Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, hello everybody and welcome back to episode 18, part three of three, and I want to thank you so much for your patience and willingness to stick with me while I juggle to productions. If you didn't know, I am producing a second podcast. It's an investigative long form podcast on the 2004 disappearance of 21 year old mother, jennifer Wicks, and her two year old little girl, adriana. I am working alongside Jennifer's younger sister, casey, and we've actually been going door to door boots on the ground, knocking on physical doors of businesses in Robertson County so that the county knows that this case will just not go away and we're out to find answers. So, missing in Hushtown season one is coming out sometime in 2024.

Speaker 1: 0:45

I am working diligently behind the scenes on missing in Hushtown and I pray that this case can bring to light things that we did not know before. And I don't set out to solve this case. I can't promise that. That's not what I do but I can promise to get loud and to spread awareness about this case However I can, however often I can, in whatever avenue I can wiggle my way into. So I will update you on true crime and headlines when that podcast is out. Missing in Hushtown you can actually go and look it up wherever you get your podcast now and subscribe now so you don't miss when the full season will launch all at once, and thank you ahead of time for being there for that. This case is so, so important to hear and to learn from, and I'm already learning a lot and a lot about bravery through it all. So I am going to take you through all of my emotions and bring you deep into what I'm doing and why I'm doing it on the podcast in a bit of a narrative, documentary style forum on missing in Hushtown.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Now this is exciting. This is my one year anniversary of starting true crime and headlines. If you've been here since the beginning, you'll know that I couldn't have done it without Joe. We all love Joe and her dedication to this venture. And, of course, can't forget audio Steve. He's always been there for me. He's a sounding board and he's stepped up to co-host whenever we've needed him, and I just call him all the time and ask him what do you think of this? Although I am now a one woman show, there's an entire team of support behind me, so I have amazing family, friends and you, my listeners, who encourage and support me, and thank you to my fellow women in true crime podcasting community. You know I found some amazing friends in this community and I am so thankful that I'll get to meet so many of them at crime con in Nashville in just a few months. So I will have to update on my socials my Instagram, at your host, Jules, and at true crime and headlines and at missing in Hushtown so we can hopefully cross collaborate with some amazing women in true crime podcasting.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Okay, episode 18 is the last episode of season one. Don't worry, I am returning for season two. I promise I am just getting started with true crime and headlines. I will return to weekly consistent podcasts for season two. However, because it's just me here, I do have to take a little break in between season one and two. Think of it like a summer break between school seasons. But don't worry, I am not taking any time off of work because while I'm away from true crime and headlines, I am focusing 100% on missing in Hushtown. In fact, a little announcement trailer has already been uploaded for a while. Like I said, wherever you get your podcasts, go ahead and find missing in Hushtown and you can go ahead and subscribe to that already and listen to that and my socials are always active. So come say hi to me. I will be popping into true crime and headlines during the break between seasons to give small little episode updates for you about headlines and cases trending and updates in cases I've already covered. So make sure you don't have subscribe here and make sure you still follow me. And a big, big thank you to the people who've taken a few moments to leave me a positive review or rating. It's helping me so much more than I can put into words. So thank you, and I think it's time to finish my coverage on Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Let's go where we left off in 1983. Griselda has regained physical custody of her son, her fourth son, michael Corleone. Now, remember, he is the only child she has with her third husband, dario Sepulveda. Now she does have physical custody of him because she has had his father, dario, gunned down and killed, but nonetheless she now has custody of Michael. Griselda was making approximately $80 million a month, all from trafficking cocaine and dominating the market by not only eliminating her competition through ruthless killings but really just killing anyone she felt crossed her could cross her or anyone she didn't feel she wanted to have any debts to Now. I mentioned previously in part two that Griselda would ultimately be charged with three counts of second degree murder, and it's all due to her reckless and apathetic decisions on eliminating anyone or everyone she felt like. So it's time to dig deeper into her downfall.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Griselda was reckless with money, violence, family and drugs. Obviously, she herself was addicted to the very drug she was building an empire over, and it's going to ultimately contribute to her demise. A&e reports quote over time, blanco became addicted to bazooka, an unrefined smokable form of cocaine. The bazooka, coupled with her homicidal tendencies and increasing paranoia, meant she was bad for business. End quote. And what Does that mean exactly? Well, she soon had a target on her head. Many drug kingpins who once feared her saw her spiraling and losing control and saw her weak points. She was losing her mental faculties as well as her power of control over her hitmen. Recall Griselda would order, hits on people recklessly and as often as she wanted, all to gain and maintain control through fear and power and money. Now she's making those close to her question her ability to remain in control. Loyalties will absolutely shift you guys. She built an empire on fear and she's beginning to lose control of that fear. Others are beginning to see her for what she is a liability in their drug empires.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Griselda's hitmen were said to have been enforced by Griselda's top hitman, a man named Jorge Ayela Rivera, who was also known as Rivy. Rivy was initially very loyal to Griselda, and I could turn this into a multi-part series on Rivy and his life alone, but I am striving to stay focused on how his role fits into Griselda's story here. But briefly, I will tell you that Rivy was rumored to be responsible for over three dozen murders carried out by the orders of Griselda herself. The three murders that he would go on to eventually plead guilty to are as follows. So in 1982, griselda ordered Rivy to kill one of her former associates by using a silenced weapon and pulling up next to him in a car at a stoplight, and then he was to gun him down. Well, rivy did follow through with these orders. However, his aim was off and he missed his intended target, who was a man named Jesus Crest excuse me, a man named Jesus Castro. Jesus did survive this hit attempt. However, his two-year-old son, johnny Castro, was in the car with Jesus, a fact that Rivy claims he did not know. The missed bullets intended for Jesus struck the toddler who was in the back seat, allegedly hidden from Rivy's view, and thus killed the young boy.

Speaker 1: 8:02

Just a few months after the killing of young Johnny, griselda ordered another hit on a married couple who were also associates in the copay, the copay cocaine empire of hers. Only, you know, this couple failed to pay her after receiving cocaine from Griselda. Married couple Alfredo and Grisel were gunned down by Rivy, acting out the order of Griselda Blanco. She allegedly also ordered Rivy to kill anyone else in the home, but Rivy does make sure this time not to harm any more children, thus leaving Alfredo and Grisel Lorenzo's children unharmed. So he purposely went against Griselda's orders to not repeat the slaughter of more children that he had done just previously. These orders from Griselda to harm anyone in the vicinity may not have been anything new, you know. However, the disregard for children in the vicinity was and it was also a testament to her decline of her mental faculties.

Speaker 1: 9:09

As she continues to lose grip of her reigning title and her reality, remember, paranoia is creeping in more and more. As the godmother of cocaine, she flees to California. She has multiple hits on her guys. I mean, why not take down the enemy while they're destroying themselves too right, and we are going to find Griselda in California in the mid-1980s. While she is in California, rivy is arrested for a different crime, a type of bank robbery, and it's then that authorities are able to connect who he is in relation to Griselda Blanco. And it turns out they've been searching for Rivy for a long time, but they had his name incorrect. Authorities were already hard at work, trying to build a criminal case against Griselda for well anything, and this would be their ticket to securing her spot behind bars. Now he was going to testify against Griselda Blanco in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Speaker 1: 10:11

May we all be wondering the same thing. Why would a man who has worked for Griselda for years and is carried out multiple allegedly murders under her orders turned on her? You know, I don't think it's that deep guys. I really don't think it's that deep. I mean, he's gum and he's out to save himself. His loyalty is dependent upon a paycheck. And listen to this report from USA Today, quote when the state of Florida was building murder cases against her, jorge Ayala Remember that's Rivi Blanco's former hitman was found having phone sex with secretaries from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office. Jorge Ayala pleaded guilty in 1993 to three murders and was sentenced to life in prison, and he was denied parole in 2012. Per the Miami Herald and quote, the three murders were the ones that we just referenced young Johnny and the Lorenzo couple.

Speaker 1: 11:07

So Griselda's empire was crumbling down before her. He knew this, her competition knew this, her clientele knew this and she knew this. Don't forget that Griselda was wanted for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine from her stint Building her cocaine smuggling empire in New York with her first husband back in 1975. We covered that in part. One Never call. This is the reason she fled back to Columbia the first time.

Speaker 1: 11:37

So during 1973, I guess give or take a few years prior, while they were building their case against her through 1983, florida authorities are trying to build a case against Griselda to take her down and now that she has fled to California and her hot, her hot man, that's not appropriate. Her top hit man is arrested. The winds have shifted and she's a sitting duck for authorities. While Griselda was hiding out in Irvine, california, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA and local authorities were watching her. Griselda would be arrested eventually, in 1985. She would plead guilty to three counts of secondary murder for ordering the hit a, johnny Castro, the two-year-old killed during the botch attempt on his father carried out by Griselda's hitman, rivi, and she will spend time behind bars from 1985 to 2004. Now she also pleads guilty to the killings of the second degree murder of the Lorenzo couple, and this is corroborated and likely the only killings that they're able to tie her to and really convince her To take the deal, because Rivi already admitted to it.

Speaker 1: 12:49

Okay, this gets kind of wackadoodle. The likelihood of a much larger sentence for Griselda was crushed when Jorge Ayala Rivi era Rivi, her hitman had relations with the legal team secretaries, thus killing the case against Griselda that could be built with his testimonies. This is the phone sex scandal, and during this time it's reported that Griselda's sons were continuing to run Griselda's drug empire on the outside with the help of Griselda from behind bars, which would ultimately be the reason that three of her four sons would be murdered before Griselda is released from jail. Recall in part one. We learned that Griselda had three sons from her first marriage Dixon Trujillo Blanco, uber Trujillo Blanco and Osvaldo Trujillo Blanco. So when we find ourselves in the mid 1980s, you guys, they're grown and they're very much a part of the fabric of Griselda's cocaine empire operations. However, now Griselda has multiple hits out on her life and as she goes into hiding and eventually into police custody, there will be many attempts to kill her sons and, unfortunately for them, while she's behind bars, those attempts will prove to be successful. Her three oldest sons were killed during three different, seemingly well orchestrated and planned hits. Griselda's youngest son, her fourth son and only son with her third husband, is currently the only surviving member of his family, Having lost his father by the hands of his mother's orders, his brothers by the hands of her mother's enemies, and then he would go on to lose his mother by the hands of her enemies.

Speaker 1: 14:48

During Griselda's time behind bars, her health begins to decline rapidly. It's reported that she suffered a major heart attack behind bars and it's alleged that it's because she was such a heavy smoker that when she stopped smoking it had such a toll on her body and her failing health would contribute to her being granted compassionate release. I have thoughts and feelings about this. My first thought was what the heck? The word compassionate and Griselda in the same sentence does not even connect. I cannot connect those ends to tie them together here. However, we do have to remember that we can't convict her based off of folklore, off of rumors, off of things we've heard from so and so and things we've alleged in different reports. We have to go off the evidence and the only evidence we had was conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Speaker 1: 15:49

That was thrown off when Rivie wasn't able to cut a deal because of the sex scandal and then also because she pleaded guilty to second degree murder. She could get a lesser sentence by taking the plea, but compassionate still with the charges that remained. Are you kidding me? But I guess the parameters under compassionate release they're very cut and dry as far as laying out why and when you can be released. So she was 61 when she was released and she wasn't really ailing health. You guys, I guess you weigh the the pros and cons of letting somebody out and live the rest of their life out versus what they've already served as far as their terms. Now, I do think that she was released compassionate release just a few years early, because she actually didn't have that many years that she had to serve. I think it was like 20 years, did I say? So she was released just a little bit early, which also blows my mind because while we're building the case and talking about her in part one.

Speaker 1: 16:57

In part two we're kind of feeling like, yeah, we've all convicted her by listening to this because of what we've heard in the stories we've told. But also listening to the stories told, we have to also remember the source. The sources that are telling us are also like company of Griselda most of the time being released at 61, she would live until age 69. So, guys, she doesn't die from natural causes, not at all. So how does Griselda die?

Speaker 1: 17:34

She is released from prison in 2004 and she's immediately deported back to Colombia. It's in Colombia that she resettles, into the same town that started her road to destruction Medellin. She lives a surprisingly low-key life for a few years compared to her prior years, which obviously I don't think is that hard to do anything. Compared to her prior years, it's likely low-key from what we think we know about her life before, but she's allegedly living off of whatever money she had left over by house with. It is able to make her life work as she spends the rest of her life in Medellin. But just because she was no longer the drug queen she was, you guys, it doesn't mean she still didn't have enemies everywhere she turned and debts that people still wanted to settle with her blood.

Speaker 1: 18:25

And, an ironic twist of fate, in 2012, in Medellin, colombia, griselda, at 69 years old, is killed in the same manner in which she was known for making popular in Miami during the drug wars. She was shot by somebody riding by on a motorcycle while she was outside of a butcher shop. And, like with most of the details of Griselda's story, we're left with speculations about who killed her. The most likely answer to believe is it was an enemy of hers, obviously from her days past, someone with scores to settle. However, pinpointing exactly which enemy or exactly who killed her would prove to be nearly impossible, especially impossible for a person who likely had more enemies than anyone else during the drug wars days. There are many holes in the stories about Griselda Blanco guys and many different versions available to try to fill those holes and don't expect to ever fill those holes, when the reliability of all those involved should never really be trusted at face value anyway.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Throughout Griselda's 69 years of life, she allegedly murdered her three husbands although the death of her first husband is largely debated if it was natural causes or Griselda's doing but she also lost three of her four sons. She lost all credibility as a godmother of cocaine. She lost her spec. She lost her mind, her health and, ultimately, her life. It leads me to wonder what percent of these horrid stories of murder and betrayal that we so often read about Griselda are true. Or was she even worse than we are led to believe? And a bigger question, if we recall about her horrid conditions from her formative years in her upbringing, could the trajectory of her life have been altered had she been given proper support, mentally and physically? What can we learn from this case? Are people born evil, or are they born without the right tools to make the right decisions if nobody with ethics is there to help guide them?

Speaker 1: 20:45

This is Jules, and this concludes Season 1 of True Crime and Headlines. With Jules, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I thank you for being here, listening with an open mind and engaging in conversations that challenge us all to think differently. I've learned so much throughout Season 1, but the biggest takeaway I have is that nothing is black and white. The gray is often where these cases reside. I've also learned that it's okay to be brave and scared at the same time, we have to speak up, because also remember that we don't know everything. I'm constantly learning, relearning, analyzing and growing. I promise you I am from each case I do. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your grace and thank you for being you and, most of all, thank you to all the advocates out there who were listening, who were following up, who were doing calls, who were out there trying to tell the stories of people who so desperately need your voice because they are now voiceless.

Speaker 1: 21:47

If you are a victim of a crime, I am so, so sorry and I'm so proud of you for your bravery. I am so proud that you were still here with us. I love you. I will see you in Season 2, you guys, make sure you follow True Crime and Headlines on Instagram for updates for when Season 2 drops. You're wanted, you're intelligent, you're bold, you're brave and your butt looks great. I'll see you in Season 2. And late, I'll see you in Season 2. I'll see you. My mama is a podcaster. Bye too.