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Hidden True Crime
Hidden True Crime

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TONIGHT! PATREON ONLY LIVESTREAM

This is a first for HTC. We have followed the Monkey Vaughan case for years and tonight John plans to interview Stacey Wondra. This is an incredibly sensitive live thus is for Patreon gems only, as to keep the audience small.  We need to also explain that we cannot control the language of our interviewee tonight. We are giving him the space to talk and John will be moderating. 

The best way to get to know who Stacey is is this article: https://amp.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article268740487.html

We can share more later. Tune in here on Patreon to watch. 6 pm pacific, 7 mountain, 8 central, 9 eastern. 

TONIGHT! PATREON ONLY LIVESTREAM

Comments

How may I help the Vaughan family? Patreon isn’t perfectly secure, but what is best wisdom? I would like to support their needs at this time

Margaret Hartley

Dr. John.....What amazing interview skills. Thank you for the access to this informative interview

Anne Potter

Dr John, that was very hard to listen to I cannot imagine how you were feeling doing the interview! Kudos for going through this with dignity and poise even though I’m sure that you wanted to just lose your crap on that guy. Thank you and Lauren for all that you do every day!

Alicia Reed

Does he still drive the vehicle that he "changed the brake fluid" on? That task is not one you ever do on the side of the road.; It is a very involved procedure. If you have low or no brake fluid, you have little or NO BRAKES. Did he hit him and then dispose of the body? It is such a bizarre detail when he talks about changing the brake fluid on the side of the road.

Dawn

This was hard to listen to!!

Gleebart

Vó he has no self awareness at all, His frontal lobe is obviously damaged, When he talks about what he did that day sounds just really dishonest, He also talks about having been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) as a teenager Which sounds like he has anti social personality disorder today , And he’s really aloof or maybe it’s because of his lack of empathy or everything combined , I am not convinced that he can perform sexually, He sounds like he’s hiding that part a bit, He is also very childish and not very intelligent, He doesn’t sound too me like a predator or pedophil But of course he very well could be. It’s just my take on him. He sounds desperate for money and attention And validation he has obviously been through a lot. But he doesn’t strike me as someone who could commit that type of crime without it being known by now to law enforcement. He could be covering for someone, But you can’t be sure because you really never know somebody really. But there is something really off about this guy that’s for sure.

Vala Hauksdóttir

That guy s story was all ob

Cynthia Jagneaux

Hey Elmo, This is not the confession. The confession is public. ..When John did this interivew, there was reason to make this less public, and he made some agreements with some people. I can't delve into details, but it was asked that we not make this public. ... perhaps one day we can

Lauren and John Matthias

Just wondering but something this important for any new leads sine his ??? Confession really should be available not behind a paywall. I maybe confused as to why. Just politely asking.

Elmo

That was fabulous

m.phebee.smith.m@gmail.com

Thank you Dr John and Lauren .. heart pounding right after the interview .. questions and emotions .. to be able to have access to a limited intake of a interview and then after eval is personal and to share this .. is very appreciated and will help us all following this case. Justice takes all forms

Christy Aiken

I’m a psych background and you’re so correct… the use of “psych talk” proved his time in group homes rubbed off on him. I’ve also seen him in other interviews almost bragging about his multiple diagnosis’s

christina laska

Fascinating interview, Dr. John. Possible scenario: Stacey expressed he was angry about Sara asking him for a baby as an excuse to have sex with guys she picked up, or with his friends. So what if that day she had been out all afternoon fooling around sexually with Brandon and Adrian, and Stacey was pretty angry and fed up. Before they set out at 6:30 that day, what if they were all fighting about cheating. As they drove out, he spotted a kid and said something like "here's your f'in kid, bitch" to Sara and plucked Michael off the street in a rage at them about the baby making ruse. Then they all panicked and kept Michael for awhile, until he was too loud and needed care, so one of them lost their temper and killed him thinking it would prevent them from getting kidnapping charges. Listening to him, he sounded a lot more sophisticated then an IQ of 70 or 80-and just to say, do people really test this generation for IQ? I really wonder about the truthfulness of his IQ claims, but maybe they do that in group homes or while evaluating kids for special ed? I would think other more modern assessments are used to evaluate school progress these days. Let's hope there is justice for that sweet little angel soon.

Jennifer Priebe

Interesting interview. Stacy's vocabulary and verbal skills come off pretty well at first but are really in contrast to his awful social presentation. The interview elicited evidence of seriously bad judgment and chaotic life style right below his initial statements that he was doing well as an adult and had overcome a lot of his early problems. The extensive history of impaired functioning throughout life and his continued problems with the law seemed to barely phase him. So he is the beloved uncle whose nieces and nephew crawl all over affectionately? I bet we'd hear something pretty different from his sisters who probably don't let him within a mile of their children. Scary that this fellow might show up for an Uber call. I could envision him as the sad, impaired FAS kid he was and couldn't help feeling sorry for him. But the impairment in judgment and self-control would make for an adult that I'd be quite uncomfortable with living unsupervised near me.

Julia Lee

Power steering was whining ?!? Don’t love that comparison due to the circumstances. I do not know how a strap is sufficient to tow a vehicle. Also noticed that he made a point in letting the audience know he used the Lexus for his taxi ride which was unique to how he had described other taxi rides without a vehicle reference.

Blakely Rosman

Wow! Well done Dr. John! I maybe totally off here but I felt like there are several red flags. I don’t think he deals with anger as well as he says he does. I say that because of his history. Also his criminal behavior, he almost seems to brag about it. He acted proud of all his felonies. I find that strange. He also really dodges the question about his 2 sisters, I don’t know what to make of that. I also don’t really understand his intentions on being willing to interview but really glad he did because it was so fun to listen and watch! I would love to hear Dr. John’s perspective on this interview. Ugh I feel so bad for this family of Michael’s, so devastating! Thanks John and Lauren!

Christine

When he said a three foot bag wasn't big enough to put a body in. It's big enough for a child's body. I understand that he wants to support his narrative that they were just doing laundry so that bag has to be a laundry bag and not a body bag. But I would have found it easier to hear "yeah I know, that's whatade it worse, it's a three foot bag so I know what you're thinking but it just had clothes in it". I appreciate with his history he probably has a load of experience in not being believed and maybe has adapted so that's why a denial is easier than a half agreement "yeah I know it does look bad but it's not that" because with some people you give them an inch and they take a mile.

Julie Port

Thanks for the interview! My opinion is still out on him. There are some things I would like to know more about. John I think your interview skills are amazing! You seem to make them very relaxed. It gave a good baseline to read him when you asked the big questions!👏 Great job, great interview!

Holly Painter

Amazing to see Dr. John do an assessment in front of all of us and it gave great insight at how challenging being a psychologist can be and ask probing questions to get to the best answer possible. Thank you Lauren for your great journalism skills. It was the best to see the live comments disabled for the interview.

Gaylynn Gambardella

After watching both interviews, he seems to present himself to each of you very differently. When Lauren interviewed him, he absolutely could not STOP rubbing his face, rubbing his head, rubbing his eyes, making noises that sounded exasperated. He was touching his head and face so much it was hard to watch. Why wasn't he doing that during Dr. Babe's interview? That feels off to me.

M Adams

Thank you Dr. John and Lauren. Very interesting interview.

Teresa Joyce Mellah

I don't know a ton about FAS, but from what I do I have never heard anything about a "stress" reaction that causes you to lie like that...especially when it comes to saying a little boy is buried in your backyard

Blair

He seems credible to me. great interview, Dr John!

amy macfarlane

I totally agree

Blair

Dr John did call him out for a contradiction

Blair

The way he got excited when talking about guns..."I love guns" "I love Shooting." Also found it interesting when Dr. John had him talk about why children like him. A bit eerie to me.

Blair

Wait... so according to him, he doesn't know this boy, never heard of him and someone called in a tip pointed at Sarah based on nothing. Then instead of denying knowing anything, she started randomly accusing her husband and a guy she was cheating with of murdering a child and burying him for absolutely no reason. Stacey is then interviewed and is overwhelmed by the police's interrogation due to his Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He then makes a false confession, identifying a very particular location in his backyard where he buried the body. There was initially enough evidence of some sort to arrest Sarah and dig up the entire yard. And all of this came from a completely nonsensical tip, pointing a finger at a random family in the neighborhood. I guess the only way I could make this story make sense is if the person who made the tip targeted them because of their history of felonies. When questioned, Sarah started making stuff up, either for attention and/or as some sort of twisted revenge against the two guys in her love triangle at home. She did this, presumably without knowing that she could get hit with any charges. Stacey was then manipulated into a false confession, and was particularly vulnerable to this on account of his cognitive difficulties. Idk just seems so weird

Emily N

This was fascinating to watch and yet horrifying somehow. I look forward to hearing more from Lauren and Dr. John. I don't know what to think based on this interview. Poor Michael. Poor sad family.

Pusheen

Yes you can! Just click above

Lauren and John Matthias

Wow! I need a framework to process this. Stacey seemed consistent throughout but his comments at the end seemed different - maybe? How was he pulled into this?

double espresso

Listening to the way Dr. John interviews is a perspective we normally would not see. This was unique and interesting. Thank you for giving us this insight. My gag reflexes kicked in a few times while watching and listening, but I won't go there.

Grace

I hope this can be watched if we weren't able to get to the live.

Karen Rose

I’m halfway thru watching this and just had to stop to say Thank you—FASCINATING watching Dr. John work. (I hope you both got some rest after!!). AND, so appreciate Lauren’s great journalistic talents in setting the stage. Something us folks out here don’t get to see….

Angela M

Dr. John is so very good at what he does. I appreciate both of you! 🙏🙏

Lizzy

This guy is complex for sure ! He’s almost believable, yet seems very weird ! The fact that they tore up their back yard and found nothing tells me nothing. Something is fishy. I’m hoping Dr John has some clues.

BlondeGranny

I found Stacey’s reasoning for lying to the police about “ there’s a body buried in the backyard “ quite puzzling . He stated that when people who have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome get in stressful situations, they’ll lie in order to avert conflict . Do you believe this level of reasoning?

Renée Price

The other thing that stands out is his desire to call Dr John again today and talk more about it.

Pppmomof3

I watched Dr. John closely was fascinated to see him do so many things that he's talked about. How Stacey gives vague answers when asked about painful experiences. Or denies a problem, then Dr. John circles back to it and gets so much more. I never thought we'd be able to watch him do a clinical assessment.

Ann Marcy

Not too familiar with FAS in terms of what it causes… would it really cause someone to answer something false like that? Assuming he is giving an accurate accounting of his history, is this someone you would think would kill a kid? Anyone know this Sarah’s history? If they did it, I am surprised they are so good at covering it up unless he is more clever than he admits (I mean even Kohberger got caught).

Pppmomof3

Wow… that certainly gave me a richer understanding of what Dr John deals with in his “day job”. What a sad history. I would love his thoughts on that interview (not sure if that’s something he can do). I feel like I saw where he was going most of the time (at least once he got there). I’m sure there are things that stand out to him that wouldn’t occur to me.

Pppmomof3

I agree the way he spoke about it stood out to me as well.

CC

No, we feel the same! Working on getting our son to bed and we are going to try for tonight !

Lauren and John Matthias

@christy… I’m a Boston based psychotherapist. Wish I could help you

Kathleen Liakos

If you know of a psychotherapist(s) in the Chicago area .. I would love a recommendation. Since moving from Texas to Illinois .. I haven’t found a psychotherapist. The process was and is very positive therapeutic experience for me

Christy Aiken

It must have been so difficult as a reporter to not want to jump in and ask.. but you can’t do that during an evaluation/interview. What an opportunity and Stacey has to be commended for coming on to be questioned. Bottom line ..

Christy Aiken

Can we do it now? lol. I know I’m sorry I’m fired up

Kathleen Liakos

I’m a psychotherapist… the amount of ah ha moments for me was astounding. This man claims to have FAS… and to be fair has features of this… yet speaks in over therapized terminology. Huge dichotomies. He knows way more than he purports.. in my opinion .. 30 years of treating sick people

Kathleen Liakos

How in the world did you guys get this interview ? And .. where is his lawyer ? But that’s my first thought !! So well done Dr John. You two are amazing !!

Christy Aiken

We will talk about this once our son is in bed! I have soooo many questions myself! When I ask John his thoughts, I’ll turn my phone on to record

Lauren and John Matthias

Toward the second description of returning to neighborhood ..Stacey makes the statement “ we found out a kid got.. i mean a kid disappeared .. sorry .. not exact quote .. but the expectorating .. was distracting .. but that ( slip) stood out to me !

Christy Aiken

Thanks for doing this private live with the comments off. John did a great job with the time he had.

Stephanie May

I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

CC

John is the consummate professional… I want. To talk to him about the stuff I saw clinically. I am stunned

Kathleen Liakos

My God… can we please talk about this interview… I’m blown away

Kathleen Liakos

What was a stand out moment or statement to the fellow gems?

CC

Wow that was an interesting interview lol

Patty Glissmann

Thank you for this interview. Fascinating and touching.

elizabeth earnshaw

Bless you Dr John

Liz Johnson

Really enjoying Dr. John's questioning, I really feel I am behind the scenes of an evaluation. Absolutely love it.

Cam B. (YT 616Luv)

I have so many questions .. and yet I dare not ask .. feel like this is a special gift and not to be questioned ? Sorry .. I wish I had a better way to express how different this interview is ..

Christy Aiken

We will certainly be sharing more in the following days about this interview

Lauren and John Matthias

Thank you so much .. it takes the both of you to get this interview. Lauren’s sincerity and Dr John experience .. I agree .. this is the closest we get to see an eval or interview w Dr John. Please thank Stacey for his willingness to discuss his personal history.

Christy Aiken

https://amp.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article268740487.html

Lauren and John Matthias

The case is still under investigation and I’m not sure if police have any suspects but police say Stacey is a person of interest

Lauren and John Matthias

Yes Liz

Lauren and John Matthias

I assume most realize this is a different type of interview tonight

Lauren and John Matthias

So interesting! I feel like i’m at work with Dr. John. I like this. A whole new level of interesting!

Liz Johnson

So Lauren, what are you guys thinking about his involvement? If any at all? I'm wishy washy and I can't pinpoint why

Cam B. (YT 616Luv)

Thank you guys for doing this!! God Bless you

Cam B. (YT 616Luv)

Hi Elizabeth!

Lauren and John Matthias

hey everyone! it's lauren. I'll be here

Lauren and John Matthias

https://amp.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article268740487.html

Lauren and John Matthias

https://amp.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article268740487.html

Lauren and John Matthias

What is Monkeys relation to Stacey?

Laurey Moles

Hello from Toronto.

elizabeth earnshaw

Just an FYI because of the sensitive nature the chat is off. Please return here to this post for discussion after the live ends. 💎❤️

CC

I can’t wait

Kathleen Liakos

This is going to be an incredible interview. Thank you for sharing it with your patron gems.

Erica Plumhoff


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