The True Story of Kelly Bates: A Case That Can’t Be Forgotten

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James Smith looked like your average middle-aged guy.

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Neatly dressed, didn't drink, didn't smoke, kept his house spotless.

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The kind of man who at a glance might seem responsible, but responsible men don't leave a trail

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of destruction everywhere they go.

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And James, he was less neat freak and more walking red flag factory.

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He moved through relationships like a wrecking ball, each one worse than the last.

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But when he met Kelly Bates, things escalated in a way that shocked even veteran investigators.

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This is a story about one man's unchecked violence.

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It's about manipulation, control, and a system that let it happen.

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This is the story of James Smith and how the warning signs were there long before it

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was too late.

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But before we dive in, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable, you're in the

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right place.

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Hit follow now for at least two new episodes every week.

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This is 10 Minute Murder.

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Let's get into it.

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In 1980s Manchester, James Smith looked like the kind of man who had his life together,

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middle aged, well groomed, and with an almost obsessive dedication to keeping his home spotless.

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He stood out, especially among his peers, who were more inclined to enjoy a pint.

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Or several, James didn't drink, he didn't smoke.

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On paper, he seemed like the kind of guy that mothers would approve of.

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But James Smith was a walking facade beneath the polished surface was a man who thrived

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on control, cruelty, and violence.

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Everywhere he went, destruction followed, relationships ruined, live shattered, and in

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a pattern of abuse that grew worse with every new victim.

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By 1980, James Smith's marriage was falling apart, not because of infidelity or drifting

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apart, but because he had turned into a nightmare of a husband.

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On their wedding day, he had played the role of the doding partner, but over the next decade,

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the mask slipped.

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What started as charm and affection eroded into routine violence until his wife was living

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in constant fear.

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The abuse wasn't occasional.

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It was daily, and by the time she had the chance to leave, the damage, physical, and emotional

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had already been done.

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The divorce gave James something he hadn't had in years.

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He didn't use it to better himself, instead he saw it as an opportunity to trade up.

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He's done with women his own age.

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He wanted someone younger, prettier, and easier to control.

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Entered 20-year-old Tina Watson, she checked all the boxes for James, young, impressionable,

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and willing to believe he was the charming, respectable man he presented to be.

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But it didn't take long for reality to set in.

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"At first, it was now and again, just a little tap."

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Tina would later say, "But in the end, it was every day.

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He would smack me in the face or hit me over the head with an ash tray.

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He would kick me in the legs or between the legs."

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The abuse escalated, as it always did with James, and one day while Tina was in the bath,

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he took things further than he ever had before.

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He crept up behind her, grabbed her, and shoved her head under the water.

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Tina was fighting for her own life, plus fighting for the life of the unborn child growing inside her.

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Tina Watson had endured months of relentless abuse, punches, kicks, and the kind of violence

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that made no exception for the fact that she was carrying James's child.

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But when he shoved her head underwater, something shifted.

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There was no illusion of control, no hope of things getting better.

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This wasn't just another beating.

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This was an attempt to kill her.

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That moment was enough.

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Tina fought her way out of the bath, out of the apartment, and out of James's life for

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good.

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But James wasn't the type to reflect and change.

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As soon as one victim escaped, he simply found another.

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Tina was 20 years old, but James had already decided that younger was better, easier to manipulate,

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easier to control.

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So, when he set his sights on his next victim, he went even younger.

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15-year-old Wendy Modershed.

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There's a world of difference between 15 and 20, both legally and morally.

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But to James, it didn't matter.

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He treated Wendy the same way he treated all the women in his life.

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The charm, at first, the slow introduction of violence, the gradual increase in control,

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the occasional slap into daily beatings.

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And then, one day, he shoved her head under the kitchen sink and tried to drown her.

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Wendy got away, but James wasn't done.

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By 1993, James had decided that even 15 was too old.

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His next target was 14-year-old Kelly Bates.

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Kelly was still in high school, still living with her parents, a level of protection that

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made things harder for James.

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At least in the beginning.

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Her days were structured.

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Her parents expected her home.

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She showed up with unexplained bruises they would have questions.

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So James played the long game.

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For two years, he kept his hands off Kelly.

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Not because he wasn't violent, he was, but because he was smart enough to know that he

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needed her to trust him first.

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He convinced her to keep their relationship a secret, manipulated her into sneaking out,

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into lying about where she was.

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By the time she was 17, she was ready to move in with him.

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James was 49.

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Kelly's parents didn't even know his real age.

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She had introduced them to James over the phone, never in person, and against their better

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judgment, they reluctantly agreed to let her move out.

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Under one condition, regular contact.

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It was only after Kelly had been living with James for a while that her mother, Margaret,

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met him by chance.

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Quote, "Kelly brought him home when I was out.

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As I walked in, he swaggered down the stairs.

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Margaret made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

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He was much older than I expected and looked a bit like John Denver.

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But he was smart.

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He said nice to meet you at last.

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And all I could think of was how I wanted to get rid of him."

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Margaret had never met this man before, but she knew instantly that he was dangerous.

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She even admitted to having a brief, violent thought in that moment.

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I vividly recall seeing our bread knife in the kitchen and wanting to pick it up and

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stab him in the back.

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I've thought about that many times.

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But she didn't.

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Instead, she and her husband did what they could.

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They tried to reason with Kelly to tell her that she deserved better.

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But James had already done the damage.

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He spent years grooming her, making her believe that she needed him, that she was lucky to have

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him.

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They couldn't push too hard.

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If they did, they risk pushing her right back into his arms.

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Despite James's control, Kelly's parents made one thing clear.

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He always had a home to come back to.

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At one point, she took them up on that offer.

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James had finally shown her what he was capable of.

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The abuse turned physical, and for a brief moment, Kelly saw a way out.

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She left him and moved back with her parents.

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But James wasn't about to let her go.

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He was unemployed, which meant he had nothing but time.

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He stalked her, harassed her, wore her down until eventually she agreed to move back

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in with him.

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This time, he tightened his grip.

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He forced her to quit her job, stopped letting her leave the house.

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He rarely allowed her to call her parents.

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And when Kelly's family received birthday and anniversary cards from her, they immediately

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noticed something strange.

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The handwriting inside belonged to James.

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Kelly had not written a word of it.

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They started asking around, trying to find out if anyone had seen their daughter.

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A concerned neighbor pressed James for proof that Kelly was okay.

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Fortunately, he allowed Kelly to stand in front of an upstairs window for a few seconds

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before yanking her away.

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That was supposed to be enough to silence any questions.

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But of course it wasn't.

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Kelly's older brother went to the house next, demanding to see his sister.

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James lied, saying she wasn't home.

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The brother started asking around and eventually got word that Kelly had been seen in the neighborhood.

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Relieved, he assumed that she was okay and left.

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It wasn't until later that the family realized something horrifying.

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The sighting of Kelly, their friend, had reported.

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It happened months earlier.

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By the time her brother had shown up at the door, Kelly had already been mutilated beyond

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recognition.

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James Smith finally picked up the phone and called the police.

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He told them there had been an accident.

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That Kelly had drowned in the bath.

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But anyone familiar with James knew better.

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When authorities arrived at the house, they stepped into a nightmare.

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Blood stains, restraints, evidence of prolonged torture.

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And in the bedroom, Kelly's body.

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She had suffered over 150 separate injuries.

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Scalded with boiling water, burned with an iron, stabbed with knives, forks, scissors,

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whatever James could get his hands on.

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Her ears, nose, mouth, lips and genitals had been mutilated.

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Her hair had been ripped out in chunks, likely when he tied her to the radiator by her scalp.

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And she was missing her eyes.

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The pathologist to examine Kelly's body, William Lawler, later said, "In my career, I have

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examined almost 600 victims of homicide, but I have never come across injuries so extensive."

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The autopsy revealed that Kelly had also been starved, losing nearly 45 pounds in her final

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months.

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In the last week of her life, she had been given nothing to drink.

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The prosecution against James didn't meant words.

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But the injuries were not the result of one sudden eruption of violence.

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They must have been caused over a long period, and were so extensive and terrible that the

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defendant must have deliberately and systematically tortured the girl.

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James, of course, refused to take responsibility.

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He blamed Kelly, said she had wound him up, claimed she had taunted him about his dead mother,

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and dared him to be more violent.

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As if any sane person would believe that a 17-year-old girl would invite this level of

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brutality.

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His excuses didn't hold up.

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It took the jury less than an hour to find him guilty.

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"You are an abuser of women," the judge told him, "as he sentenced him to life in prison,

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and I intend so far as it is in my power that you will abuse no more."

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The jury was so disturbed by the evidence that they were offered counseling after the trial.

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Years later, Kelly's mother still lives with the "what ifs."

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The moment she met James and felt the instinctive, stomach-churning dread, the bread knife in her

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kitchen, the thought she had, if only for a moment.

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"I want him to die just like Kelly did.

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I know I shouldn't say this, but I wish I'd killed him the first time I saw him.

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That way, Kelly would still be alive."

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Thanks for listening to this episode of 10 Minute Murder.

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I'm Joe, the host, and you know it's allergy season when I can barely make it through an

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episode without starting to sound horse and raspy and quiet, and it sneaks up on me.

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I didn't expect this when I started.

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I felt completely fine, but then boom, it hit me, and I had a power through it.

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I hope it didn't take away too much from the episode.

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This is an important case.

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If you've never heard of this case, I'd encourage you to do a little bit more research

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on it.

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It's terrifying, it's tragic, and more people need to know about this case.

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But again, sorry about my voice.

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I wish I could do something about it, but allergy season is going to allergy season.

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So here we are.

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And if you know me personally, you know that I don't usually call it allergy season.

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I call it allergy season.

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And that's basically what was happening during this episode.

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I cut all of that out, by the way.

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You'll hear zero sneezes on this episode because I'm a true professional.

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Hey, if you're new to the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening

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right now.

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You can go to 10minutemurder.com, get all the information about the show, see pictures about

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what we're talking about, and find links to follow on social media.

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And someone asked me recently why I stopped reading emails from those of you that listen

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at the end of the podcast episodes, and I don't really have a good answer for that.

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I didn't really do it every single episode before, but I definitely did stop at some point.

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No real reason for that.

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I just did.

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Let's do that.

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Hello, Joe.

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Love the podcast.

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And I love when you used to talk about random things that bother you, that shouldn't bother

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you at the end of episodes.

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Bring that back.

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Lisa in Twin Cities.

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Well, Lisa, today's your lucky day because today I heard something that really got under

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my skin.

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I was listening to, it was either MSNBC or CNN, something, and there was someone on their

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talking and they used the word genuine, but they didn't say genuine.

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They said genuine.

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And I didn't know until today I hate genuine.

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Not the singer.

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Genuine singer is fantastic.

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I mean, genuine pronouncing that word that way.

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Didn't know until today I hate that.

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I turned it off.

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Like I literally turned this whole radio thing to just shut it down because genuine bothers

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me that much.

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I don't, I was in morning traffic so that could have been part of it.

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I was already frustrated, but just no going forward.

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I hate genuine.

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Hope that was the answer you're looking for.

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All right, that's going to do it.

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That's your episode for today.

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Thank you so much for listening to 10 Minute Murder.