This is Criminal 50th episode | Criminal Podcast | Forensic Files

Sandie Alger: At one time, I was in a co-ed prison. That was really nice for a drug addict girl.
Phoebe Judge: Why? Sandie Alger: Why was it really nice? Well, there was about 200 women and 800 men.
That's why. I mean, I would just be whoever's girlfriend had the dope. That's what girls do when they're drug addicts, a lot.
[Plunking piano music.] Clay Tumey: She just kind of rolls her eyes. And she [sighs] opens the drawer real slowly, and she grabs a couple of hundreds and a couple
of fifties, and I could see clear as day that it wasn't all of anything. And she puts the envelope and she slides it back, and I didn't even pick it up.
I just looked at it and I said, "You can..." This is one of the only times I ever actually spoke during a robbery.
I said, "You can do better than that." She puts her hand up, kind of like the shrug motion, palms up, and she goes, "That's all
I got." Diane Ranney: It's a little fun, sometimes, to see how people react when they have that
morphine in them. Larry Pollard: Owls are one of the only birds in the world that have microscopic feathers.
They go all the way down their legs, down their toes, on their feet, all the way to
the talons. And they look like little fibers. Not feathers like you're thinking, but fibers.
Melissa Holes: And before I could explain how I was going to search her, she started
undressing in the middle of the parking lot to give me back the petrified wood. Phoebe Judge: Just massive amounts came down out of her chest?
Melissa Holes: Yes, very much so. Bob Perkins: This concept about somebody killing a tree and then getting prosecuted for it
is just not ... I mean, that just doesn't happen at all. You never hear about that.
Shelton Chappell: He said, "Young man, you don't know half of the story." I said, "What are you talking about?"
He said, "Well, I'm the officer who caught the killers who killed your mom." Phoebe Judge: For the past two and a half years, we've brought you stories of people
who, as we like to say, have done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the
middle. And we've met absolutely fascinating people. People Like Mr. Pete, a man who lived his entire life locked away from the world in
a hospital for leprosy patients, a hospital that was briefly also a minimum security prison.
Mr. Pete told us he hoped to die there. Mr. Pete: I'm supposed to be getting out now.
I'm almost 85 years old. So, this is it. Put me in a nice, shady pecan tree. Phoebe Judge: You plan to be buried at Carville, here.
Mr. Pete: Yeah. You have your choice. I know my family are not going to take me home.
It costs too much money to ship the body. Phoebe Judge: Pete did not get his wish to live the remainder of his life there, but
he's doing well in a nursing home in Baton Rouge. We checked in on him and learned he fared the recent floods just fine.
And people like Tommy Wall, a man who spent more than a hundred days in jail because of
a wrongful child pornography charge. Mary: Every time that someone sees his face, they say he's Tommy Wall.
That's the boy they arrested. Even though they may know, or they may not know. He can never live it down.
You just don't have a charge of pedophilia and outlive it. You just can't outlive that.
Phoebe Judge: When we left Tommy, he hadn't even been out of jail for two months.
He was having trouble leaving the house. He'd drive down the street, change his mind, and turn around and go home.
He felt incredibly alienated. But people had started reaching out to him over text message.
Can you read it? Tommy Wall: What it was, it says, "Hey, buddy. Wishing you the best.
Merry freaking Christmas." And then, she goes to say [tearfully], "I have thought about you for months, and I hope
you are doing well. I really, truly hope your holidays are special for 2015. God bless you.
Keep your head up. Love you. Hope to see you soon." Phoebe Judge: That was a year and a half ago.
Tommy now has a new job with a building company. His old job never did hire him back.
This week he wrote to us, "Slowly, I'm getting back after the damage. I have no complaints.
You press forward." [Upbeat percussive music.] So, here we are, 50 episodes in. And, for our 50th, we're marking the occasion by checking back in with some of our most
memorable guests from the last couple of years. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.
To choose which stories we'd revisit, we asked you to tell us who you'd most like to hear
from again. So that's what we have for you today. Let's start with one of our most popular episodes, #15.
It's called "He's Neutral," and it's about a man in Oakland, California, who was fed
up with crime in his neighborhood — people buying and selling drugs, sex workers.
But, what annoyed Dan Stevenson the most was the junk, mattresses and furniture and garbage just piling up outside of his house.
Here's a little bit from that episode. Phoebe Judge: So, you would wake up in the morning sometimes to an eight-foot pile of
crap? Dan Stevenson: Yeah. And, if the city didn't come fast enough, it could get higher, because it's like a magnet.
Once you've got a stack of stuff, other people think, "Oh, there's an idea," and they keep
stacking it. Phoebe Judge: So what did you decide to do about it? Dan Stevenson: Well, that is a good question.
Lu and I discussed this for quite some time, and we came up with the idea of a Buddha,
to put a Buddha there. Phoebe Judge: Are you Buddhists? Dan Stevenson: No, we have nothing to do with Buddhism at all.
Phoebe Judge: But, you figured if there's one thing that might help here, it's Buddha?
Dan Stevenson: Well, yeah, because he's neutral. If we threw Christ up there, he's controversial.
Everybody's got a deal about him. But, Buddha, nobody seems to be that perturbed, in general, about a Buddha.
Phoebe Judge: So, Dan and Lu had made up their minds, and it turns out they had a lot of
options. Dan Stevenson: We'd looked at the different ones, and she picked out one that she liked
the face. Because they come out of a concrete cast, so some of them look more mellow than others.
Phoebe Judge: Lu went off to Ace Hardware and picked one out. Dan Stevenson: Which she brought home, and I liked him.
He looked cool to me. And then he sat in the basement for about three or four months because I couldn't figure
out a way to put him over there without having him stolen or ruined. And those things would've really pissed me off.
Finally, I came up with a plan. Phoebe Judge: Dan attached the Buddha to the concrete, and what happened is that little
by little, the Buddha became more and more ornately decorated. It was painted and then painted again.
He has a house around him and flags and flowers, incense. It became a real shrine, a gathering place for members of Oakland's Vietnamese Buddhist
community. Which is mostly the work of one family. Here's Vina Vo and her husband, with some translating help from their son, Cuk Vo.
Vina comes every morning at 7 a.m. to pray. Vina Vo: Every day, in morning, 7:00.
Every day. For one day, two time, 7:00 and 4:00. 6:00, I go home. Every day. I make over here.
I make my [speaking Vietnamese] and my husband make over here. Mr. Vo: [Speaks Vietnamese.]
Cuk Vo: My dad says, "All thanks to Dan here. We asked the city council to let us build this shrine to make it all happen.
We asked all the neighbors involved to help us put this together, so we can have a peaceful
shrine here. And make the neighbors calm down a little bit, so we can have a peaceful mindedness
and tranquility." Phoebe Judge: The Vo family keeps the shrine in beautiful condition, sweeping and tidying.
Since this episode aired, many of you have visited the Buddha and sent us photos, so
we've been able to watch it as it gets more elaborate. Here's what Dan told us about the whole situation the first time we spoke with him.
Phoebe Judge: How many people are coming? How many people are coming on a daily basis, would you say, to see the Buddha?
Dan Stevenson: Oh, at least 70. Phoebe Judge: A day? Dan Stevenson: A day. Yeah.
And then, there's also [laughing] the tourists thing. They'll knock on my door, and they're from Minneapolis, and somebody on Facebook posted
something. They want to take my picture with them in front of the Buddha. For me, as cynical as I am, this is like, "What is happening?"
Phoebe Judge: But, that's not the end of the story. Dan Stevenson: Oh, the crime has pretty much disappeared in a sense.
The drug dealing definitely is gone, and so is the prostitution. I mean, there's none, zero, within quite a distance from our area now.
But, it's a slow process that I didn't notice it happening, and didn't even think of it
in those terms until I read it in the paper. Phoebe Judge: In September, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle did a story on
Dan and the Buddha, and asked the Oakland police department for the updated crime statistics
for the neighborhood. Here's what he wrote: "Since 2012, when worshipers began showing up for daily prayers, overall,
year-to-date crime has dropped by 82%." Phoebe Judge: We checked in with Dan a few weeks ago.
Dan Stevenson: We're still living in the same house, yes, and Buddha and Buddha's activities
have grown exponentially, I guess. He's very big in town. Every once in a while somebody will knock on the door to come in and tell me that they're
working on trying to find a new home for the Buddha. Legally, they've got some suits, I understand, against the Buddha being there because it's
public property, technically. This is the new thing. They're not going to tear him out yet.
They just want to have a new home. Like I have anything to say about it one way or the other.
I tell them, "I don't think you understand the magnitude of Buddha being there, but do
whatever you think you've got to do. It's out of my hands." Phoebe Judge: So, even though this is on public land, you kind of did it illegally, putting
it out there. You are still sort of seen as the owner? Dan Stevenson: Well, it seems that way.
I tried to explain it to the city, that the shrine's there because it's there, and that's
where it is. It's not something you move to someplace else, and everybody's going to traipse over there.
He's there for some reason. Originally, I put him in there to stop the garbage and all that kind of stuff, which,
that works. So, I mean, I'm done. Phoebe Judge: So, whether you like it or not, you're the keeper of the Buddha.
Dan Stevenson: [Laughs.] Oh, goodness. Phoebe Judge: You're stuck with him. Dan Stevenson: Yeah.
I guess so. Yeah. That's the role that seems to have been laid down there. Phoebe Judge: Are you kind of famous?
[Dan laughs.] It feels like you're a little bit famous. Dan Stevenson: A little bit famous ... I don't know about that.
That's pretty funny, though. [Laughs.] [Upbeat violin music.] A little bit famous ... I don't know.
What's that mean? Phoebe Judge: I think it's probably better than a lot famous. I think all you would ever want to be a little bit famous.
Dan Stevenson: Yeah. Well, there's no money in it, I'll tell you that much. Phoebe Judge: One other little update is that Dan says a second Buddha has popped up a few
blocks away. It's not as fancy, and Dan says he has no idea who could've installed it.
[Upbeat violin music continues.] Fran Schindler: I am known as an exit guide. I sit with people who have made a decision and made a choice to end their lives on their
own terms. Phoebe Judge: When we first heard about Fran Schindler, her previous life as a nurse and
her life now as an exit guide, we knew that we wanted to talk to her. Not just because her work seems so interesting, but also because of the fact that she was
possibly doing something illegal. We asked her to join us at our live show in Durham, North Carolina, in early 2015, for
a conversation, which we recorded. Fran Schindler: I'm a volunteer with an organization that supports an individual's right to choose
to end their lives, if they are mentally competent and suffering intolerably from a physical
illness. Phoebe Judge: So, they call. You go through a rather rigorous process to make sure that everything's above board.
And then, you go there, and what you do is act as a guide to educate and help them understand
what the process will be. But, what happens when you go is that what your organization has found to be the most
effective, peaceful — whatever word you might like to use ... way — is to place ... An individual will place a bag over their head, and that bag will be connected in some
way to a source of gas, which will create a peaceful death. How long does it take for someone to die in that manner?
Fran Schindler: Our preferred method is, as you say, the use of an inert gas that requires
the use of a hood. It is easy, it's 100% effective, and it's peaceful. Once a person pulls that hood down over their head, they are unconscious in 5 to 10 seconds.
That's all they know, and they will die within 15 to 20 minutes when their entire brain and
brain stem shuts down. Phoebe Judge: How many deaths have you been present for? Fran Schindler: I have been a compassionate presence at the bedside of 30 people.
Phoebe Judge: Since we spoke with Fran a year and a half ago, the number of people she's
sat with at their death has climbed to almost 40. She's 77 now, still traveling all around the country, sitting with people in the last moments
of their lives. Fran Schindler: And things have changed since we last spoke. Our preferred method remains the use of an inert gas, but no longer helium.
Phoebe Judge: Why? Fran Schindler: Helium has been adulterated with air, so it is no longer effective.
Phoebe Judge: The Final Exit Network is now recommending the use of nitrogen, which Fran
says is as effective as helium was, and works the same way. One of her most recent cases was with a woman with ALS.
Fran Schindler: She was pretty far gone before they really decided what she had.
But she was paralyzed from the waist down. But by the time we got there, she still had full functioning of her hands and arms and
could do everything. But while all this was going on, before she knew about us, she tried to end her life.
I'm not going to say what she used, but she was smart. She was a trained nurse. She tried three times.
The first time she was out for a while, and her husband promised her that he wouldn't
call EMS or anything. He would just be there for her. Well, she woke up. And then, they regrouped until she felt a little stronger.
She tried again, upping things, and she was out longer. She still woke up, and he sat at home with her through all of this, alone.
She tried one more time, and she was out four days. And that man sat in the house waiting for his wife to die, and he was terrified.
He said, "I went down there one time." He said, "And I almost thought I would have to put a pillow over her face."
And she opened her eyes, and he couldn't do it. She woke up again, after four days.
I do not know how this woman was not already brain-dead. But, she wasn't. She woke up.
She was just fine. She learned about us from her son, who happened to work for the sheriff's department in the
town we were in. That gave me a start. Oh, my God. This guy works for law enforcement?
Nope. They contacted us. I visited them, and, actually, I only waited two days from the first visit until I went
back. She wanted to go the minute I got there. I said, "We can't do that. You've got to be absolutely sure about all of this."
And she said, "I just don't think I can ever get dead." And so, I said, "I promise you, you will be dead.
I promise you I will never leave you until I am absolutely certain that you are dead."
And her husband was so relieved, I cannot tell you. He had tears in his eyes. He thought that we were just going to come there and talk to them, and then we would
leave, and he would be alone with her again. Phoebe Judge: But, there have been some legal challenges.
In May of 2015, a Minnesota court ruled that the Final Exit Network had assisted in a suicide
based on speech alone, that providing instructions was blueprint enough to be considered 'assisting.'
The court found that the Final Exit Network had committed a felony by not only assisting
a suicide, but also interfering with a death scene. They were ordered to pay $33,000 in fines.
Fran Schindler: The thing about that verdict being rendered makes it such that some states
that still have the words "advising" and "encouraging" in their statute could come after us just
for speaking with someone, if they chose to do that. Phoebe Judge: So, when Fran was contacted by a woman in Minnesota, she realized she
was going to need to be creative. The woman's name is Faith Riverstone. She's 47 years old and suffering from frontotemporal dementia.
Fran Schindler: She came to my house. I had her stay at my home. I educated her in my home, everything she needed to know.
Phoebe Judge: So, because of this legal ruling, you couldn't actually talk to her about any
of these things that deal with death or end-of-life in the state of Minnesota. She had to come to North Carolina.
Fran Schindler: That's right. Phoebe Judge: And then, did you bring her back to Minnesota?
Fran Schindler: Yes, I did. We went back on the plane. I stay in touch with her by phone, and I will know when she wants to end her life.
She will have to find a place outside of Minnesota to end her life. She talked about, she wished she could go someplace where there was a nice lake and
woods. And she could have several days of just enjoying the quiet and the woods and the lake, and
then she would end her life. Wherever she goes, I will go with her. She knows that.
I will not abandon her. I don't know when this will be. She will have to call it herself.
And she calls me, so she's still mentally competent. She knows who I am. She can call me.
So, so far, so good. Phoebe Judge: Fran says she gets a lot of messages from people seeking her help.
Many come in the middle of the night. And while she has to turn away most everyone, she does respond.
Fran Schindler: And all I can say is "I am so sorry for your suffering and the tragic
circumstances this disease has caused in your life. However, the legal risk to the network is simply too great, and we cannot offer you
any services." And, you know what? Very often, they write back and say, "Thank you for responding to me."
Go figure. I mean, they want to be heard, at least. [Violin riff.] Phoebe Judge: Almost a year after we first spoke with Fran, we drove out to Haw River,
North Carolina, to meet two police dogs named Talon and Vader, and their owner, Corporal
Scott Foster of the Hillsborough Police Department. We had no idea what to expect.
I certainly never thought that I would end the day in a gigantic padded suit, basically
offering myself up as bait during attack training. We went because we'd read that Scott had retired his police dog Talon and was just a few months
into working with his new dog, Vader. The dogs did their best to live together at Scott's home, along with a third German Shepherd,
a female named Dutch. Here's a little bit from that first meeting. Phoebe Judge: Can you imagine if Talon saw Vader and you drive away in the police car?
Scott Foster: It would have to be heartbreaking. And that's why I go to such extent with the different kennels and the different parts
of my yard, just to make sure it doesn't happen. It may be silly to a certain point that I'm putting human emotions on an animal that may
not feel it. But, I don't want him to see Vader in equipment that he would recognize and me in a uniform
that he would recognize, leaving in what at one time was his car. Phoebe Judge: In terms of keeping them separate, it's like you're living these two lives.
Like you're cheating on Talon with Vader. Scott Foster: Yeah, it's funny you should say that because there has been different
times that it has happened, where I've slipped up and one's potentially seen me with the
other one. It's that very feeling like you've just described. It's almost like, "Oops, I got caught," kind of thing.
Honestly, I think it's worth it. They put so much into protecting me, serving the community, and I just really feel that
I owe it to them to try to do everything I can, and especially Talon, to let him hold
on to that dignity that he had for so long. Phoebe Judge: Scott just put his house on the market.
He says he doesn't think his place has enough room for all the dogs, which seems a little
wild because it actually looks like a dog paradise. But, Scott says until maybe one day when Talon and Vader can be together, he wants to make
sure they both have enough room so neither one feels like they're getting the bum deal.
[Piano music.] Phoebe Judge: This is really nice down here. This is all yours. Scott Foster: Yeah, this is all my property.
This was truly the selling point, more so even than the house. Phoebe Judge: So, the update is that Scott and his family actually did move to accommodate
the dogs. We drove out to the new house, which is on a huge piece of property with lots of trees
for shade. And, the biggest thing? A creek for swimming. Scott Foster: So before, the two kennels I had, I would have to walk them past each other,
the way my yard was laid out before. And so now, there's really no need to even walk him past Vader, with his kennel being
in the front. It just works out really well. [Talon whines.] [Speaking to Talon.]
Talon? She's OK. She's OK. OK. [Chain link fence clangs lightly, dog pants and sniffs.]
Phoebe Judge: So, would you say the dogs were the real impetus for the move? Scott Foster: Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. The dogs were the only reason for the move, to be honest with you. We were really happy with that house, but it just wasn't working out in the neighborhood.
I felt like the dogs weren't able to just get out and just enjoy themselves, like they
can here. Even though I had a big lot there, I liked the idea of them just being able to just run,
especially in the woods. I'll take you to their swimming hole. Come here, Dutch.
Kemne. Phoebe Judge: So, these dogs spend their summer swimming? Scott Foster: Yes, exactly.
Yeah. Almost daily. Phoebe Judge: Are you still training with Talon as though — just to keep him sharp?
Scott Foster: I do, because it's something he did enjoy for so many years, and it doesn't
hurt anything. So, if it can keep his mind occupied or make him feel like he's still serving a purpose,
it's well worth it. And daily, again, daily I let them out. They spend more time out of the kennel than they do in.
And the woods. They both just absolutely love being in the woods. Maybe, to Talon, it hearkens back to his patrol days, you know, being in the woods.
[To Talon] Kemne. Phoebe Judge: Their kennels are now on opposite sides of the house.
Vader stays in a kennel that's close to Scott's police car so that Talon never has to see
Vader going to work. And Talon and Dutch live in the backyard, in a kennel next to the woods, with a direct
view of the pool. I think we talked last time about maybe the potential that one day Talon and Vader could
meet and be pals. How is that going? Scott Foster: I wish that could be the happy ending.
I wish that I could follow up with that story and say they're best friends now, and Talon's
taking Vader under his wing and trying to teach him. But, that's not the case. I still know that there's going to be a fight if I put them together.
It would only be self-serving to me. I don't think it would be any good for them.
So I just try to resist even attempting it. [Twangy, melancholy guitar music.] Robbie Tolan: When I was in the ambulance, I was telling the EMTs.
I was like, "What about my parents? Where are my parents? I need my parents." They just kept pushing me down, cutting my shirt open, putting the oxygen mask on me,
and then, obviously, they put me out. But, when I came to, I remember someone squeezing my hand.
I kind of opened my eyes a little bit, and I saw there was my parents. And I was so drugged up, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
And I remember my mom saying, "Do you remember what happened?" And I shook my head yes.
And she said, "Everything?" And I shook my head yes. Reporter: The way Robbie Tolan's family describes it, he and his cousin were just walking up
to their home after a late-night meal. So, why is Tolan now hospitalized, a police officer's bullet lodged in his liver?
It's a question sparking allegations of racism in this mostly white Houston suburb of Bellaire.
Phoebe Judge: In December of 2008, 23-year-old Robbie Tolan was shot in the chest at close
range by a white police officer. Robbie Tolan is African American. The shooting took place in Robbie's own driveway, in front of his parents.
We went to Texas to interview the Tolan family, and the episode about them is called "695BGK."
Here's a part of it. Bobby Tolan: My wife has fought every step of the way. Every time we got turned down, she went to the next step.
That step got turned down. We went to the next step. I feel that they figured that, "We've got some Black people
here. They're going to go away. He's been proven not guilty. It's going to die down."
But, they don't know my wife. Phoebe Judge: In October of 2013, they appealed again, this time to the U.S. Supreme Court.
About 10,000 petitions are submitted to the Supreme Court every year. They only take on about 80, and they took the Tolans' case.
In May of 2014, all nine justices agreed unanimously — which is remarkable in its own right — that
the Fifth Circuit was wrong to dismiss the Tolans' case. It's called an error correction.
Basically, the justices criticized the Fifth Circuit for only considering Sergeant Cotton's
version of events, and not what Robbie and Marian say happened. So, they will get to tell their story to a jury.
Phoebe Judge: That was where we left off. In September of 2015, the Tolan family did go back to court.
Here is Robbie's mother, Marian Tolan, with the update. Marian Tolan: We were scheduled to go to trial on September the 15th, and on the 11th, at
a pre-trial hearing, the judge dismissed our claim against the city. And then, on Sunday, we filed a motion to have her recuse herself, which made her more
angry. So, on that Monday, the 14th of September, she dismissed our expert witnesses.
She would not allow Ken Griffey Junior to give a testimony. She dismissed all our expert witnesses.
But she didn't dismiss the city's, the officer's expert witnesses. Can you imagine?
Phoebe Judge: What did you decide to do? Marian Tolan: Well, I wanted to fight. Robbie couldn't take it anymore.
He basically had a breakdown, and he couldn't — he said, "It's already been seven years,
and we're not going to get justice." And he settled. Phoebe Judge: The family accepted a settlement of $110,000 from the city of Bellaire.
Marian Tolan: With his emotional state so fragile by then, he had just taken all he
could take. Phoebe Judge: So you could've made the choice to go to a jury, but you felt because they
had taken many of the witnesses off the table, and it would only have been Robbie, and Robbie
was feeling overwhelmed, that you would settle. Marian Tolan: That's right. That's right.
And it was never about the money anyway. It was about fighting for justice. It was about, you know...
So many people who are victims to police brutality don't have the means to fight, or are even
willing to fight. We were willing — I was willing to fight. But, at the end of the day, Robbie still has a bullet in his liver.
He still lives with the scars, emotional scars and physical scars, and we couldn't put him
through that again. Phoebe Judge: How is Robbie now? Marian Tolan: He's still bruised and damaged.
And every time there's another case, and you're like, "Wow, when is it going to change?
When are things going to get better for our kids?" [Tearfully.] It may not be in our lifetime, but we're plugging away.
[Twangy, melancholy guitar music.] Phoebe Judge: When Sergeant Jeffrey Cotton, the man who shot Robbie Tolan, left the courthouse,
he told reporters, "I'm just glad it's over." So, that's it for our 50th. Thanks very much for listening.
We'll be back with a new story in a couple of weeks. We want to say thanks to some people who've helped us tremendously behind the scenes.
Thanks to Eric Mennel: he was with us when he launched this thing, and he's missed.
And to Carol Jackson, Russ Henry, Freddy Jenkins, Becky Martinez, and David Brower.
And, thanks to everyone at Radiotopia, especially Kerri Hoffman, Roman Mars, Kathleen Unwin,
and Julie Shapiro. As always, Criminal is produced by Lauren Spohrer and me. Audio mix by Rob Byers.
Alice Wilder is our intern. And Julienne Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal.
You can see them at thisiscriminal.com. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC.
We're a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the best podcasts around.
Shows like The Memory Palace, hosted by Nate DiMeo. The Memory Palace is a show about history, but it's so much more than that.
In these tiny, perfect little episodes, Nate holds forgotten aspects of American life up
to the light. They're fascinating and somehow full of emotion in unexpected ways.
Go listen. Radiotopia from PRX is supported by the Knight Foundation and Mailchimp, celebrating creativity,
chaos, and teamwork. And thanks to Adzerk for providing their ad-serving platform to Radiotopia.
I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. Jingle: Radiotopia. From PRX.

To celebrate Criminal’s 50th episode, we check in with some of our most memorable guests including Fran Schindler from Episode 17: “Final Exit,” [https://youtu.be/NR9mJM9Sq6I] Dan Stevenson from Episode 15: “He’s Neutral,” [https://youtu.be/YpMdF8QckiA] Corporal Scott Foster from Episode 29: “Officer Talon,” [https://youtu.be/sz-2_0nqvY0] Marian Tolan from Episode 18: “695BGK.” [https://youtu.be/JkF8JCv-eUI]

Music in this episode: “Ritual Two” by Jason Leonard “Something Old” by Broke For Free “Sparkle” by Be Forest “Stilt” by Blue Dot Sessions “Secret Place” by Alex Fitch “SuzyB” by Blue Dot Sessions “In Paler Skies” by Blue Dot Sessions

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

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://link.chtbl.com/n33u0HsA

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Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice https://bit.ly/accomplicenewsletter.

We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander http://www.yssrs.com/.

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

Episode 50 originally published 9/9/2016 https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-50-this-is-criminal-9-9-2016

Brief Summary

Criminal's 50th episode revisits impactful stories on addiction, assisted suicide, and police brutality with guests like Sandie Alger and Fran Schindler.

Key points

Life in Co-Ed Prison. Sandie Alger shares her unique experience in a co-ed prison environment.
The Buddha Effect. Dan Stevenson discusses how a Buddha statue transformed his neighborhood, reducing crime significantly.
Exit Guide's Journey. Fran Schindler, an exit guide, shares her experiences assisting individuals in ending their lives.
The Challenge of Compassion. Fran discusses the legal challenges she faces while helping those in need of end-of-life choices.
Police Dogs' Emotional Bond. Corporal Scott Foster navigates the emotional transition between his retired police dog and a new partner.
The Move for the Dogs. Scott Foster moves to accommodate his dogs, ensuring they have space and happiness.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You have your choice.

Mr. Pete reflects on his burial wishes.

3:07WatchNov 29, 2022

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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