an abusive man. He was literally on parole for killing his daughter's fiance. I was going to say, I mean,
hello. In the end, her defense was moderately successful. Although the jury did find her guilty, they all agreed the
circumstances warranted a less charge, a lesser charge, and she was convicted of
manslaughter and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. It was the first time in Florida's history that a jury
allowed um was allowed to consider self-defense in a case of contract murder. Wow. So, this is like that's
remarkable. Yeah. After the verdict was read, the prosecution agreed that it was
a successful compromise, calling it quote, "a resolution of a very difficult issue.
In August, a judge sentenced Teresa to 12 years in prison for her role in the murder, followed by 5 years of
probation, and she was rel released from prison in 2000. Wow. A few months later,
Glenn Jr. was offered a plea deal in which he would confess to everything in exchange for the same sentence as his
mother, but apparently Teresa insisted he reject the offer and go to trial. I don't know about that. As a result, he
went on trial for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. And after a very brief trial,
they deliberated for just over an hour and found him guilty on both charges and sentenced him to 25 years to life for
murder. Yeah. Why wouldn't you take a plea deal? Yeah. And when there's a charge of conspiracy and like capital
murder and all that or not deal Yeah. I don't know why you wouldn't take that deal. But sadly, according to the
Florida Department of Corrections, Glenn Jr. died on March 5th, 2014. Oh. But they didn't release any details
regarding his death. Oh, that's so sad. I know. So, that is that's that's it. Like that's how it all shakes out. Wow.
That's two of the three ended up start to finish. They're out of jail, but Glenn Jr. passed away. Did he was he
born with the condition? No, because he was his child son. I didn't know if it it was like complications from that
maybe or something. They never released his death. That's really sad. It's a really sad sad sad situation from
beginning to end. It just shows how dangerous it can be to I hope everyone has been able to move forward from it in
some way, shape or form and there's been some growth somewhere. Yeah. And I hope
those kids have been able to move forward from it because like [ __ ] like that's when I think it was I think it
was Donna or Deborah. One of them said that like they have no happy memories from childhood. Like they can't think of
it. And I'm like that is horrible. That's so so sad. Like how and Donna loses the love somebody she's in love
with her soon to be husband and then had to be around that man again and just like Glenny lost his adult life
because obviously again he made a poor decision. He had no childhood and then lost his whole life after. Like there's
just no winners in this situation at all. He was just he was trying to protect his mom. Well, that's what
breaks my heart is like again I don't think I have to keep saying it. No, we're not condoning murder or contract
murder in any way, shape, or form, but like you just see the desperation in that kid, especially the way he acted
afterwards where one, he tried to stop it all, and two, he went right to his mom and was like, I did something bad
and like I I want to stop this. It's like how desperate she was to not do anything to stop it. Yeah.
[ __ ] That is a really sad case, dude. Yeah. It bummed me out in like a way I can't describe. Yeah. It's just like I
need to do something different for my next one. Yeah, cuz like this really bummed me out. Well, we have listener
tales coming up, so that's Oh, there you go. You You guys will soothe. You'll be
like bomb on my soul. Yeah. Yeah, he'll be good. Oh man. And Nicholas will be will be on our next listener. Soothing
to my [ __ ] soul. Maybe he'll he'll be in a better mood. He better be. He was really reading me for filth. But he'll
he'll make me feel better. Oh man. Oh man. I know. Go touch grass, everyone. Go tell if you have a good parent, tell
them how much you appreciate them for not being so [ __ ] terrible. Yeah. And go like, if you have if you are a parent
or if you just like love a child in your life, go tell them that. Go be awesome to them. Go be a safe place for them.
Then go donate to like domestic violence causes. And if you have parents that suck ass, I'm sorry. Yeah. Thank you.
I'm sorry. Like that mine didn't suck that bad. That sucks. Yeah. And we're I'm I'm your parent. But you know what?
Okay, if you're listening and your parents suck, I'm your parent now. Yes, you're one of her gooins. You're one of
my gooins. It's cool to know that you can break the cycle. I think that's a very empowering thing to lean on if you
want to. No. And it shouldn't it's not easy. So So it doesn't if it doesn't feel easy, that's okay. And it shouldn't
be up to you. But sometimes it just works that way. But people are going to people people going people. So there we
go. God damn. Um, well, we hope you keep listening. Yeah, we hope you do. We hope
you And we hope you keep it weird. Uh, just not so weird that like you abuse people you love. Keep your [ __ ] hands
to yourself. Yeah. Stop hitting people. Don't get married if you don't like the person. Uh, it's, you know, we all have
free will. Don't do good with your free will. Gosh darn it. God damn. [Music] [Music]

From the moment he was born, Grady Stiles entertained audiences around the United States as the sideshow performer “Lobster Boy.” But behind the scenes, Stiles’ life was one of turmoil, alcoholism, and even murder. That all came to an end one night in the fall of 1992, when a killer entered Stiles’ Florida home and shot him to death.

In the days that followed Grady Stiles murder, investigators quickly unraveled a conspiracy plot to kill Stiles, which had been set in motion by his wife, Mary Theresa, and his stepson, who’d hired a teenage carnival worker to commit the murder. After a lifetime in the spotlight because of his physical deformity, it was Grady Stiles’ death that brought him the ultimate fame, but what had he done to earn such a brutal end?

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References Allen, William. 1978. "Her dad faces trial in fiance's slaying." Pittsburgh Press, October 6: 4.

Associated Press. 1994. "Defense: Abuse led wife to hire husband's killer." Miami Herald, July 13: 24.

Florida Department of Corrections. 2014. Corrections Offender Network. March 5. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/OffenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=532246&TypeSearch=IR.

Ireton, Gabriel. 1979. "'Lobster Man' guilt in kin's fiance death." Pitsburgh Post-Gazette, February 23: 3.

Jackson, Orval. 1994. "Judge rules self-defense must include admission." Tampa Tribune, July 15: 20.

—. 1994. "Wife of 'Lobster Boy' guilty." Tampa Tribune, July 28: 1.

Lester, John. 1992. "Legless carny slain at his house." Tampa Tribune, December 1: 7.

Maryniak, Paul. 1979. "Deformed slayer gets probation." Pittsburgh Press, April 30: 1.

—. 1979. "Performer's slay trial goes to jury." Pittsburgh Press, February 22: 2.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . 1978. "Legless man charged in slaying." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 28: 7.

Rosen, Fred. 1995. Lobster Boy: The Bizarre Life and Brutal Death of Grady Stiles Jr. New York, NY: Pinnacle.

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Brief Summary

Grady Styles, known as Lobster Boy, faced a tragic end due to his abusive behavior, leading to his murder by his son and a friend.

Key points

Pope Watch Ends Abruptly. The excitement of watching the papal conclave quickly turns to surprise as a new American pope is announced.
The Life of Grady Styles. Exploring the life of Grady Styles, a man born with a rare condition and his tumultuous family background.
Teresa's Troubled Past. Teresa's journey from an abusive childhood to finding refuge in the carnival world.
Tragic Losses. The Styles family suffers the heartbreaking loss of two children.
Teresa's Escape. Teresa makes a bold decision to leave Grady for her children's safety.
Grady's Threats. Grady's violent behavior escalates, threatening Teresa and her new partner.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What an outlook. That's your problem, little baby.

Commenting on the Styles family's attitude towards their child's condition.

9:12WatchMay 26, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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