Introducing - Sword and Scale Nightmares

0:00Hello, folks, I'm very, very excited today to share with you a preview to our new show called Sword and Scale Nightmares. We've been working on this show behind the scenes since last year, and we think you're really going to like it. One of the wonderful things about Sword and Scale that really set us apart early on was the use of audio clips such as interrogation audio and trial testimony, which adds a level of immersion to the story that feels like you're watching a well produced TV documentary. But not every story lends itself well to this format, and sometimes the clips simply don't exist. Not to mention, we've heard directly from you over the years. We've heard what you like and what you don't like, and that you all don't like the same things necessarily, So we've gone back to the drawing board and reimagined how to tell these stories in a refreshing new way for this new series. That means no clips, no jump scares, no loud techno music, and no unsolicited, unnecessary opinions from that over opinionated narrator What an ass that guy is.

1:22The result is what we're calling true crime for bedtime, i e. Bedtime Stories. For adults. Now, we've tried something like this before. You might remember Monstro, but let's face it, the feeling, the vibe wasn't quite right. But I think we've finally nailed it though. And if you like Sword and Scale, you'll most likely enjoy Sword and Scale Nightmares. You might even like it more. By the same token, if you don't like Sword and Scale for all the reasons I just stated, then maybe you'll still enjoy then you show. Now, in order for this show to be a success, we need your help, so I'm going to ask you for a favor. If you're listening to this right now, please take a moment and head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast listening platform and subscribe to Sword and Scale Nightmares right now. It really is going to make a world of difference if you do. And just so you know, Nightmares will eventually be part of Sword and Scale Plus, but for now, we're only going to be releasing it as a freely distributed podcast on all major podcast platforms. The response we get will allow us to see if you guys

2:44like it or not and whether it's worth continuing. So thank you in advance and without further ado. Here's a preview to Sword and Scale Nightmares Sweet Dreams. Saint John's, Arizona is a tiny little town in Apache County with just over three thousand residents. It's a little blip on the map north of the Apache National Forest. The town's motto is the Town of Friendly Neighbors and quite literally, everyone knows everyone. On November fifth, two thousand and eight, Debbie Nickel was celebrating she'd just been promoted to detective at the Saint John's Police Department the day prior. This was her second year in the department, which in the line of police work, is not very long at all. Given that her new title was so fresh, Debbie was understandably nervous about the responsibilities it entailed. Before her promotion, Debbie worked as a school resource officer, so the types of situations she dealt with involved scuffles between kids. Now her job would be to respond to real crime scenes. She knew she had entered the big leagues, and she was about to get a taste of how gruesome reality can get. On this particular Wednesday, a little after five pm,

4:33someone called the police department to report hearing shots fired and then seeing something strange on someone's front porch. It looked like a dead body. Now, this was only a few days after Halloween, so Debbie and her partner, Sergeant Lucas Rodriguez, weren't totally convinced this call would even amount to anything. But they strapped up their bulletproof vests and jumped in their cruiser, Debbie in the passenger seat and Sergeant Rodriguez driving. So as they're driving, their lights flashing through the streets of this quiet town, Debbie's looking out the window waiting for the house to emerge. She's a little nervous, but you know, how bad could it be. This was probably just a leftover scarecrow that had gotten blown over by the harsh winds that they'd had over the last few days.

5:32Nothing to worry about. On the corner of fifteenth Place West and seventh North, they see the house. It's a blue, two story single family home sitting close to the street. It's got a little front yard and a truck parked partially up onto a small gravel driveway. As the police cruiser pulls closer, Debbie sees what the caller was referring to. Even from that distance, she could tell This was not a piece of decor. This looks real. She squints her eyes and realizes that the lump on the porch is in fact, a dark complexed male wearing a heavy Carhart jacket, lying face down.

6:28They see someone else, too, a frightened little boy standing outside the home, waiting for law enforcement to arrive and help him. Debbie quickly realizes that she recognizes this child living in the neighborhood herself. She knew him as the happy child who jumped on the trampoline with his cousins and always yelled have a good day, missus Nicholl when she left for work. This kid was Vincent Romero's son. He's standing alongside an adult man and a teenage boy. They seem to be hovering over him in kind of a protective way. Debbie looks at Rodriguez as they're sitting on the street in front of the house. They're both wide eyed because they're realizing this might not be such an easy call after all. Rodriguez opens his door first, telling Debbie to stay behind while he sesses the victim and scopes the area. Debbie stays in the passenger seat, looking out the window. She's getting progressively more and more nervous. Now her partner is in this house with a real dead body on the front porch, and now she's thinking about what else might be inside. For all they knew, the murderer could still be hiding in the closet. Pretty soon after that,

7:57Debbie hears shouts coming from the house. She opens her door and starts towards the porch, noticing blood droplets on the sidewalk. As she makes her way forward, Rodriguez pushes the screen door from the front of the house, opening it from the inside, being careful to avoid this dead man lying on the door's path. Debbie sees her partner's face and knows it's bad. Rodriguez yells out to her, informing her of another dead body on the stairway to the second floor. Both men had been shot to death with a twenty two caliber weapon, one of which was a familiar neighbor, Vincent Romero, the little boy's father. Both bodies were still warm. While Rodriguez secured the area, Debbie went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen or heard anything.

8:58At this point, more officers were arriving on scene, so they split up across the neighborhood and started knocking on doors. The people who lived in the house right across the street confirmed that they heard several shots right around five pm. Throughout this long night of witness interviews, police summarized that the two men were twenty nine year old Vincent Romero and his friend, thirty nine year old Timothy Romans. They also learned that Vincent and tim were not only friends, but co workers and part time roommates. The two worked for SRP or Salt River Project, a power company in Arizona. Vincent and his wife owned the house and allowed Timothy to rent a room so that he could be closer to work during the week. The little boy who was found standing in the front yard when Debbie and her partner arrived on was eight year old Christian Romero.

10:03He had run to a neighbor for help and they called nine one one and stayed to wait with them. So Debbie is just shocked that such a crazy tragedy could strike her tiny little neighborhood. She feels bad for this poor child, this kid who's just lost his father, so she has to find out if he saw or heard anything. She sits down next to the kid and says, okay, just tell us from the beginning. Christian starts to explain that his step mom isn't home on Mondays and Wednesdays. She works until five, and so he got off the school bus and walked around the neighborhood for a while waiting for her to get home. When five o'clock came and went, he figured he'd make his way back to the house. He says that as he approached, he saw a truck parked out front and started to call out, Tim, are you home. Then Christian tells them about the car that went past him as he approached the home. He says it seemed it could have been leaving his family's house. He describes the car. It's a white car with no hubcaps on the back. So the police are like, we got to send out a bolo immediately, meaning be on the lookout for

11:28this vehicle. Christian goes on to tell them that when he got to the front porch, he saw Tim lying face down. There was a lot of blood and even bits of brain. The little boy continues, explaining that once he saw Tim's body, he started to yell for his father, Vincent, but got no response. He says he carefully opened the front door and went inside, still calling for his dad, and then he saw him lying motionless on the stairway. At this point, Debbie's thinking, Holy Moley, Thank goodness, this child didn't get home just a few hours earlier. He could have been killed two. Debbie knew they'd have to get Christian in for a forensic interview in the morning. First, they'd have to deal with Tanya Romans, Tim's wife. Tanya lived far enough from the power plant that it made more sense for Tim to stay with his friend during the week. Tanya, though far away from the crime scene, had some information about the previous day that Debbi hoped would shed light on why two people had suddenly been murdered.

12:58Please head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform and subscribe. Sword in Scale Nightmares will launch its first three episodes on March second, at three twenty three Eastern daylight savings. Thank you, and goodnight.