70. Richard Scott Smith - The Lady Killer
46:08 Share

All right, you guys, we are jumping into an ad and I wanted to let you know that listening on Audible helps your imagination soar. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, and new ways of thinking.

Listening can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits, and ultimately your overall well-being. Audible has the best selection of audiobooks without exception, along with popular podcasts and exclusive Audible Originals. All-in-one, easy app.

app. Enjoy Audible anytime while doing other things, household chores, exercising, on the road, commuting, you name it. Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. You guys, since becoming an Audible member, I've found it so easy to fit more stories into my day. Recently, I've actually been listening to Twilight on audiobook and it's been a game changer during my daily walks.

So there's more to imagine when you listen. New members can try Audible now for free for 30 days with your first audiobook included. Visit audible.com slash MWMH or text MWMH to 500-500. That's audible.com slash MWMH or text MWMH to 500-500 to try Audible free for 30 days. Okay, you guys, with the summer heat in full swing, literally 90 degrees today, I'm

I know we're all worrying about our deodorant holding up. That's why I've got to tell you about Lume. They have whole body deodorant. Lume whole body deodorant. And it's the only deodorant that I will use. Lume is formulated for all those spots that tend to get extra sweaty and stinky in the heat. Like your pits, Garrett's butt crack, and even your feet. Oh my gosh.

Lume was created by an OBGYN, so it's totally safe for all your sensitive areas. And the best part, it's baking soda free, paraben free and pH balanced. So it's gentle on your skin while keeping you fresh. You guys, I have been using Lume and let me tell you something. They are anti chafing. So you can put them on your thighs. You can put it under your boobs. Literally, it's great. Ready?

Ready to try it? New customers get 15% off all Lume products with our exclusive code. Just use code MWMH at LumeDeodorant.com. That's L-U-M-E-D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T.com. And don't forget to use code MWMH for 15% off your first purchase.

Hey everybody, welcome back to our podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. If you are watching on YouTube, we are finally back in our home studio. It feels good to be back recording where we normally record. That little break was fun, but we're excited to be back. It does feel good to be back and like...

Just the usual, right? All right. So before we get in, we did just want to say on last week's episode on Monday, we had some technical difficulties with the ads. I guess there was just some put in posts and we didn't know. So if you were

bombarded with ads. We are seriously really so sorry about that. It should be fixed now. It should never happen again. We want you guys to know that our relationship with you is more important than anything else on this podcast besides maybe the victims. And so we just want to reiterate that and say sorry about that little mishap. Also, before we hop into it, if you were watching on video, you're probably noticing Peyton and I wearing something.

We haven't finalized anything yet. We're super, super close. We promise. But it's just some merch samples that we have. And we thought we'd wear them to... But it should be coming soon. And I know we've been saying that forever. But you guys...

We have been working on these for so long, trying to get the right quality, the right style. We're wanting to take it a little bit more seriously than just like some merch for you guys. We're trying to get some quality stuff out there. So that's why it's taking so long. We've changed the designs a couple of times and blah, blah, blah. We're really excited. Yes, we are.

Oh, and also real quick, we do have another Patreon exclusive episode for our higher tiers dropping this week. Actually, as you're listening to this, it should be out. So if you want to check that out, it's just Murder With My Husband, Patreon. And also as our merch comes out, Patreon for all tiers gets exclusive first pick at the drop. And so that is also another really great benefit of Patreon. And then all tiers are also ad free.

Yep. Oh, yeah. All tiers are ad-free. There's not going to be as many ads as we promised. That was a glitch. But all tiers just in general are ad-free. So go check our Patreon out. Okay, Gary, do you have your 10 seconds?

Well, for my 10 seconds this week, first of all, thank you to... Did you see how many TV show requests I got? Seriously, I was sending them over to Garrett from the DMs. There were so many in the comments everywhere. I never have to leave my house again. No, you have a whole list. You are set. So my 10 seconds is that I was just outside for the last 35 minutes trying to figure out why our sprinkler valves broke. So that was fun. Garrett was running around, slurping.

Soaking wet. And the worst part is we're in a drought, so we're panicking to try to get this water off as fast as it can. It's spraying everywhere.

everywhere. There was a good two minutes where I was just staring at it going, I don't know what to do. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's fine. He called my dad. He figured it out. I figured it out. Everything's okay now. It's off. He got, he had to come in and he had to change his clothes. It was fine. I was soaking wet. It was funny though. I should have took a video. You should have taken a video. Okay. Anyways, into our story, our case sources today are

thecinemaholic.com, oxygen.com, townandcountrymag.com, usatoday.com, womanshealthmag.com,

scottthecrooksmith.weebly.com. And then also our episode today is largely based off of a docu-series on Amazon Prime called Love Fraud. It was done extremely well and basically our whole timeline is gonna be based off of that. And so I did just wanna give them extra credit for that. Okay, so speaking of TV shows,

This week's case is a combination of some of Garrett and I's favorite shows that we've watched together. And so I'm kind of excited to see if you recognize the shows within the case as I'm telling it. And I hope so. Keep that in mind. I want to see if you can point out how this case is like some TV shows that we've watched. Okay.

So we begin this week in the suburbs of Kansas City. Tracy was in her late 40s, had kids of her own, and was single. And according to her, dating in your 40s sucks.

You basically have to go online and we all know how sketchy that can be. Tracy would look at a picture of someone on the app and then show up to the date and it would be a completely different person in person. And this happened more than once. But one day Tracy was swiping through her online dating app when she came across a good looking man, his profile picture of him in a suit. She gathered from his profile that he worked in real estate. He was the owner of his own company and was also a pilot.

His profile showed he was religious. And so Tracy was like, this is it. She swiped right on this 47 year old man. He swiped back and pretty soon he was picking Tracy up on his motorcycle. Okay. Together, Tracy and the man went on a motorcycle ride as their first date and

And both of them had a good time. Tracy was having fun, such a different lifestyle than she was used to, 40 years old, riding on the back of a bike. This new relationship formed and she was enjoying it, not to mention all of her friends and family loved her new boyfriend too. Ellen is living in Arkansas and is smitten with her new boyfriend. She too is in her 40s and feels lucky to have found such a real love this late in life.

She really had found the perfect partner who spoiled her rotten. They went out to eat every night and it felt like a dream. And Ellen, I too have to say that I think going out to eat every single night is also a dream. Sabrina Dunlap is sitting at home in 2015 when she gets a text from her new boyfriend who she is completely in love with.

He tells her he's making her dinner at home, and Sabrina knows that God has finally sent her the man she's been praying for. Her boyfriend said all the right things, and their relationship was moving fast, but oh man, how could it not? Together, they went to a tattoo parlor, and the love of her life tattooed her name, Sabrina, on his back. So Garrett, when are you going to do that for me? You haven't noticed the big one I have on my back already? Oh yeah, I did notice it.

So Tracy, Ellen, and Sabrina all head over hills in love with their new boyfriends. And although all of them had just met these new guys, they knew it was time. Love like this only comes around once. Why put off the inevitable? They had found everything they had ever wanted. And so Tracy, Ellen, and Sabrina all get engaged to be married soon after meeting their future husbands.

And lucky for Tracy, Ellen, and Sabrina, all of their fiancés were going to be rich soon because they were each in a malpractice lawsuit with a doctor and would be getting paid out from the lawsuit soon enough. Okay.

Are you confused? Yes. So Tracy and Ellen each pick out two carat diamond rings for their rings because their fiancés are going to be rich soon. So with the money about to roll in, Tracy's fiancé wants to buy a sports car and he writes a check for one. And Ellen's fiancé wants to buy a condo on the beach in Florida and so they do. And Sabrina's fiancé wants to buy two sports cars. Who knew you could pay for a Porsche with a check?

And at night, all three couples would individually pray that God will show them what to do with the money they were about to make and how they can use all of that cash to do good in the world.

Ellen's fiancé wouldn't sleep at night. He would stay up and watch TV. He would also run the tub and bathe in the dark without talking. She was a little thrown off about how differently he had been acting since their engagement. I'm so confused right now. Sabrina's fiancé watched Lifetime movies at night while she slept. She thought this was odd because he never did this before they were engaged. Mm-hmm.

Tracy's daughter Kayla becomes worried when her mom's fiance keeps trying to move up their already quick wedding day. And she started to feel weird about her mom's boyfriend despite the happiness they showed as a couple. So Kayla, who we appreciate and love for doing what she's about to do, decides to go through her mother's fiance's truck while he's gone.

Despite the lack of evidence, she followed her gut and said better to be safe than sorry. If this new man in her mom's life had something to hide, she was going to find out. And so she does go through his truck, and what she finds changes their lives as they know it.

In the truck was some pill bottles with the labels ripped off and some papers labeled and addressed with different names like Scott, Rick, Richard. This is odd because Tracy's fiance is actually named Mickey. Why did he have papers addressed to these other names? Kayla looked up the array of names on her phone, cross-searching them on Google, including Mickey.

And this is when she found a blog that would envelop her and her mother into a chaos they never saw coming. The blog had a picture of her mother's fiance, Mickey, at the top of it. After reading it, Kayla called her mom and told her to come home. Mickey was not who he said he was. This blog that we're talking about was created by a woman named Lisa Lenton. Lisa was wife number six of a man named Richard Scott Smith. Richard used the aliases Scott, Ricky, and Mickey, and more.

Okay. Lisa created the blog to warn other women about the thief, fraud, liar, and con man that she had married. Got it. Okay. Now it's making sense. And the blog says, if you are reading this, I'm sorry that you have been victimized by Richard Scott Smith, which might I point out just puts out major mean girl energy for those personally victimized by Regina George. How is he not in jail?

Okay, so we're going to get there. Okay. So when Tracy and her daughter Kayla looked further into the blog, they were sick to their stomachs. The man that they had let into their lives, that Tracy was living with, that she was engaged to. Who she thought was going to have a ton of money, which she obviously lied about. Yes, who she thought was going to have a ton of money. And so they had gone out and bought all of this stuff. He had also been married to multiple other women. And it's on this blog.

But the list didn't end with Lisa, Tracy, Ellen, and Sabrina, who we heard about at the beginning, who had all been engaged to Mickey or Rick or Scott, whatever you want to call him. There was Jean, Holly, Jennifer, Sandy, Caroline, Carrie, Vanessa, Michelle, Rachel, Angela, Heathers, and more.

Okay. Of course he did.

swept lonely, single, newly divorced women off their feet and after two weeks said, I love you and proposed. Okay.

He would move in right away. He would let his vulnerable side out by admitting he'd never been married before, but had found the love of his life. And this only comes around once in a blue moon. The only problem was Richard Scott Mickey Smith had been married before to multiple women at the same time. As we know, the blog post proved this when Lena Lenten asked if any wives were actually still married to him right now.

and multiple come forward claiming they are. So he's married to multiple of these women at the same time. Oh, so he's never actually divorced them. Well, some of them he has, but most of them he'll just do it at the same time.

How can you do that? Like, like legally, like wouldn't the state or wouldn't the, is that not recognized? You know what I'm saying? It is recognized, but we're talking about a petty crime here. Like you're basically just playing women. Right. So after going through the blog, there's 10 confirmed current marriages.

Five different aliases. Holy crap. And all of these marriages were in different states, which is how he's getting away with it. Got it. He's a Christian, an atheist, and a Catholic, or whatever you need him to be. Now, I get it. Really, what's the problem with being a player? Like, a lot. But it's not illegal to be a scumbag, right? Richard might have pissed off a lot of women, but could he be arrested for that? No, not really. But Richard Scott Smith went far beyond becoming a lady killer, no pun intended, and

On top of being the picture perfect man, having a lot of wives was not the sole reason for Richard's scummy lifestyle. He had a lot of wives that he scammed. Richard would find women, marry them fast, and then drain their bank accounts, buy assets in their name, and vanish. He was in it for the long con. And by the way, marrying someone and stealing their money and disappearing into thin air is somewhat illegal.

Many of these women I just listed were anywhere between $100,000 to $750,000 in debt after Richard made them fall in love, only to leave them stranded. So would they not realize what was going on? No. Not until one day he just left and they'd go to their bank account and it was empty. And how long was he usually with one of the girls? Was it a long time? Was it a short amount of time? Under a year. Okay.

So most of these women would file bankruptcy, move in with their friends and their parents. So on top of their husband, whom they were like insanely in love with, up and leaving without reason or word, destroying them emotionally, he also ruined their life financially as well. He ripped their worlds up and left all of these women.

Most of the women went to the police and filed forgery, theft, and identity theft, but usually Richard was already gone in the wind with their money. Nowhere to be found. Number disconnected. The job he had worked at wasn't real. They just all of a sudden discover his whole life was a scam and a lie.

The only time he had been caught in the act and hadn't had the chance to run away before the woman found out what he was doing, the cops arrested him but somehow gave Richard probation and he served no jail time. He was also supposed to give Sabrina, the victim, her money back, but you know that never happened because as soon as it was all over, he just disappeared, changed his name. Okay, you guys, shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall can be a challenge, but I'm telling you right now,

My quince products that I have, my quince clothing items are my go-to staples in the fall. They make it so easy. They have timeless high quality items. I use their silk skirts. I literally wear them in so many ways with boots, with tights, with a sweater, with a crop top.

They have cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, so much more. And the best part is that they are priced so well because they partner directly with top factories. So they cut out the cost of the middleman and then they pass the savings onto you. So you are literally getting cashmere sweaters for $50.

I just got a cashmere sweater from Quince that I am going to be wearing. I also have a pair of their linen pants. I'm actually just going to pair them together. I will post it on my social media and you will see it. So make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash husband Quince.

for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. You guys, if you want free shipping, make sure to do quince.com/husband. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com/husband to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/husband. They have the cutest clothes. You need to go check it out. Okay, let me guess. Your medicine cabinet is crammed with stuff that does not work. You still aren't sleeping, you still hurt, and you're stressed out.

That's how it was for me, so I cleared out my cabinet and reset my health with CBD from CB Distillery. CBD Distillery's targeted formulations are made from the highest quality clean ingredients, no fluff, no fillers, just pure effective CBD solutions designed to help support your health.

In two non-clinical surveys, 81% of customers experienced more calm, 80% said CBD helped with pain after physical activity, and an impressive 90% actually said they slept better with CBD. I have personally used CBD before to help me sleep. I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping and I couldn't figure out what to do to help. And honestly, CBD did help. And if that's something you're struggling with, give it a try. Check it out. If

If you struggle with a health concern and haven't found relief, make the change like I did to CBD Distillery. And with over 2 million customers and a solid 100% money back guarantee, CBD Distillery is the source to trust. You guys, we have a 20% discount to get you started. So if you've ever wanted to do CBD, now is the time. Visit CBDistillery.com and use code husband for 20% off. That's CBDistillery.com.

.com code husband, CBD distillery.com code husband.

Sabrina said it felt like unless he had killed her or something, the cops really didn't care about him scamming her. The group of women on the blog weren't getting much help from the cops in their effort to make Richard pay for what he had done. Because he would move from state to state, the cops wouldn't waste time looking for him. It was now out of their jurisdiction. Richard had committed forgery, identity theft, theft, and violated his parole. But I guess all of these could be seen as petty crimes.

So together, via the blog, the group of women victimized by Richard were brainstorming ways to catch Richard and to put it bluntly, they wanted revenge. Okay, got it. So before we keep going, I just thought of the show Imposters. Yes, that's the one I, that's the first one I wrote down. Literally my next note says Imposters. Got it. Okay. Which if you don't know, Imposters is basically the same exact story. This woman, yeah, a woman cons these men and then three of them not,

Like a billion. Yeah. Want come together are like, oh my gosh, we all married the same woman. She drained your bank account too. And then they go on a search to find her because same situation. The police are kind of like, Hey, what are we going to do? Like, and so all these women are like, if the police aren't going to help us, we have to help ourselves. And they're doing that through this blog online. Okay.

So this is when, at this point in our story, a production company reaches out to the women from the blog and asks the women if they can tell their story via a docuseries. They will document everything and thus the docuseries Love Fraud was born that I was talking about.

Yeah. Yeah.

And this is when they were like, we have to cover this story. So Love Fraud documents the rest of this story in real time as the women talk

start the chase to bring richard scott down okay this is crazy so it turns into a full-on like tv show exactly it's in the docu-series like i said it's on amazon prime you can watch it but i'm just going to kind of explain the rest of the story here got it keep in mind richard is a fugitive in most of these states but for really small charges but he does have warrants out for his arrest but none of these girls know where he is right now or how to catch him if they do find him they're not

cops. They can't just walk up and arrest him. You know what I mean? Yeah. So this is when the production company who really funded a lot of the rest of this story suggests, Hey,

We know a female bounty hunter. Let's hire her to find Richard. No way. So Richard is a fugitive and a bounty hunter could legally find him and turn him in. And so the chase for Richard is on. And this is where my second TV show comes in. Do you know which one I'm thinking of? Teenage Bounty Hunters. Okay, got it. Yep.

So together, the bounty hunter and some of the wives head to the apartment complex in Kansas that Richard supposedly rents out. His last known girlfriend from the blog gave them this lead. Okay, the last time I saw him, this is where he said he was working.

So Tracy and him had broke up at this point, but she heads down with producers and sees that his motorcycle is in the parking lot. And then also she sees that there's a Ford Raptor truck in the parking lot. She's like, oh, he'd been talking about buying one of those. And she's like, that has to be his.

Because keep in mind, he bought cars in Tracy's name. He bought cars in Sabrina's name. That's how he was having all of this. That's why I'm wondering, how many cars does he have? Exactly. Have any of them been... Well, but this is also why it's so easy for him to live a new life. Yeah. He drives a new car. It has a different license plate. And he moves on. You know what I mean? Yep. This leads them to think, hey, he might still be in town if his cars are parked outside of this apartment complex we think he's working at.

But it was around this time as producers start digging, they discover that Richard had actually stopped paying his bills at the apartment complex. Okay. He had ended up actually stealing roughly $60,000 from the apartment complex manager and then just...

Beat it. Just left town. So this lead was a dead end. He had screwed someone else over once again, but it was a dead end. Beyond taking Richard down, the women also take the responsibility of trying to find and warn any other women that he is seen with. They get a hold of women and tell them, you know, what's going on, who they're dating. Check out this blog. It has proof of everything we're talking about. They're trying to make it so that there's not as many victims as there has been in the past.

Richard Scott Smith actually dropped out of high school his junior year and friends say around that time he would date as many girls as he could without any of them finding out. It was like a game for him. So he's been doing this for a while. They say he told a lot of lies in high school and it got to the point where they felt like he didn't know the difference between a lie and the truth.

He had been showing this kind of behavior for a long time. So he's always been kind of like a crook, like a scam artist. Yes, a con man. As the investigation goes on, and by investigation I mean investigation between the scorned women, the producers of Love Fraud, and this bounty hunter, the women have no leads, no help from the police, and no idea where Richard ran off to this time. Until someone spots him at a karaoke bar in Kansas in a different area called Shots with another woman named Carla.

Carla had actually left her husband and kids to pursue her life with Rick, which is Richard, unaware of who she was dating. So she had literally left her husband to date this con man. Carla met Richard at karaoke and began sneaking around behind her husband's back with Richard. As things got more serious, her husband still didn't have a clue until one night he got a call from Carla who out of the blue said, hey, I want a divorce.

Jim, her husband, was confused but immediately felt like something was wrong. So he rushed down to his bank and discovered that there was only $80 left in his account. It had been basically emptied. Carla and Richard had drained his account and left town. Oh, they both did it? Well, I think Richard convinced her to take all the money and leave.

A couple days later, Jim got a message on Facebook that said, you know, hey, this guy that your wife is messing around with, he's a con man. He's con multiple people. He's going to take your money. And Jim's like, yeah, duh. He already did. Like, I have nothing. So the bounty hunter heads down to karaoke night in hopes of finding, okay, maybe Carla and Richard stuck around for some reason. They didn't. They stole the money. They left town. Yeah.

As the girls are waiting for new information because Richard has left the area with Carla, they discover an interesting lead that is posted on the blog. Richard has been spotted at a restaurant called Crab Kings in Wichita, Kansas, and is claiming to be Mickey Smith at this restaurant.

and he is part owner of this restaurant with Carla. They took her husband's 401k, left town, and invested it into a seafood restaurant. He literally went from apartment owner to restaurant owner. And Jim, Carla's husband, is now heading to Wichita to find his wife...

after talking with all of the women from the blog and the bounty hunter. So we've now got Jim on board to try to search for Richard. You've got a whole crew. Yes. The producers of Love Fraud also hire a private investigator at this time who works in the county of the seafood place. This doesn't seem real. It's insane. Like this does not seem real. This is crazy. So they hire the

the PI to stake out the seafood restaurant and let them know if he ever sees Richard. And he eventually does after a couple of days, he spots Richard outside the restaurant. So the production company calls Crab Kings, the restaurant, and they're like, Hey, can we please speak to Mickey?

Because that's what he's going by. And they're like, oh, Mickey actually just quit and left town yesterday. Of course he did. And this is when the production company then reaches out to Carla and is like, hey, it seems like you've been ditched by Richard. Do you want to do an interview on this documentary we're doing? And she's like, sure. So Carla in her interview says she loved Rick as she knew him. And although fast paced when he suggested they run away and open up a seed food restaurant,

restaurant. She couldn't not. She was like, this is a dream. I feel like I'm 18 again and I have to do this. Okay. But soon after opening the restaurant, Carla felt like Rick was pulling away from her. And that's because he was. Richard immediately began dating an employee at the new restaurant that they co-owned together with her husband's 401k. And he had only met her as he was her boss. And after three days of meeting her, he told her he loved her.

So now he's dating Carla and an employee at the new restaurant that he's working at. Is he doing this because it's a game to him? Because it's sexual to him? Like why? No. Why?

Most of the relationships were not sexual. Oh, okay. Because he would say he wanted to wait till marriage. So he was just a con man. A con man. And I assume he just got a thrill out of doing this. Yeah, out of winning, right? So he's dating the employee and he's like, just convinced Carla to leave her husband and steal his money. And then boom, he disappears, leaves the restaurant, leaves Carla to run the restaurant, and

And also leaves his restaurant girlfriend. Richard Scott Smith had emptied the restaurant bank account and loan and disappeared. He took the loan and ran off, leaving this restaurant literally bankrupt. Yeah, with nothing. Yes. Carla had been scammed. All the employees' paychecks bounced. And all of this happened while the production team was in Wichita scoping and trying to figure things out. Wow.

So the next clue in the manhunt comes when a woman comments on the blog telling the women, hey, back off of Richard Scott Smith. And all the women are like, hey, this is a blog of scorned women. Like, how'd you get here? And if you are dating him and read about all this, why are you still dating him? And why are you not joining us?

So this leads them to Knoxville, Tennessee, where some more private investigators are enlisted to help in the search for Richard. They follow her around Knoxville where she lives for 48 hours, but they don't see Richard with her anywhere. But they're like, why would she be commenting this if Richard wasn't with her?

And Richard had obviously found out about the blog at this point because so many girlfriends had reached back out to him and said, I know there's this blog and I know about everything you've done. So these new PIs run background checks on Richard and they find 10 different social security numbers like attached to his name. Holy crap. 43 different documented phone numbers. And that's just documented. Uh-huh.

58 different documented addresses for Richard Scott Smith. The producers call the woman whose name is Lee that commented to the woman to like knock, like stop the witch hunt. And they ask her for cooperation in the investigation into Richard. They're like, hey, we know you've commented this, but we're actually doing a docuseries. And can you please help us? Like, can we interview you?

Lee says that, you know what? Richard just wants to be left alone. He's a good guy. There's two sides to every story. And then when they officially interview her, she says, yes, we dated a long time ago. We're not dating now, but our breakup was amicable. I don't believe the girls on the blog. I think they're just pissed off that they can't have Richard anymore. Oh my God. Richard had never done anything to her. Like the girls were saying, um,

After the interview, the PIs stay surveillancing Lee's home anyways. They're like, okay, well... So she's in complete denial. She's like, I don't know where Richard is. I haven't seen him. I just think this blog is completely crazy. And they're like, yeah, yeah, okay, we're going to keep watching you without you knowing outside your home.

And not too long later, a man shows up to the home. And that man is Richard Scott Smith, whom Lee had just claimed multiple times to have no idea where he was. Lee is literally harboring a fugitive and honestly probably dating Richard once again, which is why she's begging the blog to stand down, like stop this investigation, everything. But the weird part about this is Lee actually does have another like real boyfriend, right?

And so producers aren't sure if she's hiding Richard from him or how this whole thing is actually working, how Richard's back in her life, but she still is acting like she has another boyfriend. Is she really just being friends with Richard? They don't know. Yeah. Hola. ¿Cómo está? Hola, ¿cómo estamos? Want to learn a new language? Well, the best way is to uproot your entire life, move to Spain, and live there for the rest of your life.

I made that up. I went off the ad. Let me go back to the ad read. The best way is to uproot your entire life. Drop your... Oh. You literally followed the ad. I didn't read the rest of that. Drop yourself in the middle of a new country and figure it out from there. I just want to let everyone know that's what I did. But... That's what I did. It worked. If you're not ready for that, you can still learn a new language the next best way, and that is with Babbel. See...

Speak like a whole new you with Babbel, the science-backed language learning app that gets you talking. Wasting hundreds of dollars on private tutors is the old school way of learning a new language. Babbel's 10-minute lessons are quick and handcrafted by over 200 language experts, ready to get you talking your new language in three weeks because talking is the key to really knowing any language.

Designed by real people for having real conversation, Babbel gets you talking. You guys, I actually use Babbel to brush up on Spanish when we travel. I love it. It is so easy. And then I can actually kind of keep up with what's going on. And with over 16 million subscriptions sold, Babbel's 14 award-winning language courses are backed by a 20-day money-back guarantee. So there's no pressure. Buy Babbel and travel.

Here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription, but only for our listeners at babbel.com slash husband. Get up to 60% off at babbel.com slash husband spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash husband. Rules and restrictions may apply.

Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage, to the first real life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage. Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout up to 36% better compared to other leading commerce platforms.

and sell more with less effort thanks to Shopify Magic, your AI-powered all-star. Peyton and I love Shopify. We have been using it for, I mean, I've been using it for six years now, so many years, and it's amazing. It just keeps getting better and better with more updates. It's easy to use. It's user-friendly. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US, and Shopify is the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklyn, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries.

Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash husband, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash husband now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash husband.

The PIs begin following Richard now that they've found him again. Okay, so this is like a big thing in this case, right? Like these PIs have found Richard. So they need to secure his patterns before involving authorities though to make sure he gets arrested. So instead of just like calling cops immediately and being like, oh, there's a fugitive. Can you come arrest him? They're going to like secure his patterns. So they make sure it's like a solid place.

and they have all the evidence they need before turning him over to investigators. They follow Richard around and they end up following him to a boat and RV sales and repair center where it appears he's working now. Like he's moved to this new town and this is the job he's got. After work, they follow him to a boat dock on a lake where it appears he's spending some time on this like random houseboat. But as they're watching him, an old man drives up and ends up being Oscar Lee's dad.

So this woman who like is like all these other women need to stand down. Her dad meets Richard out at the lake at this houseboat. And after they like put together this weird connection, the PIs discover that the car Richard is currently driving belongs to Oscar Lee's dad.

So almost like, like, is he in on it? Like something weird is going on. And also the houseboat he's been visiting is Lee's dad's as well. Okay. So they're like, what the heck is going on here? It's a family affair with Lee and her dad now and Richard and, and Lee has another boyfriend or something. It's obvious that Richard is either trying to work something on Lee and her dad or both, or they're involved. The producers and PIs want to figure out what, uh,

So the producers reach out to Lee's real boyfriend to inform him, hey, we're doing a documentary on someone named Richard Scott Smith and we know that Lee, your girlfriend, knows him. And do you know of him? Have you met him? Like, what's your affiliation with him?

The boyfriend, his name is Daryl, says, yes, I do know him and I can't believe you've called. Lee had just randomly broke up with him that day and he's convinced Richard has something to do with it. So she did just break up with her boyfriend when producers call. Yeah.

Apparently, Lee and her dad picked Richard up from the bus stop a while back and gave him a place to stay after he ditched Carla and the seafood restaurant in Wichita. So they were harboring a fugitive this whole time. They continue to follow him around. And the next day, Richard buys a burner phone and goes car shopping and then goes to an open house and then ends his night at a bar.

And these PIs are like, what is this guy's life? And at this bar, he meets up with another girl. So he has another girlfriend. And as PIs have been following him for the last couple of weeks, they have a total of three different girlfriends that Richard is out with, buying cars with, shopping for homes with. He's getting their money, getting their accounts, pulling the same con. And

I'm pretty sure at the same time dating Lee because why did she break up with her boyfriend? I can't believe he just can't keep buying new cars and all the stuff just over and over again. It's insane. So the girls, the producers and the bounty hunter all meet again at this point. Keep in mind, this has almost been a year long hunt. Like we're telling this story fast, but there were months where they just sat with no leads, just checking the blog every day.

They discuss the new details and decide, you know what? It's time. It's time to take down Richard Scott Smith. There is a warrant out in this exact county. They have plenty of evidence and they know where he frequents now. And he has no idea.

So they had found him and it's time to do what they started all of this roughly a year earlier. The next day, producers and PIs follow Richard to a Super 8 motel where he is with yet another girl, making her fall in love with him so that he can steal her money. Is he a good looking guy? No. I didn't ask this at the beginning, but I mean, obviously everyone has their... Right. What's good looking and what's not. I mean, looks are...

relative, right? Yeah. But the thing about it is, is he is smart. He's preying on women who are here more for personality and the type of person you are. And as long as he's saying what they want. I'm a pilot. Oh, awesome. A doctor. Awesome. A lawyer. I just, I love you. You're everything to me. He was so smart.

He was so just like telling them anything they wanted to hear. And like I said, most of them were in their forties, newly divorced, single, had kids. So they were in like a vulnerable situation to begin with. Got it. So they followed

him to the super eight motel and as they're sitting there the next morning they decide okay let's call the police now and get them here to arrest him at this like super eight motel there's nowhere really for him to go so they call the cops and as they're waiting for the cops to get there like they're on the phone with the cops saying okay yes he's here he's in this room we've been watching him he's here richard randomly walks out of his hotel room and gets in his car

So they're on the phone like, holy crap, holy crap, he's leaving. He's leaving like randomly. He's leaving. And the cops are like, well, we're still not there yet.

And they're like, but you have to get here. Like we need this to end. We need this to end. He'll, he'll run. Like this is what he does. And they're like, well, we're coming. We're trying. So before the police can get there, he leaves, he pulls out. And so you have to keep in mind, there's three different cars right now following him. Some of his ex-wives have come to Wichita to do this and they're in a car. Producers of Love Fraud are in a car. The bounty hunter is in a car and the PIs are in a car. So they're,

There's like three separate cars of people with walkie talkies trying to take down Richard Scott Smith. And it's all just regular people besides the PIs. It's all just regular people who want to get this, like get this man caught. And also they've now involved the police.

So the police get en route while the team of three cars, the team of all those people we just talked about, begins following Richard through town. So he has three cars following him through town right now. And they're all on walkie-talkies. Oh, he's getting in the fourth lane on the highway. Oh, be prepared. He might be exiting. Okay, everybody, Richard exited. We're now following him. And they're announcing as everything's going on. And the cops, they're also on the phone with the cops saying...

oh, this is where he is. We're now following him this way. So the police get en route as the producers and PIs are following him. They figure out that he's most likely headed to the mall. And while pulling into the mall parking lot, three unmarked police cars pull up with them. So now it's not just the three. It's also three more cars. So picture this. Richard is in the lead in Lee's dad's car after staying the night with another girl at a Super 8.

Three unmarked police cars pull in behind him and producers, PIs, and ex-wives are all in different cars behind that. So we now have this like train of people just trying to follow him. The team pulls off and they watch from a couple parking rows away as the three police cars box Richard Scott Smith into the parking lot in the mall. And this footage is epic. Like,

Oh, there's footage on it. Oh, yeah, because the producers are there. Love Fraud is filming it. So all the wives are freaking out. The bounty hunter is like, oh, this is going down right now. The cops get out. They draw their guns. Their lights are going. And Richard just steps out. And they arrest him for his outstanding warrant. Okay. So this whole scene to me just feels like someone who didn't think he could get

caught. It just feels like justice in one moment for so many women. Women who had been hurt from the minimal to the extreme, from cheating to beating to stealing and then to leaving. Literally, this online blog of strong women led to the arrest of a man the police didn't seem to be able to get by themselves. This is nuts. This is insane. It's insane. So 24 hours after the arrest, Oscar's boat, the houseboat that Richard had been going to see, it sinks.

Like it just randomly sinks. What? And so as they're investigating it, they discover that it had just been a slow leak. Someone had just put a slow leak into the boat and purposely sunk it. Which was him. Yes. So producers are like, hey, he was trying to sink your boat. So Lee tells producers that

that she believes that Richard tried to sink her dad's boat so that he could then buy it from him cheaper. This poor old man, buy it from him cheaper, take it to his place of work that fixes boats and then turn around and sell it for more. So it was all just a long con. All a con, yep. So many of these,

of the women came to Richard's court hearing and testified. They testified about the physical and mental abuse because I did forget to say he would, he had been arrested for physical violence before for domestic violence. They testified about the lying. They testified about the fraud.

And the fact that he was married to three, four, five women at the same time, only to take what they had and leave. They were like, this guy is not a good guy. He was sentenced to prison for 180 days and required to pay back anyone who chose to sue him, like to go through with these charges. But he wouldn't have the money, right? No. And because most of his money was a lie, right? Like it was just a steal. It was fake. Yeah. Or stole it from them. Yes.

And also it was then turned around and spent on cars or on this. And you have to keep in mind that

A lot of these women aren't going to go through with the process of a lawsuit to try to get their money back. That's a lot. If he's not going to even have it to pay, you know what I mean? Con men really do get such small sentences. Like it's only 180 days, despite the fact that he's conned so many people, this level of con man, we're not talking like people who screw over big companies. We're talking about people who just screw over other individuals. Rarely,

What they are doing is completely illegal once they are married, which is why the married con is so popular because our names are now combined. What's mine is yours. So I take the assets and run. It's hard to prove the charges become so much smaller and the sentence is much less severe, which is why these guys do this type of con. They know how to legally screw people over or do it with minimal punishment. Right? So Richard, honestly,

obviously needs longer than 180 days in prison, but that was the extent that they could get him for. Richard sat down for an interview from prison with the producers from Love Fraud once all was said and done. So once he's arrested, he gets sent his everything. Love Fraud comes and goes, hey, so yeah, we were making a docuseries. We're actually the reason you're here now. Like the cops probably would have never got you without all of us coming together and doing this. And can we interview you? He's like, sure.

So he bull craps the whole interview and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it because it's just, it's annoying. He says any relationship he started, he was looking for forever and he was looking for that fairy tale romance. Oh my gosh. He cries through the whole thing. He plays the victim. I've had such a hard life. These women, they're just bitter. It's just awful. Give me a break. He says the girls he dated were so poor. So why would a con man want

like he's like, they were not even worth a con. He says he hasn't committed any crimes. He's been wrongly accused. And just like this, what the last con we saw gaslighting is such a bad thing with these criminals. He's like, Nope. They're like, no, we have you on video doing this. And he's like, no, I'm the victim here. Tear, tear, tear. So producers ask him how many times he's been married. And he says,

I think only five. And they're like, okay, well, what about this girl? And what about this girl? And what about this girl? And what about this girl? And he's like, oh yeah, her too. Oh, I forgot about her. Oh yeah. Too. They confront him with all of his other marriages and he goes, yes, I know them. They say, Hey, well that's 10 women that like we can legally prove you've been married to. And who knows how many more? And he goes, oh yeah. So he's just like, he's not even there. He

He also says he's been married to multiple people at the same time. He's like, oh yeah, yeah, I was married to multiple people, but I swear it was an accident. I didn't know. I thought my divorces were final. And they're like, no, you didn't even file for a divorce. Oh, but I, I, they're like, you just stole and left in that one. You didn't even like finalize the divorce. I feel like he's just going to keep doing this when he gets out of prison. Yes. So six months later in April of 2020, Richard Scott Smith was released from prison. Yes. And,

And love fraud producers were like, well, let's start watching him again. And they immediately confirmed that he has found new girlfriends, like three to four new girlfriends. They have footage of him with new girls. You would think because of social media, he wouldn't be able to. He wouldn't be able to. So he said that he was like, I'm the victim here. This is going to ruin my life. I'm never going to be able to date again. No, he got out. There's women dating him. And I don't...

Maybe they don't know but it's so like I got on the blog is still up. It still exists We'll leave it linked in our so you can go check it out There's so many comments on it now if people who've watched documentary and are just like consoling the women like we're so sorry this happened to you He deserved more time in jail. He's out doing it again It's just crazy that wow, this is this is what happens when you do this type of con he hits scam jewelry stores employers

friends. He had used his little sister telling girls it was his daughter after their mom died so they would feel bad for him. He put his uncle in a home after convincing him to make him power of attorney, leave his house to him and then sold all of the assets and left.

He was physically abusive to multiple women. He came and went into many people's lives like it was nothing, causing trouble everywhere he went. And so this story is for the victims of Richard Scott Smith. That's crazy. And the fact that he's still probably doing it to this day. To this day.

Yes, he is. So the blog can still like... They'll still do updates of where he's at and trying to help these women. Like, hey, go watch this documentary. What can you do about it? Yeah. It is absolutely insane. It's crazy. It's like legal but illegal. You know what I'm saying? Yes, because it's like if he marries them... But a lot of it is illegal. Like him just up and taking the restaurant loan and the 401k and leaving that restaurant to be bankrupt. That's totally illegal. Completely illegal. That's fraud, yeah. So it's just...

It's crazy. And I don't, I like some of it's kind of like, how is he not getting more time?

But I guess that's what con men do, right? Like that's why they're con men. So it's crazy. But yeah, that was the story of the con man, Richard Scott Smith. It was definitely different than what you were expecting. Well, than last week. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm saying? We are just so happy to have you guys listening. We are so happy to have you here. Thank you for being patient with us as we dive into this podcasting world and

Thank you for loving us and for supporting us. We wouldn't be here without you guys. And I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye.