Innocence & Injustice: The Steve Titus Story - Part 2

0:00 On June 8, Titus was to be sentenced. But Steve had so many supporters and in fact a defense fund was set up. Oh. Him and his family have like literally, they put everything that they have into this. Yeah, that's right. Steve was spending every spare moment doing whatever he could for the case and they spent like every nickel and dime they had. Okay, are you ready? I am ready. Wow. For part two, yeah, because I am ready because I want to know what happens.

0:48 Well, let's do our intro. Show me. Oh, yeah, sure. Okay. Hi, Cassie. Hi, Caitlin. Hello. Hello. Hello. If you're new to our creepy corner of the world, this is PNW Haunts and Homicides, where we chat about true crime, the paranormal and all things spooky in the Pacific, North, West. We do a tarot reading in every episode for a little bit of deeper insight into our topic. And for a little witchy, funness in our lives, funness. We don't have a lot of time. So we have to shove everything in while we're working. We're multi-tasking. Yeah.

1:28 If we're not doing 12 things, like, did we even get anything done? No. The answer is no. No. 11? No. One too many. One too. Few. Trying to talk too fast. Yeah. This is what happens. Yeah. Okay. So here at the top, I'm just going to quickly recap a few things from part one. I'm sure you remember everything that happened, but pretty much because it was like a pretty tight editing window. Yeah. So it wasn't that long ago. That was yesterday. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But a refresher would be nice. Yeah. Just in case. Steve Titus agreed to answer questions at the police station.

2:10 Even after being told they were investigating a rape allegation involving an attacker that was a preliminary match to his physical description. So super nice guy. Um, I mean, he sort of kind of vaguely matched parts of a description as did his vehicle. So Steve was super easy going and cooperative while all of this was going down. In fact, I think you'll remember officers even upliked when Steve and his fiance Mona asked for a photo of the two of them because it was her 21st birthday after all. Additionally, photos were taken of the interior and the exterior of Steve's vehicle and his tires.

2:58 Following his visit to the station, a photo montage of six potential suspects was created and then shown to the victim at her mother's home in Tacoma. She studied the photos carefully before stating, this one is the closest one. It has to be this one. Boo. Boo. And just to be clear, we are not booing the victim. Oh, no, no, no. See, we adult in. No, sorry. Um, she. She's. I'm booing the fact that they took that quote and said, yep, he's guilty. Right. She had been led to believe that her attacker was among the men pictured and Steve's photo had been slapped in with no consideration for uniformity with the others.

3:43 So it was like, let's just draw some red arrows and it's the guy. It reminds me of like when you put your name in like a raffle, but then you like, you crinkle the paper so that it stands out. Yeah. It doesn't get stuck with anyone else's. Exactly. Pro life tip. Yeah. That's how you do it. Yep. The jury deliberated for 12 hours, taking four votes during that time. The votes were initially split eight, four in favor of acquittal. Later this wood shift to seven, five in favor of acquittal, then by the final vote, the tide had turned.

4:26 They apparently very suddenly unanimously agreed he was guilty of first degree rate. So we went from actually about two thirds of the jury believing he was innocent to suddenly he has unanimously found guilty. Like how? I mean, certainly that's like the whole purpose of the jury deliberating is that, you know, they discuss the facts of the case and you're supposed to be taking that time to consider, you know, like is the person innocent or guilty. It's just really drastic in the opposite direction it was going. That just seems. Yes. Like those eight people should have been convincing the two or whatever, however, that was for.

5:11 Yeah. Four. Yeah. Interest. Yeah. I wonder what kind of people those four people were like heavily influential. We might, we might, we will talk about it. A little bit maybe. Okay. Picked up on something there. Did I? Maybe. The jury it turns out had not been so easily swayed by the case that the prosecution delivered. So they were far from suspecting any misconduct on the part of law enforcement. So where we obviously have the benefit of sort of hindsight in the case, we understand that, you know, part of what they were doing is just, you know, making shit up, putting goofy shit on the walls and seeing what sticks.

5:56 The jury didn't have any reason to believe that was the case. I mean, that to be fair is something you can really only know in, I think, hindsight more than likely. But in times Steve's fate had been sealed as the last holdout, not entirely convinced of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt caved to the pressure of his cohorts. This juror in particular would reflect in later years and in interviews that he had struggled with his decision. So this is really, I remember reading this and feeling like, oh, this is so upsetting.

6:39 So this is despite the pathetic animalistic moan that had given the juror pause. Okay. So Steve just gave this like guttural, like sound once the verdict was read. But Steve having failed a lie detector test is the conscience of jury members when they learned of the result of the polygraph examination post trial. So I don't have this in my notes, but one of the jurors called the man who basically, like he was the holdout and he said, hey, you know, they didn't tell us this was excluded, but he failed to polygraph.

7:26 And he's like, oh, man, I feel so much better. Awesome. It wasn't included for a reason. Yeah. Yeah. So they learned about the facts of the case after the trial. And that was something that sort of was like, oh, man, you know, I was really, that one juror at least was very concerned that, should maybe I really got this wrong. And the failed polygraph really gave him a little bit of peace in that. I mean, honestly, if that were me making that decision that I felt terrible about anything that would make me feel better, I would probably take it.

8:07 Oh, you'd go on on to it. Yeah, sure. The sentencing phase of the criminal proceedings loomed six weeks ahead. Though he had just been found guilty of a pretty heinous crime, Titus was released on $2,500 bail. At the hearing, he had appeared a near total wreck. He'd been losing weight, was pale, and his voice shook sadly. Not, oh, sadly, it shook. Like it shook in a sad way. Oh, it was something that people commented on in particular. From the way home from his bail hearing, Mona was shocked to hear Steve recount how he'd intended to hang himself in his cell the night before, rather than go to prison.

8:58 For him, a lengthy stint of incarceration already seemed a near inevitability, and it was more than he could bear. Obviously, he did not fall through with it because he was present for his sentencing. That's really sad. Fuck. He was facing a minimum of three years behind bars and up to a maximum of 20. But again, totally chill thing that they did, allowing him out on bail until his sentencing date. Is that like something they normally do? I mean, it's case by case, literally, but I just don't understand why if we truly believe that this person is guilty of such a violent and heinous crime that we're letting them out on bail.

9:44 Right. Right. In this case, it's like, well, I'm glad that Titus was out because he's so clearly was not guilty, but my God, can you imagine in a different situation like that would just feel horrific? Yeah, because they thought he was. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah, wow. Yeah. The two-week continuance granted by the judge to his defense was of small comfort to Steve, his family, or his counsel. And on top of it, the judge was none too pleased to be allowing it, but he had conceded. So like, he grants it, but he isn't even like happy that he's fine.

10:30 While Steve remained a free man out on bail in the lead up to sentencing, he reached out to Paul Henderson of the Seattle Times and asked him to investigate the case. Oh, Paul was apprehensive at first. So this dude's a pretty serious journalist. He wasn't going to write a nickel ad for Steve without doing his due diligence, like he's a real investigative journalist. He agreed to review Steve's case to see what he could produce. They both agreed that their interactions would be transparent.

11:11 The first time Paul caught Steve in a lie, he'd be out. Makes sense. Seems fair. He would be equally transparent about whether his findings indicated Steve was innocent or guilty. Also fair. Steve also obtained a new defense attorney, Jeff Jones, who argued for an additional 60-day stay on sentencing. So I think it's worth stating that neither Steve nor his new revamped council seemed to harbor any ill will against his previous attorney. It's just that I don't think they felt that Steve's conviction came about through any wrongdoing on the defense team, you know, on the defense's part.

12:00 But it did seem like saving Steve from the slamer might require something from a new bag of tricks at this stage. Because we're at sentencing now. So it's kind of, I mean, you're pitch-hitting, you're really just trying to, you're hoping for a Hail Mary. Both Paul Henderson and Jeff Jones worked doggedly alongside Steve, who had already proven himself relentless in the pursuit of proving his innocence. The following motions have been filed in a mad-dash effort to help Steve, even if only to lessen a terrible blow.

12:41 So number one was they wanted to overturn the verdict based on insufficient evidence. Number two, they would like a new trial on the grounds of new evidence. And number three of all else failed. Yeah, same season. Then on May 15, 1981, Paul Henderson's first piece in the series about Steve Titus' case dropped, showing there were significant inconsistencies in the body of evidence.

13:24 And in some respects, presented what they believed was new information or evidence. Now I think I'm going to explain this a little bit further down, but I think it bears repeating. So I'm just going to say what we as laymen or even as an investigative journalist might consider new information or evidence might be very different than the legal definition. So bear that in mind. Okay. So here's a bit of what Paul Henderson uncovered through the course of his research and interviews, which spoiler alert all seemed to be far more thorough than the work done by law enforcement involved in the case.

14:10 One dude in particular. There was a block of tent plates beginning with similar digits that were issued at the same time in different counties in the area. Take the 667 block in particular. Roughly 1,000 plates had been issued in Benton County in September that year. So that's a lot of plates with, you know, essentially like half of their digits are going to be the same. Yeah. Finally 25 car dealerships received a block of 677 plates in Pierce County also in September.

14:52 So there's a ton of vehicles that would have had some variation of the digits that the victim described as seen. That wasn't as evident as we'd all kind of maybe been led to believe or as we'd hoped initially. The journalist also timed out the series of events attempting to recreate that evening for the purposes of either proving or disproving Steve's involvement. So he's running through the entire timeline. Using a stopwatch, he timed several aspects of the timeline. Titus had been wearing all dark clothing, his family confirmed. So the complete opposite of what the attacker had been wearing. Oh, we talked about the wardrobe malfunction.

15:34 Yeah. Like the cream on cream. Yeah, it's a cream or ivory hue. There were just too many aspects of the case that didn't make sense or prove really anything, but specifically didn't prove that Steve Titus was the guilty party. While there was little evidence pointing to Steve, it wouldn't be enough to sway the judge right out the gate. His rag-tag-bunch had to keep digging. The port police had taken a swatch of the vehicle's material from one of the front seats. So from his company car, they took a swatch of the fabric.

16:16 Oh my god. Was it a company car? Oh, yeah. I don't remember that part. Oh, yeah. We talked about that because he worked for Iverse. Oh, I probably was like, oh, I remember. I remember. You forgot. Wow. Yeah. So here's the interesting part. They go to the trouble of taking that sample of the upholstery, but it was never presented in court. Why? Because it didn't match. Literally, that was my next in my notes. It says, why? Why? But what'd you do? Yeah. One might speculate because it would have been damning to the prosecution's case. And if you did so, guess, you would be very correct.

17:00 The victim had stated that she knew the material from the vehicle. It was either the war or another soft material on the interior because she'd rested her face against it during the attack. Yeah. She would know. As Mona would point out to Paul Henderson, what woman wouldn't be able to feel the difference between the lure and vinyl, which happened to be the material inside Steve's company car on your face. You can't tell the difference between the lure and vinyl. You know? Yeah.

17:40 She's just a woman, so probably not. Yeah. Okay. But women are pretty, like we notice colors and fabric and things. Just generally speaking. There's real broad strokes with this one, but like, because men don't, women certainly probably don't. Oh, yeah. That's a good argument. Yeah. Yeah. And I thought would be a thing if they can't do it. Yeah. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, I mean, it's blue. What else do you want? Yeah. Steve would go on to assert that the victim's testimony was that her attacker had struggled to recline the seat during the attack. However, in his company vehicle, he demonstrated that the lever was smooth and easy to use in his vehicle.

18:24 Hmm. Like suspiciously easy because it's basically a brand new car. Like, these are not the same vehicles, guys. Like if you haven't gotten onto that yet. And I get that that seems maybe kind of flimsy or circumstantial, but though Henderson had anticipated being Stonewalled, the chief actually shared that he had held some reservations or concerns about the detective involved in this case. Ron Parker now seemed a very dubious character in the story. No. Yeah. He'd had some issues with a supervisor.

19:09 Well, there wasn't anything that seemed like a smoking gun. It kind of raised, you know, some concerns. The chief told Henderson that he would assign someone to look into Ron Parker's conduct. By bringing his concerns to the chief and the prosecutor's office, Paul Henderson had convinced both legs of the system to investigate further, delaying Steve sentencing for another two weeks. Wow. Keeps getting delayed. Yeah. It's a big fucking deal though. Yeah. When Henderson spoke to Ron Parker, the detective, he said he was absolutely positive of Steve Titus' guilt.

19:55 Whereas his statement to the DA didn't indicate nearly so much confidence. So the detective is like himself very wishy-washy, even in internal communications. Hmm. Not not not great sign. Not great. No. Something about the conversation set Paul Henderson off. He's an investigative journalist, so he felt confident that the man was, shall we say, disingenuous, probably trying to leverage the case somehow for a promotion. Imagine that.

20:35 Which is so sick. It really is. Both the victim and Ron Parker had indicated that a brown document envelope or folder had been on the backseat of the attacker's vehicle. But none was ever documented in evidence from Titus' car. The original inventory and photos taken at the time when they searched his vehicle were also misplaced at some point. Okay. So this item that has been seen in the vehicle of the attacker is not present in Steve Titus' vehicle allegedly, but also we lost the photos, so who could really say?

21:21 Oh God. What's the problem? Henderson discovered though, Steve Titus had gone to Pains to relay what he had done minute to minute on the date in question. It would come to light that none of his alibi witnesses had even been interviewed. Furthermore, Ron Parker had driven the victim to trial. Investigators had protested that, of course, those in the vehicle, too, and from the trial. Well, I mean, they didn't discuss the subject at the case at the time. Nothing improper to see here, of course.

22:03 Henderson was highly skeptical to put it mildly, and frankly, the attitude of law enforcement involved in the case was really starting to piss him off. Particularly since, at the time, he had just spoken to a highly emotional Mona as she confessed she was concerned that Steve might take his own life in light of what he was facing, which she already knew to be a very real threat. Henderson was worried that though there were many glaring inconsistencies in the story and the evidence presented by the prosecution, it wouldn't be enough to keep Steve Titus out of prison.

22:47 Which is a horrible thing. It's a horrible sentence. Like, they don't have enough evidence, but that might not be enough. Henderson, the aging retired carpenter, battling cancer, even provided his journal to Henderson in a bid to help the case if he could. So remember, this is the person who lives over there by the airport where it's like he's the only person left that hasn't sold his property. And he's the one that is with the victim on the night of her attack. He's the one that, you know, it's his home from which they're calling 911.

23:29 So I mean, the fact that he's really trying to do everything he can, it's like he would have every reason to want the right person to be held responsible for the crime, right? But like the fact that it seems like he doesn't believe that it was Steve, I feel like that, I don't know. To me, that feels like it speaks volumes. Yeah. I don't know. But it didn't really become a smoking gun to help the defense per se. I still think this speaks volumes, which was my next sentence of my notes and I of course was like, I have to tell you this. This is how I feel. It speaks all the volumes. So many volumes.

24:10 So many volumes and so many smoking gum. Yes. Oh, Marga. Marga. The victim said it took her 30 minutes to make her way to Liston's house from the crime scene. And this is where the timing comes back. Stopwatch. Okay. So Paul Henderson and he had somebody come out and help him with it. They timed it twice. It took him three minutes and eight minutes respectively. The prosecution argued that even though they were proving an inconsistency in the timeline that was being presented by the prosecution, they said, no, no, it's not considered new evidence, which is like, how you mean?

25:02 What do you consider new evidence then? Well, the law didn't permit the judge to order a new trial unless new evidence was discovered that could not have been previously discovered through reasonable efforts prior to his trial. Many other lawyers and legal experts issued similar warnings. Steve's case needed something more and I'm going to explain. Okay. And they were right. The judge argued that Steve and his defense counsel should have done the timing exercises while the trial was still going. So his prior to, we're now in the sentencing phase, his previous attorney should have gone out there and done the timing exercises or Steve should have.

25:50 But like, it's not Steve's. Who's responsible for the evidence? Is it not the police? So in this case, if you expect to the, well, I call him a victim because he asked that you expect the defendant to go and like find all the evidence they need. I mean, there is, there is a little bit of an onus on the defense team to, you know, put together whatever information they can that presents a case that their client's innocent. However, obviously we, I think most of us understand that our system is supposed to be set up that the burden of proof falls on the state.

26:32 A.K.A, the prosecution team, A.K.A, also not Steve and his lawyer. But this seems to a little bit fly in the face of that because they're like, this is essentially this, nothing changed. Nothing has changed about the facts of the case. This isn't new forensic evidence. This isn't a change to someone's testimony per se. If you didn't believe the timeline to fit in the first place and you wanted to do this exercise to prove it, you should have done it because the timeline that was presented by the prosecution is exactly what we're discussing. Nothing's changed and it's so mad at thing.

27:13 It's like so okay. So just go back in time and I get what they're saying. But like also Steve shouldn't be. Why is that burden on him and his defense team? I mean maybe his defense team but like he doesn't have any control over that. He's not a lawyer. It should. No. If he didn't do that, he should be allowed to have a new, his new defense do it. Right. I do think that like in a way, this is like, well, this is something different that they've discovered. It's maybe not strictly speaking new evidence. But you know, if it wasn't presented by his defense counsel in the first place, I, we could be here for a while.

28:02 Got to go. So as predicted, the judge didn't order a new trial. But for his efforts, Steve's new counsel was gifted another week so they just keep getting continuances. Which, thank God. On June 8, Titus was to be sentenced. And Steve had show many supporters and in fact, a defense fund was set up. Oh. Him and his family have like literally, they put everything that they have into this. Yeah, that's right. Steve was spending every spare moment doing whatever he could for the case and they spent like every nickel and dime they had.

28:45 Logo law enforcement was implored to look into any cases that had a similar M.O. Because this is how you find new evidence. It seems this is one area where Henderson may have proved instrumental. I would argue it's one of maybe couple. He hoped there would be another victim that might remember something that would somehow help Steve. But honestly, in the 11th hour, it kind of seemed like a long shot. However, Henderson would receive a call from a sergeant volunteer after he found another case with an essentially identical M.O.

29:29 The 15 year old victim stated that on October 6, 1980, she was assaulted by a man aged 25 to 30. The victim's name was Julie Whitehurst and her attack had occurred in an abandoned driveway in the airport woods on 22nd Avenue, South. The man had reddish brown hair and drove a light blue compact car. Okay. He'd given her some story about stopping to see his sister Liz before assaulting her at knife point.

30:11 A detective was headed to Tacoma with a photo montage to see who she identified. The officer warned Henderson that if Steve Titus was identified, he could be facing additional charges. But if not, it could be enough to see a turnaround in his case. As luck would have it, Steve Titus was working on the date of her attack. He thought his time card might potentially provide an alibi for him in connection with this latest case that had been discovered. Oh, okay, I see. And it's not just like, oh, he punches in on the clock and there's a little bit more to it.

30:59 In Tuck Willa, Steve Titus is now ex-employer allowed Paul Henderson to review his records. On the date in question, he'd been driving in the Seattle metro area, which doesn't seem like it would vindicate him, at least on the surface. But for that date, he had a signature log and time stamped receipts that provided him an airtight alibi for Julie's assault. Oh, snap. Oh, snap. Perhaps the most illuminating detail to come to light. Honestly, a real bombshell was that Steve Titus had not received the light blue chavette as his company vehicle until the better part of a week later.

31:43 He didn't even have that card when she was attacked. Bitches. Yeah. This new fact-gathering session seemed to indicate that it couldn't have been Steve Titus that attacked Julie. While she reviewed the photo array, she didn't give Titus' picture even a second glance, according to Ballinger. Did they make it match the others this time? You know, I think they were a little bit more careful about that the second go around. Go figure. They took off all the emojis and the arrows. Titus' new attorney, Jeff Jones, had been hired to pursue an appeal of Steve's conviction.

32:24 And with the help of our new favorite investigative journalist, he was finally able to convince the trial judge to grant a new trial based upon evidence developed in a large part by, or at the very least, in cooperation with Paul Henderson. He had argued that Steve Titus' previous trial attorney had been ambushed in the courtroom by various testimony that was in direct conflict with evidence contained in the port of Seattle Police Investigative Reports. That was a really long sentence. I know. Well, it was actually a few sentences, but... So in the original case, they were what? Okay, so what happened was basically when they got to trial, Steve Titus' attorney is ambushed by the fact that they've all of a sudden made changes to evidence that they're presenting.

33:18 Isn't that like what you... Yeah, you can't do that. How do you say when you're a lawyer? Right. I object. Objects. Objects on. Objects on. Well, here's the button. Right. Cassie is lewiring so hard today. Yeah, you guys... I don't know. You can't do that. I'm not supposed to do that. Can't lawyer? No, you can't lawyer. You actually should lawyer. You should lawyer so hard. So why didn't that happen? Tell me now. Yeah, you know, I'm going to... I'm going to tell you some more things, okay? Julie's case was discovered as a result of good police work by a local municipal police officer who had been reading the news articles about the case and that led to the exploration of a news aspect.

34:09 Woo! Good police work. I know. We should try it sometime. The judge declared the verdict null and void. Oh, okay. It took me a second. I know. Like the lawyer was saying, yeah. He was granting Steve a new trial and you're going, this is so funny because which Steve did not seem to quite grasp initially. That is until his new defense counsel turned to him and said, we got it. We won. Oh. Kind of like I just did. Yes. But he was like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is this real? Is this the time? Yeah. Well, you know, in courtrooms sometimes the legal proceedings are like, you know, it's like trying to read a 50 page contract, you know.

34:56 Steve and spectators alike reacted first in stun silence and thereafter many developed into very gregarious displays of approval. Wow. Yay. Is the, I forget her name, the first girl who was raped. Celia. Celia was like her and her family there like no idea. I don't know if they ever like many statements because I imagine that is that would be very really hard on that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to move on. Okay. Okay. Many present had already come to the conclusion that an innocent and truly decent man had been nearly completely railroaded by the justice system.

35:44 It was just two days after Titus' victory made the news that 17 year old Liza Chimino was hitchhiking from Ernie's gas station near the Kent exit on Highway 18. Oh no. She was picked up in a black vehicle by a driver with light colored hair. At 116 he turned suddenly, claiming that he needed to relieve himself. Unfortunately, Liza was to become the next victim in a string of related sex crimes. She was first orally-sautomized and then her attacker raped her.

36:25 The horror of just one of these acts is almost too much to bear but the combination of being compelled to engage with someone attacking you in both of these extremely intimate ways in forceable. It's just night. It's nightmarfew. Yeah. I cannot. Ashant. Ash. We shall move on. The real stunner was that this latest crime had essentially taken place in Steve Titus' backyard. Holy shit. This blocks from his apartment. Now before you fall down the wrong rabbit hole, I'll tell you this had investigators in a real tizzy too.

37:10 But maybe not for the reason you think. I was like, "God damn it. If they use this to somehow justify that he actually is the rapist, I am going to lose my ever-loving mind." You guys, we have something really exciting to share with you. Let's hear a few words from our new pod besties. Have you ever wondered what lurks in the dark and misty woods of the Pacific Northwest? Or how Starbucks became the coffee giant we know today? Why Oregon has so many serial killers? Or a big-foot really poops in the woods.

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38:39 Subscribe to Rani Day Rabbit Holes on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And let the rain take you on a wild ride. See you down the rabbit hole! Check them out, creepy people. You can find their info in our show notes. They couldn't help but wonder. Was someone really dumping their latest victim in his backyard? What this brazen douche nozzle failed to take into account, whether that was intentional or not, was that police were already on to him. Ooh. They were like nice try loser.

39:20 An investigator took a photo lineup from a previous drive away gas theft to the latest victim, Liza, in the hospital. She picked out not Steve Titus almost instantly. Yeah. Just it wasn't him. Really want to emphasize. Well, almost don't even care who she picked out, because it just wasn't Steve. Yeah. Let me make that abundantly clear. I know we're all shocked. Podcast. What? I did not.

40:01 This is brand new information. The man's name was Edward Lee King, and it was far from his first offense. One viewing Edward Lee King's photo, Celia Dalton, obviously another one of the victims, who had identified Titus in a faulty photo array began to cry and said, "Oh my God, what have I done to Mr. Titus?" Oh, poor baby, you didn't do anything. It's not your fault. So if you're wondering what the hell it was, finally convinced the judge to overturn Titus' conviction and dismiss the charges against him, well, there you go.

40:47 They were like, "Hmm, looking like it's maybe this other dude." Did the attacker do it like, "No, all this is going down and did on purpose?" You know, it's something that's speculated about, but I don't know that they've ever really like conclusively. Because I don't know that they can prove that that's the case, but that's what they think. Yeah. Well, that just seems like, is this guy trying? Like, is he trying to lead them back to Titus? Like, what the fuck? I mean, I would if I was following something that I knew that I had committed and something like, was about to get off for it. Yeah, I really liked it better when he was going to be convicted for my crime.

41:31 Yeah. That was so cool. Though he was no longer facing the same awful potential legal consequences of recent memory. Steve Titus stated that he had lost everything. His legal battle had cost him very dearly, literally. He said, "I lost my fiance because I spent so much time dwelling on this, and I've changed." No. Mona? Yeah. No. I'm not the person she knew. I lost my job. My family lost their savings. $9,000.

42:11 I owe $3,000 to my attorney. Some good news in a case that has overwhelmingly few bright spots. In 1982, Paul Henderson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting regarding Titus' case. Wow. I know. The man who suffered the most, Steve Titus, filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Port of Seattle alleging wrongdoing that led to his wrongful conviction. Please tell me he won. Something.

42:51 Oh, wow. The lawsuit accused Port of Seattle officer Ronald A. Parker of Gross Negligence. And intentional disregard for his constitutional rights. Sounds about right. Yep. Which seems like the most accurate understatement I've ever heard, actually. Steve Titus sadly did not live to see the end of his legal battles. He died of a heart attack on February 2, 1985, while that case was still pending. I don't like you.

43:34 I know. The man was in his mid-30s. He had a heart attack because of all this shit. Yeah, probably. But doing the tango with the criminal justice system probably takes one hell of a toll on innocent man. I would argue probably also guilty, but I care less about them. It is so sad. Yeah. Yeah. I want to think that life was just like, let's just give this man a redo. Because I believe in reincarnation, whatever if you don't. But maybe they were just like, let's just like give them another go around. Like this was a really shitty turn.

44:16 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Several months later, the lawsuit was settled out of court. And his teenage son, Ken Titus, was awarded 2.8 million in damages on behalf of his father. 2.8 million dollars. Like in 1985. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot of money. But very deserved. I'm glad that someone was available. I'm glad that someone was able to get it and like he didn't just pass with no relatives able to get something. God. Money doesn't fix everything.

44:58 No. My God. No, I'm sure this 2.8 million dollars at any point in history, like there's no amount of money that's going to give this kid his father back. And it's horrific. So Steve Titus, in his mid 30s, dies prior to the end of his civil rights trial. The investigator who helped him also dies pretty young too. Okay. Yeah. Really weird. He also passed away in his granted early 40s, but due to a heart attack. Also. Okay.

45:38 Hmm. What's in the water? Paul Henderson, the badass investigative journalist, passed away on December 7th, 2016. It was like it was also due to a heart attack. I don't know. Kind of weird. What? It is a really common cause of death. So I'm going to try not to be like, you know, too weird about it, but I don't like it. So here's the other thing though. Hilarious little joke in there at the end of this. So I presume it was that year's election that took a toll on him. But who can say? Oh, oh. Perfection. Oh, my. What happened then? I don't even know.

46:19 Cassie. 2016? 2016. That was too long ago to remember what happened. Cassie. Cassie. Who was elected president in 2016? I don't know. She's refusing to acknowledge it. Okay. I was like, she doesn't know. Doesn't she? No. Honey. Obama. Obama. Come back. Hillbima. You're in mama. This is Obama. Come back. Edward Lee King pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree rape while armed with a deadly weapon in King County, as well as three additional counts of the same charge in Snohomish County.

47:00 He was sentenced to a maximum term of 20 years on each count. Good. We're just like only like a hundred years. So you think Charlhead get out eventually. No, but I was like, do you think they went a little harder on him with the sentencing because they got it on the first time? Don't you feel like kind of like nothing he doesn't deserve it? Oh, yeah. But like the temptation is at least there. Yeah. I'm just saying. The trial courts ordered that the two King County counts run consecutively and that the three Snohomish County counts also run consecutively, but that the latter be concurrent to the King County counts, which I love when the justice system finds a way to not so subtly say to an evil fuck like this.

47:50 Yeah, I wouldn't ever count on touching grass outside prison walls again. What is the concurrent mean when sentences run concurrently, defendants serve all the sentences at the same time? Consecutive sentences mean the defendants have to finish serving the sentence for one offense before they start serving the sentence for any other offenses. So they were basically like, okay, so like we'll group those two King County ones together, we'll group two out of the three in Snohomish County together, but they'll be consecutive my dude.

48:32 So they found a way to basically sentence him to, you know, a bajillion years. I don't like that they grouped any of them together. No, I know. Just keep it rolling. That's the only fair way to me. Initially, the facility where he was sent, the staff was pretty impressed with him, but eventually they would become wary. Because he basically got sent to one of the mental facilities somehow. This is a thing that we did a lot in the 80s, wild times. Okay. And he was first eligible for work release.

49:12 Why? His only alternative being sent back to prison, the majority of the staff was ultimately leaning towards prison. His lack of affect was unnerving to many of them as it would be. You could only fake it until you make it for so long. And you know, arguably so well. Being participated in the program for nearly three years, and it was specifically a program that was developed aimed at violent sexual offenders. Okay. Completing all ten steps of the program.

49:54 But I guess he skipped over whatever step was designed to make his rehabilitation believable to a trained eye. Good. Yeah. That's the bullet there. Eventually they brought in an expert to assess him. Enter Irwin S. Dry Blatt. I would hope that they would bring in an expert to assess a criminal of this nature. Yes. One might dare to dream. The evaluation that he performed revealed that Steve had a very serious personality disturbance.

50:34 He was egotistical and immature with very limited coping skills. This expert found the lack of empathy and tendency toward aggression that he exhibited very troubling. Three years into the program, this clever offender had intellectually internalized aspects of the program, but was hardly a patient to present as a measure of success because it didn't seem like he really believed in or embraced it. He could intellectually understand that this is what I need to do and these are the principles but he wasn't drinking the cool aid.

51:16 Yeah. That makes sense. He was just saying what they wanted to hear. Yes. Exactly. Because there's more fake it until you make it. They're telling them exactly what they want them to be. So it's not that hard to fake it. But obviously you have to. You have to be good at it. Faking it. Right. To make it. Yeah. The danger he presented to the public if ever released was difficult to quantify. But ultimately, the specialist recommendation was that he should be kept in custody for the remainder of his life, stating that work released was ill-advised. Gee, you think?

51:57 Even the animals agree. And they don't have thumbs. The diagnosis included the following. Some of which are highly disturbing terms. Perifilia, atypical rape, alcohol and drug abuse disorder, and endisotional personality. Furthermore, it was suggested that he should be incarcerated for the maximum allowable sentence. You know, aka the remainder of his life. They were like, yeah, go ahead and then you can definitely send him to jail. Okay. So in February 1986, the staff at, this is the State Hospital, reported to the court that although he had completed the program, King was not safe to be at large, had received the maximum benefit of treatment and should not be recommitted for further treatment.

52:56 They're like, listen, not only do we not like probably shouldn't get more released. We know the only other option is for him to go to prison and we'd like to take that one. Yeah. Door number three. I'd listen to that one for sure. Yeah, and they're like, also, please don't send him back to us. Just also in case that was unclear. The King County Superior Court revoked his suspended sentences and reinstated the original sentences in both King and Snut, Homish counties with credit for time served in the program for all the good that will do him. This case could have been three or four parts, but I'd originally intended on just one.

53:43 But by the time I got really needy been writing it, it became clear that it would not only be much harder to try to smash everything into one episode, but it wouldn't be a service to the storytelling in any way. That said, I do have a super short expert. I was like, what an expert. You've a short expert. I was talking about yourself. Presenting. Anyways, I have a super, super short excerpt of additional info that I'm going to share on Patreon, just related to the actual fuck nugget who did this bullshit.

54:24 I don't care. I know, but there's some really interesting stuff. And I have some really cool, some more information about Paul Henderson because he's actually like, I mean, as investigative journalists go, he actually gets cooler. He like did more awesome shit. Wow. Nice. First, he, no, because he was already established as an investigator. Yeah. I mean, he was already established as a journalist, but this is his first prize award. Yeah, I don't know if this was his first. Okay. I don't know. That's all I'm going to say. Okay. I'm going to remain tight-lipped. Any who's a Patreon. Yeah. So I had to cut some stuff from the regular episode that I'm going to share in a Patreon tiny episode and some of it, I don't know how to feel, but.

55:16 Okay. Yeah. Should we tarot? Yeah, let's do some tarot. You've got a really pretty alter going today. Okay. All right. We've arrived at the tarot portion. Welcome to our tarot ASMR podcast. Okay. I'm going to lay out the cards and I'll have you help me pick. Literally like the one you grabbed already. That one. This one? Yeah.

55:57 Oh. What is it? Ooh. Ooh. Wow. What is it? The Wheel of Fortune. A beautiful card in this deck. It's really funny because the alter we set up had to do with like Fortune. Yeah, it did. I was like, was it feeling the vibes of the alter or is it feeling the vibes of the story? Because they're kind of different. I mean, yeah. I feel like this is sort of like a money bowl type of a setup, which we're doing for a specific reason because of the timing of when we're recording. But also I feel like for Titus, it makes sense. For like the Titus case, it sort of makes sense.

56:39 Like, I hope that our efforts pay off in a more timely fashion than his thing. Yeah. But it ultimately did get not like, I guess kind of justice. Yeah. I mean, even though he wasn't around. Right. And it fucked up my entire life. Yeah. It's been passed. Just really depressing stuff. I know, but he didn't get put away. But yeah, so the wheel of Fortune isn't one that we've had very often. So I can't exactly remember. We've gotten it for like our business reading. Okay. Wheel of Fortune. Yeah. We still have this fortune.

57:20 Hmm. Number 10. Okay. So, and we do have this in the upright. Oh, our keywords are change destiny, unexpected turn of events, and good luck. Well, debatable. Some decks depict the wheel of Fortune with eight spokes, a reference to the eight pagan sabbaths or holidays that mark the sun's annual passage across the sky and ever turning cycles of life. I feel like that's a kind of a good home and given kind of the ritual altar that we're kind of trying to do here.

58:06 Yeah. Other decks show human or mythical figures attached to the wheel, indicating we're all tied to the wheel of time and subject to life's ups and downs, which I mean, that seems somewhat fitting here. But the writer, we Smith deck includes winged versions of astrological symbols, which represent the four elements in the cards corners, suggesting the influence of divine forces. Hmm. I felt like there had to be some sort of influence because it was looking real bad for all long time. Right? And then this angel of an investigative journalist comes along.

58:52 Yeah. Oh my gosh, you're going to absolutely ship bricks. Okay. Consciously or unconsciously, you've put something in motion and you now have little or no control over the outcome. Oh gosh. Didn't it say that in our last? Like, it was the eight of wands or something. It said something very similar. Yeah. I think you're right. A new phase in your life is beginning. An important decision must be made or an upcoming circumstance will change your life. Destiny is at work and you have to accept whatever happens. All you can do is attune yourself to the forces operating now.

59:33 Oh, wow. It's crazy. Yeah, the connection between the last card we drew for this case and this one. In the eight, it was eight of wands. I'm pretty sure. And then the right path. I think you're talking about like eight spokes of the wheel of them. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. I think I'll come back to the extra excerpt. All right. In the upright, it says, "A favorable outcome awaits you. Circumstances are changing for the better. Even if you aren't totally aware of what you've done to initiate the process." Oh, nothing. I know. Well, to make it better, I think.

1:00:14 You've started the ball rolling or rather the wheel turning. Don't resist. These changes will promote growth and bring valuable learning experiences for you. It can be hard to stay balanced, but go with the flow and trust the process. Yikes. Okay. In a reading about money, this card heralds good fortune. Come in your way as a result of what you've already put into motion. Perhaps through a stroke of good luck, your finances improve. Seize opportunities that present themselves. Yikes. Okay. I mean, someone's finances improved over terrible circumstances, but it's not untrue.

1:00:57 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yikes. Okay. If the reading is about your job, you may get a lucky break. Unexpected turns of events are likely, such as meeting new people who can help you or receiving an offer out of the blue. Although this may appear fortuitous, it's all part of the grand plan for your life. In a reading about love, a new romance may begin or an existing relationship may improve. Even if you don't think you've done anything to make that happen, the time is right for change. Enjoy it. It just makes me sad.

1:01:39 What if he would have lived and what if they got back together someday and came back around him and Mona? I know. It's a romance story level bullshit, but you never know. I know. They did remain close. Yeah. Good. Yeah. I mean, this is all in a very, if you think about it, I mean, this is all in a relatively condensed time frame. This didn't happen over decades or any, you know, it's, wow. Okay. I'm going to come back to the extra excerpt. The Wheel of Fortune is linked to the three faiths, collectively called the Morai in Greek mythology.

1:02:23 One spins the thread of life, the second weaves it, and the third cuts it. This The Wheel of Fortune is a reminder of the mysterious cycles of life, death and rebirth. Oh my gosh. Rebirth. I know. And one of the invisible forces that measure them out to each of us. I was kind of crazy that I talked about, like maybe he died soon because the world was like, you've been through some shit already. Let's like, yeah, like do over. Give you a nice life next time or something. I just like want to hope that that. Oh, here's hoping, right?

1:03:05 I know. Steve. Oh. Well, you want to know something else kind of crazy. Yeah. So we originally had this, I can't, what was it called, the shell? She, but I shell? Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right. So we had this on the altar. So it is a snail shell, basically. And then this wheel of fortune is has a black turban snail on it. This little picture on here. And it has like the same little curly, cute thing. It was like, hey, bitch, you should have left that on the altar. I guess we just thought it was getting a little crowded.

1:03:47 And we're like, well, yeah, put this in the next one. But it was like, we take it. I get this is for this one. So it's there now. I got that out of a farmer's market this weekend on a little crystal stand where I would like, I'm, I'm, I only have $5. I'm just going to buy something if I find something from $5. And that was $5. I love it. I'll buy it. This says the same stuff about fate, chance, fortune, karma and justice. Yeah. A cycle reversal or revolution. Oh, reversal. Reversal. Reversal. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah.

1:04:27 It did. I was thinking about like the time too. And it's like, you know, so much time that you had to spend. They were talking about like his sentencing, like how much time he would get. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to read this because it's like not even a page. Okay. The wheel turns and the snail cannot stop it. They cannot steer it or slow it or adjust its course in any way. They are long for the ride. They are powerless upon it. That is life. Mm. Attacked by they know not what. They climbed the rocky slope. They retreated into their shell. Desperate.

1:05:08 They sacrifice their foot. Detached it. Huh. Paid it as toll for continued existence. With nothing to secure it, their shell began rolling like a die cast down the slope. Carrying them to safety or demise. They're fate tied to the turning of the wheel. Oh my gosh. Wow. Interesting. I do kind of like some of the, they feel like sort of like a fable in our Pacific Northwest interpretation guide. Yeah. You know, it's like you, it gives us kind of some keywords and things, but it doesn't go super in depth with those interpretations, but those little stories are really interesting.

1:05:56 I love the stories. Yeah. Okay, I'll read you all what my whole shell thing is and it just you know, it's from SIG-FREED crystals. Oh. And I got it at the Bull Mountain Farmers Market at Cantibary Square. Interesting. No one invited me to go to the farmers market. Sorry. It was Mother's Day. Yeah, I was like, it was Mother's Day. I know I bought myself a gift on Mother's Day. I love that for you. I'm a great daughter. The Shiva Eye Shell has a number of meanings associated with it. The shell has ocean-like soothing, comforting and serene vibes that will bring sticky mouth.

1:06:36 No, no. That will bring sticky mouth. That will bring peace of mind and relaxation. Shiva Eyes are polished, turbo-sea snail fossils which belong to the marine gastropod family. Oh, of course. This unique shell comes from the bottom part of the snail which you, which used it as a defense mechanism. So next episode of mine, I might nerd out about snails. Snails? Is cargo anyone? Oh, yeah, I don't know about that. I would never. I would never do it. Yeah. Oysters all day.

1:07:16 Snails are just too cute. Yeah. Gary. Are you done yet? I'm so done. Okay. Are you done? I'm done. I got nothing left to talk about. Yeah. I just ran my mouth. Yeah, no. I will, we'll, we'll, we'll chat some more in the Patreon bonus. Oh, yeah. I'm good. Yeah. Come back for the Patreon bonus. Y'all. All right. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a great day.

1:07:57 See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday. Unless you decide to get interviewed by the cops without a lawyer or get a lawyer or get a lawyer or get a lawyer. Or always get a lawyer. Even if you're innocent. Yeah. Probably especially if you're innocent. I run actually. But you know, if you're guilty, you don't need to get a lawyer. Yeah, actually, I really don't. I really don't want to get a lawyer because we don't want any mistrials for bad. Yeah, that's true. Okay, so everyone just get a lawyer. Probably just always get a lawyer. Actually, I think should we go call our lawyer right now? Yeah. Just do so. Okay. We're in the talk to the lawyer. Let's go do that. Okay. Bye. We need you to go hire a lawyer. [LAUGHS] Approach the Bay. Approach the Bay. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's Caitlin's Heist.

1:08:41 Yeah. I said. Yeah. Wow, it was really high. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe all lower that in post. Yeah. God help us. [LAUGHS] I'll see what I can do. [LAUGHS] Yeah. Yikes. I could be cute. Sound like a robot. Robot. As long as you make me sound like a skinny robot. [LAUGHS] You know? I'm going to punch you. Okay. Right, your robot face. Pnwhauntsandhomicides.com