When a Killer Calls /// Part 1 /// 553 | Forensic Files

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[Music] [Music] % [Music] this is true crime garage and this is part one of When a Killer
[Music] calls [Music] June 1st 1985 3:10 a.m. I love you all last will and testament I love you mommy daddy
Robert Dawn and Richard and everyone else and all the other friends and relatives I'll be with my father now so
please please don't worry just remember my witty personality and great special times we all shared
together please don't ever let this ruin your lives just keep living one day at a
time for Jesus some good will come out of this my thoughts will always be with and in you casket
closed I love you all so damn much sorry Dad I had to cuss for once Jesus forgive
me Richard sweetie I really did and always will love you and treasure our special moments I ask one thing though
except Jesus as your personal savior my family has been the greatest influence on my life sorry about the Cru
money someday please go in my place I am sorry if I ever disappointed you in any way I only wanted to make you
proud of me because I have always been proud of my family mom dad Robert and Dawn there's
so much I want to say that I should should have said before now I love you I know you all love me and will miss me
very much but if you all stick together like we always did you all can do it please do not become hard or upset
everything works out for the good for those that love the Lord all of my love always I love you all with all my heart
Sharon Sherry Smith p yes Nana I love you so much I kind of always felt like your favorite you were mine I love you a
[Music] lot Friday May 31st 1985 at 3:38 p.m. Bob Smith discovered his daughter Sherry's car unattended
with the driver's door open and the motor running at the end of the long driveway leading to the family's home he
called out her name several times and got no response he checked the vehicle and found Sherry's purse on the seat but
where was his daughter Cherry's father started searching for her when his efforts failed Mr Smith contacted the
police this is just 2 days before 17-year-old Sherry F Smith was scheduled to sing the national anthem at her high
school graduation so while most of her friends and classmates were packing for their High School graduation trip Sherry
was abducted from the driveway of her Lexington County South Carolina home what followed was the largest search in
South Carolina history the investigation was bleak they had no Witnesses and no leads Sherry is what law enforcement
would consider to be an extremely lowrisk victim therefore it was important to clear the family as fast as
possible and move on to other possibilities police very quickly ruled out any involvement by the immediate
family or any of the members of the immediate family they're hoping for a ransom demand so police put a trace on
the Smith's home phone the next day the Smiths received a phone call on the line
a strangely distorted voice of a man who claims he has Sherry captive he tells Sherry's mother Hilda who answered the
phone so you'll know this is not a hoax Sherry had on a black and yellow bathing
suit beneath her shirt and shorts then the caller says you'll get a letter from Sherry later State officials intercepted
her letter this was entitled last will in Testament from the mail the letter we read during the trailer was that exact
letter apparently her abductor had Sherry drafted shortly before her death this was a two-page handwritten letter
and while it clearly displayed an amazing amount of strength and courage on Sherry's behalf after reading the
letter no one was optimistic the papers were sent for fingerprint analysis local law enforcement was all
over this one the FBI was very quickly sent in and the FBI feared the worst their theory is that the abductor most
likely killed Sher by the time that they arrived to assist in the case and the killer would now be ready to search for
another victim they believe the kidnapper saw Sherry and her boyfriend Richard kissing
at the local shopping mall and from there he followed her home she stopped at the mailbox and that's where he
snatched her seems like a lot of creeps are hanging out at the local malls so that was their working Theory and after
this first call was received they decided to set up recording equipment at the Smith home because now they're
anticipating another phone call on June 3rd they received a call asking if they had received the letter and the caller
asked do you believe me now to which Hilda this is Sherry's mother replied no I have not heard from Sherry and I need
to know if she is alive and well so basically if I'm following you correctly this dirt bag calls the family and he
says I have her mhm and then he says you're going to receive a letter right but the letter is the last will in
Testament so it's almost implying that she's dead and then he calls them back and says do you believe me now right
right he wants to know if they've received the letter they as said it was intercepted by law
enforcement and this is actually a really good move by Sherry's mother Hilda to not kind of cower to this
distorted voice on the other end of the phone yeah she's saying look I've not heard from my daughter I need to know if
she's alive and well I don't believe anything you're saying you say you have her captive well let me talk to my
daughter right and so in a sense she's kind of calling his bluff right or hoping so yeah he says that when she ask
him I need to know if sher's alive and well he then resp responds that you will know in 2 or 3 days and he hangs up the
phone well hold on to your horses because we have exclusive audio that we received to play these phone calls on
the show and what you are about to hear is the first recorded phone calls from the killer to the
family hello is this meth no this is D I need to speak to your mother could ask his call
no okay okay hold on just a second [Applause] please hello have you received a mail
today uh yes I have do you believe me now well I'm not really sure I believe you because I
haven't had any word from Sherry and I need to know that Sherry is well you'll know in two or three days
why two or three days call the search off tell me if she is well because of her disease are you taking care of
her on yes did you come down from Charlotte uh yes I did who's calling please I need to speak to your mother
okay get my mother um she's coming tell her to hurry she's hurrying tell Sherry I love
her did y'all receive her letter today yes we did here's mother did you receive her letter today
uh this is Hilda did you receive Sherry Ray's letter pardon I can't hear you that it's not very clear speak louder
did you receive the letter to day H yes I did tell me one thing it said tell you one thing it
said anything uh sh Richard what there was a little heart on the side sh Richard written on the side
oh it says how many pages two pages okay it yellow legal pad yeah and on one side
on the front p that said Jesus is Love no God is love well God is love right okay so you know now that this is not a
hoax call yes I know that okay well we missed Sheriff mitt this morning I don't know what happened to that they couldn't
get him on okay um I'm trying to do everything possible to answer some of your prayers so please in the name of
God work with us here and can you answer me one question please you you are very
kind and and you seem to be a compassionate person and and I think you know how I feel being sher's mother and
how much I love her can you tell me is she all right physically without her medicine Sherry is
drinking a little over two gallons of water per hour and using the bathroom right afterwards all right is she able
to eat because she doesn't usually eat that that's what concerns me uh listen I got to hurry now I know that okay now
what I'm going to do is um have an ambulance now this is very important have this has gone too far um please
forgive me um I have an ambulance ready at any time at your house have an ambulance ready on
Sherry's request she requests that only immediate family come and Sheriff Mets and the ambulance attendance you don't
want to make a circus out of this right okay okay and where she said cast it closed in parentheses right if anything
happens to me she said her one of her requests she did not put in there to put her hands on her stomach like she was
praying in the casket what now cross her hands why would anything happen to you we don't want any harm to you I I I
promise we just won Sherry well and all right okay okay now the sheriff mits realized that this is not the hoax call
yes he he knows this is not a hoax okay well tell him to just forget about all of su and the only thing didn't when I
talk to you Monday morning 2:30 in the morning the first time yes I did not realize I thought you were a police
officer okay listen listen real carefully I got to hurry um I know these are being traced correct I do not know
there you are okay now listen um I'm listening yeah hold on a sec are you still there yes okay hold on
just a sec uh is sure with you you or can you tell me that I will not say um uh I I can tell you up there oh yes
okay hold on before I forget it I told you that morning you were looking at a wrong place right yes you did I wish you
would have remembered that I don't know why I did remember that okay well listen
to us please okay forget Lexington County look and salute County do you understand looking Saluda County exactly
uh the closest to lexon County within a 15 mile radius right over the line is that
understood please and very very soon get please now sher's request Sher say a request please uh no strangers hardly
and when yall when we give the location no strangers absolutely now did you understand about the folding of the
hands like she was in prayer in case something happens to us yes if something happens to y'all but nothing listen
nobody is going to harm you I Ms that I don't know what the problem is I told you to for good about looking
around your house Saluda County listen there are you believe me now I believe you there are so many people that love
Sherry and they just won't give up I want to tell you one other thing Sherry is now part of me physically
mentally emotionally spiritually our souls are one now your souls are one now with Sherry yes and we're trying to work
this out so please do what we are you haven't been doing it I don't understand and she doesn't we sit here
and watch Stevie we see no Sheriff we why doesn't Sher Sherry talk to me she she knows me me so well that's why she
asked me to communicate with you not your husband aren't you aware of that yes I know that I I know that she would
ask you to talk with me said she does love y'all and like she said do not let this ruin your lives we're not going to
let it ruin our but you tell listen you tell Sherry one thing what is wrong there's no way my life could ever be
have any happiness in it again if if Sherry left this world with me bearing a guilt that I I had felt in such a bad
way because I love her and I I want to make her happy I'll do anything to work it out she doesn't have to come home
okay I'm serious she does not have to come home anything well time's up and uh please now uh have the ambulance ready
at any time this will not go any further and I'll it will be soon the ambulance you're not telling me that something's
going to happen to her and I'm going to have to have an ambulance I'm telling you her condition he getting
bad is that you know more about it than I do I know I do and that's why I am so worried about and I'll give you the
location and tell Sheriff M to get all his damn men and salute a county okay well God bless all will you call me soon
will you call me back tonight I I just need reassurance to know that she's still okay to be careful I got to go now
and listen uh please please please forgive me for this it just out her hand I know listen do me one thing what is
that hurry just tell Sherry I know she knows how much I love her tell her her Daddy loves her and her
daddy will work anything out with her Under the Sun and and he admits we've got a lot of problems and we we'll work
them out and her brother and sister love her and God bless you for taking care of
my baby Sherry is protected and like you said she is a part of me now and God look after all of us good
night good luck to you too first off we want to apologize for the audio we know it's not of the
highest quality but the content is incredibly intriguing and we wanted to make sure that we included that on these
episodes now what you're hearing here captain and everybody out there in listener land is part of the reason for
the poor quality of the audio is it's almost 40 years old by this point this case took place in
1985 and we have our perpetrator who is using a voice modulator at times and then to add to the confusion this is
actually several calls that you heard here where he's hanging up the call because he is aware that they likely
will be tracing this and if they can trace him well they're going to catch him and that's not what he's looking to
do but when we discuss signatures this is the definition of a signature of a killer this is something these phone
calls the communication with the victim's family are not necessary to the crimes that he's committing these are
only necessary to him for reasons that we probably will not be able to answer we cannot comprehend why somebody would
want to call the family and further torture them emotionally about their missing daughter now what we can say
here one thing that I believe he was doing is I think he got a little pissed off and that is one of the reasons for
the initial phone call to the family because he keeps saying now do you see what I mean do you know that this is not
a hoax he's not talking about it being a hoax that their daughter was kidnapped right he's talking about his phone calls
the legitimacy of him and his phone calls do you now know that this is not a hoax because he's able to tell the
family information that only they would know the reason for this I'm guessing here Captain is he wanted the credit he
wanted the notoriety he wanted credit for his crimes that he risked himself put himself In Harm's Way to commit
these crimes he now wants the credit because I found that a James Edward Robertson called the family with a
ransome demand and this is what he I believe he is referring to as the hoax right because that was very quickly
deemed to be a hoax I believe he was asking the family for like $40,000 and he would return their daughter but of
course the police very quickly figured out that that was just an extortion plan by this James Edward Robinson had
nothing to do with with the case itself he's not the perpetrator of the abduction was not holding their daughter
captive he had no ability to release her to them he was just simply saw an opportunity and try to score big off of
it well guess what score one for the good guys because James Edward Robertson ends up in prison makes you wonder too
if he's talking to her mother because if he talks to her father there's more likely a chance of
Confrontation I don't know if I would be able to contain myself if my daughter went missing and some scumbag called me
and and was trying to control the conversation a couple times they reference something sha Richard in their
conversation and I want to bring up what that means so the letters that the family received as you heard were two
pages and on the first page there was a heart drawing along with the word sha Richard well Sherry spelled her name s h
a r i and her boyfriend's name was Richard so they had this kind of cute way of making one name out of both of
their names and that's what sh Richard means unfortunately page two two of the letter that they're referencing is the
last will and testament of Sher [Music] Smith this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays
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offered by T-Mobile in Verizon May [Music] 2023 [Music] all right we're back to the windows to the walls cheers
everybody cheers to you captain now later that same day he did call again this time saying Sherry was alive and he
would release her soon and that he wanted to tell her one thing that Sherry is now a part of him physically mentally
emotionally and spiritually he says our souls are now one Hilda asked again if her daughter was alive and well the man
said Sherry is protected and she is a part of me now and God looks after all of us okay so this guy is
a wacka do weirdo well these are not clear and simple answers to very clear and simple questions from Hilda and the
other thing too Captain using those words Sherry's now a part of me physically mentally emotionally and
spiritually our souls are now one I can't feel like anybody's got any good feelings in the Smith home hearing that
that sounds very Bleak sounds very bad I mean it just sounds sounds bad well on top of that you have you know her car is
found on mhm the fact that this individual was able to just pull up behind her grab her take her captive and
now this this come back is going to bring the Lord Jesus Christ and our savior into this so because of the first
call that was received they were anticipating these two phone calls and attempting to trace the location of
these two phone calls now they did they did have some luck with that they were able to determine that these two phone
calls did come from the general area you know they were they local let's say but
there are some issues there were some issues with the phone tra right according to the FBI in 1985 it took
about 15 minutes to get a Pinpoint location of the exact phone from which the calls were placed even with the
strength and courage shown by Hilda Smith the caller never stayed on the phone for that length of time now the
man called again this time it was 4 days after the abduction and this time Sherry's 21-year-old sister Dawn
answered the phone the man gave her details about the kidnapping saying he stopped his car when he saw her at the
mailbox he said he took a few photos of her then approached her acting friendly and when he got close enough he forced
her into his vehicle at gunpoint mhm he told Dawn he was regretful that the whole thing got way out of hand he then
went on to tell her that at 3:10 a.m. Saturday the 1st of June Sherry wrote the letter you received and then at 4:58
Saturday the 1st of June we became one Soul he said don't there he goes with the weird talk again right and he says
don't ask me any questions he told Don Sherry would be returned the following evening and that they should have an
ambulance on standby adding you'll receive instructions on where to find us well and this makes you wonder because
you take somebody like dmer for example and he would talk about possessing his victim by eating his victim and that
they would become a part of him by doing so so that's where my head goes with these comments my head actually goes in
two directions one what you just said there Talent one right there is is is the possessing um you know we even hear
zodiac uh wrote in his letters that they will become slaves my slaves in the afterlife yeah but the weird thing that
I find here is a bit of the opposite that we've seen with like when we talked about keer we talked about BTK where
both of them said you know after I killed somebody I just immediately went into pure paranoia where I felt the
whole world knew what I just did right and at any second they're going to come and get me you know they're going to
come and apprehend me and here you know we have the FBI who's stating well we believed by receiving
this letter that she was probably already dead before we arrived on the scene to help and this dude's probably
out looking for another victim he might be but he's also busy spending his time communicating with the family I wonder
what happened to give them that impression that he already killed her I think the letter you know the letter is
weird enough that it might steer you in that direction the same way that it steered us to The Possession possessing
the victim mhm okay they have become one all of that Kookie talk right Ro could do but here's one thing I do want to
point out and I I read a lot of books by retired FBI agents humble brag what what
what what kind of brag is that that that I can read I read a lot of books no that
just means I have nothing else to do this this is after uh did you start reading a lot after you studied computer
well the thing that I want to point out here that I see Time and Time Again by these retired FBI agents and don't get
me wrong I I enjoy them very much that's why I purchased their books so I can read them however they're always kind of
the smartest guy in the room and I wonder a lot of times s like after the fact they're telling these stories 20 30
years later and they're like ah we knew already that uh this is what was going on and it's you kind of I question it
sometimes you couldn't have been right every single time you know what I mean it just doesn't work out that way maybe
this is why you identify with the books right remember he's now telling them that they will receive instructions on
where to find us more of the cookie talk and letting them know that hey I'm going
to let Sher go she will be returned the following evening make sure you have an ambulance on standby so to me I go in a
different route thinking why is so much communication going on if you haven't kept her alive maybe because of the
Kookie talk but let's let the audience think for themselves and here's the recording of that call uh D yes uh this
is Sher face request have your mother to get on the other phone quickly to get on
the other phone get on the other other phone mother get a pencil and piece of paper
get a pencil and paper ready okay okay I she's not on the phone yet well I'll tell you this okay uh
you're aware that that was in Sherry's own handwriting yes I am all right okay now this is sher's own word okay so
listen carefully say nothing unless you're asked okay okay and it's not necessary I know
these calls are taped mhm and traced but that's irrelevant now there's no money demanded so here's Sherry F's last
request on the fifth day to put the family at rest Sherry F being freed remember we are one Soul now when
you locate when located you locate both of us together we are one God has chosen
us respect all past and present request actual events and times jop this down hurry all right I'm doing it
3:28 afternoon Friday 31st of May too fast 3:28 afternoon Sher F was kidnapped from your
mailbox with a gun she had the fear of God in there and she was at the mailbox that's why she
did not return back to her car she had to fear What Fear God fear God okay 4:58 a.m. no I'm sorry hold on 310 a.m.
Saturday the 1st of June uh she handw wrote what you received 4:58 a.m. Saturday the 1st of
June okay Saturday the 1st of June 4:58 a.m. became one Soul became one Soul what does that mean no questions now all
right last between 4: and 7 Wednesday tomorrow have ambulance ready remember no circus wait 4 and 7 a.m. 4 and 7 in the
afternoon afternoon tomorrow okay the health ambulance ready remember her request no circus okay prayers and
relief coming soon please learn to enjoy life for give God protects the chosen Sherry pH important
request rest t nor and tomor good shall come out of this and please till Sheriff Mets search no more
blessings are near remember tomorrow Wednesday 4 4: in the afternoon to 7 in the evening
ambulance ready no circus okay no circus what does that mean you will receive last instructions for to find us please
forgive do not kill my daughter please I mean please we love and miss y'all get good rest tonight
goodbye wait a minute he's gone mom I think at that point I me you can almost hear in her voice because he's
not responding to her that maybe she's starting to understand that her daughter might be gone I think that's always the
fear I think where their hope comes from is that maybe this guy's just completely
right off of his rocker and we can't take anything that he says as fact or as truth because we don't know what kind of
maniac we're dealing with here I mean he's claiming to have to abducted her and that they've become one again those
words are scary to me as a parent that's not what you want to hear because I usually know what where that ends up
right and he's proven that he is the one that has abducted their daughter I love
the psychology of this though and I and I really wonder if there's a way to kind
of dissect this because we have some killers that communicate after their crimes and we've seen some that
communicate with law enforcement some choose to communicate with the media and here we have somebody communicating with
the victims with the families and I've always wondered what is the psychology of why one killer will pick whomever
they end up communicating with I would lean towards the idea of that you're communicating with their family members
that it's a in a way you're trying to get forgiveness you're going to try to get them to understand and you're going
to try to get them to you know pray for you or forgive you well maybe that's the case here because
we do hear him he's saying that he's passing along direct request from Sher Smith to the family this is how Sherry
Smith wants you to handle this situation going forward these are her requests so
that seems important to him and maybe that's some weird form of remorse I don't know but other times that we've
had perpetrators communicate with the victims it's been more of a taunting nature where you know we seen BTK he
communicated with the primarily the the media and somewhat law enforcement here we have a direct connection direct
communication via phone and letters to the victim's families from the Killer and this is similar ilar to we've seen
this in previous cases with before we were calling him the Golden State killer back when he was ons or the original
nightstalker he would call and taunt some of their victims you know the heavy breathing into the phone the the threat
of of killing additional victims and also with David Gail meyerhofer was one that called the family of the mother
that he kidnapped he called her I believe it was for for weeks and she was convinced that the person calling them
was the actual killer the person responsible for whatever happened to their daughter it seems like when these
killers are contacting media it's it's leans more towards the idea that they're taunting uh Society they're taunting the
police they're taunting their next victims also what I find a little strange in this call and I don't know if
it's because of the tape or it's because of whatever voice manipulation he's trying to use but there's a couple times
where it like slows down and and sounds very demonic well and for the longtime listeners out there some of you are
probably scratching your head a bit and going I feel like I've heard you guys cover this case before and well you are
right we always say that we have the the best and brightest audience out there well you are right we did cover this
case before entitled that show the last will in Testament the reason that we are
going through through this again and while you are hearing old audio from yours truly and the captain is because
we were asked by John Douglas he said I'd like to come on and talk about this case that we worked and oh by the way
here's some of the audio we have some of the phone calls that you guys can use and present to your audience at noon the
next day the man called again and said follow these instructions listen carefully he said take Highway 378 West
to traffic circle take Prosperity exit and go one and a half miles turn right at the Moose Lodge sign go one quarter
mile and then turn left at the white building go to the backyard there we will be waiting God chose us and then he
hung up the phone listen carefully take Highway 378 West to Traffic Circle take Prosperity exit go 1
and 1 12 miles turn right at sign moose Number 103 go 1/4 mile turn left have white frame building go to Backyard 6 ft
Beyond we're waiting God chose us yeah this God speak is just creepy well it's South Carolina and it's
I I think you know it's part of that no I don't mind God talk I don't mind that at all you know I'm a spiritual person
what I do mind is when you kidnap a person possibly have already murdered her you made her write her last will in
Testament and now you're saying that you have became one and then you keep bringing God into this MH so that's uh
don't like that much well and given all these instructions pretty detailed instructions it's good for law
enforcement that this call like the others was recorded So the sheriff's department followed the directions and
this led them to the body of Sherry F Smith the decomposition of the body suggested that she had been dead for
some time likely since 458 on June 1st like was noted in the letter right they were pretty sure of this so she was
clothed and they could tell she was once bound with duct tape but the the tape had been removed so we have the residue
left over from the duct tape and they believed that sher's body was likely in this location since shortly after her
death unfortunately by the time sher's body was located due to the advanced decomp
the pathologist could not assertain either the cause of death or whether or not she had been sexually assaulted the
pathologist believed however that Sherry either suffocated or died from dehydration this resulting from a rare
form of diabetes from which Sherry suffered evidence suggested she was killed elsewhere investigators believed
her killer place her there and returned to visit with the corpse and it was only
until the body was too far decomposed for his liking or decomposed enough to hide SL destroy evidence that he told
the family where to find her and strange for me with the FBI involved you'd think
that they would be able to determine the cause of death well using the information that they had the FBI unit
put together a profile of the offender they believed that the offender was in his late 20s to early 30s probably
divorced living alone or with his parents white he has uh yeah the they actually will update this profile later
and they didn't include white as part of the first profile uh but probably divorced living
alone or with his parents he has some kind of criminal record this would include assaults on women or at least
obscene phone calls if he has previously murdered anyone the victims would be children or young girls they believed
when he was on the phone with Sherry's family he was reading from a script they believed the killer was rigid orderly
and obsessively neat he would take notes obsessively and keep many lists did they
say anything about possible military background uh they did not but usually they will include that if they believe
that he does have some type of military background and the reason why I bring that up is because the neat and orderly
possibly wants to create list yeah You' think that would be somebody that you know had some regiment schedule at some
point in their existence they believe that he owned a vehicle likely 3 years old or newer and the vehicle is clean
well-maintained and cared for outwardly he is arrogant and displays contempt for
the world but on the inside he is insecure and harbors strong feelings of inadequacy he possibly goes around
telling people he reads a lot of books yes and then and then uh doesn't speak too highly of the authors
they said that the man is local having lived in the area for most of his life he had access to a secluded
area where he knew he would have time to spend with Sher and her body they figured that the reason that the
caller's voice sounded distorted is because he was using some type of device to achieve this they determined the
caller was using something called a variable speed device they were now in the process of tracking down
manufacturers of these typ types of devices and retailers this suggested that the
suspect had a background in electronics so it's it's always interesting to me Captain how they come
up with this some of it more detailed than other profiles that we've reviewed in the past the stuff about the books is
fascinating right no what gets me is when they say we believe that he has a car that's 3 years old or newer MH like
that's so random and and it's like you don't know do they have any eyewitnesses that would make them lean that way or or
is this just kind of a random guess according to the information I could find there was no eyewitnesses mhm right
that's that's why it's so Random to me we believe that he has a newer three-year-old car or newer that's so
pinpoint I think they come up with this for a couple of reasons one I think they're working off of the idea that
this guy is driving a lot that he's spending a lot of time driving and they may also believe him to be careful if
they believe him to be careful and driving all the time they're probably going off of the thought that he would
prefer to drive a newer vehicle something that's well maintained and well cared for because it would be too
risky to spend all that time driving and he wouldn't do that because he's careful
or possibly the idea that this guy was married divorced so he possibly has a career is living with somebody or living
with his parents so therefore he has the money where he would have a nicer vehicle because that would be his only
opportunity to maybe impress a female also that's interesting that you picked up on that because with having a
background in electronics they're almost suggesting that they believe this individual has a job and like you said
if they believe he's living with his parents he has more money than somebody not living with their parents M but the
obvious thing here is usually when they base off of uh the situation is this individual local or not and that seems
to be pretty quick to come to that assumption and I think here really exemplifies that to Perfection you know
we have a situation where he gives very detailed directions to find her body and
I have to believe that law enforcement's working off of the thought that that's not just a place that this guy stumbled
upon that this is an area that he knew and knew well and therefore he's a local guy he didn't just drive in and happen
to see her at the mailbox and take her away this next call is by far the most detailed call from the killer hello for
Don uh don is not taking any calls could I have a name please uh please put Don on the
line Don can't come to the phone right now this is um her aunt derly well I speak to uh Mrs me this is
emergency well I'm sorry she is um being sedated and cannot come to the phone she's
asleep okay may I speak to Bob Smith um Bob has gone um up to the funeral home you realize the situation with their
daughter wait one moment you you asked to speak to Mrs Smith or Don I'd rather speak to Don to Don
uh-huh uh well let me see if we can find her okay hurry up all right they're looking right now thank you ma'am okay
thank you I'll speak to anybody comes the phone now this is her aunt uh Bly Joe Wilson we accept the charge yes will
accept the charge this is sher's Aunt Beverly I'll be happy to speak to you who am I speaking to
please I want to speak to Don U we're trying to locate her in the meantime I'll be happy to help you no thank you I
have to go then if I can't talk to her she's coming they're looking for her immediately
just one moment they they're trying to find her okay operator here wait one moment please she had walked outside to
walk the dog they are looking for her operator is operator on the line here is Don right now hello Don yes
I'm calling for shering Fai and are you aware I'm turning myself in tomorrow morning no where you talk to sheriff me
or Charlie K oh no well talk to them and listen carefully okay I have to tell you
this C Sherry asked me to uh turn myself in on after the fifth day after they found her wait okay I'm trying to write
this down write it down don't write it down don't write it down okay and uh or get myself straight with God and turn
myself completely over to him so I have to turn myself over to him okay and uh so uh Charlie K he'll know what I'm
talking about when you talk to him he will not be able to get a personal interview from me in the morning I'm
uh there'll be a letter that's already been mailed an exi copy to you and to him and it's with pictures a copy to me
yes and him at his home of pictures of Sher say from the time even I made her stand at their car and took two pictures
now all through the thing and the letter would describe exactly what happened from the time I picked her up till the
time uh I called and told yall where to find her and I'll be doing the same in the morning at 6:00 a.m. and tell the
sheriff and Charlie K Charlie car is I used him as a medium today I talk to him okay at 6:00 a.m. what will you be doing
in the morning well he'll know oh he already know he'll know okay and also that um um
I'm will be armed but by the time they find me I won't be dangerous do you understand that you will be armed but by
the time they find me I won't be dangerous what does that mean well uh Sherry B said if I couldn't live with
myself and she wouldn't forgive me if I didn't turn myself over or turn myself in or turn myself over to God so I'm
going to have to I just this thing got out of hand and all I wanted to do was make love to Don I've been watching her
for a couple of weeks to I'm sorry to Sherry and I watched her a couple of weeks and uh it just got out of hand and
y' Don I hope you and your family forgive me for this you're not going to kill yourself are you I don't I can't
live in prison and go to lecor chair I can't do that this is the only way I can get myself straight I'm very sick and
but I I can't go through we don't want you to die we want to help you don't kill yourself I just you can't take
someone's life and this is the way it's going to have to be Sherry said but see listen to me okay well listen I have to
go no I got to tell you something okay this is important God are being traced well that's okay but God can forgive you
and eras all of that I I can't live with my the rest of my life or go to electric
chair listen sher's at peace with God she's better off than any of us well I want to say something to you that she
told me okay sh oh Bo Sher F said that um she did not cry the entire time she was very strong
wielded and she said that um she did not want uh y'all to run your lives and go on with your lives like the letter said
and I've never lied to y'all before right everything I told you came true right yes okay so this is going to have
to be it the way it is and she said that um she wasn't scared that she knew that
she was going to be an angel and and if I took the latter choice that she suggested to me that she would forgive
me but our God's going to be the major judgment and she'll probably end up seeing me in heaven not in hell and that
uh she request and please remember this now she request that y'all be sure to take her hands and fold them in her on
her stomach like she's praying okay and that Clos casket yes they already made those plans yes okay and please uh have
Charlie K with Sheriff Mets and Charlie knows what to do in the morning and have
an ambulance and probably before they get their might well have a HS also and I'll
be at the traffic circle and I'm not in I'll be I'm just going to allow myself enough time to get in the area and get
set up I'm not in the area now and uh it'll be 6:00 in the morning that I'll call his office and by the time they
reach me I'll be straight with God didn't not Sher said please take the gold necklace that she had on and the
she had one earring and her left ear and save those things and treasure them save
them yes she doesn't want um Richard to have that necklace uh she said something
there was something special jury in her room that she said I forgot what it might have been that necklace but uh
yeah well go ahead but the rest of her stuff is it's irrelevant okay she felt sure y'all would do this and what about
her High School ring oh that's she said everything else would be decided by the family but Cherry was was not afraid and
she didn't cry or anything no she didn't do anything and I can you handle if I tell you how she died yes okay now be
strong man okay she said you were she told me all about the family and everything we talked and oh God and I am
a family friend that's the sad part you are a family friend yeah yeah and that's
why I can't face y'all you'll find out in the morning or tomorrow but um forg me and uh Don uh Sherry I don't know
whether you should tell your mother this or not but uh Sherry F was not a virgin
she started uh with the guy in January were you aware we know that now yes okay and I did make love to her and we had
oral sex for uh three different times and uh she di can you hand this now yes okay
I tied her up to the bed post and uh with electric uh cord and uh she didn't struggle crying
or anything she let me voluntarily from her chin to her head oh yeah and be sure
to tell okay I'll go ahead and take and I took duct tape and wrapped it all the way around her head and suffocated her
and tell the coroner or get the information that's how she died and um I was unaware she had this disease I
probably wouldn't ever taken her and uh I shouldn't took her anyway it just got out of hand and I had asked her out
before and she said she would if she wasn't going with anybody and uh she said also that oh yeah make sure Charlie
K you know him the reporter on I can't think of who he is right now okay they'll know who he is he's the one that
wears the bow tie on channel 10 he's the head uh news fellow on this case for Channel 10 tell him to be sure to get in
touch with an Davis cuz an Davis yeah she probably already told him some information you had to use them for
mediums because they were capping your house and stuff and another ironic part I had to see what was going on at the H
at your house I was there Saturday morning for the search you were at the search Saturday yes I was and
if um oh God Don I wish I wish y'all could help me but it's just too late let me tell you something okay God can
forgive you well I have to go now Don I know that and through God we can forgive
you also well Don we you forgive me then your family but I I just if I'll have to
take the other choice that that Sherry P said to me I just can't live with myself
like this I'm not I think you just need to just think about that little hard going to be caged up like a dog okay now
is there any other questions short I got to go now time for um when when you killed Cherry was she at peace she
wasn't afraid or anything she was not she was at peace she knew that God was with her and she was going to become an
angel and and she wrote that letter to us of her own free will and all that was did everything I told you has been the
truth hadn't everything came true yes it has okay and now I'll be in the area uh
from just a long enough time to set this up for myself like I said I also Charlie
and everything requested I mean I told you that I requested Cherry I asked Sherry F if I could do this and she said
it was fine with her to have the minister the preacher from Leon Baptist be in the ambulance me in the ambulance
Louis Abbott huh Louis Abbott uh yeah I forgot she she told me name I forgot who
it was the one that's going to y's regular Ministry with the going to do the funeral Saturday yes
okay can can I ask you one more question one more and that's it when when you um
you told us that you Sher was kidnapped at gunpoint yeah but she knew you yeah at first see I pulled up and U I'm
telling you the truth I have no reason to lie to y'all okay I've always told you the truth right right okay and I had
her ask her to stand there and I took two instant pictures you asked her to stand where that's a mailbox with her
car in the background those pictures detailed pictures will be with the letters that you receive probably since
I'm out of town probably not until Saturday and Charlie K will get a coffee and your family will get a coffee and
it's addressed to you unless the mail HS it up so she didn't realize that you were fixing to kidnap her that's exactly
right okay and uh she's uh she uh what else she does so I'll just be in there long enough to get set up for tomorrow
morning morning and tell the sheriff met that it's no use in uh uh trying to trace these cars or catch me it's too
late and I won't be taking aive and also Dawn that uh uh he can just call off the down
search it's it's over now and are you talk I want the people out there wasting their time everything I told you true
and this is coming true also I just can't live with I can't take it anymore Sher fav's right we I feel like I I got
close cl to her and we she showed me things she was very okay okay any other questions uh
why are you talking to me instead of mom she felt like you were strong wielded more oh did you start talking to her who
mother at first yeah that was your mother oh I was outside I didn't know she said it was your aunt but it was
your mother correct uh no that was my aunt no she said something about your mother being on her medication Sherry
told me Sherry F told me remember I told you on the fifth day to let them know where
she was so her blessings of the body could be blessed right why on the fifth day did she want us to find a why not I
don't know she just she just said that I don't know I don't have any idea and she
was into her third day on her period and uh I'm telling you exactly how she died
so she died Suffocation and so you know okay anything else why did you why did you do that
she I gave her a choice to shoot her or give her a drug overdose or suffocate her why did you have to kill her it got
out of hand I got scared because I I only God knows Don I don't know why God forgives me for this I hope and I got to
straighten it out or he'll send me to hell and I'll be there rest of my life but I'm not going to be in prison and
but I don't think taking your life is the answer to this go to forgiveness well Don I got to go now it's been too
long and I tell them to just forget about the search I'll be in the area long enough in the morning for them to
uh find me and by the time I call uh Charlie Ka know exactly the set up they I hope now so I know why I'm standing on
the phone they are taping this I don't want anything messed up okay okay they are taping it right uhhuh okay good okay
and anything else um um I I just um oh yeah let me tell you the other night they almost caught me the ignorant son
of a guns I wanted them to catch me I felt that way at that time when when was it when I called at 9:45 when you were
over near Jake's Landing yeah I was at that fast I pulled out 20 yard in front of
two what color of car did you have they hit it dead on it red and they didn't even dawn I can't get over this
and ignorant son of so and so didn't even turn around and follow me and I cut right at that blinking light down there
to go to back way on o Cherokee Road and there was a highway patrolman in or somebody in front of me and pulled a car
in front of me and he let me turn right on Old Cherokee Road can you believe that so you really wanted to be caught
at that time but it's too late now what kind of car was it well they Mighty damn close Don
they're not going to catch me I I can't give you much information cuz I got to make it back in time and they'll stop me
before I get back if I tell you but they they're right it was a red one and I almost got caught three or four times
was it a red Jetta Don that's irrelevant now if I die now or if I die at 6:00 in the morning
is irrelevant well listen uh don I really I wish you else you would just think about not killing she told me to
tell you please go back to Carol W I know you live in Charlotte and I I know a lot about your family and uh go back
and start singing and give it your best and that she knows that she'll be singing like crazy she was when she said
that she was smiling she'd be singing like crazy SM she was smiling and well so she wasn't afraid the whole time no
never because she knew that she was going to be with God that's exactly right the whole time the whole time
she's so damn strong welded and and but I just really I wish you would think about not killing yourself I will Don
you need to think about that a lot because okay well put it this way if if I decide between now and I call Sheriff
he'll know with Charlie 6 in the morning all oh Lord listen our prayers will be for you okay I'll call you collect did
you hear what I home tonight we we are home tonight can I ask you listen our prayers will be with you okay God can do
anything and he could forgive you for this yeah but you know what's going to happen to me Don I'm gonna be
fried you don't know that God can work miracles you don't know that that'll happen to you God is merciful no matter
what we do it's time now it's time I got to go now and I'll just I'll think about
a lot lot of things on my mind now I know you know that right right and uh uh you answer the phone every time it rings
tonight me answer the phone tonight every time it rings that's right and it's collect and I'll save from uh the
break of day okay now if we're as sleep you let it keep ringing okay will I will
okay well God bless all of us God bless you too and wait a mother wants to say something to you listen mom wants to say
something to you all right just one thing and then I'm gone [Music] okay join us back here in the garage for
part two of WI a killer calls until then be good be kind and don't [Music] litter
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When a Killer Calls /// Part 1 /// 553

Part 1 of 3

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

This week we have a real treat for all of our Garage friends. A three part series featuring an in depth case review by the True Crime Garage guys that includes rare audio from the killer. Part 1 starts off with a review of our “Last Will and Testament” case. It’s a case that rocked and terrified the great state of South Carolina. It’s the rare occurrence when a community is aware that a serial killers is at work, right under their noses. Who is next and how many lives will he claim before they finally catch the killer. We have gone back and added the actual phone calls that the victims family received from the killer. Additional commentary has been added as well so the listeners can hear for the first time the calls from the killer and analysis of the calls. This is the case of Shari Faye Smith and Debra May Helmick. Gather 'round, grab a chair, grab a beer and join us for this special three part series.

Recommended Reading: When a Killer Calls; A Hunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town

This is the latest book from Legendary F.B.I. Profiler John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, the best selling authors of Mindhunter.

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Brief Summary

The episode details Sherry F. Smith's abduction, her last will, and chilling calls from her killer to her family.

Key points

Sherry's Last Will. In a poignant farewell, Sherry expresses love and hopes for her family's future.
The Distorted Voice. A chilling call from Sherry's kidnapper claims he has her captive, revealing intimate details.
A Disturbing Connection. The kidnapper asserts a twisted bond with Sherry, claiming their souls are one.
The Kidnapper's Claims. The kidnapper insists that Sherry is now part of him, both physically and spiritually.
The Disturbing Phone Call. Dawn receives a chilling call from the kidnapper detailing Sherry's abduction.
Instructions for the Family. The kidnapper gives detailed instructions to Sherry's family about her supposed return.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

this is not a hoax.

The kidnapper's chilling assurance to Sherry's mother.

6:43WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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