42 - The Macabre Deaths of Addie Hall & Zach Bowen

[00:00:00] At the intersection of true crime and real estate, you'll find crime estate. I'm Heather. And

[00:00:10] my name is Elena. As real estate agents and true crime junkies, we view crimes through

[00:00:14] a different lens. So walk through the door of some of the most notorious true crimes with

[00:00:18] us and discover how sometimes the scene of the crime has its own story to tell.

[00:00:24] Hey, y'all. I'm Heather here with my co-host, Elena and our producer commentator, Melanie. I am so happy

[00:00:33] to be here with you both for another episode of Crime Estate today. Hey, I'm super happy to be here

[00:00:39] with both of you. We have our drinks in our hand or have a smile at our face or to talk real estate

[00:00:43] and crime in a little bit of US natural disaster history. Oh, it's different than natural history. It's

[00:00:49] natural to the natural history. I like it. Okay. Okay. Well, that sounds fascinating. Should we just

[00:00:55] dive right into today's episodes? We've missed a couple weeks. Yes, let's do it. I need to give

[00:01:00] a very strong warning. This is a very graphic story. So please, please don't listen within

[00:01:06] ear shot of young ears. Like, okay, so good job. Thanks for the warning. A lot of our episodes have

[00:01:13] been graphic and we haven't given a warning. So this means like really? This is super duper graphic.

[00:01:19] Okay. I actually read your synopsis of today's story and when you say young ears,

[00:01:23] I'm thinking like I probably wouldn't let my 13-year-old listen to this. Same. Okay. Yeah, it's

[00:01:29] it's I would not let my 13. Well, he's 14. I would let my 14-year-old listen to it.

[00:01:34] Okay. Well, then without further ado, just dive in but fair warning to all of our listeners. Thank you.

[00:01:40] So our story takes place today in one of our favorite cities, New Orleans. Oh, we love a good New Orleans

[00:01:46] story. You especially, you love a good New Orleans story. We've covered one here before and we were

[00:01:52] sort of able to like commiserate. I don't know if that's the right word but like share our love

[00:01:58] of the food and the history and the sights. Yeah. And then there's so much history there that I mean,

[00:02:03] you have to have good crime of states. Yes, absolutely. And remember last time we talked about New Orleans,

[00:02:07] I talked about how my 11-year-old, how much he loved New Orleans because of that party bus?

[00:02:11] The Bachelor at party? Yes. Yeah, he loves it. So I have another story to go along with that

[00:02:17] just to just showcase what a great mom I am. You are a great mom for all of our listeners out there.

[00:02:22] You were a great mom. So not only was my 11-year-old yelled at by Bachelorette on the street corner in

[00:02:27] New Orleans as he danced. Another one involves my now 14-year-old and at the time we were traveling

[00:02:33] because he was doing virtual learning during COVID. It was a second year of COVID and so we just happened

[00:02:39] to play in our trip. We were going through the big easy and it corresponded with his fifth grade

[00:02:43] sex ed virtual lesson. Oh God. What better place to have that talk than in New Orleans?

[00:02:49] You've got to have the talk somewhere, you might as well have a drink in hand while you're doing it.

[00:02:53] Yeah, totally. It's the topless bars, the dacres and the sex talk. It was great.

[00:02:58] It was a great time. Well, remind me sometime when we do a story in Key West

[00:03:03] about which I feel like is another location like New Orleans probably has a lot of interesting historical

[00:03:09] stories about my great parenting and very similar in nature. Well, you want to tell us now?

[00:03:18] It well it involved a rain storm and so we were walking down the main street which as

[00:03:24] you know some fun environments, some naughty environments and we were going to get a

[00:03:30] it started raining really hard and so we were going to get a taxi to go back to our hotel

[00:03:35] and where do I pick? You know the only the best awning that was there for us to stand under

[00:03:41] and it was, what is it? It's well it's basically a sex story. Like Adam and Eve like.

[00:03:51] And podcasts not sponsored by the head of the head. We're standing at room. They want to.

[00:03:57] Yeah. And I didn't realize what where we were and then my kids were dying laughing. I mean,

[00:04:02] you know it was sort of obscured but enough that my kids absolutely knew where we were and so

[00:04:09] my kids always joke they were like okay across the street was the beef jerky shop.

[00:04:14] We could have stood under that awning but mom made a stand 10 minutes under this awning.

[00:04:20] Was there really a beef jerky shop across the street from the Adam and Eve?

[00:04:23] Yes there was. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Cole likes to bring that story all the time.

[00:04:28] Well while we are discussing our parenting moments of the year, did either of you give your kids

[00:04:34] alcohol over spring break accidentally? No. No. It's like what? Both of you? No but when we were

[00:04:44] in New York City my older son developed a love for mocktails and so every restaurant we went to

[00:04:51] he asked for the mocktailist and one of the mocktails was in Old Manhattan and it was designed

[00:04:58] to look exactly like a Manhattan drink. And yeah, so I we thought that all of the neighboring

[00:05:04] tables thought we were giving our child alcohol. I love that. Well we were at an all-inclusive

[00:05:08] resort in Mexico, Atlanta's favorite place. And you know if you've ever been to an all-inclusive

[00:05:13] resort their drinks are really sugary. And so I decided about day two that I would just get my own

[00:05:18] orange juice and then ask for some vodka to add to it. And so I ordered vodka and then I got up

[00:05:26] and went to the breakfast buffet because it's spring break. We're having some breakfast drinks you know

[00:05:30] and I come back and there are these two glasses on the table like half full of this clear liquid

[00:05:36] and I was like oh did you order water? It was not like a shot of vodka, it was a big glass

[00:05:43] and they're like no it's water. And so then my son proceeds to take a drink

[00:05:48] and spit it all back out into the cup. So anyway we are all great parents 99.9% of the time.

[00:05:57] She said to me he's like well I'm never drinking that again. I was like oh you remember that?

[00:06:01] Clap clap clap. See my child's told it's more that my child picks up like random drinks to drink

[00:06:07] and I get mad. I'm like when he has done something similar before. I'm like this is which

[00:06:13] get by like thinking you can take a sip of my juice oh my kids always ask if I have a glass out

[00:06:19] they're like what's in this before they take a drink they know better. I still don't drink beer to

[00:06:23] the stay because I did that as a child. I thought my dad's beer was apple juice and I took a big drink

[00:06:28] and I just that taste is burned into my memory. I'm sorry we were talking about you. We were

[00:06:35] calling and drink you. Okay let's go back to that. Yes absolutely so a decade prior to my kids

[00:06:41] living it up there a destructive hurricane hit New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina remains the most

[00:06:46] costly the largest and the third strongest hurricane to ever hit the US. Hurricane Katrina

[00:06:51] caused destruction on the coast of Louisiana Mississippi and Alabama but the most impacted area

[00:06:56] was New Orleans. And that's because the city sits six feet below sea level. It's already susceptible

[00:07:02] to flooding during times of heavy rain but it was a failure at the city's levies that really

[00:07:06] doomed the area. I mean I think we can all remember where we were watching Hurricane Katrina on

[00:07:14] the TV it was just surreal and it was one of those moments when you know you're watching living history

[00:07:20] right yeah absolutely on August 28 2005 the mayor at the time ready Nagan issued a mandatory

[00:07:28] evacuation of the city it is estimated that 80% of the city left 26,000 went to the super dome

[00:07:33] to wait out the storm and the remainder chose to batten down the hatches and stay until a bitter end.

[00:07:39] So I mean at this point the city is like basically like a sitting duck was bound to happen. Yeah

[00:07:44] absolutely I think it's a fair assessment Heather and actually the mayor when issuing the

[00:07:48] evacuation order called Hurricane Katrina quote a storm that most of us have long feared what kind of

[00:07:54] gives me chills thinking about the mayor saying that. Now the bulk of the destruction happened

[00:07:59] after the storm subsided the surge put pressure on the levies and drainage canals causing them to

[00:08:04] be breached over 50 times resulting in widespread flooding across the city. And I remember that on the

[00:08:08] news coverage very clearly they'd say it's it's about to breach again and that was a big deal.

[00:08:13] Most crazy my husband was in Houston not long after that I think that was Hurricane. Oh we just

[00:08:19] talked about was it Rita your mom Rita okay yeah my mom is San Rita and because everybody didn't

[00:08:25] leave could you know New Orleans for Katrina like in retrospect we're like oh everybody should left

[00:08:31] right everybody left Houston and he just was in this quagmire yikes yeah so terrifying.

[00:08:39] So New Orleans levies were designed to withstand a category three hurricane but because Katrina

[00:08:43] had strengthened to a cat five just before making the landfall the storm surge and the 175 mile

[00:08:49] power winds ultimately proved to be too much for the levy system. And in the days following there

[00:08:54] were more evacuations and efforts from the National Guard to rescue and assist citizens.

[00:08:59] And while this would be drawing for anyone to witness firsthand it especially strikes a court

[00:09:03] anyone who may have served in the armed forces. And this was seemingly the case with Zach Bowen.

[00:09:09] Zach Bowen was by all accounts a handsome charming and a well-liked guy.

[00:09:14] Growing up in sunny California he naturally had a laid back sunny personality. After taking

[00:09:19] a cross country road trip with his dad in high school he decided to set up routes in New Orleans.

[00:09:23] Wait so in high school him and his dad went cross country and he was like New Orleans's life

[00:09:28] for me. Forget sunny California was he done with high school at that point no oh no he just decided

[00:09:34] never mind dad I'm gonna live here. Yeah so his mom and dad were separated and it seems as though

[00:09:39] the intention was for Zach to end up staying with his dad at the end of the trip. But he ended

[00:09:44] up just staying in New Orleans. All right well that makes me feel better about my parenting.

[00:09:48] Yes we're the best we're totally the best. He did go back later and obtain his GED so.

[00:09:54] Okay so he dropped out of school to stay in New Orleans and then went back.

[00:09:57] Yes got it okay so upon making New Orleans his home he began working at a bourbon street bar

[00:10:02] and met Lana Shupak. Lana was 10 years older than the 18-year-old Zach and they began a romantic

[00:10:08] relationship according to Lana when the relationship began she had no idea he was so young.

[00:10:14] Okay well I do think that's fair I mean how would she know that they worked in a bar together

[00:10:19] so she has to assume he's like of age. Right number one and yeah I mean sometimes boys can

[00:10:26] look a lot over. Yeah right and you're absolutely right I mean who would think that his dad just

[00:10:31] dropped him off there and yeah yeah and I think there's this world where you're like we're adults

[00:10:36] working in the same place we're probably of a similar age right yeah exactly I don't blame

[00:10:41] her at all and she wanted to break it off with him but by the time she found out how old he was they

[00:10:46] were in love. And so what comes after falling in love? I mean marriage and a baby. Yes yes

[00:10:53] exactly what happened with Zach and Lana but the two bartenders living in New Orleans raising kids

[00:10:57] didn't make for the most financially comfortable situation so Zach decided to enlist in the army

[00:11:02] he was deployed to both Iraq and Kosovo there he earned the NATO medal and presidential unit

[00:11:08] citation but despite these accolades his unit officer discharged him from the service with a general

[00:11:14] discharge this made it says that could not receive educational benefits. Among the normal atrocities

[00:11:19] one would witness in an act of war zone Zach was particularly affected by what happened to a young

[00:11:24] Iraqi boy that he had encountered on several occasions. This young boys family owned a convenience

[00:11:29] store of sorts the boy would often visit the troop and bring bring them snacks and food because

[00:11:34] of this though the family was targeted by insurgents the store was destroyed and the entire family

[00:11:39] was killed in a mortar attack. I mean that's so horrific especially because he had kids at home

[00:11:45] right yes yeah I mean I'm sorry never mind yeah keep going I have lots of thoughts about I know

[00:11:52] I post traumatic stress syndrome and all the things but that's probably not for here we'll talk about

[00:11:57] definitely come back to that okay absolutely get it in your right Heather he had two children

[00:12:00] back home at this time in New Orleans so after a stint in the army Zach returned home with some major

[00:12:04] mental health problems and feelings of failure due to his discharge status when he arrived back

[00:12:10] in New Orleans he took various bartending jobs Lanna would later say that when he arrived back home

[00:12:14] he was not the same person and not long after the two would divorce. At one of the French quarter

[00:12:20] bar Zach work at he met 28 year old Adi Hall. Adi had moved to New Orleans after a tumultuous

[00:12:26] upbringing in North Carolina. Adi was known as a free spirited artist dancer and poet her bohemian

[00:12:32] lifestyle and personality made her popular bartender in their French quarter she was known to

[00:12:37] ride her back around the area including to her bartending job at the spotted cat okay well she

[00:12:41] sounds adorable totally looking at old pictures she looks like the quintessential late 90s early

[00:12:46] 2000s manic pixie dream girl but she did have some demons and friends say that as a result from abuse

[00:12:52] she suffered as a child she had bipolar disorder and would often take her prescriptions infrequently

[00:12:59] okay well I hate that for her we'll come back to that down below but you described her as a manic

[00:13:05] pixie dream girl and I have no idea what that is okay so that's what they call the quirky adventurous

[00:13:11] free spirited girls in movies thank Niley Portman and Garden State or Zoe De Chanel in 500 days

[00:13:16] a summer the term isn't really well received it can be known as a way to describe a one-dimensional

[00:13:21] female character whose only purpose in the movie is to drive the male lead plot line okay

[00:13:26] male I know you know what this means yeah it was first kind of articulated by a critic reviewing

[00:13:33] the Kentucky movie Elizabeth town which I actually always love that movie so I kind of feel bad

[00:13:39] about it the Cameron Crowe's Elizabeth town and the Kirsten dense character and it's like a quirky

[00:13:45] interesting pretty girl but yet really you don't know a lot about her it's all from the

[00:13:53] protagonist point of view of the male that she's kind of building him up and he's supposed to have

[00:13:58] some epiphany about his life because of this you know influence of a girl that you don't really

[00:14:04] ever learn very much about but she's really cute and she's cute and bubbly and quirky and those weird

[00:14:08] stuff and has good taste in music yes always good taste in music yeah I love the music in Garden State

[00:14:14] okay well thanks for that yeah I get it and I can totally see this character now I just had never

[00:14:18] heard that yeah yeah okay now you're gonna notice it into other movies you're like why don't we

[00:14:22] learn more about her why is she not the protagonist of the story that's fair yeah let's invent a

[00:14:28] male version of that yeah exactly I like it I have been finishing Gilmore girls I started it when

[00:14:33] I had the flu because I watched it in my youth oh yeah oh y'all speaking of the antithesis of

[00:14:40] this because they are such strong female lead characters please tell me you've both watched it and

[00:14:46] start to finish oh I absolutely know the follow on movies yeah well I'm I've got like 30 minutes

[00:14:52] left of the movie oh okay so you know what I'll be doing tonight my mom and sister really got into it

[00:14:58] and they watched it but I would never into it they just they just talk too fast they're very fast

[00:15:02] yes which is funny because you are you know I must be at one thing like you are annoyed by people

[00:15:07] who remind of yourself oh maybe so okay I did when I watched it with my husband he would get

[00:15:13] annoyed with how fast they were talking and I've seen that some episodes more recently I'm like

[00:15:18] yeah I could see how that's kind of annoying because nobody talks like that every but in this dream

[00:15:25] world everyone is witty and intelligent and can speak really fast um I can think it but you

[00:15:31] know give me a few hours to think it right right down okay but this gal was the antithesis of my

[00:15:37] Roy Gilmore she's correct okay correct well ish yes yeah I mean that's what I'm gathering from

[00:15:45] when I'm reading in the pictures like just kind of like a bohemian ton of okay better

[00:15:49] floating the wind okay got it so Zach was immediately smitten and began to flirt heavily with Adi

[00:15:54] Adi returned the flirtations and before long the two were dating mere weeks before Hurricane

[00:15:59] Katrina pummeled the US coast when mayor Ray Nagan issued that it made it for evacuation order

[00:16:05] most people immediately fled but some chose to stay behind and I'm trying to think of who would

[00:16:09] stay in the situation I'm thinking obviously people who couldn't afford or didn't have the

[00:16:14] financial means to flee then there may be those who are physically and or medically unable to leave

[00:16:19] and finally in my opinion those who kind of nothing to lose and I was wondering what your opinion was

[00:16:24] of people who would have stayed behind in that situation yeah I was kind of thinking about this

[00:16:28] because obviously you know they're too barred to enter in the quarter not educated but yet

[00:16:35] at the same time let's be honest now they're white young good looking you know couple

[00:16:43] you would like to think that they probably had other options versus some of these families that

[00:16:48] were very either impoverished or in wheelchairs I mean like I want to be sympathetic but I'm also

[00:16:57] a little bit rolling my eyes I'm like you know these are not the victims of Katrina in such a way

[00:17:04] as some of these other families and in the wards were right well and I tried to think about like

[00:17:09] what if something similar were happening in Dallas now how would I yield I think as homeowners

[00:17:18] like bringing this back to a real estate perspective there would be some sense of can I stay

[00:17:23] and preserve and protect this asset of mine right like can I catch a leak can I stop a leak can I

[00:17:31] you know make sure that this is not destroyed if possible from a these kids did not own real estate

[00:17:39] I'm assuming like they're young they're working as bartenders they have nothing to loot like

[00:17:44] why not get the hell out of town see I wonder if you know I want to put their experience

[00:17:50] aside to some of the people and like the night war yeah um that norlands it they're living in

[00:17:58] the French quarter they're in the touristy and this is a culture of a party like there was

[00:18:04] a there's a song that we used to listen to by cowboy mouth and it's a hurricane party like a hurricane

[00:18:09] party is out of control like it's a whole idea of hurricanes coming down so you're gonna have a

[00:18:15] party and have hurricane drinks said you know it's gonna be a big rainstorm but I'm gonna get with

[00:18:21] all my neighbors and we're gonna go crazy and have a little party um I think that song came out

[00:18:25] well before Katrina so it's probably not uh uh seen in the same light today but I don't know

[00:18:32] I just maybe I'm just uh projecting upon them but I'm thinking that they stayed because they're

[00:18:39] thinking I live in the quarter one of a party with like everybody and get crazy and not work

[00:18:44] right yeah I mean and nobody knew it was gonna be as bad is it obviously right yeah for sure well

[00:18:51] they did stay and and they began to fall in love in that environment oh so they're in like

[00:18:55] this stressful situation yes but they fall in love with each other okay absolutely yes yeah

[00:18:59] I'm about scared about where this going because we already know the Zach had PTSD from his experiences

[00:19:05] in the army and you know I've read in and we know about nowadays survivors of natural disaster

[00:19:11] also have been known to have forms of PTSD so it's just doesn't sound like it's gonna bode well for

[00:19:17] the future and you know another thing I'd read about honestly with COVID but I think it applies here

[00:19:22] is you know the concept of the trauma bonding so that when there's a couple of people who are going

[00:19:28] against an intense experience together and especially a negative experience that can go one of two

[00:19:36] ways it can bring you together or bring you apart I mean you hear about these you know families

[00:19:42] whose parents get divorced after one of their children pass away or things like that there's just

[00:19:46] something that's such an intense experience it can really be like something to bring you together

[00:19:51] or it just can expose any of those cracks that a relationship might have so I suspect I mean who

[00:19:59] knows I mean but they were just starting to date when this all goes down that you know I wonder if

[00:20:05] this kind of brought together this intense feelings and too quickly well absolutely did that's exactly

[00:20:11] what happened because their life in the days and weeks of and in the aftermath of the storm

[00:20:15] we're filled with no electricity no running water and no responsibilities they camp in the streets

[00:20:20] drink a lot and even got some media attention they walk the street to the French quarter offering

[00:20:25] the booze and food they had on hand to their fellow courticians and Adi was known to flash her

[00:20:30] breast at passing police officers okay see I didn't know that when I brought that up about but now

[00:20:34] I'm like okay they were totally staying because it was a party yeah oh yeah for sure they said that

[00:20:39] they liked the city being with no electricity because they were able to see the stars and that

[00:20:44] been able to see the stars prior to that so so they were interviewed and photographed by national

[00:20:49] news networks and became somewhat local celebrities they embody the free spirited boho like a

[00:20:54] daisicle French quarter lifestyle however as the city began to rebuild and recover and the ability

[00:21:01] to run wild loose and fancy free disappeared the mundaneness and stressors of normal life reappeared

[00:21:06] in the peers relationship grew tumultuous both heavy drinkers they began to also indulge in cocaine

[00:21:13] oh because that's super stable let's add cocaine to PTSD untreated mental illness in a natural

[00:21:20] disaster all of this sounds like a great idea so the two broke up got back together broke up

[00:21:25] got back together multiple times the pair decided that I moved to a new apartment might spark a new

[00:21:30] flame and the two moved into eight two six north re-ampart street okay wait so at this point has

[00:21:35] the hurricane come through hurricanes come through hit things are going back to normal okay and now

[00:21:42] you got bills and all kinds of just life life life okay got it okay tell me about it so eight two

[00:21:50] six north re-ampart street was a traditional creole cottage built in 1829 by Pierre-Day Vergeese

[00:21:58] is that how you would say it Heather I don't know Vergeese Vergeese maybe Vergeese V-E-R-G-E-S

[00:22:04] so if you know how to pronounce that in French let us know yeah but don't don't write to us like

[00:22:09] send us an audio message so that's right face time videos thank you yeah that'll work that'll

[00:22:17] work oh yeah and it's at our top of a voodoo temple what okay yeah the voodoo spiritual temple was

[00:22:24] established at eight two six north re-ampart street in 1990 by priestess Miriam and spouse priest

[00:22:30] azzwan Chamani I tried researching some about voodoo and priestess Miriam but got spooked so I didn't

[00:22:35] look into it that much but what I was able to learn is that voodoo originated in Africa and is one

[00:22:42] of the oldest religions still in existence according to the voodoo spiritual temple website quote

[00:22:48] voodoo is still practiced in many locations throughout the world passed down through oral tradition

[00:22:52] resulting in slight variations and titles between cultures belief revolves around the mixing of

[00:22:57] energies of the universe with the omnipresent creator and that which is manifested within ourselves

[00:23:03] so I just think of it the doll like the doll with the pins they sell it there's a more complex

[00:23:09] religion I actually just like the fact that it was founded in 1990 at this location

[00:23:14] I know because you'd think of it being so old fashioned but no it's still like modern issue okay

[00:23:19] but question would you live on top of a voodoo temple Atlanta you really have to ask I don't I really

[00:23:26] but Zachian had he did they totally did okay I might have thought it was fun oh yeah yeah there you

[00:23:31] know Mel would you how I mean that I'm not very superstitious but I feel like that's probably not

[00:23:43] pushing the boundaries yeah that pushing the boundaries Heather I'm a hard pass so I thought so

[00:23:49] so was here that Zach and Adi thought they could rekindle what they had during their early

[00:23:53] relationship them against her kinkatrina but that couldn't have been further from what would

[00:23:57] actually happen in the days after moving into the apartment Adi accused Zach of cheating on her

[00:24:02] with other women and with other men this sent her into a terrible rage she was already known to

[00:24:07] become physically aggressive when angry and she pummeled and screamed at Zach on October 4th 2006

[00:24:15] Adi even went to the landlord and asked that he take Zach's name off the lease the landlord said

[00:24:20] he couldn't do that incurred turn to work things out with Zach so I'm going to digress and just

[00:24:24] be more lighthearted for a second and I have a question for you guys on leases see I can ask real

[00:24:29] let's take questions I love it so if you're not like so if you're living together but one of the people

[00:24:35] is not on the lease do you like I mean I guess it probably depends state by state but what rules

[00:24:43] you know can it would occur there and Texas anyone over the age 18 who's gonna be in the home

[00:24:48] has to be on the lease and and most of the time the background check and they're trying to check

[00:24:52] all that stuff right so he had to be on the lease okay and so I had a friend who was getting an

[00:24:59] apartment in LA and she wants so she was putting her boyfriend on I guess the lease but she wanted

[00:25:08] it to be in her name or something like that she I wonder how that's how that works I mean

[00:25:14] I'm sure there's a way to work that out but from a landlord perspective what you want to know is

[00:25:20] if the people over the age of 18 are living there do they have any criminal record

[00:25:26] you know like you don't want are they financially on like you know like

[00:25:33] you know if so let's say your 18 year old is on the lease and you're not paying your bills can they

[00:25:38] go after the 18 year old probably yeah yeah okay so she wants to get them off the lease

[00:25:44] yeah she tried to push him out right and he said hard no and work things out basically yeah

[00:25:49] and probably he was like hey add a you can't pay the spill by yourself right well that's exactly

[00:25:53] what I was like he is yeah right and apparently they did have to save up their bartending tips for a

[00:25:57] while to even be able to get down payment on this stuff or not down payment security deposit yeah

[00:26:04] deposit on October 17th security cameras at the Omni Royal Orleans hotel showed Zach Bowen

[00:26:10] around 8.30 p.m. approaching and then retreating from the balcony of the roof top bar

[00:26:16] he eventually took one last swig of alcohol and threw himself over the balcony falling

[00:26:20] a top parking garage five stories down dying on impact wait wait wait you just said that so like

[00:26:27] so he's like drinking alcohol he's walking back and forth from this bar which has a balcony yeah

[00:26:33] he has one more drink and he just throws himself just throws himself over yeah one last

[00:26:36] video shows this the video shows this okay yeah keep going okay you didn't see the where that was

[00:26:42] going did I did not surprise okay so when officers arrived they found Zach Bowen dead with a handwritten

[00:26:49] note and his army dog tags inside a Ziplot bag tucked into his pocket and I'm trying to decide if

[00:26:54] I want to read the note to you right now or wait I mean it this is your episode Illetta you do

[00:27:01] but I sort of want to know what the note said okay okay okay so the note marked for police only

[00:27:06] read quote this is not accidental I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took if you send a

[00:27:12] patrol to 826 North Rampart you will find the dismembered corpse of my girlfriend Adi in the oven

[00:27:18] on the stove and in the fridge along with full documentation on both of us and a full sign confession

[00:27:24] for myself oh yeah okay well that's where to give the end of the story yeah well yeah okay

[00:27:31] it's worse what how does it get worse from here okay okay keep going when authorities arrive at

[00:27:38] the apartment there was no way they could have prepared for what they saw I mean do I even want

[00:27:41] to hear at this point I didn't cover you're I'm gonna say it you can cover yours if you want

[00:27:46] well we don't want our listeners to cover their ears no so don't do that if you want to hear

[00:27:51] the whole story okay let's go okay multiple units were immediately dispatched and entered the

[00:27:56] apartment they were greeted with very cold temperatures the thermostat was cranked down to 60 degrees

[00:28:02] and was blowing full blast they saw graffiti field walls with phrases like I'm a failure I love her

[00:28:08] instructions to call his ex-wife and finally look in the oven with an error pointing to the stove

[00:28:13] yeah okay there the officers found a pot atop a back burner containing a charred human head another

[00:28:23] pot contained hands and feet and inside the oven they found a roasting pan with adding burnt arms

[00:28:28] and legs inside the refrigerator they found her torso in a large plastic bag you going

[00:28:36] yeah I just need a breathe a little bit it's a lot it is a lot it's a lot it's a lot it gets worse

[00:28:42] no yes it does okay okay then they found Addy Hall's journal that Zach had used to write his eight

[00:28:50] page confession letter the letter read in part quote today is Monday 16 October 2 a.m i killed her at

[00:28:57] 1 a.m. Thursday 5 October I very calmly strangled her it was very quick how far through the task I

[00:29:03] stopped and thought about what I was doing the decision to halt the first idea and move to plan B

[00:29:08] the crime scene you are now in came after a while I scared myself not by the action of calmly

[00:29:13] strailing the woman I've loved for one and a half years and then decorating her body but by my

[00:29:19] entire lack of remorse I've known for forever how horrible of a person I am ask anyone and decided

[00:29:25] to quit my jobs and spend the $1,500 in cash I had being happy until I killed myself so that's

[00:29:30] what I did good food good drugs good strippers good friends and any loose ends I may have had

[00:29:36] I didn't contact any of my family so that'll explain the shock and had a fantastic time living out

[00:29:41] my days it's just about time now okay so he had some obvious mental health major so it's the whole

[00:29:50] story said yeah yeah yes his confession also stated that he had spent his days going to work

[00:29:56] and coming home to commit necrophilia oh god he also stayed that on his body they would find

[00:30:01] 28 cigarette burns symbolizing the years of failure he had spent on the earth so in the 10 days or

[00:30:07] so between Addie's murder and Zach suicide he continued to go to work and told friends that Addie

[00:30:12] had left him and gone back to North Carolina he appeared to those who knew him to be in good spirits

[00:30:17] and talked of going on a vacation and it was also reported that in the kitchen they found cut

[00:30:22] up pieces of carrots in various seasonings but according to Zach's autopsy yes them it didn't contain

[00:30:27] any human remains okay so that was just like a rumor yes okay so he didn't the body he did not

[00:30:33] he just slept with the body yes and cut her up and then cut her up okay okay you know I told you

[00:30:42] it was bad one was grisly yeah all right so do you want to talk about anything else I mean

[00:30:51] what I really want to talk about is the lack of mental health care for people coming home from

[00:30:57] a family army yes yes yes I was actually talking about dad last night and he was talking about

[00:31:04] this guy that came home you know probably in like the 60s with shell shock or what have been 70s

[00:31:09] I'm trying to think anyway y'all do the math but and how everybody just like there was nothing

[00:31:14] to do for him it's just you know the crazy guy with shell shock yeah and we've gotten better

[00:31:19] since then but not enough right or yeah I really think about like around 4th of July when

[00:31:24] they're popping fireworks and I'm like think about our veterans and how that affects them yeah so

[00:31:29] that's that's bad enough just thinking about fireworks setting off some kind of triggers for people

[00:31:34] but to go through the hurricane and see evacuation crews come in and search and rescue and

[00:31:39] and then probably bodies again nobody is condoning what he did right oh yeah oh for sure yeah

[00:31:45] I'm just saying he did not get the help he needed at the time absolutely yeah perfect storm

[00:31:50] yeah well look at you I want to okay I want to ask about the house so I'm very confused so it was

[00:32:00] it it was an apartment but it was a temple was like the apartment above the temple it was okay

[00:32:07] so okay see I was picturing all along that they lived inside the temple so it no it's in the same

[00:32:14] story in the same building yeah and was this in the French quarter as well yes well I think

[00:32:20] that's pretty normal in more urban settings where you have commercial something on the bottom

[00:32:25] and then residential on top okay yes yes I'm picturing that now I was just very getting confused

[00:32:32] temple and apartment and and I know this is probably bad but like wouldn't the temples smell

[00:32:39] everything that's going on if they're sharing it well they did keep the temperature at 60 degrees

[00:32:44] so the smell wasn't there yeah yeah the investigators did comment that it was unusual that there was

[00:32:48] no smell and wow because of the the temperature but also they can find any there's no blood like

[00:32:54] there I don't know where the blood went but they didn't see any blood there's a lot of weirdness

[00:32:59] going on there weren't we like our story last week it wasn't the man who murdered his family he

[00:33:06] turned all the air conditioning down as low as possible yeah that's right I don't remember that was

[00:33:11] last week or it was very recently yeah my husband was just remarking today that if he was

[00:33:17] gonna murder you who had to run the air no no that I'm like learning all these things so if I

[00:33:24] was to want to commit a murder that I would have all this like you know tips and tricks and so

[00:33:28] apparently lowering the air conditioning is one thing yeah don't search that I don't know what's

[00:33:34] gonna happen yeah we're getting in trouble now to take our computers we're in really bad shape

[00:33:39] yeah sorry just trying to give a little more humor and on a lighter note than this gruesome story

[00:33:46] that you've been relating to us and they would have been renting this they didn't know

[00:33:49] right given what we know about these people so I think there's a difference in who comes in to

[00:33:55] rent this afterwards versus somebody that would buy it it's a different level of investment if you

[00:34:00] are a month to month or a year-to-year tenant of this space you know you're not worried about your

[00:34:08] livelihood or your life savings investment you're just like I just need a place to live right and

[00:34:13] wouldn't surprise me I mean let's be honest this is a apartment over a view through to temple

[00:34:17] that there's a lot of people moving in now rapidly not wall trim renters right yeah so here's

[00:34:26] what happened at 826 North re-empart in the 10 years after the tragedy while a voodoo spiritual

[00:34:30] temple remained the apartments on many tenants in and out like you were just saying according to

[00:34:35] the landlord tenants reported apparitions and disembodied voices voice it was so they would just hear

[00:34:40] voices yeah interesting and you definitely could not live there oh no no there's no way

[00:34:47] in 2016 there was a fire prompting the temple to relocate and when the property went back on the

[00:34:52] market a woman named Bloody Mary moved in and opened a museum that was harshly criticized because

[00:34:58] people thought she was making a mockery of what happened there so so the museum was like here's how

[00:35:02] these people were killed or was like a Katrina museum it was it was about the murder and it kind

[00:35:10] of seemed as though she not recreated but she had the spray paint oh hell no it's the same

[00:35:17] stove it's a say everything's the same that's 10 there yeah that's what really got the

[00:35:22] bloodiness in the air Mary I mean come on you know and that is something for you know that

[00:35:29] the three of us have talked about before that were very cognizant that well we might

[00:35:36] bring humor into some of these stories that we talk about we are absolutely keeping at the center

[00:35:43] that there are victims you know modern or historical victims that we want us to light too and so

[00:35:50] you know it's something that we get nervous about like is this for humor is this for you know

[00:35:56] and so we you know we are very cognizant about wanting to keep this you know serious but with a smile

[00:36:04] at the same time right because that's how we can have our dealing with it and keeping our head wrapped

[00:36:09] around it but these are horrible events that you know opportunity to learn from yeah I know I just

[00:36:16] say is the museum still there or did it get shot because yeah it's not there any longer okay good

[00:36:20] but makes me feel that I don't understand why for me personally I have more for problem with this

[00:36:26] museum than I did with the Dorothy a point A1 where it was more like a catch thing and they they made

[00:36:32] in museum out of it so I don't know why this one is more offensive to me than than that one

[00:36:38] that's fair and we've actually talked about there been a couple of museums I um the the

[00:36:43] Veliska Axmer that's the one I was thinking of yeah you're right I don't maybe it's just because

[00:36:47] it was so gruesome I don't know I'll have to I'll have to think about that yeah why is it different

[00:36:54] but it does feel different I agree with you and weirdly it's sometimes it's time you know like

[00:37:01] this uh this is 27 or you know um not 2017 but you know it this isn't the 2000 so it's a more

[00:37:08] modern crime that's fair um you know like things like the Aminivville Horror House or Lizzy Bourdins

[00:37:16] you know house we haven't covered those stories yet but I think that they also kind of become

[00:37:21] in their museums and those are horrible gruesome but I think that with a hundred years it feels a

[00:37:28] little I don't know less uh less offensive which is I don't know probably not the right answer

[00:37:35] well because they were part of like the local news or national news because of what was happening

[00:37:40] locally there's a bunch of pictures of them online oh that and so that might have some to do with it too

[00:37:45] I don't know all right well I think we've already decided none of us would live there

[00:37:50] no in the course of this conversation would you sell it Elena would you list it

[00:37:56] hmm see I think I'm a hard pass on this one too I think so too I wouldn't be able to go in

[00:38:03] I mean there are very few properties I wouldn't help somebody sell

[00:38:06] mm-hmm this might be one of them yeah yeah you're out on everything I mean I'm not a real

[00:38:11] true but I yeah the hair is sort of raising on the back of my neck just talking about it much

[00:38:18] less being there yeah do you know where this is now that you guys have been to New Orleans and

[00:38:23] your connoisseurs have you no have you walked by with the drinking hands I hope not I don't know

[00:38:29] I was trying to walk next time yeah or do I do I want to I think you want to know where it is even if

[00:38:36] that means you have to just like walk to the other side of the street to skirt it the next time

[00:38:39] you're there yeah yeah anyway well okay Elena this was fascinating thank you so much I mean it was

[00:38:46] probably the glorious episode we've had but you know crimes happen yeah and that's what we're talking

[00:38:52] about so a lot of pictures we'll put online there's a lot of pictures not of this like I mean

[00:38:57] out the crime scene but not of anything gory okay yeah okay well we'll do that yeah you have

[00:39:03] on for me okay good yeah all right well we should tell our listeners that if you I mean I feel

[00:39:10] like loving this episode is a it's not the right word if you were intrigued if you and if you

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