Episode 9 - Roleplay

Announcer: Dr. Good Vibes contains strong language, adult themes, and depictions of high impact sex and or violence. This podcast is recommended for mature audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Katie: Our story begins with three seemingly unrelated events over a decade apart. In 2009, in an abandoned house on the edge of the town of Binghamton, A shrinking regional center once propped up by a booming textile industry, a 15 year old girl named Ruby Amal is tortured and murdered, assumedly by the serial killer known as the Overland Slayer.

In 2012, in a town called Sunderland, an itinerant worker named Michael Lockhart murders a woman named Jane Pinkfield in a frenzied and seemingly random attack. and is arrested on the scene when two off duty police officers stumble upon the killing after leaving a lock in at a nearby bar. And finally, in 2024, a sex and relationship advice podcast called The Late Shift, hosted by the sonorous, self proclaimed guru of love, Dr.

Good Vibes receives a call from a young woman seeking advice on BDSM practice and how to manage her partner's burgeoning appetite for violence, sending the host into a spiral of self recrimination and eventually self destruction. Three events seemingly unlinked. But inextricably connected in a way that went undiscovered for the better part of 15 years, which combined to upturn, for the second time, what was considered to be a closed case of murder and mutilation that shook a small town to its core.

I'm Katie Bradley, and this, is Doctor Badvibes.

LeGuin: Not to put too fine a point on it, we knew he was one sick customer. That was built into the profile from day one. 

Kilroy: After six years, thousands of man hours, and a manhunt spanning over nine states, we got him. We got him. 

Kimmy: If you have seen our daughter or have any idea of her whereabouts, please We won't ask any questions. We won't. Just want our little girl back. 

Mick: I don't know, really. I don't know. I figured it's time I tell my side of the story. Your

LeGuin: Okay, alright. 

Thank you for your ime today. I have a short prepared statement, so please save your questions until the end.

I'm here to confirm that the investigation has concluded, in conjunction with local law enforcement, that this killing is related to what some of the more creative individuals in this room are calling the Overland Slayer. Evidence collected on the scene, as well as the modus operandi apparent of Miss McKinley are consistent with your attributed to the Slayer.

So, as of two days ago, the investigation has been turned over to the FBI to be pursued as part of our ongoing efforts to bring this killer to justice. 

Katie: The voice you are hearing is that of Special Agent Kurt Le Guin, who led the Overland Slayer investigation for the FBI from 2006 to 2012 when he retired.

By the time of this announcement, 2008, the Slayer had not quite reached a level of infamy on par with golden age serial killers of the 70s and 80s, but the press was starting to catch wind. Le Guin's book on the six year pursuit of the Slayer. Blood on the Trail, The Hunt for the Overland Slayer, was set to be published in 2014, but its release was effectively cancelled by a court injunction launched by the families of the victims.

Court documents from the time refer to the book as Exploitative Pulp Trash and An Affront to the Memories of the Victims of the Slayer and Their Families. Due to the enormous legal and public pressure, the publisher made the decision to delay the release of the book indefinitely. 

LeGuin: The Slayer is the greatest regret of my entire professional life.

Katie: Former Special Agent Le Guin agreed to speak to us by phone from his farmhouse just outside Bedford, where he has lived since retiring from the Bureau. 

LeGuin: By the time we were on his trail, he'd already refined his practice to He liked young girls, teenagers. The youngest victim we ever publicly associated with him was 13.

We investigated similar killings of girls as young as 9 in relation to the slayer, but none were ever officially attributed to him. The oldest was 20. A Kinley girl. A co ed, but she was petite. Younger than she was. Other than that, he didn't seem to have a type. Any race. Any age. Within that range at least.

Skin colour, hair colour, fat, skinny, rich, poor, it didn't matter to him. One girl was on crutches the day he took her. Point is, despite his obvious preference, he wasn't picky. And his methods, those were particular.

 The story that presented the association with the historically significant route was picked up by the Associated Press about two weeks after its initial publishing, and sent the residents of small towns in Wyoming into a six month panic that did not relent until the Oberland claimed his next victim, two states south, in Colorado.

LeGuin: Not We knew he was one sick customer. That was built into the profile from day one. He'd arrive in town, pick out his target and strike before moving on. To our knowledge, he never returned to the scene of the crime, never returned to the town, though he would take trophies. An item of clothing, a piece of jewelry, a notebook, back from each of the victims.

Each of his kills followed the same pattern. He would pick up his victim in the early morning or late afternoon. We suspected that he spoke to the girls, initially luring them into his transportation willingly, but occasionally taking them by force if required. He would subdue and restrain them, keeping them in his van, we assumed, until after nightfall, and then transporting them to an abandoned or unoccupied residential property within the city limits too.

Once he was done, he would take everything with him, not just his souvenirs. We never found a weapon, a single piece of rope or cord or cloth, and no trace of physical evidence to tie him to the scenes. His way of killing was the only trace we ever found, and even within that he made tiny variations with each murder, which sometimes kept them popping on the Bureau's radar for months after the event had occurred.

This is what made him so elusive in the beginning. It was assumed, in line with standard profiling, that someone who'd select a location like that as a local, someone with knowledge of the area, a pre existing understanding of safe zones where they could move to avoid detection, he was the worst kind of killer.

A mix of meticulous and opportunistic. Very fucking good at what he did. Considering that we were pretty sure he travelled by road, there were other small towns along the routes he followed where he just didn't kill. So he was patient, too. There were no near misses with the Slayer. No one who got away to identify him, his vehicle, the way he approached his victims, or anything else about him.

He was as close to a ghost as anyone I ever chased. 

Katie: But without the corroborating evidence of fingerprints or DNA, their lines of inquiry were entirely and fruitlessly focused on finding that one man whose travel itinerary could place him in or near the towns that the Slayer had turned into his hunting grounds.

It wasn't until 2009, five years after the Slayer's first confirmed victim, that the investigation would finally catch a break.

In the town of Binghamton, New York, a 15 year old girl named Ruby Amal was reported missing after failing to return home from school. Local authorities initially treated the case as a routine missing person, canvassing neighbourhoods and, eventually, organising large groups of volunteers to sweep nearby woodlands for any sign of Ruby's presence.

By all accounts, Ruby was just like any other girl of her age. She had a small group of friends, slightly above average grades, she played soccer on Saturdays and went to clarinet lessons on Thursday nights. Two weeks after Ruby went missing, her mother, Kim Amal, addressed the press on the steps of the Binghamton Police Department.

Kimmy: If you have seen our daughter or have any idea of her whereabouts, please, you can report anonymously. You can

We won't ask any questions. We won't. Just want our little girl back. 

Katie: Police, of course, questioned her friends and classmates during this period, singling out a few who were known to have seen her on the day of her disappearance for more intense scrutiny. But those lines of investigation were all essentially closed on a Tuesday morning in late October.

Maeda: All right, all right. 

Katie: The voice you are hearing belongs to the lead investigator on Ruby Amal's disappearance, Detective Jeff Mader. 

Maeda: I'll cut to the chase. Yesterday morning, The body of a young woman was found in the garage of one of the abandoned houses in the Springwood development. Please, please, there will be plenty of time for questions.

This afternoon, we have confirmed the identity of the girl. Based on evidence found at the scene, and having spoken to the family, at this time, we can confirm that we have located the body of Ruby Amal.

Katie: Five weeks to the day after she vanished without a trace, The body of Ruby Amal was discovered in a cold, empty garage attached to one of the few almost finished homes in a half built, luxury gated community. At the time, details of the crime scene were closely guarded. But, thanks to a draft manuscript provided by former Special Agent Le Guin, we now know what Binghamton Police found when they were summoned to the scene on that inauspicious Tuesday.

Noah: The body was splayed out in the center of the room, seemingly discarded once her ordeal was over. Markings on the concrete indicated she had been moved, shuffled mortem. She had bruises on her wrists and ankles, fresh ones layered over old ones, indicating she had been bound for a number of hours. Marks from a flat implement, believed to be a paddle or spatula, were present on legs, back, and buttocks.

Some of these injuries had been serious enough to break the skin. Studded, ridged, and flat markings indicate a selection of implements were used on the victim over the hours preceding her death. Three of her fingernails had been removed. And two of her fingers were broken, as was one of her toes. Her face was the only place that had been spared any external damage, though her teeth, gums, and lips were bloodied, indicating that she had been gagged tightly, and had likely damaged her mouth trying to work it free.

Traces of a particular cleaning solution, as well as small pieces of black material, were found around her eyes, throat, mouth, and mouth. Wrists, thighs and ankles, indicating the material of the restraints to be cheap leather, similar to the low priced restraints sold in sex shops all over the country.

There was damage to the victim's genitalia, indicating penetration with several different types of tool, including at least two different sizes of dildo type sex toy, a vaginal speculum, and some sort of wooden instrument, theorized to be the handle of one of the paddles. No seminal or other fluids, nor abrasions of the type caused by fingernails, were detected in the post mortem examination, indicating no digital or sexual penetration.

The wrist restraints were assumed to have been tied to an anchor point over an exposed beam in the roof, though the rope used to do so was not found on the scene, nor were any of the other implements that were used to restrain or torture the victim. The cause of death was ruled to be suffocation. The positioning of the wound indicated she was strangled from behind while in an upright Right position.

Likely while still restrained with a length of rope, the markings found on the neck showed it to be the same type of cord, used to secure the victim to the overhead beam. 

LeGuin: As soon as the initial report with the crime scene photos came through, we were sure it was our guy. He was continuing the expansion of his craft, but in line with all of the previous victims.

Everything used on Ruby Amal was store bought, low cost, likely bought with cash in a town far from Binghamton. That was part of it, you know. It brutalized some poor girl and posthumously painted her nails with a wildly specific brand of cobalt blue nail polish, only for us to spend weeks following bunkum leads of every sale of it, until we discover, months later, the most credible one has it bought two rotas prior and three states over from a charity store that has no security cameras.

Using cash. But, either way. This pattern of eastward movement, victim by victim, we're already watching the reports coming out of New York, New Jersey, and all down the east coast. 

Katie: Within days of the gruesome discovery, the FBI descended on Binghamton in full force. taking control of the investigation as part of their ongoing search for the Overland Slayer.

But the reason for the speed of their arrival wasn't simply because of the headlines still making their way to front pages about Indra McKinley's murder in Kentucky only four months prior. The crime scene in Binghamton had granted them something that they had until this point.

LeGuin: Three partial fingerprints taken from the overhead beam, assumedly left there when the killer was untying the rope used to restrain her, and a small sample of blood, more than enough to get a DNA sample, taken from a protruding nail sticking out of the frame of the external door that led from the garage to the backyard, more than enough for us to finally track this guy down.

Katie: Authorities theorised that the killer had been disturbed during the process of cleaning up his crime, forgoing his usual meticulousness, though only briefly, for long enough to leave trace evidence that had not been present at any of the previous five crime scenes attributed to the slayer. Because of the period of time that passed between Ruby's death and the discovery of her body, authorities were unable to confirm her time of death forensically, though they assumed it to have happened within 24 hours of her disappearance.

The Springwood development, though abandoned, was a reasonably common spot for dog walking, as well as an occasional hangout for local teenagers, though both of those groups tended to stay in the areas closer to the main road entrance. A lawn mowing crew, which was funded by the city using money won in a settlement with the developers of the boutique neighbourhood when they abandoned the project, came at semi regular intervals to mow the various lawns and nature strips within the development area.

A call was put out, and two individuals came forward indicating that they had been close enough to the house to have potentially been heard that day. But though they had managed to interrupt the Slayer's clean up, they had, unfortunately, failed to notice any car or other vehicle. or any indication of the crime scene hidden just behind the closed garage door.

Either way, the FBI now had physical evidence that they could conclusively tie to the Overland Slayer, and while initial checks found no matches in state or federal crime databases, it was considered a major leap forward for the investigation. But, as we now know, the killer of Ruby Amal would, before long, take another victim.

Three years later, in the nearby town of Sunderland, Two off duty police officers stumble out of a bar where they've been celebrating the rapidly approaching birth of their friend's first child. Upon leaving the bar, the two cut down a side alley, heading toward the main street to find a taxi, as they were both too inebriated to safely drive home.

They were both familiar with the alley in question, which cut across a blind courtyard before hitting the main street, but on this particular night, they were unable to leave. They could not have been prepared for what they found. 

Traeger: Look, I don't know the details yet, but the short version is two of my officers stumbled in on a guy middle of stabbing the ever loving Christ out of one of the homeless who sleep in the alley behind Abel's hardware.

Katie: The voice you are hearing is Sunderland Sheriff, Virginia Traeger. Forgetting she was speaking to a reporter over ham and eggs, after receiving a phone call about a homicide in the early hours of that morning. 

Mitchell: Holy hell, was he okay? 

Traeger: No, no, she was dead before they arrived. Not that it stopped the fucker.

He was still stabbing her until my guys pulled him off her. We haven't made an official announcement about the victim yet, because we don't know who she is. They processed the guy. Some out of town I hear for the pickin season. Oh, Jesus fuckin What a mess. You, you, you, you got this? 

Mitchell: Yeah, no, please, do what you gotta do.

Katie: The Jane Doe in question was eventually identified as Jane Pinkfield, a mother of two who had fallen on hard times, bouncing in and out of women's shelters and living on the streets in and around Sunderland in the months leading up to her killing. It took months to identify her, By which time, her death had set off a chaotic chain of events that nobody could have expected.

Michael Lockhart dropped out of Lewis Fisher High School at the age of 16. A troubled youth with a record of incidents of petty vandalism and theft, though he was never formally arrested. He was raised by his single mother, Therese Lockhart, who worked two jobs to cover the rent on her three bedroom home where he lived along with his brother, Harold.

Not an uncommon story in depressed regional areas. The most surprising thing about Michael Lockhart was that according to the fingerprints and DNA samples obtained when he was processed by the Sunderland Sheriff's Department, he was also the long sought serial killer, the Overland Slayer.

Bureau agents descended on Sunderland in a matter of hours, taking immediate jurisdiction over Jane Pinkfield's murder and transporting Lockhart to the field office in nearby Albany. By this point, he had been questioned at length by the Sunderland Police. But, according to information obtained and published by the Sunderland Star, a local newspaper, Lockhart refused to answer any questions.

LeGuin: Yes, we can confirm that we have a suspect in custody. No, I cannot at this time provide any more detail than that.

Katie: But unfortunately for the investigation, it wasn't a course of action that some other, more senior members in the organisation chose to take.

Bureau Associate Director Lars Kilroy retired eight weeks after providing this update to the press on the day that Michael Lockhart was brought in. He was 52, so make of that what you will. Lockhart proved to be exactly as stoic with the Bureau agents who interviewed him as he was with the Sunderland cops.

But the realities of the case at hand meant that progress was swift and decisive, even without any sort of statement provided.

LeGuin: I knew we were fucked as soon as I got in the room with him. He was a kid, he would have been, what, 12 when the Slayer killed their first victim? We'd been considering that the Slayer had small hands as part of his profile.

Christ, it was like a waking nightmare. 18 years old, never left the state. He'd only had his driver's license for a year. We questioned him, sure, tried to find out if he was a copycat or a plant designed to throw us off the overland's trail, but he just sat there. Catatonic. He was just some fucking kid. A killer, sure, he proved that with the Pinkfield girl, but not our guy.

The

Katie: FBI immediately relinquished jurisdiction over the murders of both Ruby Amal and Jane Pinkfield, returning the cases to local authorities. The Oval and Slayer investigation, deprived of the crucial physical evidence it erroneously took from the Amal murder. was gutted and restaffed, putting an entirely new team on the trail of the killer.

A trail we now all know has gone long cold. The Overland Slayer ceased his murderous activities in 2012, with no arrests made despite a near decade long investigation. Michael Lockhart was remanded to the custody of the Binghamton PD and placed in holding at the Broome County Corrections Facility in the nearby town of Dickinson.

At age 15, Michael Lockhart was small, stringy, and what neighbours referred to as kind of a rough kid. He was questioned at length after Ruby Amal disappeared, not just because they were known to be friends and he was seen with her in the days leading up to her disappearance, but because he was somewhat of an aberration within a known social circle.

When questioned about Ruby's friends, none of the teachers at Lewis Fisher High would have suggested that Michael and Ruby knew one another at all. They did not sit, eat, or hang out together at school. They didn't run in any of the same circles, or participate in any of the same school run activities or clubs.

Ruby was bright, vivacious, active, and from a good home, several socioeconomic strata above the Lockhart family. But two of her most trusted friends indicated that she had a close relationship with Michael, visiting his house one or two times a week, and they were often seen together at the arcade or cinema.

There is no indication in anything I've read that Michael was ever considered a serious lead, though he was questioned with disproportionate frequency compared to Ruby's other associates. And when the local police and the town at large were offered the chance to blame Ruby's death on an outsider, a known predator whose behaviour aligned with the unbelievably brutal scene discovered in that Springwood garage, they were more than happy to, even if it meant assigning the victim to a killer who, it turns out, would never be caught.

During the ten weeks that Michael Lockhart was held in custody, and the nine week trial in which the Broome County D. A. presented what was considered to be conclusive evidence that Michael murdered Ruby Amal, and that her murder was a linchpin in an escalating series of violent behaviors, leading to the yet to be litigated murder of Jane Pinkfield, Lockhart didn't say a word in his own defense.

Even his not guilty was delivered by his attorney. Lacey Fuller, a public defender assigned to the case. I was given the case with two days notice. He'd already been through two public defenders by that time and their notes about him being standoffish and uncooperative were the understatements of the goddamn century.

Lacey: I never heard a word come out of his mouth. Not when prepping, not when he was in the courtroom, and not when they put him away. In the vein of what I was told, let's just say he wasn't the chatty type. All that physical evidence, and not a single word in his own defense? No wonder it went down like it did.

Katie: Emotions were high in the town of Binghamton, as Lockhart's trial drew to a close. The courthouse steps were mobbed every day by press and citizen demonstrators, demanding brutal justice and retribution for the death of Ruby Amal. Ruby's father, Peter Amal, was detained on the day that Michael Lockhart was due to be sentenced.

For attempting to bring a loaded firearm into the courthouse, concealed in his shoe. But authorities eventually declined to press charges. Michael Lockhart was tried as an adult, and charged with first degree murder. For which he was given a life sentence. And he did not contest the charges brought against him in the case of Jane Pinkfield.

For which he received a second degree murder charge, and a consecutive sentence of 17 years. To this day, he Lockhart resides in Sullivan Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where he will stay for the remainder of his natural life.

Three years after she vanished, Ruby Amal's murderer was finally brought to justice and her small town was given some sort of closure. But for them, and us, that is not the end of the story.

Alana: Uh, hi, Doctor. My name is Alana, and I have some questions for you about bondage and stuff like that. My boyfriend, we've been together for about two years now. has apparently always been interested in this stuff. So, he brought it up a little while ago and said he wanted to try it out. We've been um, doing different things for a couple of months now.

Trying out some stuff which we found online from porn and that kind of genre. He bought some equipment online. Nothing too crazy, apparently just the basics according to him. It's just, I'm, I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing. I think at least I've heard that it's supposed to be fun for everyone involved.

But the way things are at the moment, it's just terrifying. 12 years after Michael Lockhart was jailed, a sex advice podcast called The Late Shift receives this listener question from a woman calling herself Alana. Listeners of the late shift will recognize this call from episode two 16. It's not that I don't trust my boyfriend.

And I know what a big deal it was for him to bring it to me, um, and I know I'm sure he wouldn't take it too far, but sometimes I look at him during and it's like he's looking at a piece of meat waiting to be eaten, he's excited, like he really, really wants to hurt me. I talked to him about it and he said that he was just caught up in the moment, which is fine, it's okay.

It's new and it's unfamiliar. Sometimes stuff like that that's new and unfamiliar can be a little scary, right? I want to know what I need to do to get this right, even enjoy it. So anything you could do to help me would really be appreciated. 

Katie: To the average listener, there's nothing uncommon about this inquiry.

By the show's usual standards, you could almost call this one tame. But something about the call sends the host, Hal Kitchener, better known to the listeners as Dr. Good Vibes. Fleeing from the studio until he is eventually found by his producer, hiding in an alley chain Smoking and rattled. When pressed, Hal confides that both the caller's name and story brought up bad memories of a teenage relationship, and though shaken once reminded that the callers use fake names, he's able to return and finish the segment.

Hal: Well, you heard the producer, Alana. Thank you for sending us your question and I hope we hear back from you soon. 

Katie: You're clear.

I think you might have salvaged it by the end, depending on which editor we get. You kind of let her have it in the middle there. You want to do the outro?

Two minutes.

Hal: For my edification, what was Alana's actual name from the form? 

Katie: One second. 

It was Ruby Amal. Nothing to worry about. 

Hal, are you all right? Why are you so pale? 

Hal: Uh, it's uh, it's nothing. Uh, just a coincidence. You're right. 

Katie: As I'm sure the more eagle eared listeners have noticed, the producer of the show in question is me. I spent four years working with Dr. Good Vibes, Hal, on the late shift, starting in 2020.

Hal, for all the time I worked with him, was somewhat of an enigma. On the mic, very little was off the mitts. But outside of the recording booth, he was a man who kept his cards close to his chest, and worlds compartmentalised. He did not use his real name on the show, did not have any personal social media, and until recently, it would have been nearly impossible to link Hal Kitchener with Dr Good Vibes in any way.

But this, this was the moment that it became apparent to me that there was something going on behind the scenes. Something darker behind the surface level bluster and nicotine abuse of someone who was reminded of a bad breakup. As shook up as Hal was when the ghost of his high school relationship called up his podcast looking for eerily familiar BDSM advice, it was clear that the name, Ruby Amal, had rocked him to his core.

However, this Alana was not done with the doctor yet.

Hal Kitchener was born Harold Lockhart at Our Lady of Delores Hospital in Greater Binghamton in 1992. His mother Therese would, two years later, give birth to a person we are already all too familiar with, Michael Lockhart. Hal and Michael's father would leave Therese and Binghamton when the children were three and one, respectively, and all reporting indicates he has never reappeared in their lives, leaving them to be raised by their mother.

Hal left Binghamton the same year that his brother Michael would be arrested and convicted for the murders of Ruby Amal and Jane Pinkfield. News stories from the time do not indicate if he returned home for the trial or the aftermath, but it seems doubtful. Therese Lockhart appears in the background of a number of photographs and news clips from the time, though Hal is nowhere to be seen.

By all accounts, Hal changed his name, abandoned his past, and made as clean a break as possible with his family and hometown, driven to create a new life long before his brother's arrest would bring the town's ire and frustration to bear on his family. In the weeks following the recording of this episode, Hal discreetly sought the identity of this Ruby Amal, suspecting from the details in the call and the name selection that he was being sent a message by his actual ex Alana, or someone close to her.

He reached out to his own mother,

Hal: and 

Katie: even Alana's mother, though in a more clandestine way.

Hal: Weeks 

Katie: after this episode aired, Ruby contacted the show out of nowhere, requesting a follow up call to be recorded live for the Late Shift. She, as Alana, expounded on BDSM misadventure, going into greater detail about a specific incidence with her partner. All seemed well until

Hal: why. Okay.

It's a,

can you explain one thing to me?

Who are you really?

I mean,

'cause whoever the fuck you are, I know you want Alana Sims talk like her, like an impression of her. But now that I have talked to you, I'm very fucking certain that you are not her. So why don't you cut the fucking theatrics right now and tell me who the fuck you are and why, you know, the things that you know.

Tell me how, shut the fuck up, Katie. Whoever you are, you better start talking right fucking now.

Katie: It had become clear that someone had it in for Dr. Goodvibes, and they were no longer being shy about their intentions. But was this revenge for Alana Sims? The teenage love that Hal mistreated as he explored his earliest versions of sadomasochism? And apart from the obvious fraternal connections, What did this have to do with Ruby Amal?

Beth: I'd never actually done any sort of voice acting before, so it was actually a really challenging role. This voice, despite what you just heard, does not belong to either Alana Sims or Ruby Amal. To Beth Kennedy, a waitress and actress currently seeking representation who lives on the West Coast. I saw an add on backstage seeking an actress for a unique, challenging voice role.

So I applied, I submitted a self tape, I filmed it in my friend's garage. He sort of has this like whole video game streaming set up in there with a decent microphone, so It took a few weeks for them to get back to me. It wasn't like a big TV role or anything, but the money was really good. They said it was just like a prank they were pulling on their friend, like nothing that they were gonna be pitching around to networks once they got the proof of concept down.

But I have friends, actors, who keep themselves funded by pretending to be guests at big parties, or pretending to be protesters at rallies for causes that no actual person was showing up for. There's no shame in it. Anyway, I have a background in improv, so I thought I'd give it a go. Could be fun, you know?

Look, the script, if you can call it that, was a little fucked up, sure. But I've been out here trying to make it as an actress for almost 10 years now. And I haven't made the house teams at UCB despite auditioning 15 times. Let's just say, I've done a lot weirder things for a lot less money. 

Katie: Did you ever meet or have direct contact with the person who hired you? Either in person or by phone? 

Beth: No, I only got my instructions by email. I never met anyone. Hey, listen, when this goes to air, will I get a credit on IMDB?

Katie: But improv wasn't the only weapon being brought to bear against Hal Kitchener. 

Milton: Hal Kitchener? 

Hal: Yes? 

Callaway: I'm Special Agent and this is Special Agent Where were the FBI's Violent Crimes Division? 

Hal: How can I help you? 

Milton: We're investigating a tip we received related to a closed case. Any idea what we might be talking about?

Callaway: Anyway, DNA sample, if you'll consent to that. Would you be available to come down to the office today? 

Hal: Katie? 

Katie: Sure, we can pick up later. 

Hal: Great. 

Milton: We can head over right now. Come on then. 

Katie: The answer came mere days later, when federal agents interrupted a recording session of the late shift to take Hal in for questioning.

Morning, Katie. When you came to the office, you didn't answer any of my messages. Yeah, sorry, I kind of Did they arrest you? In jail? They didn't arrest me. Telling the truth about just wanting to ask me a couple of questions. About what? The FBI may have I've gotten an anonymous tip that I was involved in a murder.

Hal: Katie. 

Katie: Sorry. I mean, did you though? 

Hal: No! 

Katie: Are you sure? 

Hal: Yes! 

Katie: Yes you did a murder or yes you're sure? 

Hal: Yes I'm sure. Yes I'm sure I didn't do a murder. 

Katie: According to sources within the Bureau, Hal handed over fingerprint and DNA samples and was released the same day. But despite not being arrested, footage of him being walked out of the building by agents made it to social media, causing a small PR And he was put on administrative leave from his show until things were sorted out.

But that day has yet to come. Three days after he was interviewed by the FBI, just under a month ago, Hal Kitchener vanished. When agents were not able to locate or contact Hal for a follow up interview, local police entered his home and found that his car, clothes, some personal belongings and his passport were missing.

It is currently believed that Hal has fled or is attempting to flee the country. At the time we are recording this podcast, There have been no reported sightings of former podcast host and current wanted fugitive Hal Kitchener.

Hal had previously confided in me that Ruby Amal had expressed a romantic interest in him following his breakup with Alana, but he vehemently denied any involvement with her, and no reports from the time indicate that anyone else suspected that they even knew each other. He has also confirmed on a number of occasions, on air, that his interest in sexual domination began at a young age.

That he owned the kind of cheap entry level bondage gear that was used to restrain and torture Ruby in the lead up to her death, and that his initial experimentation was crude and unrefined, and that he carries a heavy weight of guilt for the harm he inflicted during this period of, what he characterised as, dangerous inexperience.

What if the calls were never about Alana? What if? And what if somebody knew that the girl who Harry Lockhart, a 17 year old baby dom with more confidence than ability, took it too far with, was, in fact, not Alana Sims at all? It seemed like there were only two people who might know the answer to that question.

And I only knew where to find one of them.

Please state your name for the recording. 

Mick: Michael Lockhart. 

Katie: Thank you for meeting with me today, Mr. Lockhart. 

Mick: Not a problem, my schedule was wide open. 

Katie: This interview was conducted three days after Hal Kitchener was questioned by the FBI. According to prison staff, who spoke to me under a condition of anonymity, Michael is a reasonably well behaved prisoner.

He keeps his nose clean, doesn't cause trouble, and prefers his own company. In the 12 years that Michael has been a guest of the Sunderland Correctional Facility, he has largely flown under the radar, despite the high profile nature of his crimes. I understand that since you were brought here, and even before, You've received a number of requests to be interviewed by journalists, psychologists, and other specialists that have turned them all down.

Can I ask why you've chosen to let me interview you? 

Mick: No, really. You seem nice on the phone, polite. I appreciate that. I used to get calls all the time, people wanting to come talk to me, but I don't think anyone's come asking for five, maybe six years. Figured it's time I tell my side of the story. 

Katie: Well, thank you. I appreciate it, Michael. 

Mick: You're welcome. 

Katie: So Your side of the story. 

Mick: Yes. 

Katie: Where would you like to start?

Mick: Okay.

Katie: Please, take your time.

Mick: I didn't kill Ruby Amal.

Katie: Can you tell me who did? 

Mick: Yeah, I can.

Announcer: Dr. Good Vibes is a Neon Diner production. Written, produced, and directed by Richard P. Doyle. Editing and sound design by Ramon Samson. It features the vocal talents of Richard P. Doyle, Rachel Slee, Jonah Maronin, Kate Ingram, Erin Landy, Nat Jensen, Lily Doyle, Jasper Garner Gore, Tom Whalley, Maddie Whalley, Louis Vahl, Louis Dylan Savage, Stephanie Begg, Gavin Davis.

Full credits can be found in the show notes. Dr. Good Vibes is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So please subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode.