cover of episode The House

The House

2024/7/22
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Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind. Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI.

In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

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Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Previously on Number One Dad. Have you seen the house lately? You still have the house? Yeah, yeah. I don't plan on getting rid of it.

So yeah, tomorrow's the day I am going to meet my dad after all this time. What do you think about that? I honestly never thought that I would ever witness this. The recorder's in my bag with the mic sticking out of my bag. I have that, which it blends in so well. I love how proud you are. A little late. I'm sorry. Just a taste of what you think. You said when the course is over, that's when I can get Kobe back. I never got to see my dog again. I'm glad you're telling me that.

I can tell you I'm sorry. He would have probably been better off with you than with me. All right, bud. It was a great talk. I'm not pushing you for anything, but I do want to see you again. I really want to see you again. Take it. You know, day by day.

I'm here to talk about my life and you're a voice in that. Look, I gotta be honest with you. It feels like I'm setting myself up for a fall. After I secretly recorded the first meeting with my father at the Second Avenue Deli, I ended up telling him all about the podcast. But he had a ton of concerns. I'm looking to show that you're an interesting person. You're a person that I haven't talked to in 24 years. But what's the reason for that?

What is the reason for that? I don't know. How can you show it in something like that? What will that tell somebody? Well, that's what I want to talk to you about. It's like a lot of history. So it's like piecing together things we've gone through. Right. Okay, let me ask you something. Yeah. Do you plan on using this with anybody else outside of your podcast? What do you mean using it with anybody else by that?

Like you're using it in any way to hurt me or create problems, legal problems or anything? No, it's to make a podcast. That's what this is for. The next step is to go to the house to just, you know, walk around. Okay, but no video, no cameras, no pictures. Yeah, I wouldn't be doing that. Okay. But yeah. I'm just telling you, there's no leeway there. So you let me search if I want to. For a camera? Yeah.

For anything. Make sure you still got your balls. Yeah, no. Is there something you want to take away with you when you come? Is that part of your plan? There's no part of my plan, but I mean, if you did have the Adam Graves stick, I would take that.

Back in 1994, the New York Rangers were playing the Quebec Nordiques, and this would be the first time my dad and I ever ran our SI for Kids scam for a Rangers game. So the Rangers would go on to win, and my dad and I go into the locker room so I could interview the players. They had a great team that would go on to win the Stanley Cup that year, and one of their star players was Adam Graves. Graves ended up giving me his game stick and even signed it. I was beside myself.

What also made this night so memorable was there was a terrible snowstorm in New York, so my dad and I were forced to stay in the city. I still have the image ingrained in my head of him fast-talking the employee at the front desk of the Hotel Pennsylvania to get the lowest possible rate. Of course he succeeded. I remember lying in bed, the Adam Graves stick next to me, thinking what a cool night.

And I guess the stick helps cherish this memory a little bit. Also, it would look pretty cool in my son's room. I don't have any control here. It's all in your hands. So, would you mind meeting with my attorney and signing some papers if we need it? Do you have a problem with that? Okay, that's fine. Okay, alright. Listen to me, can I tell you something? Yeah. I love you, I've always loved you, and there's nothing...

That in my power, if it's reasonable, that I wouldn't do for you. Just understand that. You'll be able to come into the house and see your room, okay? Yeah. And we'll talk. This is Number One Dad. Testing, one, two, test, test, test, testing. All right, I am...

In my old neighborhood, I am about to go into my house. This is pretty wild. I haven't been in here since I was 15. That's when I left to go to boarding school. I never came back. We'll see if he actually lets me in. I don't know. There we go. Does it look the same? Looks a little. I mean, it looks very similar, yeah. I mean, this stuff here. Here, I'll mic you up.

What? I'll mic you up. Okay. I'm not going to talk finances or money about anything. No, that's fine. Just leave out whatever you don't want. Okay. That's good. Yeah, just don't talk about anything you don't want to talk about. Like the length of my penis? No, yeah, you don't want people to know that it's a quarter of an inch. A quarter of an inch? So this is how a father and son from Long Island reunite. Over dick jokes. Yeah, hold on, hold on one second, hold on. What I want you to do is I want you to make this statement.

for me, for the record, that this is part of the podcast and whatever is being said here could be exaggerated for the purposes of... Entertainment. Entertainment. Strictly for the purposes of entertainment. Before my father would let me in the house, he made me record a video to make sure he was covered from any potential legal blowback. That's my dad. He knows how to cover his ass.

Okay, you introduce yourself now. All right. Look at you. You look so handsome, my boy. Okay, thanks. Well, anyway, here we are. My name's Gary Veeder. We're doing a podcast with my father. Why don't you show yourself right there? There you go. See that we look alike. And this podcast we're doing, it's for entertainment.

Basic ideas to depict the history of my childhood and my relationship with my father. What's that? I'm number one. Number one dad. And the name of the podcast is Number One Dad. There you go. I'm happy to be here with my son. It's been 24 years since we've had any real communication between us.

And I want to say that wasn't because of me. It's pretty crazy to hear stuff like that from my father. He still doesn't get the role he played in us not speaking all these years. That he's the reason our family is no longer a family. I wanted to tell him all this right then and there, but I also didn't want him to pull the plug on me going through the house. So I decided it was best to tread lightly. Hey, you know, whenever...

I had an idea and I said I wanted to meet somebody. Yeah. I pulled it off. Do you recall that? Yeah. Do you remember the room that we met Jordan in? It was him and the coach until Jackson was in there. Right, right. The assistant coaches. It was like a private room where they let him just relax by himself. Yeah. But he was sitting on a fucking hard bench. It wasn't like a nice recliner. No, he was just in there. He was just like shooting the shit with them. See these bikes? You know what I do with them? What? I fix them and I give them to local kids.

Is the bike story the part that's fabricated in all of the podcast to make yourself look good? That's the truth. Buses here, the school buses, if they're stopped, you can't go by them. Yeah, they have a sign. Well, they got a camera. Oh.

Oh, okay. I know. That makes sense. I got a $200 ticket. Oh, really? Oh, yeah, but I'm fighting it. They said I rolled by the camera. The fucking picture shows these brake lights are on. Yeah. You can't ticket me and tell me I'm rolling by while my brakes are on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good. You know?

So I'm going to court over it. I bet you are. I'll fuck them. I fight everything. I know. Two things you told me. One thing, never admit your guilt. And the other thing you told me was that if you ever see, this was in connection with more so like when we would sneak into the movie theater. Right. If you ever see, you know, a father doing something for his kid,

Don't call them out on it. Let them get through with it because they're doing something for their family and maybe they don't have the means to provide. Exactly right. When you're raised by a con man, you grow up with some life lessons that are definitely a little different. As we walked from the front of the house to the side, I looked up and saw my old tree house, still intact. And it brought back tons of happy memories of my sisters and me going down the slide and swinging from the monkey bars. I couldn't believe it was still there.

On September 17, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was released from the Malibu Lost Hill Sheriff's Station. She had no money, no phone, and no ride. She walked out of the station and into the night. And she never made it home. Nearly a year later, Mitrice's naked, skeletonized remains were discovered in a canyon six miles from the station.

I'm Dana Goodyear. Five years ago, I started reporting on the Mitrice Richardson case. Everyone knows something horrible happened to Mitrice. Nothing about her case makes sense. And for 15 years, the Sheriff's Department has failed to solve it. In Lost Hills, Dark Canyon, we're investigating what happened to Mitrice Richardson.

Listen to Lost Hills, Dark Canyon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. There's something different about the conversations we have late at night. They often spin off in strange and wonderful directions. So we asked, what if those laid back conversations were with some of the biggest musicians in the world and some of the most interesting new artists we love right now?

Midnight Chats has already welcomed Tame Impala, Charlie XCX, Mark Ronson, Vince Staples and many others. Our biggest and best series is happening right now. So join me, Greg Cochran and me, Stuart Stubbs, as we talk to our favourite musicians about the things they don't usually talk about. I'm feeling more okay with being a diva. There was one birthday when I went to a graveyard.

Every partner that I've ever had, when they look at my texts with my mother are like, how are you sharing this information? Listen to the new series of Midnight Chats every Tuesday night on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. Back in 1969, this was the hottest song around. So hot that some guys from Michigan tried to steal it. It's hot.

My name is Daniel Ralston. For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history. A group would have a hit record, and quickly they would hire a bunch of guys to go out and be the group. People were being cheated on several levels. After years of searching, we bring you the true story of the fake zombies. I was like blown away. These guys are not going to get away with it.

Listen to the true story of the fake zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come up here. We're going into the house. Oh, you could go in this way? All right. That is my key. Thank you for doing this. This, you know, means a lot. Well, hey, I did it because when you first asked, I said I would do it. And then, you know, I told you, I met with my lawyer. He had some reservations about me doing this. But, um...

Okay, step over here. Okay. Oh wow, that picture. Which one? The one with me right there, yeah. That one was taken in Pennsylvania. We were near a wood-covered bridge. Was there, right next to me, is there, there's another picture? There's another picture. Go climb over there. Squeeze through. You can fit through. Jesus Christ.

There are boxes everywhere. Just like my family life growing up, the house is an absolute mess. Honestly, it looks like nothing has been thrown out in 24 years. Move that big blue box so I know what you're talking about. I can see the picture. What is that picture? It's Jamie and Danny at... This is Israel. That's Masada. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want you to get pissed. I don't show too many pictures of you. It's not intentional, but you did...

write me off. So did all your other children. Yeah, well, you know, that was their choice, not mine. Well, you know, everything, you know, you're an adult. You have to realize that

If everybody or a lot of your family don't want to talk to you, maybe it's not them. Maybe it's you. Of course it's me. Who else can it be? This conversation with my father was how all conversations my entire childhood would go. You never really got the healthy resolution you were looking for. While I tried to convey that he's the one responsible for the disconnect in our family, he's never been able to take full accountability. You got a lot of stuff in here.

You ain't seen shit yet, bud. But I remember this is the gate. That was for Kobe. Yeah, it's still here. It got chewed by Kobe. Yeah. Not only did my house look almost exactly the same, the gate we used for my dog Kobe still had his teeth marks in it.

I don't know if my father kept the gate up for sentimental reasons or pure laziness, but of all the things I'd seen so far, this hit me the hardest. That's a great picture of me playing hockey. You forgot about that picture? Yeah, I don't remember it. Yeah, you don't want to remember it because it has to do with me. Come on up, Bubba. Why do you call me that?

We walked up to my old bedroom and all my old stuff was still on the walls.

Oh, wow, you have the poster. Yeah, come here. This is what you did. You were pissed at me, Sue. I told you, you ripped a hole in here. Yeah, right. That's where you were. That's where I was. You remember doing that? I do, yeah. I was pissed at you. Can I give this to Sully? These cards? Yeah, if you want to. It's up to you. I didn't open that up. It's probably got that, some great hole. They actually have a gun. There's gum in here. That's how old it is. Thanks. I was definitely, I'm going to give this to him.

What is this picture? That's amazing. What's amazing? That I get divorced from your mother and I wanted to hold on to a lot of things? I mean, no, it's just, I mean... What do you think, I wrote you guys off? Well, I mean, this isn't keeping things to... To what? To like a high, you know, quality. I mean, a lot of it's hoarding, but the fact that you hoarded so much stuff is actually great. By the way...

Did you ever get the checks that I was sending you for child support or your mother told you she never got child support? Did she say that too? I have no idea if I was getting anything. The court made me send child support payments and I sent it to her always in a check, no cash. So I can't say, well, Gary, I gave her cash. There were always checks and she had to sign for them. So, you know, I'm just telling you.

So a lot of things you may have heard. Nobody ever came back to me for a rebuttal and say, hey, did this really happen? How do you like your pictures? You remember that plaque I got you? Which plaque? Right in front of you. This? Yeah. I don't remember you getting it for me, but I do remember it in my room. I got it. I made a trade with somebody. Oh, you remember where I used to have your skate sharpened? He was selling them. Favor for favor. That day just so happened his phone wasn't working.

So I fixed it. And he said, what do you want? How much? So he gave me that plaque. It was amazing how many times somebody's phone wouldn't work and we would be able to get some free stuff out of the deal. Yeah. Did you ever think you'd see this day? Honestly, that you'd be back in your room? Did I? No, I didn't. I know you said you wanted to take the Adam Graves stick.

Yeah, I mean, if you would let me. It belongs to you. Of course I'll let you. I'm not here to hold anything over your head. Hey, let me just tell you one thing right now. This is not the last time you're coming back to look for things. All right. Okay? Thank you. Just don't think, a piece of gum, can I have it? You know what it is? No. What is it? It's a trick. Huh? It's a trick. This is a trick piece of gum. You take it out. And it snaps your finger? Yeah. Yeah.

Don't give it to Sullivan. He'd love it. Yeah. Is he talking? Yeah, he talks. Uh-huh. He's a smart kid. Good. This is nuts. Here I am standing in my childhood bedroom talking to my father about my son, his grandson he's never met. I went into this whole thing not really knowing how I would feel talking to my dad about Sully. But in that moment, I just felt he didn't deserve to hear that much.

There's something different about the conversations we have late at night. They often spin off in strange and wonderful directions. So we asked, what if those laid back conversations were with some of the biggest musicians in the world and some of the most interesting new artists we love right now?

I'm feeling more okay with being a diva. There was one birthday when I went to a graveyard.

Every partner that I've ever had, when they look at my texts with my mother are like, how are you sharing this information? Listen to the new series of Midnight Chats every Tuesday night on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremarcki.

And I'm Holly Frey. Together, we invite you into the dark corridors of history and true crime. For each season, we explore a new theme. From poisoners to stalkers, art thieves to snake oil salesmen. We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, such as Walter Minx, the man who built his own submarine hoping to escape with his blackmail payout under Lake Michigan. It sounds made up, but it's 100% true.

We'll explore the crimes as well as societal forces at play, from unfair sentencing to jaw-dissolving health risks. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

From the writer of Amazon Prime's Red, White, and Royal Blue comes a hilarious and demented new audio mystery. Does this murder make me look gay? Master Vandy is dead! Then it's probable that whoever killed Vandy is in this very room. Lock her up. Lock her up. You killed your daddy. You don't get anything fizzy. 911, what's your emergency? I'm in the Monroe estate and I just caught a murderer.

Yes, I'll hold. Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Douglas Sills, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, Frankie Grande, Sean Patrick Doyle, Brad Oscar, Nathan Lee Graham, Seth Rudetsky, Leah Delaria, Lea Salonga, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansfairy. Lick them, lick those toesies. Yeah.

Listen to Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay as part of the Outspoken Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let me ask you something. Everything that you were told during and just before the divorce, did you believe everything you heard? I mean, you gotta understand, I also lived in this environment. Right. So I wasn't too fond of you while I was living through stuff.

And, you know, I mean, it goes back to when I was growing up, I was put in the middle of everything that you were going through with my mom. Everything. You'd get angry and you'd be like, open up the door so the dog would run away like that. Individually. Was that the reason I did that? Or was it because nobody wanted to walk the dog?

Nobody wanted to walk the dog. The dog, one, I would always walk the dog. And also, I am 13, 14 years old at the time where it's like if nobody wants to walk the dog, the solution isn't opening up the door to the dog that everybody loves. Which was wrong. Yeah. Yeah.

And then when it came down to when you guys were divorcing and the process was taking a long time, I asked you if I could have the dog. And if you remember, you said that. I said after the divorce, you reminded me. You're right. And then I never got to see my dog again. Well, things happened. I'm aware how much I keep bringing up my dog, Kobe. But being in my old house brought all those memories back.

So I have a question. I mean, we did all this stuff. Yeah. Do you feel like going to these games, do you feel that you did it all for me? When we would go to Madison Square Garden, was that for me? Of course it was for you. Everything was for you. I wanted you to have some memories. You know, asking my father, did he do this for me or was it for him, isn't exactly right because after everything I've learned, I realize it's not an either-or situation.

All those times we stuck into the garden, I think he did it for me and for him. Can I take this? Only if you want me to have it. Well, it's your stick. But more than you having the stick and me giving it to you as a gift, I want you as my son. Well, time will tell. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I'm not going to cut you off cold turkey or anything like that if that's what you're worried about. What if your sisters get on your case for this? I mean, it doesn't have anything to do with them.

You know? If you say so. But, you know, like, you giving me the stick is like, that's an appreciation because I went in with the idea that, to me, a lot of our relationship and what I deemed it was you keeping Kobe over my head and...

I felt that's what you were going to be doing with the hockey stick. Even though the hockey stick never meant anything close to what Kobe meant to me. It was just symbolic. And grandma and grandpa meant a lot more to me than everything else. And I don't know if you wanted to hurt them because of me, but if you did, it was the wrong thing to do. And it was a big mistake. And, you know, maybe not now. Later you'll understand that.

Well, my intention was never to hurt them. My intention was I just wasn't in any state of mind to see you. And everything that happened...

- Me is one thing, but them is another thing. - Yeah, well tell that to a kid who's going through this as a teenager. There's a lot of hate in their heart when, you know, Kobe is the thing that I love more than anything. When I was growing up in this house, there's times that there was laughter, but there's also times where the cops would be called, not because somebody was getting beaten, but the verbal arguments, whether you called or she called. - She didn't give a fuck. She wanted to put me in jail.

When I saw what I was dealing with at that point, all gloves were off. I was going to do everything I can to hurt her. Why are you telling me this? None of this matters. Because you're telling me about why everybody hates me. I'm not telling you why everybody hates you. I'm telling you about why I wasn't talking to you for so long in our relationship individually. Because you were told shit. That's why. A lot of shit that you were told was shit. You're saying that I was told shit, but I'm saying about how you treated me. That's what it came down to. The way I treated you...

was not there to intentionally hurt you never i mean when you you know if you think if you think that you did this stuff about the dog and okay i did this stuff about the dog but unfortunately kobe's not here i had him till he was 17 years old okay he had a good life he fucking slept with me every night yeah on the bed yeah and i would have loved to have had my dog

This is the most honest conversation I've ever had with my father. Since the start of this whole journey, I'd always envisioned getting to ask him the same questions I'd asked everyone else. Was he always like this? What drove him to live his life this way? Well, here I am, and now's my chance. But would he be willing to open up? This is a guy whose life is built on lies, and I was finally gonna ask him to tell the truth. On the next episode of Number One Dad,

It's all about delusion, like a magician. I was a magician in the furniture business. What was the downfall of Designer's Gallery? New York State Attorney General. I said, "If I don't call you back for bullshit in five minutes, dial 911 and tell them to come to that thing, 'cause I'm getting locked in a freezer somewhere." So why not just pay your bill? 'Cause I was a greedy fuck, and I wanted the money, and I wanted it now.

Number One Dad is a production of Radio Point, Big Money Players Network, and iHeart Podcast. Created and hosted by Gary Veeder. Executive producers are Gary Veeder, Adam Lowett, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Houston Snyder, Kenneth Slotnick, and Brian Stern.

Written by Gary Veeder and Adam Lowit. Produced by Bernie Kaminsky. Co-producer is Taylor Kowalski. Edited and mixed by Ian Sorrentino at Little Bear Audio. Recording engineer is Kat Iosa. Original music by Andrew Gross. Special thanks to Charlotte DeAnda. Jonathan Karsh is creative consultant. Executive producers for Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcast are Will Farrell, Hans Sani, and Olivia Aguilar.

Sound services were provided by Great City Post. Am I doing the right thing with my finances? Am I saving enough? Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much in taxes? Will I be able to retire? Putting a financial plan together feels impossible. What if I told you there was another way? Take FACET's free financial wellness quiz to get your score and a snapshot of your current financial health. Visit FACET.com now and discover your financial wellness score today. That's F-A-C-E-T.com.

This ad is sponsored by Facet. Facet Wealth Incorporated is an SEC registered investment advisor. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities, nor is it investment, legal, or tax advice. Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind.

Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Walzak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI. Come on.

In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.