1834: Madame LaLaurie - Première Partie: New Orleans

You are listening to one nation under crime, historical chronological, true crime podcast. Each week we go through our nation's history and discuss one case from each year, starting in 1800. I'm Kayla and I'm Leah. And you'll notice in the title of this week's episode, you might notice that it says Mia TA yes. She said that not me. Watch your mouth, which means part one in French. There you go. No hablo espaniol because we are discussing Madame Marie Delphine, Valerie, and we are in new Orleans. 

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00:00:56

And I'm sorry guys. I can only apologize. That's all I'll say. So we got to get into it because we have a lot to go. Is this kind of like being in Salem friend? Oh, it's so much worse, but I will say so for this week's episode, there is a reason why it says part one and it says new Orleans, because there is truly so much about new Orleans as far as history to dig into that. I, I, that also ties into the case that I couldn't not, I couldn't cut out certain parts. There's just too much about it. Do you know? I've never been to new Orleans. It's amazing. I've always wanted to get into, but so yes, there are two parts to this case. 

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00:01:42

However, while we are discussing Madame Lala, Marie, we will not dig into her case this week. Hmm. Because we are in new Orleans and there are at least three true crime things that have happened through the history of new Orleans that we will eventually get to. I will go into them much more in depth later on, but I'm talking like we're like 150 episodes out from the first. So what I'm doing is we're going to kind of go through, I'm going to go through the different parts in the history of new Orleans. 

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00:02:26

And then we're going to kind of dig into snippets of some stories of things that have happened. Cause it's kinda, they tie back to certain things where I can't mention this without mentioning this. And so we'll get through it. But guys, I promise there is still true crime this week. And there's three different things to discuss. Okay. I will really try hard to not get emotional over the third one. Oh dear. It's frustrating. I got upset as I was writing it and you you'll understand why, but next week we will completely discuss Madame lottery to the full extent. 

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00:03:10

And we are going to talk about new Orleans this week and we're including the crime stuff, everything. So, and they are cases guys. So it's not just me. Like it's not like rattling off crime statistics. Like you're going to hear some stories that you may or may not know. So stick with us for that. I promise it's going to be a really good one. So our sources for this week, all that's interesting.com where I hear everything there is interesting. Aha Murderpedia hi, Brad. And you know, this was, this was a surprise for Brad's. 

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00:03:50

Ooh, surprise. As he was checking out my search history this week. Oh, I bet he was happy. I bet he was. And the other sources, ghost city tours, you know, maybe he got some culture when he was doing it. I know. I don't know. Maybe I don't, I don't know. Fana places. Hakodate. Maybe, maybe. So. Maybe not some of these things we'll see our events in 1834, January 29th, president Andrew Jackson ordered the first use of us troops to suppress a labor dispute. February 3rd, wake forest university was established in North Carolina, February 18th, the first us labor newspaper, the man was published in a main city. 

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00:04:36

You know, cause men don't have anyway, March 11th, the United States survey of the coast was officially transferred to the department of the Navy, March 18th. The first railroad tunnel in the U S was completed in Pennsylvania. I don't think I would want to go through the first railroad to know it doesn't sound good. No, there might be some engineering issues with that. Anyway, April 14th, the wig party was officially named by us Senator Henry Clay, June 14th, Isaac Fisher, Jr. Patented sand paper. Huh? In Springfield, Vermont. 

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00:05:18

Interesting thing. That's something that we just it's so common. You think about somebody patenting that it's yeah, I know. I saw it and I was like, see, see paper. Okay. June 21st Cyrus McCormick patented the reaping machine, which was for grain June 30th. Congress created the Indian territory, which is now known as Oklahoma. July 7th incomes rushing. Yes it does. Yes, it does. July 7th, the anti abolitionist riots occurred in New York city, August 11th, the Ursuline convent riots occurred when a convent of Roman Catholic Ursuline nuns was burned down by a Protestant mob. 

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00:06:10

Oh my heavens the event was triggered by reported abuse of a member of the order and was fueled by the rebirth of extreme anti-Catholic sentiment in antebellum new England. Oh my goodness. We almost covered it for the sweet cup, but we have <em></em> so yeah, that's that's where I went with that one. I know October 14th, Henry Blair was granted a U S patent for a corn planter. He is the first black man to obtain a patent from the U S cool. Also on October 14th and Philadelphia, the Whigs and Democrats staged a gun stone and brick battle for control of township, election, satellite paper, rock scissors, or pretty much you just yeah. 

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00:07:03

Choose your weapon. It resulted in one death, several injuries and multiple city blocks burned down. Oh, cause you know why not? November 1st, the first published reference to a poker game was made as a Mississippi riverboat gain. November 11th, the rare 18 oh $4 was struck by the United States mint. They were first created for the use in special proof. Coins sets used as diplomatic gifts during Edmund Robert's trips to Siam and Muscat only 15 are known to exist today. 

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00:07:47

Ooh. And the December 3rd, we, this is, this is something everyone can be thankful for. Okay. The first dental society in the United States was organized in New York. Very glad for dental case. Yes, very glad are undated events in 1834, the medical college of Louisiana was founded in Nolan's Nolan, which later became Tulane university. Ah, we know that place wake forest college was founded in wake forest, but it later became wake forest university for anyone wondering the Wilmington and Raleigh railroad was chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and it began construction our births in 1834, March 15th, the John K Bucklin. 

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00:08:36

He's a medal of honor recipient for his actions during the battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia during the civil war, he's a Pisces and March 24th, John Wesley Powell, he was an American geologist. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three month river trip down the green and Colorado rivers, including the first official us government sponsored passage through the grand canyon. Ooh, he's an Aries. And this we'll just April 1st James fist. 

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00:09:20

Are you fooling? Nope. Nope. You'll see why that makes sense. James Fisk Jr. AKA big Jim Fiske. He was an American stockbroker and corporate executive known for scheming, president Ulysses S grant row. He is the topic of a future episode. Mm he's murdered. He's an Aries. April 26th, Charles Farrer brown went under the nom de plume Artemis ward, which I mean is a pretty good name to go by. 

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00:10:00

Honestly, Artemis. I mean he is considered America's first stand-up comedian. He's a Taurus in November 21st, Hettie green was born. She was an American businesswoman and finance here known as the richest woman in America and named by the Guinness book of world records as the greatest miser. Her nickname was the witch of wall street. Oh no. She was a Scorpio. And for anybody who doesn't know a miser, like if you think of a miser, just think of a scrutiny at the knees screw. 

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00:10:41

I see for me to say, just think of Scrooge. Like she, she was the richest woman in America, but she was not given that money out. Our destiny 1834, October 16th, Lorenzo Dow. He was an eccentric American event. Yep. Evangelist. Yep. Got it there. Yeah. Ecentric American. Even if it's cause I'm saying eccentric American anyways, he was an eccentric centric. American evangelist. His autobiography at one time was the second best selling book in the United States exceeded only by the Bible, which I'm sure all the hotels are snapping up at that point. 

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00:11:29

So when we were in Disney honor, you, there was a Bible in the nightstand, July 26, that Jonathan Jennings died. He was the first governor of Indiana, April 10th. We are now getting into our actual topic. April 10th, 1834, a fire at the Laurie mansion in new Orleans, Louisiana uncovered the dark secret, held onto by Madame. <em></em> an attic full of torment and torture that still haunts the ground. 

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00:12:13

It sits on today. Stanton it's known as the big, easy Crescent city, the birthplace of jazz crawfish town, the city that care for God, the Paris of the south, the Hollywood south, and simply Nolens, no matter what you call it, it's the city where people call you Shaw. And if no one knows what Shai is, if you ever go to new Orleans and anyone calls you shy, it's not a bad thing. I mean, it's a term of endearment. It's kind of like if you replace babe, or you replace like honey or something. So somebody calls you Shaw it's okay. 

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00:12:54

Okay. Not a bad thing. It's a city where people call you Shaw. No one's ever going to pass the good time land yap means getting a little something extra. The cemeteries are above ground. Jazz funerals are the norm. The voodoo queen Marie Laveau is said to still roam the streets. Grigory is something people take very seriously, which that's something that you wear to ward off bad spirits, Buddha and crawfish come by the pound. Ben yeas are served with a little extra powdered sugar. The only acceptable drinks before 10:00 AM are a cafe Ole mimosas or a bloody Mary and bourbon street is the place most people go to to have a night. 

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00:13:40

They will never remember. As you can tell, I have a bit of a soft spot for new Orleans after all my last name is GU it's not my maiden name, but I love new Orleans. Always have. It's been one of my favorite places that I've ever been and we'll, we'll get into it. There's something about new Orleans that just has a way of like making you feel like at home, like, you know how you've been places and you're like, this feels like, I feel like I should be here. Like it feels dizzy for me. Yes. Like that's there. Yeah. It could be. The food could be the music partially the architecture. 

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00:14:22

Certainly the ghosts also likely the amazing cemeteries, maybe the touch of witchy vibes or perhaps it's the unshakable feeling that the city has so many secrets and that she knows all of yours as well. New Orleans is a consolidated city parish located on the Mississippi river and the south Eastern regions of the U S in Louisiana, Louisiana famously uses the terms parish instead of a county. So if you're ever thinking of why is that called a parish? Let's get into it historically. 

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00:15:03

A county is the land ruled by a count or a count tests. But a parish is in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic church, government entity. So that's why Louisiana was officially under Roman Catholic rule under both France and Spain's rule. And therefore the territories generally coincide with church parishes because it was heavily Catholic. So that's why everything is marked off into parishes. So Louisiana is the only state in the country that uses the term parish. The only other state to use a different term is Alaska. 

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00:15:44

And they use the term borough, huh? Which means a fortified town instead of county. I didn't know that we had a boss. I don't know if Leah knows this story, but we've not talked a whole lot about our job, but it, it spans the United States will say that as it does, we have a boss and he had to go to Louisiana to do a signup for people. And it was one of the first ones that he ever did in Louisiana. And you know, you fill out all your information, everything like that. And you get to the part where it says county, right. 

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00:16:29

He's sitting there and he overhears a man on the phone in the other room saying they got this boy down here from Alabama. And let me tell you, he doesn't even know what country he's in because he read country instead of county because they call it a parish. Yes, the best one. I haven't heard that story. My favorite stories of all time. And, but told by one of the best storytellers on the face of the planet. Yes, yes. The city was founded in 17, 18 by French colonists and served as the capital of French Louisiana before it became a part of the United States officially in 1803 with the Louisiana purchase. 

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00:17:20

And I just put in parentheses, remember back when Erin bird tried to be a sneaky snake by 1840, new Orleans was the third most populated city in the United States and the largest in the south from the antebellum era until after world war two, huh? After growing by 45% in the 1850s by 1860, the city itself had nearly 170,000 people. It had grown in wealth with a quote per capita income. That was second in the nation. Wow. 

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00:18:00

And the most in the south, the city had a role as a primary commercial gateway for the nations booming midsection. So the Midwest, the poor was the nation's third largest in terms of tonnage of imported goods after Boston and New York handling 659,000 tons of imported goods in 1859 alone. 

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00:18:30

Goodness, well medics since then 

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00:18:33

Violence throughout the south, especially the Mississippi, the violence throughout the south, especially the Memphis riots of 1866 followed by the new Orleans riots and the same year led Congress to pass the reconstruction act and the 14th amendment extending the protections of full citizenship to freed men and free people. However, Democrat past Jim Crow laws establishing racial segregation in public facilities in 1889, the legislature passed a constitutional amendment, incorporating a grandfather clause. 

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00:19:18

People are gone that effectively disenfranchised Friedman, the Southern us was ruled by the democratic party at this point. And public schools were racially segregated and remained so up until 1960. Not that long ago, which is very weird to think of inter Homer Plessy. 

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00:19:40

Can I tell you something real quick about that? Sure. I was, we were, my brother played baseball with some guys and one of them was, was black and we, you know, we were really good, good friends, you know, and, and good friends with the dad and everything. And I asked my dad, Hey, did, did you go to school with him, with the dad? And my dad looked at me and said, no baby. And I said, oh, you did not. I thought that, you know, he grew up around here and he, he looked at me, he said, Leah, Betty never went to school with anybody. That was so 

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00:20:19

Crazy to think about too. 

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00:20:21

And, and until he said that I never, I mean, it never entered my mind that he wouldn't have it's so crazy. Blew 

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00:20:30

My mind. It's so insane to me. I 

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00:20:33

Mean, I'm just one generation away from that. How crazy. And then when I taught, when I would teach about that, you know, the looks on the kids' faces when I would tell them that, you know, they wouldn't let people go to the same school just because of what color 

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00:20:56

Drink out of the same water fountain as someone else 

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00:21:00

To the same bathroom, go to the same bathroom. We're even going to the same entrance for a movie theater, you know, the looks on their faces. And I mean just the pure innocence and the looks on their faces of why it that's, that doesn't make any sense. And, and I would say, you're exactly right. That doesn't make any sense. You're exactly right. But it just, it just went, you know, the realization that I was just one generation removed from that I still it's still just amazing. Crazy. I mean, just really, so anyway, continue. I just, it was just that realization of, oh my gosh. 

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00:21:43

So, so inter Homer, 

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00:21:46

Homer Plessy is extremely important if you've never heard his name now is a good time for you to learn about him. We've all heard of Rosa parks. Yes. Well now you'll know about Homer Plessy. Okay. Plus he boarded a commuter train, departing new Orleans for Covington, Louisiana. And he sat in the car reserved for whites only. And he was arrested 

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00:22:15

The case and presuming he was not white, correct? 

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00:22:18

Correct. Yes. The case resulting from this incident, Plessy versus Ferguson was heard by the us Supreme court in 8, 18 96. The court ruled that separate but equal accommodations were constitutional effectively upholding Jim Crow measures. Anyways, nativists nativist prejudices surfaced even more. During this time, the anti Italian sentiment in 1891 contributed to the lynchings of 11 Italians. 

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00:22:58

Some were shot and killed in the jail where they were detained. The others were hanged. It is the largest mass lynching in us history, 

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00:23:10

Which is just, I do not understand Dan, 

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00:23:14

There are several infamous, true crime events that have occurred in the city and we will likely discuss them in detail at a later time. I can tell you we do, because I have a planned out that far because I'm crazy person 

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00:23:28

Straight from her, 

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00:23:31

At least I'm self-aware I'm self-aware. I can't talk about the city without, including them. One that most people know is the ax man of new Orleans. His reign of terror lasted for may of 1918 to October of 1919 to this day, the ax man has never been identified and the murders are still unsolved. He mainly targeted Italian immigrants and Italian Americans who were all coincidentally somehow related to owning a grocery store or butcher shop. 

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00:24:12

However, that was kind of like a known Italian job at that time. Or like for people to come here and open who were Italian or a tire to open a grocery store, a butcher shop. But anyways, many media outlets sensationalized this aspect of the crimes in particular, even suggesting mafia involvement, despite the lack of it, evidence the victims were typically attacked with an ax, which often belongs to the victims themselves. A panel on the back door of a home was typically removed by a chisel, which along with the panel was left on the floor near the door. 

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00:24:52

So not only was the ax, not his, he got it from the house. He brought a chisel with him, but left it like, here you go, it's fine. Whatever. Nope, fingerprinting wasn't a thing back then. The Axman then attacked one or more of the residents with either an ax or sorry, guys, a straight razor. Yeah. I don't know why that sounds worse, but it did, but it does March 13th, 1919 a letter purporting to be from the ax man was published in newspapers saying that he would kill again at 15 minutes, past midnight on the night of March 19th, but would spare the occupants of any place where a jazz band was playing that night. 

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00:25:40

All of new Orleans dance halls were filled to capacity and professional and amateur bands played jazz at parties at hundreds of houses across town. Yeah. No one was murdered that night. I was going to leave the letter out, however, oh no, I have to look at Leah as I'm reading this letter. I don't want you to, cause that means she's going to be something. You just have to see how this guy spoke. That's the reason that I'm either eloquent or so uneducated that it's going to make her. He's not an educated, okay. 

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00:26:22

It's that? It's the way in which he writes it. You'll see. So first-line hell comma, March 13th, 1919. So he's writing this letter from hell esteemed mortal. Oh, that's the that's. That's how it's addressed. Esteemed mortal. They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me for, I am invisible. Even as the ether that surrounds your earth, I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell I am. 

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00:27:02

What you Orleans and your foolish police call the ax. Man. When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody ax, SPUs mirrored with blood and brains of he, whom I have sent below to keep me company, blood and brain. If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way. They have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but his satanic majesty Francis, Joseph, et cetera, but tell them to be aware. 

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00:27:51

Let them not try to discover what I am for. It were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the ax. Man. I don't think there is any need of such a warning for, I feel sure that the police will always Dodge me as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all of the harm. Undoubtedly, you Orleans. Think of me as a horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if you wanted to. If I wished I could pay a visit to your city every night at will, I could slay thousands of your best citizens for I'm in close relationship with the angel of death now to be exact at 12, 15 earthly time on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over new Orleans in my infinite mercy. 

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00:28:41

I am going to make a little proposition to you people here it is. I am very fond of jazz music and I swear by all the devils and the nether regions that every person shall be spared and whose home a jazz band is in full swing. At the time I have just mentioned if everyone has a jazz band going well, then so much the better for you people. No one thing is certain that is that some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night, if there be any, we'll get the ax. 

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00:29:24

Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native tartare Athens, and it is about the time I'll leave your earthly home. I will see my discourse hoping that thou wilt publish this, that I may go well with the, I have been am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed. In fact, or realm of fantasy signed the ax man. 

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00:29:55

Well, that is just crazy. 

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00:29:58

I love how he asked 12, 15 earthly time, earthly time. I mean central and I'm sorry, but when you come in with esteemed mortals, I think of as the haunted mansion where he says foolish mortals every time. But yeah, it's steamed when you start out a letter with a steamed immortals, like it's only got to go one way. 

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00:30:27

That was, that was something 

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00:30:30

We'll go more into depth of the ax man later, because there is a lot that goes along with that. That was much. Yeah, it's insane. So we will get to that at another time, for sure. That was much in keeping with the creepy. We got to touch on the cemeteries. The historic cemeteries of new Orleans are a group of 42 cemeteries that are historically and culturally significant. These are distinct from most cemeteries commonly located in the United States in that they are an amalgam of the French, Spanish and Caribbean historical influences con the city of yes, of new Orleans. 

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00:31:17

In addition to limitations resulting from the city's high water table, the cemeteries reflects the ethnic religious and socioeconomic heritage of the city itself as well as the people buried below it. Well above it architecturally the hair predominantly above ground tombs, family tombs, civic association, tombs, and wall volts. Often in neoclassical design and laid out in regular patterns, similar to city streets. They are at times referred to colloquially as cities of the dead. 

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00:32:00

And some of the historic cemeteries are tourist destinations. Do you know? 

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00:32:04

All I know about them is I've watched the originals like the vampires, the originals, and they do a lot in the, the graveyard sphere. Cool. Oh, I mean 

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00:32:21

The main question is usually why above ground new Orleans is at or below sea level, depending on where you are resulting in a high water table in the soil. If a body or coffin is placed in an in-ground tomb, new Orleans, there is a risk of it being waterlogged or even displaced from the ground. In addition to architectural aspects of new Orleans cemeteries, musical traditions have historically been part of laying the dead to rest in new Orleans. And the middle of the 19th century, new Orleans began to include pageantry as a part of unveiling. 

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00:33:01

Their society tombs, jazz funerals typically originate at a church and end with musical performances in the cemetery itself. The west African and burial tradition of Lamentations culminating in joviality was observed in new Orleans as funeral at funerals as early as 1819, by the time of emancipation from slavery, brass bands became commonplace at funerals in new Orleans with the rise of associations, for freed people in new Orleans, jazz funerals could be had for a suitable fee currently in like contemporary times. 

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00:33:43

A lot of times there will be a very large jazz funeral that include men and women who have died tragically like at a young age is like when a lot of them you'll see a lot of it, but jazz funeral, I hate to say like, it's cause someone died. So I hate to be like that person, but one of the coolest things I've ever seen, like I saw it in person and it's amazing. Like it's, it is a celebration of the person's life because you're walking with the coffin, like you're going to the cemetery, but it's like, there was one in a James Bond movie. Yeah. It's, it's just, it's just so they're so unique in that way. 

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00:34:29

So I got to bring it down here. Okay. On August 29th, 2005, this is the one that you're controlling your cell phone, right? No, no. Okay. New Orleans was almost wiped out by hurricane Katrina. Oh, more than 80% of the city was flooded and over 1800 people died. That time is a fog to me, famous engineer, Raymond BC called it quote the worst engineering disaster in the world since Chernobyl, but there were supposed to be safeguards in place, right. There were, but they failed the federal levy system failed and there wasn't just one levy that failed over 50 failed with the first 29 happening nearly in just the first 24 hours, just 29 and 24 hours. 

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00:35:26

It's fine. Can I tell you something at that time I worked at a catastrophe relief company. Yes. How do you think Leah paid to go to Scotland? 

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00:35:38

Absolutely. W at that time I worked at a call-out system or I call out company where we sent out independent adjusters that went and worked for different insurance companies when catastrophes like hurricanes happened. And hurricane Katrina happened, a bunch of hurricanes happened at one time, you know, or in that season. But Katrina happened. And one of our directors had been to a conference before that hurricane season started and he had been to a conference and they talked about new Orleans and they had said, if a cat two or higher comes to new Orleans, it's going to be like a giant soup bowl. 

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00:36:32

If we D if they don't get it fixed, if it, if everything doesn't get fixed, it will be a giant soup bowl. And Katrina came and it was a giant soup bowl. It's I mean, it was, I mean, it, it absolutely was, it was horrible. God, I don't know. I don't have any visions of the knees like everybody does, because I was at the office calling people, getting people to towns, to, you know, to where they needed to be. Like, I worked overtime and I'm not like saying I wasn't here because I was not at all. Not I'm not at all cited that or anything like that. 

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00:37:13

I just, we were so busy trying to, and we were getting packets together to get people where they needed to be in everything. I don't, I don't really remember, you know, the knees, you know, people saying, you know, they, they remembered seeing things on the knees and I didn't because I was working. So it was, it was a fog, but yes, I got, I worked a lot at that time. 

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00:37:34

It was a lot, there were, I don't think that I specifically got into it here cause I kinda went guys. I go on rabbit trails. It's the thing I know. Well, I look, I know I looked up who Raymond B is and found, you know, found out all of his information on how he was, you know, this majorly famous engineer and how there was money set aside for years to fix the levees. It was set aside, there were programs and everything in place that were there to help. Like that's ridiculous and force the levies and it just wasn't done it. And I didn't have time to get into it because it was too much information of stuff that like I found super fascinating, but I'm sure a lot of people would find that. 

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00:38:22

I just don't understand how that doesn't get done when, you know, when you nail 

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00:38:26

It, it's insane. Just like how, 

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00:38:29

I mean, they told, they told these people, they knew me that, that this was a risk. I mean, you're just like, you know, we were in insurance now and you know, we tell these people, these are the limits that you have to have, you know, your, your, if you don't do this, you're just, you're just rolling the dice. You know, you're just hoping that you don't get caught with your pants down basically. You know, same thing. It's, you're just hoping 

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00:38:59

Which I put here that it kind of reminds me of the Titanic and how like, even though they hit an iceberg and I put in parentheses or did they, oh gosh, we don't have time to get into it today. I've watched many things about the Titanic don't but got to stop. Me and my boyfriend have watched so many things, but there's a whole thing that the Titanic did not go down because it, it did, it did hit an iceberg. The iceberg had nothing to do with the Titanic going down. There was a fire anyways, 

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00:39:29

It's a whole time canceling your YouTube 

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00:39:31

Subscription. It's not mine. So you can't cancel it. He, you, you may not live. I may go. I may have to go find you an above ground tomb to go to go spend the rest of your non-living days in. Let me tell you, you never seen anybody who, who likes YouTube that much, but you know, everyone thought that it would be fine. Cause there were safeguards in place. Like the ship's not going to go down. It's unsafe. It's unsinkable at the unsinkable, Molly brown also Kathy Bates. We will also talk about her in the next episode. 

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00:40:12

My acting class that I took during may term at Montebello, I did a soliloquy BA from the play, the unsinkable, Molly brown. That was my final. 

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00:40:25

Okay. You're going to love Kathy Bates. Anyways, hurricane Katrina was the iceberg. The levees were the unsinkable ship and the residents were going down with the ship. If they stayed, residents were evacuated and most went to shelter in Texas or Northern Louisiana. A lot of them went to Mississippi. 

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00:40:46

They stayed to the dome and it will. 

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00:40:49

Yeah, a lot of them who did stay, they took shelter in the dome. It was not, it was, it was really bad. I, this is one of those things that I vividly remember is hurricane Katrina 

1  

00:40:59

Brother-in-law is he's a paramedic fireman paramedic. And he was one of the people that went after the hurricane. And he went and was, you know, they, he went and they were looking for surf fivers and just kind of looking down. Yeah. He saw a lot of stuff. 

0  

00:41:23

It's a lot. I'm going to detail. So the population of the city declined over 50% after the hurricane, even today, today, which Lee has never been in this area, you can still still see houses that were never returned to, or FEMA housing that served as temporary housing for someone and the, the FEMA FEMA house is still there. Yeah. And we'll talk about it in a minute. We'll talk about the area specifically that I'm talking about, but it is crazy. It's 20, 22 and you can still see houses that people just didn't come back to. 

0  

00:42:06

Like they couldn't. So you know, or they didn't survive. Right. And there are many that didn't have anywhere to go. These are the ones that you saw on the news. They were on their roofs of their homes. Looking for help as their house was completely submerged and water. Then there were the people who stayed for the good of the city itself. These were the people who knew essential services were going to be needed. Talking about restaurant owners, gas station owners, even though they had zero gas because everybody was like, seriously, there was like, I don't, I don't know if anybody understands what an evacuation looks like, but it is. 

0  

00:42:50

It's a quote, Jillian pencil volley from true. Carmen says, it's chaos down here, Tom. She's talking about like a news things. And they do. She's like, it's chaos down here, Tom. Like, it truly is like every man for himself, it's like an apocalypse is going on. Everybody's getting gas. Like the lines to get gas are an hour long maybe. And then when you get to the front, there may not be any guys. So they're having to kind of rash and what you want. Yes. And that you were getting like $20 of gas and the pump would shut off so that they could at least let other people get $20 worth of gas like that. 

0  

00:43:30

I mean, it's, it's so crazy to think about. But these were, I mean, these were people who were saying they had gas stations and they knew that they had food and they had supplies. So they were saying you had restaurant owners who stayed to help. And you know, a lot of other service businesses that were like them, they stayed because they were needed. I mean like they truly were. And like, that's amazing to me honestly, is, you know, like again to Titanic captain, that a ship knows it's going down, but he's still on the ship. Like it's just, people are garbage. Some people are not, these are bright spots in humanity that I see. 

0  

00:44:10

We'll get to something else later, anyways. But many people know the story of Zach brown and Addy hall. They met during Katrina and stayed to help others who stayed too. This is our second little tidbit of a true crime story. There is going to be a trigger warning in this portion. I will warn you before we get to it. And I will say, I went ahead and told Leo what it was. So she knows ahead of time. What part it's, it's at it. She knows that it's bad. So appreciate the warning. It just skipped forward. I mean, at that point, you're not going to have to skip forward far, but just know like is borrowed. 

0  

00:44:59

So he said, I like me Aero loud. So Zach and Addie, they met during hurricane Katrina and they stayed to help the others who stayed too. They were the original Instacart. If you will, they delivered groceries on bikes to those who needed it. They cooked for their neighbors and even started like a kind of makeshift bar outside of their apartment, for those who like wanted to get together to like be distracted because where they were kind of, the floodwaters had subsided at some point. So they had this like neighborhood, like little bitty makeshift bar where they like have liquor. They had everything and they would like get people together, like just take their minds off of things. 

0  

00:45:43

And sometimes we can get together that, that makes things a little, little easier. Zach was in Iraq, that veteran and Addie was a dancer and a poet. Unfortunately, the things they did to help hurricane Katrina, aren't the reasons that their names are remembered. The two eventually moved in together above a voodoo shop in the French quarter. The voodoo shop. Let me say now has abs, so Luke Lee, nothing, please hear me. 

0  

00:46:21

Absolutely nothing to do with what happens next. Absolutely. Nothing. They just happened to live above it. Yes. As a lot of times there are living one above one, she will never speak against voodoo or Hoodoo. I'm not messing around with that too. That is a cultural thing. Also nodding, not getting, keep in mind guys. This was the area that was like very heavily influenced by like the Caribbean and all of that. Like Jamaica, like Haiti, everything around there. So like, look just because of voodoo shop was there. It doesn't mean that it was bad. This has nothing to do with it. Just want to make that clear. People try to blame what happens next on that. 

0  

00:47:04

And it had nothing to do with it. And I'll explain why. So I also kind of think that living above a voodoo shop is kind of super cool. Anyways, look, I'm real protected. If anything, cause you know that voodoo store, she did, they got everything around it and nobody's messing with it cause it's a boutique shop. So like how could you, you couldn't be more safe above a beauty shop if you really think about it. I mean, I'm just saying, think about the benefits people. I'm fine. Look, I'm fine to benefit. Give me a minute and I'll work my way around it. Here's your trigger warning. Go ahead and skip forward a little bit. This apartment is where Zach strangled and dismembered Addie leaving her body parts cooked in and on the oven and in the refrigerator. 

0  

00:47:49

I don't understand that. That's kind of the worst part of it guys. So like I said, it was just a couple of seconds. Zach himself took his money, spent it all on booze, drugs and women. Before he went to a rooftop bar at a local hotel. This was a couple of years after Katrina. So the city's back everything's in full swing. Again, like places are open. This is, this is a time when like there were plenty of people there. This was not like he went to an abandoned building or anything like that. Just, just to like make that clear. He went to a rooftop bar at a local hotel and he took one step off through for a direct line to the lobby. 

0  

00:48:34

That's what I'll say. Officers founded the confession letter in his pocket at the scene. And in it, he confessed everything that he did that was when the police went to the apartment and saw everything that that truly did happen. And he did confess to it. This is just a brief overview of what happened. Do we know why this is what I put next in this? May, this may speak more, more to some things there is a much more tragic underlying story that includes drug use PTSD from Iraq. 

0  

00:49:23

I thought that probably played a huge factor in a lot of domestic violence between both of them. We will eventually cover their stories in depth because there, there is a very weird thing where Addie had a friend that years later was also brutally murdered in a very similar way. It's very weird. Zach also had children. I mean, it's a, he had a previous wife and he had two kids and he it's, it's just, he came back from Iraq and truly fell apart. That is not at all. Please hear me not an excuse for what he did, but that is our common. 

0  

00:50:07

No, I mean, it it's just, it's unfortunate, but a lot of people have heard that story. So like I said, moving on, I'll leave it. I'm going to leave it there for now. It's very sad. It's very, very sad. Katrina. Wasn't the only threat in 2005 though in September, hurricane Rita hit the Gulf coast. The city was still declared off limits to residents while it was being cleaned up. But the lower ninth ward of the city was really flooded. Once Rita made land fall, once floodwaters were cleared out, the city was rebuilding and close communities started to worry about gentrification changing the landscape of the city that they loved so much for those who are not aware of like what? 

0  

00:50:52

Cause I know some times people like say things and I, I understand like context clues. You can get it. But sometimes there are things that like, you may not exactly know what it is. And please understand. I don't think like people are stupid or anything. I just want to make sure people are aware. So gentrification in the traditional sense is essentially when there is a community where people come in and they think that they think they're doing a really good thing by updating the community and making it better and doing all of these things. But a lot of times what they can do is pull away the historical value of that community. So a lot of people were afraid that people were going to come in and they were going to take away the things of the city that they loved the most. 

0  

00:51:41

So that was a big concern. There is gentrification discussed in other ways that that is not what I'm speaking to here. This is what they were talking about in this case. Thankfully, we've seen that this is not the case at all the French quarter locally known as the quarter, or I believe it's veal county. Yep. Don't ask me ma'am which was the colonial areas city and it is bounded by the Mississippi river Rampart street and canal canal. Nope. Rampart street, canal street, and S blond avenue. It contains popular hotels, bars and nightclubs, notable tourist attractions in the quarter include bourbon street, Jackson square St. 

0  

00:52:30

Louis cathedral, the French market and preservation hall also in the French quarter is the old new Orleans mint, a former branch of the United States mint, which now operates as a museum and the historic new Orleans collection, a museum and research center, housing, art and artifacts relating to the history and the Gulf south. Just give me a minute, but she's looking at me cause she doesn't know where I'm going. Next. You hesitated. The city is most famously known for its music, food, the accent festivals, celebrations, and most notably Mardi Gras. 

0  

00:53:12

And I put in all capital letters now chill out mobile, Alabama. I am getting to you right now. There is a may juror and I cannot emphasize that enough rivalry between mobile, Alabama and new Orleans over the rights to Mardi Gras. They was first. I have done the research and if I say that, Leah knows I have done research. And the first American Mardi Gras took place on March 3rd, 1699, when French explorers landed near present day, new Orleans, Louisiana, they held a small celebration and dubbed their landing spot point do Mardi Gras. 

0  

00:54:09

But the annual carnival celebration in Mo bill Alabama is the oldest. And you will a celebration of Mardi Gras in the United States when it started in 1703. There's a four year difference guys. Yes, the first Mardi Gras was in new Orleans, but the oldest annual Mardi Gras is in mobile. Just there you get clarification at the time, mobile was the capital of French Louisiana and the celebration began as a French Catholic tradition for all of our non Southern listeners. 

0  

00:55:00

Just, just heads up big deal. Never tell someone in mobile that they were not the originators of Mardi Gras. Hands will be thrown. They are serious about it. Big, big deal. And I just put, just give them a moon pie and go on about your day. Yes, they do throw a moon pie of a moon pie. I will. So I'm just saying that that is kind of an upper hand there. Just give them moon pie go on about your day, but never tell someone in mobile that they did not start Mardi Gras because it is a whole, it's a whole big thing. So they have the oldest annual Mardi Gras, but not the first one. 

0  

00:55:40

So let's just make sure that that's very clear. Any who carnival officially begins on the feast of the epiphany, also known in some Christian traditions as the 12th night of Christmas, Mardi Gras, French for fat Tuesday, the final and grandest day of traditional Catholic festivities is the last Tuesday before the Christian season of lint, which commences on Ash Wednesday essentially gone out, get drunk because now we're, we're settling in to lint. We got, we got Chris, we got Easter coming up. So we got to have fun. 

0  

00:56:20

We got along, we got to sweat out all, all the things before we go to church to the Catholic church was saying, 

1  

00:56:27

You do all your, you do all your, all the things you indulge because when you go to lint, that's when you, you, you give up something and so you are restraining or abstaining or, you know, correct. That sort of thing. And so I'm not Catholic, 

0  

00:56:44

But yes, that is so that's why, but that's why Mardi Gras is strategically placed. Which I mean, I S I'm sorry. I love you guys, but leave it to the Catholics to set aside an entire day to just get rash, duh. Well, I mean, you don't have four. You have to give it that's whatever. Look, throwing out, beads, lifting up shirts. That's what the whole thing is about. I'm going to saying I'm speaking of in 1721, the Royal is 

1  

00:57:21

Looking at me and say, 

0  

00:57:21

Speaking of I lived in musher, you'll see 7 17 21, the Royal engineer, Adrian dip hogger, I believe is how you say it designs the city's street layout in new Orleans. He named the streets after French Royal houses and Catholic saints. He paid homage to Francis ruling family, the house of bourbon with the naming of bourbon street. Remember what I said? Lymph insurance told you new Orleans was given to the Spanish in 1763, following the seven years war. 

0  

00:58:02

The great new Orleans fire in 1788 destroyed 80% of the city's buildings. The Spanish rebuilt many of the damaged structures, which are still standing today for this reason bourbon street and the French quarter display more Spanish than French and flu. There was a move in the 1960s under district attorney, Jim Garrison, a K a wet blanket to clean up bourbon street blankets. I mean, where's the lie in August of 19 62, 2 months after he was elected, Garrison began rating adult entertainment, establish mints on bourbon. 

0  

00:58:52

He forced a dozen nightclubs to close convicted of sex work and selling and selling overpriced alcohol. Now I'm on board with the second half selling over price that that's highway robbery. I'm just saying that's not nice. I'm just saying, but following this campaign, bourbon street was populated by peep shows and sidewalk. Beer stands when mayor moon laundry oh, came into office in 1970. He focused on his efforts on simulating tourism. 

0  

00:59:33

He did so by making bourbon street, a pedestrian mall to make it more inviting. The 1980s and 1990s were characterized by a Disney vacation of bourbon street. Critics of the rapid increase of souvenir shops and corporate ventures said that bourbon street had become Creole Disneyland, his storm with that. Cause it's not what it is. Historically. Noise violations were the responsibility of the individual making the noise. This is important. This changed in 1996 with Yoakam versus six 15 bourbon street, which ruled that the property owner, not the noise maker is responsible for any noise violations. 

0  

01:00:22

A 2010 city ordinance states that no music can be played in the French quarter between 8:00 PM and 9:00 AM. Needless to say, enforcement has been inconsistent. Yeah. And critics claim it's goals are at best vague. That's pretty ridiculous. Some even say that the local law is unconstitutional. Most claim that the noise ordinances threatened the city's notable music culture. Well, yeah, I mean a hundred percent pretty crazy bourbon street is the main tourist attraction of new Orleans and has over 17 million visitors annually. 

0  

01:01:06

I put arguably 10 million of those are during Mardi Gras. Just kidding. Maybe y'all y'all don't even y'all don't even know how many people flood to that city. Sorry. That was not a good way to say that flak realized <em></em> so sorry for that was too loud. That, that got me. Can I tell you another really dark joke? Oh no. I've always had dark humor. We are the reason that we get along, we know this Leah has never been to new Orleans, as she said before. 

0  

01:01:52

And I want to cafe Dumont, very popular, popular place. You get Bengay. That's where you get a cafe LA like chicory coffee. You live your best life, but well, let's go there. The floor because of the <em></em> I bet it's sticky. No hundred percent all the time. No excuses is covered in powdered sugar from vignettes crunchy. No, but it's a everywhere. I mean, everywhere. I had been to new Orleans before hurricane Katrina, long story. 

0  

01:02:33

Anyways, my joke, right? I keep in mind guys, this was 2015. So I was like 14. My joke was, I mean, that was one way to get the floors clean. Huh? So people flocked to new Orleans for Mardi Gras. Like it is so packed people. You've never think of times square. Not recently, but times square, new year's Eve like that. Yeah. Is how packed like the cost to get a hotel, to get anything there is astronomical. 

0  

01:03:14

Can I tell you something that, 

1  

01:03:15

And we upset. We went to universal. We were on our trip and we Ubered there to universal was like 25 bucks. The big deal we could not reserve an Uber back. It wouldn't allow us to reserve. So we get an April when we're ready to go back and we're shutting the park down at seven o'clock. It closes at seven o'clock by the way, that was very weird. Very weird. $60. 

0  

01:03:48

See guys, Leah doesn't use Uber Solita know about surge pricing. That's cheap. 

1  

01:03:53

That's ridiculous. 

0  

01:03:55

So there's surge pricing. That's 

1  

01:03:58

Ridiculous. 

0  

01:04:00

Did you know that there's also a law in like the Disney world area that Uber's and taxis have to be so many feet apart from each other because of the taxi drivers. They hate Uber anyways. It's whole thing, but yes, it's surge pricing. So that's ridiculous. It happens. It's been worse than that. I've I've caught it in Nashville at the wrong time hundred and $70, but insane. But what's crazy is that 

1  

01:04:26

Other places you can reserve it and you can reserve it for whatever price, but I couldn't reserve it in. 

0  

01:04:35

No, you usually can't it somewhere like that. Where people are like, a lot of people are getting out at one. They won't let you reserve it. 

1  

01:04:41

That is ridiculous. Okay. Second trip all the time. It made me very unhappy 

0  

01:04:47

<em></em> and understand this. Leah doesn't get surge pricing and Uber, but it's fine. I get him. I don't like it. Well, it's it happens. That's I mean, it's fine. It's 

1  

01:05:00

Not cool. It's not fun. It's not fun. 

0  

01:05:02

So I also cannot forget to include Jackson square Jackson square as a historical park in the French quarter of new Orleans, it was declared a national historic landmark in 1964, its central role in the city's as the site where in 1803, Louisiana was made United States territory pursuant to the Louisiana purchase in 2012, the American planning association, designated Jackson square as one of the great public spaces in the United States, I would agree. It's beautiful. 

0  

01:05:42

If you think of photos of new Orleans Jackson square is typically the first photo that will come up. It is a large green space in the middle of the city with a massive statue in the middle of Andrew Jackson, riding a horse and then behind it sits one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen in real life, which is the cathedral Basilica of St. Louis King of France, AKA the St. Louis cathedral. She comes up again to that's where president Bush landed when Katrina yes. Happened the French quarter. 

0  

01:06:21

That's that's where he, so the front or the Jackson square. So Jackson square quite literally is a square. If you were looking at Jackson square at head-on with the cathedral straight in front of you, cafe, du Monde is at the Southeast corner, like literally the Southeast corner of Jackson square. It is so good. Anyways, you can also get your just FYI for anybody who goes, you can get your Bing A's to go. There's a nice little stand to the side. Also cafe du Monde only takes cash, but unless you go to this little place on the side, I think where you can get your <em></em> to go, you'll get them a lot quicker. 

0  

01:07:03

You're never going to find a table just don't don't but anyways, everybody's got to go, Ben, you guys are the best and it may, he landed there. I met, he did his, his interview, right? Yeah, he did his that's what he meant. I did see that. Okay. We're getting to, we're getting to our last, this is the one. This is the one in 2015, a Gallup survey determines that new Orleans was one of the largest cities in the south with the largest LGBTQ community. This is historically significant because of what happened to the upstairs lounge in 1973, Alice not born yet on June 24th, 1973 on the second floor of the building located at 6 0 4 Iberville street, the upstairs lounge and his patrons became victims of an arson attack. 

0  

01:08:01

Again, I will really try not to cry. I've explained before how I hate. I hate unjustified hate towards people for no reason. I don't care your background. I don't care your color. I appreciate your background and your color at the same time, but that makes no point to me and being hateful towards any one. And it never should. Yeah. Events like this are senseless. And the events that happen after this senseless event will never make sense to me. 

0  

01:08:41

If you do listen to true crime obsessed, they did cover a documentary, which is, I believe it's called that. I believe it's called infer upstairs. Inferno, I think is what the documentary is called. TCO covers it extremely well, true crime, obsessed. They cover it. They cover it very, very well. They cover it very in depth. If you, you know, when we get to 1973, however many hundreds of episodes ahead of this, there is we'll get there. But if you want to go listen to the entire thing, now TCO has a fantastic episode on it. Like I said, I think I'll get to it in a second. I'll say what the name of the documentary is. I want to say it's upstairs Inferno, but okay. 

0  

01:09:26

32 people died and at least 15 were injured due to smoke inhalation or just the fire itself. The primary suspect was a man named Roger Dale Nunez. He was a gay man with a long history of psychiatric impairment. And he had been kicked out of the bar on the same day. The arson occurred. There is a lot of speculation that while in the bar he identified as gay outside of it. He did not. Okay. 

0  

01:10:06

So there is a lot of speculation and you'll find out why I continue to say speculation, that he had internalized homophobia because of his upbringing and he hated himself. Okay. If that roundabout makes sense. Okay. He could not accept himself, which made him hate other people who were gay, which makes no sense. Okay. Okay. Do you know what I mean? It makes sense, but it doesn't make sense. So that is why I say it is hate. Like it truly, it it's just Amos. 

0  

01:10:47

He was never officially charged, but based on the investigation and the events that followed, it was most likely that he was the culprit. They have proof of him going into multiple stores and gathering equipment to make a Molotov cocktail, to set the building on fire. They have proof of all of this. Just a bit of a trigger warning here. No one would ever officially find out though, because Nunez completed suicide in November of the next year because he knew he was kind of on the police radar for him, the official cause of the fire is listed as undetermined origin. While this did occur at a bar known to caters to the LGBT community. 

0  

01:11:30

At the time, there has never been any evidence, evidence that it was caused by hatred or overt homophobia. However, based on all of the information that has been gathered since it is highly likely, but based on police reports also keep in mind, this was in 1973. So just we'll get to that part in a moment as well. So, all right, where was I lost? Oh, on the day of the arson, the bar was having its regular beer plus drink special. I don't know what it is, but it sounds like a fun time. 

0  

01:12:10

And with the pride celebration that weekend, the bar was particularly packed. Stonewall happened four years before this. So the Stonewall riots, which created pride week because of the riots of the Stonewall bar. So all of this, this was only four years after like the Stonewall riots and all of that occurred. So that is why there was so some people might not think that there was a pride like that, that, that wouldn't be a thing. But Stonewall was before this, which created this. So just kind of a timeline. So the bar was particularly packed that day. I mean, it's new Orleans pride week. 

0  

01:12:51

I mean, what a year on the spot I was just saying at 7:56 PM, a buzzer from the downstairs sounded and bartender buddy Ross. Mucin an air force veteran asked to Luther bogs to answer the door, anticipating a taxi cab driver bogs opened the door to find the front staircase engulfed in flames. Along with the smell of lighter fluid, Rasmuson immediately led 20 patrons out of the back exit to the roof where they could access a neighboring buildings, roof and climbed down. Others saw the floor to ceiling window guys, if you don't want to hear a detail, like I can't not include this part just because I feel like it's a disgrace to people's memories to not include this, but I'll warn you not a triggery warning as such as bloody, like things like that. 

0  

01:13:44

But it, it personally hurt my art. So others saw the floor to ceiling windows as the easiest way out. Despite the fact that there were safety bars on the windows. Oh no. With a 14 inch gap between them to prevent dancers from breaking through the glass. Several people managed to squeeze through them. Some still burning when they reached the ground below oh, Luther bogs who keep in mind was the one who originally like went downstairs to open the door was one who came through the window and flames after pushing his female friend through the gap so that she could survive. 

0  

01:14:30

Just, yeah, the flames on bogs were extinguished by the owners of a neighboring bar, but he died on the 10th of July. 16 days later from third degree burns to 50% of his body. Gosh, Reverend bill Larson of the metropolitan community church, which was a pro LGBT Protestant denomination in the area, which I also found very fascinating for 1973, but good for you. He removed an air conditioning unit from the bottom of one floor to ceiling window and was attempting to get out trigger warning guys. I'm really sorry. He was attempting to get out when the upper pane of glass fell on top of him, no pinning him to the window frame, half in the building and half out his charred remains would be visible to onlookers for hours afterward recorded in many pictures, taken of the front of the building and the aftermath of the 16 minute fire do not Google this event, period, unless you want this photo to come up. 

0  

01:15:40

I mean, they, they, they took, they took this and they, a lot of people didn't, it was reporters that were there because, so it was a 16 minute fire. And it was one of those things that reporters were there and they were taking photos and there was so much going on. And then when they looked back at the photos later, they could see him, oh, they exist. And I have seen them, do you not know this? If you don't want to see it. So just, just, just to be aware, the assistant pastor George Mitch, Mitchell managed to escape, but returned in an attempt really to try to not get upset. 

0  

01:16:35

I'm already tearing up anyways. I'm going to pull myself together, but he returned in an attempt to rescue his partner. They considered themselves married based on a civil ceremony that they had two years previously, his partner was Louis. Horace Broussard, both died in the fire and their remains were found, holding each other. Wow. I okay. He got out. He was out like, and you volunteer. 

0  

01:17:17

Like you put yourself back to get the person you love. I don't care what sex you'd like. That's I wonder how they, he, the other one couldn't get out. Like how, how come they, I mean, they go into it later. When he came back in the way that he came back in, ended up being something had fallen and they were trapped. Wow. That's I, that, that was the part that as I was like, guys you'll have no clue how hard I was trying not to crash a second ago. It's so heartbreaking to me. 

0  

01:18:01

And then what happens next continues. Mitchell's children. So Mitchell was the assistant pastor of this church. He went back in to get his partner. Mitchell's children were visiting from out of town and watched the same movie seven times as they waited for their father's return. Oh no. So they had no clue what was going on. Eventually a friend took them to the airport and sent them home to their mother without telling them what happened to their father and his partner. Oh no, they had no clue. No. 

0  

01:18:44

Remember asset people are trash. Many churches refused to hold funerals for any of the dead on July 1st at a Unitarian church and St. Mark's United Methodist church headed by Louisiana's Methodist, Bishop fitness, Crutchfield fund name, and the metropolitan community church founder, which this was the church that was that these, the two who died in the fire, Reverend bill arson with the window, and then mention his partner. This was the founder of the church because there were different like places in the U S like a lot of different churches are, he was the founder. 

0  

01:19:27

His name was Reverend Troy Perry. And he came from Los Angeles to participate. There were riots going on outside of the church, as the funerals were going on. Oh my gosh. And people were attacked as they were walking in. And one reason they picked this church was because there was a side exit to the church that was not accessible by the public. Keep in mind at this time, guys, like you could truly get fired from your job for being gay. 

0  

01:20:09

You could like it. In some places, it was like a legal, like this was not. And a lot of the people who were friends with some of the victims were not publicly gay. Like they were, they were closeted as, as some people would say, and they did not want their faces shown. So they entered through the side of the building. So people didn't know that they were there, which is just sad, because they were afraid that people in the news were going to see them. And they were going to be on the news or their photo was going to be taken. And they were going to be in the paper. And so they were scared. So they went in the side entrance to the building. 

0  

01:20:50

But when they left a demonstration of new willingness to be identified on camera occurred, and a majority of the congregation walked out the front of the church with all the riders, with all the reporters, with all the cameras, because a lot of them said, I didn't want to be a coward for my friend. Like, you're some kind of hot, garbage. If you protest a funeral period, that's 

1  

01:21:31

Periodicals, thus, whether or not you agree with the way somebody lives their life, 

0  

01:21:37

It has nothing to do with 

1  

01:21:38

You, nothing to do with you. And guess what? They're dead. Let the people who left them and who are mourning them, mourn mind your business. 

0  

01:21:56

And the fact that churches in the area like they tried, because it took them several days to come together with funeral arrangements for people and churches were like, they're gay. We're not like people knew that this was, this was a gay bar. It was a peat, which I love too, which got me, like I said, there's a lot more of this story and we'll get to it at another time. But it was a piano bar after a certain time. And they would come in and everybody would play the piano and sing together. And it was just like, it was just like a fun place for people to get together, to be themselves. And like, what's more like, regardless of what you believe in, like, what's more beautiful than that than just like people getting together to be themselves. 

0  

01:22:36

Like, I'm weird guys. I'm real weird. And like, it's nice to be really is where it's nice to be able to be yourself, you know, and not have to be someone else in front of people. But I loved when they said that they had a P it would turn into a piano bar after a certain time at night, 

1  

01:22:55

I love to sit 

0  

01:22:55

Around and saying, there are several in new Orleans, 

1  

01:22:58

One of the best things in the world. When we went to Disney lookout avenue, I love, look, I still flying high on Disney. This, this whole week has just been a crash to reality. I don't know why I'm not with my fellow princesses still. I'm having to work like a commoner. And it's, it's just been a real shock to my system, but we did the frozen sing along. 

0  

01:23:23

Yeah. I mean, there's nothing better than like a good piano 

1  

01:23:29

To sink in with 

0  

01:23:30

People. I mean, so good anyways. 

1  

01:23:32

So when you say I got princess like Naomi, 

0  

01:23:35

Right? 

1  

01:23:38

So back to the garbage look, here's the deal. You don't have to agree with somebody, but they respect them as a, 

0  

01:23:51

Not even if somebody is dead. Just, I mean, just but, but 

1  

01:23:54

The, 

0  

01:23:56

The addition to that is just what is so infuriating. The, you would think it is okay to protest someone's funeral. 

1  

01:24:07

Yeah. That, that, that makes me angry or, I mean, and here I'm not make people angry and I'm sorry if I make you angry, I am truly sorry. If I make you angry, I go to a Baptist church. So we would not have a same-sex marriage at my church because it's a Baptist church. And that goes against the teachings of our 

0  

01:24:32

Presbyterian or 

1  

01:24:33

Ernie hive. And that's just, that's just right. I mean, that's, that's just where it is. However, there are people who I go to church with who have family members who are homosexual, you know, and if they 

0  

01:24:47

Were a part of the LGBT community, yes. 

1  

01:24:52

If they were to pass away, I don't think that they would refuse to have the funeral layer. You know, that, that, that's just not, that's not how, that's not how Christianity works. You know, you love others. That's the teaching. 

0  

01:25:12

That's not how humanity 

1  

01:25:13

Is not how he made it should work, should work as Christianity should work. Because those churches, they were wrong for saying no, will you see send, because that's what, that's what their premise was. That's that, that's what they, they were saying. That's what they're praying. 

0  

01:25:30

Pastor Bob, you never send a day. 

1  

01:25:33

That's what I was getting at that pastor 

0  

01:25:36

Bob, who's 50 pounds overweight. I'm sorry, sir. Gluttony is 

1  

01:25:39

A sin. Exactly. And that's exactly what I was getting at. I mean, it's not right. It's not right. And that, that makes me angry. You can't pick and choose that that's not right. And that makes me very angry. It's, it's frustrating. It's wrong. And they, and riding and, and picketing and, and you know, what, what gets it 

0  

01:26:04

Going to do you, I mean, 

1  

01:26:07

They're already gone. What, what, what good does that do? 

0  

01:26:12

I mean like, and do you feel good going to bed at night? Like, do you feel good about yourself? Like, you feel like, like, you feel like that, that, that you did that day contributed somehow to society, 

1  

01:26:22

You know? Okay. Go. I want you to come stand in front of my preschool class that I was talking about, that I was, that I was teaching about segregation and explain to them what you did and have them, you know, explain to them what you did and see their reaction. Their reaction will tell you if what you did was right or not 

0  

01:26:43

Just it's crazy. Well, in this part got me too, because a lot of the people who, some of the people who did pass away or they did die, some of the people who did pass away during the fire, we're not out as far as their family was concerned. 

1  

01:27:07

No. 

0  

01:27:08

So several families never stepped forward to claim the bodies of members 

1  

01:27:15

Claim. Oh, no. Now say there's, here's the thing. I mean, I have friends who are part of that, that community. And, and I claimed them and I left them because you know what? I love people. 

0  

01:27:29

It's just, that's your, that's your friend, 

1  

01:27:33

Family. And yeah. 

0  

01:27:34

And we'll get, we'll get more into it in a, in a bit, but a few anonymous individuals step forward and paid for the three unknown men's burials, they were buried, heartbreaking. They were buried with another victim who was identified as Ferris LeBlanc in a mass grave at Holt cemetery. LeBlanc's family would not learn of his death in the arson attack until January of 2015. Oh mom in 2018, Robert El Camino director of the upstairs Inferno documentary. So yes, it is called upstairs. Inferno announced in the advocate that after extensive research, one of the three unknown victims could finally be identified as 32 year old, Larry Norman frost. 

0  

01:28:21

Camina noted in the documentary quote. I was shocked at the disproportionate reaction by the city government, the city declared days of mourning for victims of other mass tragedies in the city. It shocked me that despite the magnitude of the fire, it was largely ignored. So it wasn't even in no one's mind. It wasn't even a thing, like you said, the right 

1  

01:28:46

Community. 

0  

01:28:49

And which is why I said at the beginning of this, that it 

1  

01:28:51

Said that sarcastically 

0  

01:28:53

It's, it's amazing to me, like at the beginning of this little section that like by 2015, Gallup poll said, this was one of the most accepting places for the LGBT community to be, which is just like made Mart happy. Because like, I mean, like I said, any, the ability to be yourself in any sense in the word, and I know this very well, the ability to be yourself is very freeing in any regard. Yeah. And I mean, I'm very aware of that due to things in my life, but the ability to do that is very freeing and it, and for people to be able to have a, a safe space to do that is, is wonderful. 

0  

01:29:35

So I was just very happy that, I mean, while this did happen in 1973, yes. It was a long time ago. I was happy to see that it, it it's definitely turned or maybe 

1  

01:29:46

The complete one. And I will say, I may, and not even sexuality was just being yourself, period. I mean, you know, I am 42 years old now. And, and I will say that with, with age sound, like, you know, was an old lady now, but as I have gotten older, I am more comfortable in my old Emma and skin, you know, I mean, I've always been outspoken, but I am more likely to advocate for myself as well as others. 

1  

01:30:30

I've always advocated for others more than myself, but I will speak up for myself more now than what than I used to. If I, if I feel like something's not right for me, I'll speak up more now, more than I used to. And I'm more comfortable, you know, 

0  

01:30:52

Because you, you get to a point in your life where you realize that it really doesn't matter what other people think. Absolutely. I mean like AV, so the best thing that I ever heard was someone's opinion of you is none of your business 

1  

01:31:06

Lately. And once you realized that you're like, Hey, hot 

0  

01:31:11

Dignity. I mean, it's just anyways. Yeah. 

1  

01:31:16

The abs. And that's absolutely right though. And once you realize that and, and the most powerful word you can ever say is no, 

0  

01:31:27

Yes, yes. As incorrect. 

1  

01:31:31

But I mean, really once you, once you realize that you can say no, and it's okay to say names, 

0  

01:31:38

Boundaries, 

1  

01:31:40

And, and once, once you realize that you can do that and it's okay to do that. And, and, and it's healthy. It's healthy to say, no, you don't always have to say yes. And if somebody is upset with you, it's okay. 

0  

01:31:51

What we're saying is that Leonardo are going to start a spin off podcast where we just give you unsolicited advice. 

1  

01:31:57

What about really? Because that's, when you really learn how to be yourself and learn that, you know what, I don't have to do what everybody wants me to do and I can do what, you know what I mean? You know, within reason, like, dude, don't do illegal stuff, murders. 

0  

01:32:16

Yeah. We know, we know it's 

1  

01:32:21

Be kind murders bad. Yes. 

0  

01:32:24

I mean live by best. I mean, truly. So we'll wrap it up. We're already into that. Now you see why this is a two part episode guys. So this is the last section largest of the city's music festivals is the new Orleans jazz and heritage music festival, which is commonly referred to as jazz Fest. Other major festivals include Southern decadence, the French quarter festival and the Tennessee Williams, new Orleans literary festival. The American playwright lived and wrote in new Orleans, early in his career and set his play streetcar named desire there in 2002, Louisiana began offering tax incentives for the film and television production industry. 

0  

01:33:15

This has resulted in a sustainable increase in activity and brought the nickname Hollywood south for new Orleans films produced in and around the area include Ray runaway jury. The Pelican brief, the hand tastic movie glory road, all the King's men, deja VU also fantastic. Last holiday also fantastic. The curious case of Benjamin button, 12 years of slave fantastic Benjamin 

1  

01:33:49

Button 

0  

01:33:50

Kind of Creek, man, it's creepy. That's why I didn't say fantastic. Creepy and project power. New Orleans professional sports teams include the 2009 super bowl chance. The new Orleans saints and the new Orleans pelicans who are their MBA team. It is also home to the big, easy roller girls and all female flat track roller Derby team. Don't mess with those girls, not these either. And the new Orleans blaze, a women's football team do not miss much like our episode in Chicago. There is an entire Wikipedia page for notable people from new Orleans. 

0  

01:34:32

So here are just a few and by a few, I mean a lot. We have writers who include Truman Capote and William Faulkner levy, spear Parmley who was the inventor of dental floss, Al Copeland, the creator of Popeye's chicken, Ruth for tell Ruth's Chris steak house. 

1  

01:34:54

My husband says pop, by the way, can't stand house 

0  

01:34:57

Says it. We have Michael. We have chef Leah chase. She was known as the queen of Creole cuisine. The way I like it, we have Sylvis stroke, Caro, AKA silver dollar Sam. Ah, he was an Italian American mob boss of the new Orleans crime family. Just want to put in here. He died on June 26. It was 21 years before I was born. But there is an important question. Am I a mob boss? Reincarnated. You're going to make me an offer. I can refuse. 

0  

01:35:38

You'll be sleeping with the fishes. I'm going to give you some cement shoes and you can walk off the end of a pier tele. I make a good mob boss. Anyway, you aren't going to scare you. Sometimes. We then have Sandra Bullock love. She still lives there. Her dad lives in Birmingham, Anthony Mackie, who is the Falcon? Tyler Perry, Reese Witherspoon, Hoda. Copy. It is caught beef for anybody who's ever wondered how to say her last name for music. We have Louis Armstrong. We have Brian Christopher Williams, who goes by the stage name Birdman I'll continue. 

0  

01:36:20

Harry Connick. Duner I love him. Love, love him. DJ Khalid, fats, domino, and last but not least. I've got to wrap up this episode with my personal favorite notable figure from new Orleans. Oh dear. This will surprise some people and others not surprise them at all. His name is Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. AKA Lil Weezy, Weezy F baby. 

0  

01:37:01

But you might know him as little Wayne. When I tell you guys how obsessed I am, this obsession knows no bounds. I love him. Love him. He's amazing. He's amazing. He taught, he there's a saying, I didn't put this in here, but it's anyways, you can find it. He did an interview somewhere and it was run along whatever. This is an amazing story. You'll love it. He, so he grew up in like a really bad area of new Orleans. 

0  

01:37:42

And when he was very, very, very, very young, he was shot. Well, like by someone passing by like mob, my mom, like a gang shooting nearby. And he was shot when he was very, very young. Someone asked him in an interview, how do you feel about the current state of the racial environment? Someone asked him that question, guys, that shouldn't be a shock Lil Wayne's black just mean. So he goes to tell this story and it's one of the most beautiful stories that I've ever heard by anyone that explains stuff so well. And he explained that when he was younger, he was shot and that everyone around him wasn't doing anything. 

0  

01:38:30

And someone ran up to him and started yelling at people to go call 9 1 1, and to go do this and to go do that. And immediately was holding him together to stop him from bleeding. And he ends up in the ambulance, headed to the hospital. He didn't have anyone with him. Keep in mind. He is very young and he looks beside him and there's this police officer. And so he gets he's in the hospital and he's been sewed up and everything. And he looks over and the nurse walks in and looks at him. And guys there's an exact story out there, but this is pretty much what I remember and asked him if there was any family with him and the police officer steps forward and says, I'm his uncle Bob while. 

0  

01:39:23

And he knew him from that day forward. And at the end of the interview, he says, I don't know anything about racism or black or white, but I know a good <em></em> named uncle Bob. And I was like through my work, because the way he tells it is just because he's so like sly. And he said just the way that he talks. I mean, yeah. I mean, look, it was, yes, it was beautiful. But he, I mean, like for those who don't know he was signed when he was only 12. Yeah. He was leaves little by Birdman, who I mentioned earlier. Birdman is amazing. He is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation and often cited as one of the greatest rappers of all time. 

0  

01:40:12

The Carter three is the best album of all time. You can never convince me otherwise ever, ever. If anybody knows a little Wayne, you know that the number one way in 2009 to figure out if your car had good bass was to play a Milly, it still is today. And I'm just saying, it's one, you either go harder. You don't little Wayne has some of the best lines in music that I've ever heard such as life is a beach. I'm just playing in the sand. Come on. I'm sorry. I mean, he's anyways, he's amazing. He says I'm on a paper trail. I'm not even, I'm not at any or write this down. 

0  

01:40:52

He says, I'm on a paper trail and it ain't no telling where it took me and I'm going to kill her, but don't push me. Yes, yes. Amazing. I mean, anyways, he has many lines that are just, oh, you hear him? And it just gets you. And I'm like, dang, that was good. Anyways. I just went straight to pretty good lyricist. I mean, he's, it's fine anyways. Well, Wayne's amazing. He's done a lot of things. He's written like all of his albums he's written like, so there's the Carter three. There's the Carter four. There's all these albums. There's like this rumor out there, generational. Ganim showing there's a rumor out there that he's written through. 

0  

01:41:34

Like the quarter to 20. I mean, it's insane. He has, I want to meet him one day. His wife, I may leave my boyfriend for her. She is gorgeous. She's a plus size model. And I want to say, she's Puerto Rican or Dominican. She's one of the two. So sorry if I got that wrong. I know that that's not a good thing to do. She's one of the two she's I looked at who he was married to. And I was like, oh, who's she clicked on her photo. And I went, oh, ma'am having feelings. 

0  

01:42:19

She's like, oh my God. And knew. I mean, amazing. And on that note, one day you'll find little way on our website saying how much he loves us. But until then you can go find it and all owing you see information. You're looking for. If anybody wants a special podcast, just on low Wayne, let me know. I'll do it. We are one nation under crime on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and at O in UC pod on Twitter. If you love our podcast, as much as we do, and we know you do, please follow us. Recommend us to your friends, family, coworkers, strangers on the street, cache Disney. 

0  

01:43:02

I did that. Get people to roll down their window in like when you're in traffic and just yell, yell at them across. It's fine. And then go leave his five star review on apple podcasts. We do have a Patriana. We are going to record an episode for it tonight, along with everything else we have to sign. So go to our Patrion. You can find it by searching for one nation under crime. We appreciate you guys listening to this extended episode of one nation under crime. Just wait till we make it to next week. We get to talk about Nicholas cage and ghosts. So we will see you here. 

0  

01:43:45

Same time, but same crime next week. And remember rhe there isn't always Liberty and justice for all. Nope. Nope. Unless you love little Wayne. So we'll see you here next week, guys. Bye.