The Blue Moon Murders

0:00When a mother and her two adult sons were found brutally murdered inside their floor at a home, with their bodies hidden beneath piles of clothing and blankets, investigators were confronted with a crime scene, unlike anything they'd expected. All three had been beaten, and their throats had been cut. Then, had even been shot in the head. But with the rare blue moon approaching, police began to wonder whether this massacre had been part of something ritualistic. Now behind the eventual talk of witchcraft, Wicca and the occult was a deeply fractured family with a possible motive for murder that was far more familiar than anything supernatural. This is the story of the blue moon murders. My name's Ben. I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicca and Grim.

1:00A true crime podcast. Warning. The following podcast contains graphic content and material intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Have you noticed that we never have the same energy levels? It's either one of us is like, woohoo, and the other is just like, eh, but it's never the same. Okay, I'm sure we've got it the same sometimes. And why are you saying this today? Why? That's the end of the episode. I feel like I was like you, like just like fidgety and just like, woo, let's go like run a marathon and today you're like that. And I'm not. I do not want to run a fucking marathon.

2:01I am not about to do that. Oh, but you don't just have like some good energy about you. You're like, dancing and you're singing. And yeah, it's a good old day for Ben. I'm sorry. I listened to a little bit of money for nothing by Dyer Straits. And now I've just got the best freaking guitar solo intro bridge, whatever you want to call it in my head this morning. And I'm just in a good mood because of it. That's good. Yeah. Have we ever talked about how honey really likes music or something? I don't know. I don't know what it is exactly. She gets, I call it big feels because like if we, it's not like music in general, but live music, if you sing or like I, I have a guitar, I, a four chord hero. I've got a few songs I can play. If I play them live, she'll like get up and go get all like energetic and howl and like grab a toy and pace and wag her tail. She loves it. Yeah. But then it also does seem like she does it, either. Like it almost makes her a little anxious too. But I think it's like you said, the big feels. It's not like she's upset though.

3:02She's like happy, but it's like she doesn't know what to do with herself. Yeah. Big feels. Yeah. She doesn't know how to express the emotion she's feeling. Two Shay. I guess. I mean, that's how I kind of am today, apparently. I'm certainly not going to run a marathon to express it. I'm going to rock out to some freaking dire streets instead. There you go. That actually sounds better, hey? Oh, I'm, I'm not going to say that running is bad. Running is definitely good. I have been trying to do a bit of running this, this summer and get a little bit more heart healthy. Mm-hmm. But I would definitely take rocking out to music over going for a run for sure. I've done one half marathon. I think about doing more, but it sucked kind of too. I don't know. I don't know. I wish I could be someone to enjoy running. Like some of these people say that there's like that runner's pie. I wish that was something that I got. I just get like this voice inside of me was like, you're not going to make it. You're going to die. You're going to collapse. You're fucked. The brain is so rude sometimes, hey? Yeah. Oh. Anyways, I've got a bit of an interesting story today.

4:04It ties in a little bit of spooky stuff, talking about the blue moon murders. Mm-hmm. So yeah, if you're ready, we should just dive in. Okay. Yeah. I'm ready. Let's do it. In the summer of 2015, the Smith family was living quietly on Deerfield Drive in Pensacola, Florida, and they had been for years. The household was made up of 77-year-old von Seel Smith and her two adult sons, Richard Thomas Smith, who was 49, and John Williams Smith, who was 47. They were private people. Enough so that some neighbors who had lived nearby them for years, honestly, barely knew them at all. But inside the family, they had a well-established routine, and they depended heavily on one another. And now von Seel, well, she was known to relatives as Aunt Bonnie or Bonnie, so I'll be referring to her as Bonnie from here on out. She'd not always lived such an isolated life. Early on, she and her husband, Richard A. Smith, traveled often, and were very active

5:04and outgoing. Richard had served in the Navy, which meant the family had moved around before eventually settling into Pensacola in 1986. Bonnie's health eventually declined as she grew older, and after her husband died in 2012, she spent much more time inside her home. Her family knew her as a good mother who had enjoyed traveling and being around people, but as her health, you know, worsened that made her world a lot smaller. A lot of her time was then spent watching TV, particularly the QVC shopping network, and she frequently began ordering things on TV. Packages accumulated along with clothing, boxes, and other purchases until the Deerfield Drive House became extremely cluttered and was approaching hoarding status, though not quite reaching that point. Now John had an intellectual or developmental disability, and he had remained living with his parents into adulthood, but that did not stop him from maintaining a steady job.

6:05After 47 years old, he had worked for roughly 20 years at Walmart on Mobile Highway, where his duties included helping move merchandise and bringing in shopping carts. He was described as sweet, and almost always smiling, and his co-workers saw him as something like kind of like the little brother of the group. His life was mostly structured around home and work, and transportation was another part of their family routine there. The father had once taken John to and from work, but after his death, his brother Richard took over that responsibility, and he had been doing it for the past few years. Now Richard was older of the two brothers. He was 49. He had also remained in the family home, but much of his life revolved around helping care for his mother Bonnie and his brother John. The family understood that John would continue needing support, and Richard had effectively taken on that responsibility. Now at the time, Richard held an important information technology position at the Department of Homeland Security at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola.

7:08His work involved cryptography, codes, and computers, and he established that he had access to classified materials. Even within his family, Richard though didn't discuss the details of what he did. When the subject had worked him up, he generally just kept that part of his life to himself. I mean, what someone's probably supposed to do when you have a secretive job like that. Yeah, that makes sense. Now from the outside, they were maybe a little bit odd, but there was nothing extraordinary about them. Bonnie spent most of her time at home. John worked at Walmart, Richard went back and forth to the Naval Base, and to the House itself, which was packed with stuff. Now Bonnie had also had an older son from an earlier relationship. Donald Wayne Hartson, Jr. was born on January 11, 1957. Donald had a different father from Richard and John. When the Smith family settled into Pensacola, Donald remained in Virginia, where he married and had a son of his own. Then after his marriage ended, eventually he moved to Pensacola himself in 2013, settling

8:13in roughly three miles from his mother. Okay. See, I just want to touch on the three of them first, because maybe like odd slightly, but also you can only hope for that really, that you could have like a family that close and helpful to each other and stuff. So I feel like it's quite nice. Oh, for sure. I mean, I think that's kind of what everyone dreams of is having a family that that's tight knit, you know, when aging kind of takes over and health decline begins, you have, you are your children there to look after you. And when you're growing up and you need help from your parents, you have them to look after you and you rely on each other. But yeah, unfortunately, it's not every case that ends up like that. Well, even the brother too kind of took over driving, you know, his younger brother to work and stuff. I think that's great. It's a great family dynamic to have. You're right. Now Donald worked as a security guard. And according to one account, he even earned only about $10 an hour, which I mean, isn't terrible, especially considering you're talking about 2013 here.

9:13So by today's standards, it's probably not a whole lot, but by then, it definitely a little bit more. Now Donald was not a stranger to the Deerfield House. He had a standing routine there, actually, every Tuesday. He came and he visited Bonnie and John and cooked dinner for them. Richard generally worked later on Tuesdays and normally did not eat with Donald. That meant Donald was usually gone before Richard got back to home from work sort of situation. So generally, the routine was Donald came back to Deerfield drive on Tuesday, made dinner for everyone, didn't get to see his brother Richard, but then left and then Richard would come home and then enjoy the dinner as well. Okay. So was it kind of him helping out or was it them avoiding each other? It was him helping out. Okay. Yeah. So the routine brought Donald back to the house on Tuesday, July 28th, 2015. Richard and John had both gone to work that day and Donald arrived at the house early that afternoon, somewhat earlier than usual. In fact, a neighbor who is familiar with his weekly visits and routine noticed him arrive

10:17sometime out around 1 or 130 pm, which is earlier, but, you know, non-extraordinary. He'd come to make dinner and he spent part of that afternoon outside and part of it inside with his mother, Bonnie. Now they watched TV together and eventually Bonnie continued watching TV while Donald prepared the meal. Now John had actually chosen it for that week. It was fried chicken, corn, green beans, french fries, and Mary B's biscuits. Yeah. Donald estimated that he began cooking at about 2 30 pm and the family ate early somewhere around 3 30 to 4 pm. Now, Richard was not there for dinner. As I mentioned, he normally wasn't. Donald routinely prepared a separate plate for him and then left it in the oven so he could eat a warm meal when he got home. After eating, John handled most of the dishes while Donald helped load the plates into the dishwasher. They also did laundry for the household too. Donald smoked cigarettes and he smoked a few outside between chores and spent some time sitting with Bonnie before he was supposed to leave.

11:18Normally he left fairly early, typically watching the 5 30 pm national news with his mother Bonnie and then he'd leave to go home. Now Richard was still usually at work when he left and that Tuesday Richard was in fact still at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola as the evening approached at about 6 36 pm workplace surveillance recordings saw him leave. He was still wearing his work clothes as he walked out of the building and a short time later at 6 46 pm, Richard's personal cell phone registered what would become his final known outgoing call. Back on dear field drive, however, Donald had actually not left according to the neighbors of the Smith property. Typically he left after that 5 30 pm news, but not today. In fact, the neighbors saw Richard return home first before Donald had left. Only afterwards did they then see Donald leave, which stood out because Donald was normally gone before Richard arrived. The neighbor said he left around twilight, which places it and around well after sunset,

12:20which he recalled as approximately 7 40 pm. Now there was another unusual detail too. See Donald normally brought his dog with him on Tuesdays, allowed it to run around the Smith's backyard, but on this visit, according to the neighbor, the dog wasn't with him. And when Donald finally drove away, the neighbors noticed something else too. His headlights on his vehicle were off. Which is pretty darn sketchy, but I just want to touch on this like being a neighbor thing. This shit that you just have in your head, rent fee free, hey, that you just like end up learning about your neighbors and it's just there. And then if it's off, you notice or whatever it's yeah, I've never really sat back to think about that, but the little things that you pick up that you don't really know that you notice until it's off. Well, you kind of have a front row third party seat to their life. Yeah. Anything that happens outside their house, but still on their property, you kind of know. If they're mowing their grass, you typically know.

13:23Yeah. Or if their grass isn't mowed as regularly as usual or they're not doing their nightly walk like you notice it. You do. So yes, I don't know. I just never really thought about it that way, but yeah, this and this neighbor does seem awfully helpful right now. Well, and think about it this way. Say you are noticing that your neighbor's cutting their grass. In fact, say you notice that they cut their grass every Saturday morning at 8 a.m. on the nose, but you want to sleep in. You want to sleep into like nine. So when their lawnmower starts at 8 a.m., you become pissed off. And of course, here it goes every fucking Saturday. But then imagine that Saturday rolls around and you sleep in. They didn't mow. The cars are there. They should be there, but there's nothing. Okay, it's weird to probably just busy, you know, maybe they'll mow tomorrow and the next day and the next day, maybe they'll mow it and they don't and you don't see anything. All of a sudden, yeah, now you're like, well, what the fuck's going on? Yeah, you're getting concerned. So that's exactly what you're saying is like these things that you notice, it's funny.

14:23How they live. Yeah, right free. And then when they're not there, it's like, oh, man, sounds like shit's happening. Now the following day, Wednesday, July 29th came and went. Donald went about his routine. He worked his evening security shift from 3 to 11 p.m. However, inside the Smith's family, normal routine, something was off for them. Richard didn't report for work. John also failed to appear for a scheduled doctor's appointment. Calls and normal signs of activity from the house just disappeared Thursday past with Richard still absent. And by Friday, July 31st, his coworkers were concerned that this was no longer being treated as someone simply taking an unexpected couple days off work. So the supervisor called the county sheriff's office and requested a welfare check and deputies were sent to their home. They knocked on the door, but two did not receive an answer. Now the house was locked and from the outside, there was no obvious sign of what had happened. So a family member was contacted so deputies could get permission to enter. And once inside, the first thing that stood out was the condition of the home, with boxes,

15:26clothing, and other belongings crowding the rooms, much of it connected to Bonnie's habit of ordering things off QVC. Then came the smell. As deputies moved further inside, they noticed what appeared to be a foot sticking from beneath a pile of blankets and clothing. Coming back the edges of the fabric exposed to woman's hand too. And beneath all that material, they found 77 year old Bonnie Smith. They continued searching the home and they found two more bodies too hidden beneath separate piles of clothing and blankets. It was her son, John and her son, Richard. Police had just discovered what appeared to be a triple homicide. The three victims had been concealed, but the violence used against them was obvious and extreme. All three had suffered deep cut wounds across their throats. Investigators also found evidence of repeated blunt force trauma to the head, consistent with a claw hammer. Now Richard had another injury the others did not.

16:28A gunshot wound that entered around his right ear and exited behind his neck. Now because both Richard and John were large men, investigators believed that this gunshot was likely used to incapacitate Richard before he could physically resist. And then whoever was doing this had a greater chance of being able to incapacitate the others. Now John was found in the den positioned on the couch where he regularly watched TV. An investigator saw no significant defense wounds on him suggesting he had little or no opportunity to fight back before he saw the attack coming. Detective Matt Infinger, who took the lead on the homicide investigation, considered the possibility that John had either been asleep or had allowed his attacker to approach because he knew and trusted this person. Now Bonnie scene was a bit different. Physical evidence indicated she had been attacked while sitting in the chair she normally used in the family room to watch TV.

17:30But blood evidence showed that she had not remained where she was attacked. Her body had actually been moved and ultimately was found in John's bedroom. But unlike John, Bonnie showed signs that she had tried to protect herself as there were in fact defensive injuries to her hands. In fact part of her left pinky finger was even missing. But there was no explanation why. A claw hammer was also recovered from the kitchen counter. It appeared to have been cleaned and washed but it remained an obvious item of interest given the blunt force injuries. Now outside among the household trash, investigators recovered bloody paper towels, also along with discarded cigarette butts, which were preserved for forensic testing. There were also signs that someone had made an effort to conceal what had happened, at least to some degree or at very least to delay what was going to be found. Each victim had been covered with clothing, blankets, or other textiles. In a house already filled with piles of belongings, that concealment made the bodies easier to miss at first glance.

18:32Yet other things about the house did not fit an ordinary robbery. There was no sign of forced entry. Doors and windows for example did not show the kind of damage expected if a stranger were to break in. And nothing obvious appeared to have been ransacked for valuables. And for example, in Richard's bedroom, investigators found an unlocked safe containing a large amount of cash that totaled about $13,651. Whoever had killed these three people had apparently left the money behind, so if someone had entered the home intending to steal, they had left thousands of dollars sitting within an easy reach. But the house itself presented another challenge. Being packed with all these belongings, and every surface, every room, and container had potential to hold evidence, it made it extremely difficult. So investigators spent roughly five days just processing the scene alone, collecting biological material, fingerprints, clothing, items, anything else that might explain what had happened

19:33there. DNA testing would be especially complicated because victims were closely related to one another. And other relatives routinely visited the home too. So simply finding a family member's DNA inside would not automatically mean that the person had been involved in these killings. Now, investigators also immediately began looking at the people who could have entered do-your-field drive without causing alarm. And that brought them back to Donald Harting. Donald had legitimate reason for being inside the Smith home. He visited every Tuesday. He cooked dinner, helped with dishes and laundry. He even smoked outside and spent time with Bonnie and John. And when he was asked, he acknowledged that yes, he was there on July 28th. The last day investigators could confidently place the family being alive. Now the evidence supporting Tuesday being that likely date included Richard leaving work at 6.36 pm with his final cell phone activity being 6.46 pm. John missing a medical appointment on Wednesday was another.

20:34Newspapers and other belongings not being collected after Tuesday. And even stomach contents consistent with the meal Donald had prepared for Bonnie and John. But Richard's stomach contents on the other hand was consistent with the lunch he had eaten earlier that day. He did not consume that dinner. Now detective Matt Ingfinger made contact with Donald on July 31st. And he found his reaction rather strange to learning the fact that his, you know, family was just murdered murdered in a triple homicide. He said he was calm and nonchalant with little visible emotion after the deaths were announced to him, which is pretty messed up. You think you'd be losing your shit? You would think so. Now Donald agreed to accompany investigators to the Sheriff's office. And it was only a few hours after the bodies were found when he waived his Miranda rights and sat for an interview without an attorney present. Now Donald denied hurting his family and described his relationship with them as being very good. He explained the dinner routine insisted that he had left before Richard had returned

21:37home from work and said he had not seen Richard at all that evening. Oh, so he's disagreeing with what the neighbors said then. Yeah, and investigators weren't convinced either. After the first interview, Donald was taken home. But then at approximately 1.30 a.m., detectives brought him back for another round of questioning. And this time though, the tone was considerably more direct. Donald had a positive, in-finger challenge Donald over the killings and his relationship with the victims. But Donald repeatedly denied responsibility. And at one point, asking whether investigators really thought he looked like some kind of maniac. Donald also allowed authorities to search his home though. Inside investigators found something that suddenly seemed to offer a possible explanation for the unusual crime scene. Donald had what he described as a prayer room and openly acknowledged practicing Wicca Now the room contained books and religious material associated with witchcraft, symbols, ritual objects, and reportedly there was even a Ouija board that was found among the items

22:40in his house. Now Donald described himself as a solitary practitioner and said he had practiced Wicca for several years at that point. But to investigators trying to understand finding three people dead with slip throats, who were either shot or attacked with a hammer, the discovery certainly grabbed their attention because they began developing a much stranger theory about these murders. They began thinking differently because they knew all three bodies had been deliberately covered with piles of clothing and blankets. And Donald acknowledged that he practiced Wicca in his time. He was a solitary practitioner. But detectives began searching for information about supposed occult practices. And began wondering whether the way the bodies have been covered could be related to some sort of ritual or have some sort of significance. They also learned in that research that a blue moon, the second full moon occurring within the same calendar month, was approaching. And they began trying to connect that lunar event with Donald's religion and the unusual

23:44crime scene that they had. Detective Amfinger brought that theory directly into interrogation too. He asked Donald about the blue moon. Donald said, yeah, he knew about it. He knew what it was. And so did a lot of people. In fact, it was recently widely discussed on the radio because it was a lunar event that was coming up. I mean, think about today as soon as there's a, you know, an extra large moon or a full moon or something like that. It's usually all across social media. You hear about it. Yeah, it's typical. Detective Amfinger then referred to information detectives had apparently been given about a supposed Wiccan ritual in which murder victims were covered after death to quote, keep them warm. But Donald immediately rejected the idea, telling that it's the detective that he knew nothing about any such ritual and asking what kind of person would do something like that. The problem was that this supposed ritual itself though had no legitimate basis in Wicca at all. The material investigators had relied upon was later described as coming from a dubious

24:44and debunked source about witchcraft and conspiracies. But still, this theory went public. In August 4, 2015, County Sheriff David Morgan held a press conference and announced that investigators were considering the triple homicide as a possible ritualistic killing and he even went further and openly referred to witchcraft. The timing he suggests might be connected to the blue moon. Okay, that's kind of interesting that they're really diving down this theory. It is. You don't hear that very often. I feel investigation lots of times it's pretty black and white and this is very great, I guess, in my opinion. Well, I think a big part of it is they're searching for a motive. Money was left behind, for example, right? Yeah, a lot of money. So if it's not a robbery, what else could it be? A ritualistic killing, a cult, that sort of thing could explain why.

25:44And I think that's what they're grasping at is, well, why were these three people killed? And this is the only could really find. I don't know. I just do find it interesting that they even found this though, because it just seems unique to me, right? That you would go down that little rabbit hole. That's true. I agree. It does seem unique. And in all honesty, it even seems like a stretch. It seems like they're really reaching. They can't explain a motive. So they're trying to make a motive fit. They're like, oh, well, this guy, he's into Wicca. And there's a blue moon nearby. That must be it. Boom, here's our motive. Yeah. They almost kind of have already determined that it was him, Donald, in a way, in their minds, maybe. Hopefully not. I hope it wasn't him, but hopefully they're still exploring other ideas and stuff too. For sure. Now with this blue moon theory though, this whole occult situation, there was an obvious problem with this explanation. The blue moon occurred on Friday, July 31st of that year.

26:48Investigators believe Bonnie, John and Richard were killed on Tuesday, July 28th, which was three days before the blue moon. And many reporters actually noticed this discrepancy, like right out of the gate. But there was no clear explanation offered for why the murders on Tuesday should have any sort of tie on this blue moon on Friday. It was just a matter of investigators trying to make it fit. Kill the idea spread rapidly. A brutal family massacre involving hammer blows, cutthroats, gunshot wound, witchcraft, and a rare blue moon was irresistible to national and international media alike. And the case became known as the blue moon murders. And Donald was increasingly described as being the possible blue moon killer. The Wicken community pushed back almost immediately. Keith Vallis, leader of the Pentecostal area, three moon Wicken Grove said that the Smith family had no known association with local pagan or Wicken groups and rejected the suggestion

27:49that the killings resembled Wicken practice in any ways whatsoever. Other practitioners were even more direct. Modern Wicka did not involve human or animal sacrifice and the murders had not even occurred on the full moon itself. Now there was another interesting detail that detectives couldn't seem to ignore. And that was Richard's job. You mentioned hopefully they're looking for other motives too. Well that's exactly what they were doing. Richard worked in a very sensitive cryptographic and computer related role for the Department of Homeland Security. A federal protective service investigator was sent from Texas to Pensacola, specifically to determine whether the murders had any connection to the federal government. Researchers laptops and a cell phone associated with Richard were seized and examined as investigators considered whether his classified work had somehow put the family in danger. But nothing was found and it didn't produce a clear national security motive. However, another motive was beginning to take shape as well.

28:50One far less mysterious and secret government information, witchcraft or a blue moon. Now regarding Donald's account of Tuesday, July 28th, he maintained that he had cooked in a forbony and John then left. Now Richard still hadn't returned home from work so he said before he was gone. He said he had not seen Richard for nearly two or three weeks at that point. Richard had been recorded leaving work at 6.36 pm. His phone, again final outgoing activity was 6.46 pm. A next or neighbor though said Richard had arrived back at Deerfield Drive while Donald was still there. In fact that same neighbor placed Donald's departure at around 7.40 pm after sunset. That meant Richard and Donald had in fact been in the same house together which directly contradicted Donald's statements. Now forensic testing created a more complicated problem. Donald visited the house every week. His DNA on ordinary kitchen surfaces or chairs, household objects would prove very little.

29:52So detectives therefore focused on where his DNA appeared and whether those locations matched what he had told police. Now during his second interview Donald was very specific when he asked whether he handled Richard's possessions. He said no. But testing showed Donald's DNA on a fabric notebook case belonging to Richard. The case contained financial papers, builds and even Richard's checkbook. An investigator said that that case itself even had blood on it. But the checkbook, these things had been well they were covered in the kitchen. Which is where Donald regularly prepared Tuesday dinner. So simply finding his DNA on these, it didn't establish that he shouldn't have been there because he was always there. He could have just moved them or something. Exactly. Now another location though was harder for detectives to dismiss as routine contact. Donald's DNA was reportedly found on the inside of Richard's belt. Investigators considered that significance because while Donald had claimed he hadn't seen

30:55Richard for weeks and he denied handling any sort of personal belongings. So how did his DNA get on the inside of his belt? Sounds to me like a great place to grab hold of someone if you're moving a body. Yes. DNA associated with Donald was also reported on the handle and latch of Bonnie's purse and on the claw hammer recovered from the kitchen. But all in all, the trash became particularly important. Among the discarded material were towels and paper products that were stained in blood, likely used an attempt to clean portions of the scene. But there was also cigarette butts that were mixed among the contents and testing identified Donald's DNA on that cigarette evidence. Now investigators focused heavily on one butt in particular because it was described as sitting on top of all the bloody material. To them, its position suggested that whoever had been smoking that cigarette was present after all of it had been thrown away.

31:57The bloody mess was cleaned up, thrown into a trash, then whoever had done that or was present after the fact, smoked a cigarette and threw it on top of the bloody paper towels. And Donald's DNA was on that cigarette. Oh dang, that does not look good. The purchase of Donald's own property didn't produce the kind of evidence investigators were hoping to find. Despite searching his home in VS. Cole and even seizing his clothing, no blood-blung to Bonnie, John or Richard was identified. No firearm could be conclusively identified as the gun used against Richard either. And the relevant clothing did not provide a simple gunshot residue link like they were hoping. The case at hand remains largely circumstantial at best. I just want to touch on the stomach contents too because that seems like really red flag to me. But it's only circumstantial. That's true. I know what you're saying. But I feel like, yeah say Donald was there for like an hour when Richard was home and

33:00Richard last ate at lunch time. Like he would be eating. Like he would eat dinner. You would assume he would eat dinner. Yeah. Like I would think he would eat. I would, he's probably hangry. Like he's probably fam. I was just like shulling food in his face. Maybe he stressed that day. Maybe he's too busy that day. Maybe he didn't like fried chicken. Maybe he's on a diet. Who? There's a plethora of my guess or he came in the house and was attacked. Who knows? Exactly. You can't say one over the other. I guess. Yeah. Was it because he was attacked or was it because he was on a diet? Prove it. That's the problem. Don't get me wrong. I agree with you 100%. Technically because he was attacked that makes the most sense. But when it comes to defending something in court. It's not enough. It's not enough. You have to prove it. Prove he wasn't on a diet over the fact that he was attacked. Right. You can't, which means it's circumstantial. But I agree with you. You are right. Where was I? Okay. As the weeks passed, detectives also began looking harder at the Smith's family finances. And this is where the other motive, the other theory comes into play.

34:06They're soon discovered that appearances can be misleading. The quiet family household on Deerfield Drive. Well, it controlled substantial assets. At first, you could think this is a small hoarding house with, you know, one son with developmental issues working at Walmart and an aging mother who is a shopping problem. But financial records placed the combined holdings of Bonnie, Richard and John at close to $900,000. Investigators then examined Bonnie's estate documents. Bonnie's will was structured so that her husband, Richard A. Smith, would inherit first. But since he died before she did, that meant the estate would instead pass to Richard and John in equal shares. But Donald, however, he was not included alongside them as a beneficiary, meaning that if Bonnie died while Richard and John were still alive, the estate would go to them rather than Donald. That mattered because with Bonnie, Richard and John all dead, that meant Donald's position

35:11as the only surviving family member changed dramatically. Then a coworker of Donald's gave investigators something even more troubling. See, Donald had spoken about his family's money before and claimed that he had expected to inherit it because he was the eldest of all the sons. He was the eldest living heir. Police now had a possible financial motive. They had disputed timelines, DNA and locations they considered suspicious, and Donald's acknowledged presence in the house on the day they believed the Smiths were in fact killed. For nearly three months, investigators continued forensic testing before detectives finally moved in on October 27, 2015. Donald Wayne, her young senior, was then 58 years old and was arrested without incident and charged with three counts of first degree premeditated murder for the deaths of his mother Bonnie and his two half brothers, John and Richard.

36:11State attorney Bill Eddins announced that prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty in this case, citing that the multiple victims was an aggravating effector. Now, Donald was held without bond while prosecutors prepared for the case before the grand jury. The case against Donald was no longer centered on witchcraft or the blue moon, though. And investigators and prosecutors began digging more deeply into the relationships inside the family, trying to understand whether that quiet Tuesday dinner had any sort of hidden layers beneath it, maybe years of resentment. Now Donald was Bonnie's oldest son, born before she was married to Richard A Smith. Richard Thomas and John Williams Smith were therefore Donald's half brothers and Donald spent much of his adult life in Virginia, where he married and had a son, Donald Harden, Jr. While Bonnie, Richard and John eventually settled in Pensacola. After Donald's marriage ended, he lived alone near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach

37:13for a period before moving to Pensacola in 2013. But there seemed to be a much deeper family history than anyone knew. And Donald's son, Donald Jr. or Jr. is I'm going to refer to him just to keep things easier. Well, he provided one of the more personal accounts of that history. And he described a serious incident from his childhood involving his uncle, John. According to Jr., John exposed himself to him while he was still a child. Jr. disclosed what had happened to his mother within several days, and the allegation caused a major split between the two sides of the family. Jr. believed his grandmother, Bonnie, sided with John. And communication between the families broke down for a substantial period. And Jr. described his father as becoming, quote, the black sheep of the family separated from Bonnie, Richard, and John, even when contact eventually resumed. Donald's decision to move back to Pensacola after his divorce actually surprised his son, Jr. because of all that history.

38:14But now during his first interview, Donald described his relationship with Bonnie and his brothers as essentially excellent, which was a stark difference from the story. Jr. was just telling. And as investigators spoke with other people who knew the family, they heard more descriptions of this relationship that was more distant. Donald's regular Tuesday dinners was true and it was normal. But according to those accounts, his contact with the household was limited largely to just those visits. Their relatives described tension as well. Bonnie's niece and Donald's cousin, Faye Hayce, well, portrayed Donald as someone who could be mean, who could pick on other people's weaknesses. And investigators had also heard claims that Donald presented Richard's success and had sought financial help from Bonnie. Now those accounts gave prosecutors a possible emotional background for the hostility. They were beginning to associate with the murders. But none of them, by themselves, proved Donald had killed anyone. Again, circumstantial at best.

39:17But they sure found some family drama. That's certainly they certainly did. Now the money on the other hand still stood out to investigators. Bonnie, Richard and John had, were worth roughly $900,000 and Richard had $13,651 in cash untouched inside the unlock safe in their home. Not to mention Bonnie's will, giving equal shares to Richard and John, but not Donald. In fact, there was allegedly wording within the document that was deliberately excluding him. Not that he was just not mentioned. The document explained that no provisions were going to be made for him because he already had sufficient assets of his own. Damn. See, when you were first talking about the will, I kind of forgot that Donald was Bonnie's. I thought that it was the, the, the dads. Okay. So the fact that he's not in the will actually makes like no sense. Yeah. Now, this is interesting though when it comes to the will. There was however an oddity that prosecutors would eventually have to deal with.

40:21The will didn't actually exclude Donald from everything. In fact, it did not mention him who it did exclude was Donald Jr. while the man charged with the murders on your scene, Donald Sr. was not mentioned at all. So was it a typo? Was it an error? Was it a mixup of Jr. and Sr.? Or not certain? Now the defense would argue that this created uncertainty over exactly who Bonnie meant to exclude. And whether the wording was mistaken or not though, Donald was not named as one of the defend, one of the direct beneficiaries. So he was excluded, whether he was mentioned to be excluded or not. One of the Donalds was targeted. The other just excluded entirely for investigators. If Bonnie died, Richard and John stood to receive her estate. But if Richard and John were also dead, Donald's position as the surviving son became much more important. Prosecutors began forming the theory that one death would not have been enough.

41:23For Donald to benefit in the way that they believed he expected to, all three members of that family had to die. And that theory was strengthened when one of Donald's co-workers told investigators that he had spoken about his family's wealth. Now the case now had something the original Blumum theory never provided. A very real possible reason for why Bonnie, John and Richard had in fact been killed. But Donald still denied killing them. Now, Donald remained in the county jail for years as the murder case slowly moved towards trial. But soon a new witness would come forward. One who claimed Donald had actually told him exactly what had happened. And his name was Marlon Purfoy. Now Marlon was an inmate with a substantial criminal history, including multiple felony convictions and was serving a very lengthy sentence for attempted murder. Now jailhouse informants always come with obvious credibility problems.

42:23And even prosecutors acknowledge that they prefer not to rely on them if they could avoid it. Still, in this case, Marlon wrote a letter to the state attorney's office claiming he had information about Donald and soon an investigator was sent to go speak with him about it. Now, according to Marlon, Donald had spoken openly about these murders to him. Marlon said other inmates were very uneasy around Donald because they knew about his wicked beliefs. But Marlon decided to talk to him on that subject, pretending he himself to be interested in voodoo. He said that opened the door to longer conversations. And soon enough, Donald allegedly confessed. Marlon claimed Donald told him that he had killed his mother and both half brothers. When he asked why, Marlon said Donald's explanation was the money. Bonnie had left him out of a will. He wanted the family assets. He also claimed Donald had been thinking about killing them for three to four years at that point.

43:24And the occult element even returned. But it in a very different way from what the original Blue Moon theory was. See, Marlon said Donald had been uncertain whether to go through with the murders. And he consulted a Ouija board. Now, according to Marlon, Donald believed the board gave him the confirmation that he wanted. And it pushed him towards actually carrying out this plan. And if you remember, a Ouija board had in fact been found among the religious material in Donald's home. But the claim, you know, purely hearsay, again, circumstantial at best. Marlon also described what Donald supposedly told him about the killings themselves. He claimed Donald said he'd gone to the house for the normal Tuesday dinner, but deliberately did not bring his dog. Donald then described attacking John first before turning to Bonnie and then waiting for Richard to return home from work. The most disturbing part of Marlon's account actually involved Bonnie, though. Marlon testified that Donald said he wanted the combinations to the safes in the house.

44:29And he tortured his own mother to get them. Specifically, he claimed Donald cut off Bonnie's left pinky finger until she gave him the information that he wanted. Holy, that is something. Marlon said the combination or information was kept in a black purse. And now this immediately caught investigators attention because Bonnie, she really had been found with part of her pinky finger missing. And they had established, this was gone, but they didn't establish why. And Marlon gave them another unusual detail too. He described a safe apparently inside Bonnie's bedroom closet that long forishment had not even located during the original crime scene search, which proved credibility of Marlon. And the fact that he learned information directly from Donald. See because at first I'm like, can we even trust this Marlon guy like, you know, he's also criminal. But he's really laying out some things that he probably that are connecting, right?

45:31Exactly. So then you're, oh man, okay, that's really alarming. Well, the thing is, yeah, how does he know this information otherwise? Like the pinky and stuff and, right? Yeah. He also repeated highly personal information about Donald's family. Marlon said Donald had told him about the childhood sexual assault allegations involved in Donald Jr. and John, along with Bonnie's refusal, sorry, refusal to side with Donald over the accusations. And when Jr. eventually testified himself, he confirmed the underlying family incident and the long riff that it had created. But Marlon's testimony came with very serious problems, ones you were already alluding to. He admitted that he hoped that his corporations in this case would help him in his own case. On cross examination, the defense emphasized his numerous felony convictions, including the crimes involving dishonesty and argued that informing on another inmate could provide exactly the sort of leverage a prisoner might want. But more importantly, Florida's open discovery rules meant Donald had been given arrest reports,

46:35deposition transcripts, and other case material while he was awaiting for his trial. Marlon had spent time inside Donald's cell. And according to the defense, he could have gone through Donald's possessions. Michael Griffith argued that Marlon could therefore have learned a large amount about the murders without hearing a confession at all. The defense also challenged the pinky finger story itself. The missing finger was in fact real, but there was no forensic proof that it had been deliberately cut off as part of torture. Again, circumstantial at best. Bonnie had suffered a violent hammer attack in defense of injuries, but the defense argued the finger could have been severed when she raised her hand to protect her head and face. The alleged torture therefore remained Marlon's account, not an independently proven fact. He, but as far as you know, they never found the finger, right? I couldn't find if they did or not. I searched and searched, but I could not find. I found some people saying it was missing, some people saying it was found, but I couldn't find a source

47:40that was that I'm confident in enough to give me the fact on that one. Because I feel if it was an attack that I would have been somewhere within like all their possessions, right? And you would have found that. Yeah, I think so. So the fact that you maybe say if they didn't find it, but it kind of I would feel like points more to a torture type thing. That's true. That's true. Because I mean, you could like remove the finger and like, you know, use it as like, I'm going to take another one, throw it in the garbage or something like that. But if it just comes off in a frantic assault, it probably fell on the floor and, you know, so I see exactly what you mean. But if someone actually is torturing their mother to that extent and cutting off a finger, that is frickin next level shit right there. Yeah, but, but I'm going to say from what I could find most reports say that like the pinky finger is missing. So I'm assuming they did not find it. That's my assumption. Yeah. Now, in January of 2020, more than four years after the murders, jury selection finally began

48:45in Pensacola. The prosecution entered the court with the inheritance theory. And when the defense began presenting the case in January 2020, Attorney Michael Griffith did not need to prove who else had killed Bonnie, John and Richard. His job was to convince the jury that the state had not proven that Donald was the one responsible beyond a reasonable doubt. Attorney Michael Griffith started the defense by attacking the investigation itself. He argued detectives had focused on Donald too quickly and had interpreted his calm demeanor, wick in beliefs, and routine present at the Smith home as signs of guilt before the forensic evidence was ever complete. He also questioned whether other possibilities had been explored thoroughly enough, particularly the sensitive nature of Richard's work. Now, I mentioned the Homeland Security investigator from the federal protective services being sent from Texas to, you know, to go through the computers and all that sort of stuff, right? So computers, laptops,

49:45cell phones were all seized, but one of the government issued laptops was never even opened to and gone through. Federal investigators said other information indicated that the computer had rarely been used. But Griffith stressed the simple point that nobody could say with certainty what was on this computer. It was a piece of unknown evidence. They never went through it. So you cannot rule out that his job did not play a factor in this. That seems like something that was kind of overlooked. I agree. Well, it's it's a matter of not so much overlooked. It was a decision made, but I agree it is like it's overlooked that you should go through. It should have been looked through. Yeah, but they're saying, well, it's like it's never freaking used. So why bother? Now the defense then turned to the physical investigation of Deerfield Drive. See crime scene technician Christine Rollins had collected important forensic evidence in the case and had since being fired and prosecuted herself for stealing drugs from an evidence room. And during questioning,

50:50the jury heard that she was facing 24 felony counts and potentially more than a century in prison for her own crimes. And the attorney Griffiths used that history to challenge her credibility and the reliability of the evidence that she had handled in the case. There were also questions about contamination. The defense argued that investigators had failed to maintain proper log showing everyone who entered and left the Smith house. A crime scene that size, they said, should normally have someone stationed at the entrance recording access and egress. And without that, Griffith argued it was impossible to know exactly who had moved to the home or who had touched what particular objects who could have contaminated, moved or reorganized things without you knowing. Now when it came to Donald's genetic material that was in the house, they argued he visited every Tuesday. Of course, we know that his DNA on Richard's checkbook could have come from simply moving it while preparing food. Even the cigarette butt found among the bloody cleanup material though

51:54was challenged because the trash container had been moved and transported before its contents were fully examined. So you cannot say with confidence that that cigarette butt was placed on top of those bloody regs because it was moved. And you don't know if any other people moved it even more. More importantly, investigators had not found the evidence that Griffith argued showed any sort of existence that he, Donald, had committed this bloody triple homicide. There was no murder gun, no gunshot residue found on the clothing investigators tested, no victims blood was established in Donald's home, vehicle, no blood splatter evidence, or anything that directly tied him to this attack. Then came the defense's strongest argument. When the Smiths had actually died, the state's entire timeline depended heavily on them dying Tuesday, July 28th. That was a night Donald was seen at Deerfield Drive and Richard was found

53:00wearing the same clothes captured leaving works, you know, surveillance at 636 pm. And the neighbor saw Richard arrive before Donald left the house. However, forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden questioned whether the bodies had been dead that long. Using body temperature and rigor mortis, Dr. Arden placed the deaths no earlier than late Wednesday, July 29th. And if that was correct, that created a full day gap between Donald's known visit and the murders. But other details troubled Dr. Arden as well. The family's dog had remained inside the house with these bodies. Dr. Arden explained that animals trapped without food can that eventually, you know, scavenge human remains. Yet Smith's spot, the Smiths bodies, they showed no evidence that the dog had fed on them at all. He also noted the absence of significant insect activity. If three bodies had remained inside the house from Tuesday until Friday, they would ordinarily be flies, larvae. But there was none.

54:08Under questioning, however, Dr. Arden stopped short of saying a Tuesday death was impossible. His conclusion was narrower, but still very important. He believed Tuesday was inconsistent with the scientific and medical evidence, but not impossible. Now that left the jury with two competing pictures. The prosecution had Donald at Dearfield Drive when Richard returned home. Contradictions in Donald's story, unusual DNA locations, an inheritance motive, a neighbor's observations, and Marlins alleged confession. The defense had no recovered firearm, no victims blood in Donald's property, questions surrounding evidence handling, a jailhouse informant seeking a benefit, an unexplored government laptop, and medical testimony that challenged the state's most important date. Ultimately, on January 29th, 2020,

55:08the case went to the jury. They deliberated for a little more than four hours. And when they returned, the juror's decision was read out loud. Donald Hartung Sr. was found guilty of the first remurder in all three deaths, a Bonnie Smith, John Smith, and Richard Smith. Okay, I was not certain the way that was going to go or not. Were you watching my lips as I was reading? Yeah. Okay, because I did go for like a not guilty at first, because I thought you were. I was. Yeah. Because yeah, this one does seem a little bit tough. It makes sense that it's him, but there's also a few little things in there that throw you off of it. For sure. And this entire case, they found this verdict purely on circumstantial evidence. There is not a concrete piece in this whatsoever. But I mean, the jury, they all came together and they had the same decision.

56:09They did. I'm not arguing with the jury. I do think though I was thinking I was like, gosh, this would be hard, a hard case to be a jury member on because it does like it is just circumstance. So like you said, that's tough. That's extremely difficult. Not many cases actually find a conviction on circumstantial evidence. That's rare. Now the case then moved into the penalty phase and prosecutors asked the jury to recommend the death penalty for all three murders. Now, Donald attempted to have the proceeding declared a mistrial and attacked the performance of his own lawyers, but circuit judge Thomas Dan Heiser rejected that request and the jury then answered the death penalty question separately for each victim. For Bonnie, there would be no death penalty. For John, there would be no death penalty. For Richard, there would be no death penalty. Ultimately, Donald Wayne Harden

57:09Senior was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison for his crimes. The blue moon murders had begun in the headlines as a supposedly ritualistic massacre connected to witchcraft in a rare full moon. But by the end, the blue moon angle itself had almost disappeared from the case. What was left was the prosecution's far more ordinary explanation. There were three members of one family who had been murdered in cold blood, because another member of the family believed their deaths could make him rich. And that's the story of the blue moon murders. Frick and brutal story. Yeah, it's a tough one too. Yeah. With that little evidence being all circumstantial. And that's why I was highlighting circumstantial evidence only throughout the entire thing because there is no concrete evidence. It's hearsay, it's circumstantial, it's hard to make a call.

58:09So I think they made the right one. I kind of do too. I guess the things that are really sticking out for me are like his DNA on Richard's belt. That's odd. It's odd. That's really odd, I think. So that there's that. And then the fact that he like covered the bodies, usually I feel like when people, I just might make their, when people cover bodies, they're showing, I don't know if it's necessarily necessarily signs for correct, but they're covering up what they did. Like, was it maybe easy or something? There's a couple angles on that. It could be one a sign of respect for the dead or it could be, you know, shame for what you did. So there's a couple of reasons you're definitely right. But I want to point out something in regards to the insects and not developing early enough. There's no flies or larvae found in the body. They're covered. It's harder for insects to access a body when they're covered in blankets and clothing. So that would expect that, I mean, that would explain a delay of larvae and all that sort of stuff hatching and taking place on a corpse. Because yeah, that was honestly the other thing that

59:16was really throwing me off. Because that the fact that they maybe weren't murdered until the fall on day, that was throwing me off big time. Yeah. Well, put it this way. Put two stakes on your counter. Leave one uncovered and cover one with a tea towel. After a week, which one do you think is going to have more maggots and flies on it? The uncovered one for sure. Exactly. Yeah. So that would expect to say that in this case, it would delay bug activity on a corpse in the same manner. But also, I think you've pointed out earlier, one of the biggest pieces of evidence in this case that I think it is circumstantial, but I think it's the biggest piece of evidence to say that it was in fact, Donald. The fact that Richard's stomach contents contained his lunch, not dinner. Because if you're saying, okay, Donald left and Richard stayed home and someone else killed them. Richard would have had to eat at some point, especially if you're saying, okay, the killings

1:00:21occurred the next day or the next day, like this doctor Arden was saying. So if he went another 24 hours, at least before being killed, there would have been something else in his stomach. There had would have had to have been. Yeah. The only way there would not be is if Richard himself did the killings and then committed suicide. But as far as I can tell, there is no evidence of any sort of suicide being reported in this case. I don't know about the gun angle. I don't know about residue on his hand or clothing. I don't believe it was investigated at all. But I believe if Donald is in fact innocent, the only other way it could have played out would have been Richard doing it. Unless they just all three of them decided not to eat for extended periods of time for some reason, which does not make sense. Because Richard was the one to the gun shot, right? Not the throat thing. Oh, well, he had his throat cut too. Yeah. Oh, gosh. So he would have had to like, I believe he was beaten the head with a hammer as well. So he was beat he had to

1:01:26he would have had to beat himself in the head with a hammer, cut his own throat and then shoot himself in the head, which is not happening. Yeah. No, I do think that they probably got the right person that his Donald did have the motive. He really did have the motive. He had the motive. He did like the fact that he was, I don't know, there and like helping out at once a week and like still remained out of the will and stuff. Like there was still there was still I don't know what do you want to call it like skeletons in their closet base resentment bitterness. Yeah, skeletons in their closet. Yeah. 100% right. So something wasn't quite right there. And it, yeah. So the fact too, like the inmate had said he had this plan. He probably did have this plan for a while. Probably did. I think the jury made the right decision. I think it was Donald. I do not think it was Richard killing himself. I do not think it was someone else coming in. It makes no sense. Richard walked into a scene and a half, I think. I bet you the other two were already dead.

1:02:30Oh, that's exactly that's what the jail has. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, he killed John first. Then when after his mother Bonnie tortured her a bit, got the information he needed. Then waited for his brother to come home and Richard walked through the door. Probably as soon as that door was closed, bang. Yeah. That is literally one of the most fucked up things I've heard those like torturing your mother like that. Like God damn. Yeah, it's fucked up. Yeah. I mean, the whole thing is fucked. Oh, yeah. No, it really is. I don't know. Just like torturing your mom like that while she's not she wasn't 100% like she was slightly not 100% healthy, right? Yeah. Elderly and like inner chair watching the news or whatever and you're oh my gosh, I don't know. That just is a scene in my head that I don't want there. Understandably so. Yeah, but good job with this one. That was that was a lot. Thank you. So if you guys have thoughts on who you think did it or if you want to contact us with any sort of maybe information you think is important

1:03:31to this case or a thought or an angle or anything, check out the description of this podcast. You can find her email or social media and you can go ahead and send us the message and contact us. If you want to check out patreon, you can join over there. We've got a community of a chat and everything where people talk about cases often and you know, dissect things and we really just kind of hang out over there. It's a pretty good time too. So you can do that too, but no pressure. It's all good. We appreciate that you're here and supporting us and it beans the world. But I think I'm going to keep it at that until next time. Stay wicked.