TERRY
My name is Terry Van der Horst and I'm creating this document, this audio record of my friend, Russell Mannheim. And his quest for vengeance.
[THEME MUSIC]
TERRY
Russell Gets Revenge. An eight episode series about justice, revenge, and jalapeno poppers. Written and created by Peter Hoffman Kimball. Produced by Josh Callahan and Peter Hoffman Kimball. As a content warning, this series does deal with issues of death, grief, and violence. Episode One: A Lovely Place to Vacation.
RUSSELL
I'm Russell. I'm sort of the star, of the show here, I guess.
TERRY
Russell came to me a couple months ago with a simple request.
RUSSELL
Well, Terry's been a friend of mine for years. Going back to school, starting out our professional lives together. He in financial advising and me in accounting. I've just always thought of Terry as someone I could count on. And, you know, that's especially important when you're on a mission to kill a man.
TERRY
Russell came to me and he said, "I don't want your help killing him. I don't need you to help me find him. I don't need any of that from you."
RUSSELL
But I just don't know if I'm going to be successful. I'm looking for revenge, I'm looking to kill the man who murdered my wife, and I just don't know if I'm actually going to be able to do it.
TERRY
But not that you wouldn't go through with it.
RUSSELL
That I would literally, physically fail. Like that I wouldn't be able to find him. Or that I would find him and he would kill me. It's a very real possibility.
TERRY
Maybe the most likely one.
RUSSELL
I'm not a violent man. I don't know jiu jitsu. I wasn't on the wrestling team. I found tai chi too aggressive.
TERRY
Well, it can get pretty combative if you don't do it right.
RUSSELL
I don't know about guns, I don't know about knives.
TERRY
Garroting.
RUSSELL
Yeah, I've learned that word, "garroting" or "garroting".
TERRY
Where you strangle someone with wire. You know, often from behind, like from the backseat of the car or - I think it is pronounced "garroting".
RUSSELL
Anyway, I definitely didn't know what that was before this.
TERRY
So he asked me to make this recording. To follow him along as he hunted the killer down. And to talk to the people around him, the people in Russell's life who care about him and wish him well. Whether they approve of this mission of vengeance or not.
RUSSELL
Yeah, a lot of them are not too keen on this.
TERRY
But they're trying to be supportive.
RUSSELL
No, yeah. Definitely. Everyone's being very supportive. It's just that a lot of people don't think it's a great idea for me to... I don't know what would you say is their main objection?
TERRY
We'll hear from them later, but, I mean, I guess I would say they don't like the idea of trading one life for another, just on principle. Or they think you're putting yourself in harm's way for no real good reason. Or they just always think that killing is wrong.
RUSSELL
Yeah.
TERRY
And that you're probably going to hurt other people around you and perpetuate the cycle of vengeance and suffering.
RUSSELL
Sure, there are lots of opinions.
TERRY
Oh, and I've heard that they think this is coming from a bad place inside of you instead of a worthy one. That instead of doing something virtuous you're actually becoming the thing you most hate.
RUSSELL
Right, ok.
TERRY
And that this isn't really a proper or loving way to honor Carrie's memory.
RUSSELL
Ok, now that one's - just hold on. This whole thing is about honoring my wife. The love of my life.
TERRY
Yes, absolutely.
RUSSELL
And one year ago today, my wife was murdered and the killer got off on a technicality. And, I mean, we'll get into all that in detail later, but for now, just know how much I loved her. How deep a loss this was. This most meaningful relationship in my life, the woman I loved above all others but truly above all else in the world. Torn from me. Torn from this world. All her dreams come to naught, all her talents removed from the earth, all the years of promise just disappeared. Just this gnawing, aching, unfillable hole. So, some days that's how I feel. And other days, I'm just like, "This suuuucks."
TERRY
Right.
RUSSELL
But, I mean, no one wants to mope around forever.
TERRY
Yeah, we're going to try and have a little fun with this. Even if it really does all start from a, from a, yeah pretty dark place.
RUSSELL
For sure. I mean, yes, I spent a year grieving and mourning and questioning the existence of a loving god. I wondered if I should go on living myself or if all of this was now pointless. But then I had a change of heart.
TERRY
He watched the movie, "Taken" with Liam Neeson.
RUSSELL
It wasn't because I watched Taken.
TERRY
But you did watch it.
RUSSELL
Yeah, of course I watched it. It's a fantastic work of cinema. But that's not why I'm doing this.
TERRY
But it sparked in you a realization.
RUSSELL
You don't just have to let bad things happen. You don't have to accept the evil the world throws at you.
TERRY
Whether it's Liam Neeson saving his daughter in Taken or you avenging your wife, it's the same. There's still something you can do about it.
RUSSELL
It's not exactly the same.
TERRY
Right, he was a trained special agent with skills he'd acquired over a lifetime.
RUSSELL
And it's not the same saving somebody or getting revenge.
TERRY
But similar.
RUSSELL
I don't think Carrie would agree.
TERRY
I'm sorry, you're right.
RUSSELL
But the point is, I did realize that I could do something about this. That if I couldn't stop it from happening and if the government wouldn't help me get justice, that I could still get vengeance on my own. And that's what I'm here to do.
TERRY
And we're going to be following him along as he does it. We'll be right back.
AD BREAK
TERRY
Look, in these uncertain times,it can be pretty hard to get a good night's sleep. And what makes that even harder, is that you're probably still sleeping on the same mattress you've had for years. I know I am. And that makes sense because mattresses aren't built to last forever. Well, most mattresses aren't. But there's probably going to eventually be a mattress invented one day that stays fresh and perfect for a lifetime. But while you're waiting for that mattress to be invented, you're probably going to get pretty hungry. And you know what I like when I'm hungry? A good home cooked meal. But who has the time? Well now you can. I mean, if you buy some kind of meal preparation service. I think there are many available. But you know what problem neither a new mattress nor a delicious home cooked meal can solve? The unquenchable need for vengeance. That's why you need... Russell Gets Revenge DOT COM. It's just like the show you're listening to, but on the internet. And now, back to the show.
MURIEL
I just feel really bad because, you know, it was me who suggested Russell and Carrie go to Germany in the first place.
NICK
Honey. It's not your fault.
TERRY
This is Nick and Muriel, two good friends of Russell and Carrie. They've tried to support Russell in his time of need and are struggling with their own sense of responsibility for what happened.
MURIEL
When we went there we had had such a lovely time. The Romantic Road, Neuschwanstein, marzipan...
NICK
And statistically you're much more likely to be the victim of violent crime here in the US than in Western Europe.
MURIEL
It's so peaceful and safe over there. And, yes, Germany doesn't have the best reputation in the world--
NICK
-- But that's the Holocaust, not street crime.
MURIEL
Bad things happen in Germany but usually -
NICK
- Historically -
MURIEL
But historically they're more like the oppression, genocide, brutal conquest of Europe kind of things. Not attacks on tourists.
NICK
No.
MURIEL
No one could have seen this coming.
NICK
Statistically, it would have been far more likely for her to be murdered here in DC. Far more.
MURIEL
And we told Russell that. This kind of thing never happens over there. Never.
NICK
Well, not never. Obviously.
MURIEL
Right, at least once now, it's happened. Of course... But still, a lovely place to vacation.
RUSSELL
We'd been traveling around. Saw Ulm, Munich, Nordlingen. You know, the Romantic Road, per our friends' suggestion. And then we were staying in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, got a cute little house for the night and we thought we'd go to bed early. Get a start on the city in the morning. So we went to bed. Went to sleep and uh... You know, in America we have a principle called felony murder. That means, if you commit a felony and that leads to someone's death - even if you didn't directly, you know, shoot them, stab them, kill them. If you commit a - if you break into someone's house and hold a couple at knife point... It doesn't matter if you stab them or not. If one of them... if she has a heart attack because you're holding a knife to her and you've got her husband tied up on the floor and you're terrifying her and nothing worse or scarier or crushingly horrifying has ever happened to her. If she has a heart attack it's your fault. You've killed her. You've murdered her. And you will be punished for that. That's felony murder. But apparently they don't have that law in Germany.
TERRY
I asked one of our mutual friends, Sebastian, who is a lawyer here in DC, if he could give any insights into the horrible miscarriage of justice that happened here.
SEBASTIAN
Actually, there are many compelling arguments against the felony-murder statute. For instance, its origin in English common law, when all felonies were punishable by death. So, obviously, the distinction in charges and sentencing were completely irrelevant. Whereas, in modern jurisprudence, the arguments against what's called the "proximate cause" theory, the idea of being responsible for any negative outcome that happens in proximity to your crime, are quite compelling. I mean, I would say it's dangerously simplistic and reductive to say that a person's guilt has absolutely nothing to do with intent and only with outcome.
TERRY
Oh. Ok.
SEBASTIAN
Now, that said, I obviously do really feel bad for Russell. Oh, and his wife.
RUSSELL
You know, I tried to move on. To just accept that a tragedy had happened and move on. But it's just been, like, a little hard to get back into regular life when, you know, you feel like half of you has been torn away. You know, just stripped away, carved out of you, clawed out. And then when you don't get justice, when the police, and the courts, and the law itself all fail you... And it's not like I didn't try. I talked to the police. I begged them. I hired a lawyer. Talked to multiple lawyers. American, German.
TERRY
And they were good lawyers. Not just your busstop type 1-800-law-suit kind of thing.
RUSSELL
No, these were good lawyers. And if my wife had been killed by a reclusive billionaire or a wealthy pharmaceutical company, they would have loved to take up the case.
TERRY
But there's only so much you can do to force the government to prosecute.
RUSSELL
They didn't even charge him. They didn't charge him with anything!
TERRY
It turns out it was a Macedonian immigrant named Marko Pavikevik. The German police said they couldn't prosecute him for the murder and since he didn't end up actually stealing anything, they couldn't prosecute him for theft or burglary.
RUSSELL
And technically it wasn't even breaking and entering because he came in through an unlocked back door.
TERRY
Apparently, the rental house had a back door that didn't lock properly. It's unclear whether Pavikevik knew about that beforehand or whether he just lucked out.
RUSSELL
I did file a claim with the travel site where we booked the house. And they totally agreed, the backdoor never should have been left unlocked. That wasn't our fault. So, yeah, I mean, they felt terrible about it. And I got two nights free if I ever want to go back.
TERRY
So there's that.
RUSSELL
I mean, I theoretically could have pushed to prosecute him for trespassing.
TERRY
Even thought it wasn't your property.
RUSSELL
Or some kind of malicious threatening. I don't know. Maybe.
Maybe we could have convinced them to charge him with something. And then, what? He does six months in prison? And not just any prison, but, like, one of those deluxe European prison where they have XBox and clogs probably.
TERRY
I saw a thing on TV about European prisons with their own recording studios.
RUSSELL
So what am I supposed to do? Spend years of my life pursuing justice, just to have him get six months to record his own country western album?
TERRY
No one wants to hear that.
RUSSELL
So what am I supposed to do? What would a good man do? Let the criminal who murdered your wife get away with it? Just walk away, unpunished or unpunished in any real sense of the word. This animal who broke in and attacked us, who threatened us, who MURDERED her... What do you do? When there is no recourse, when there is nothing you can do... And so that's why I decided, I'm going to hunt him down and kill him.
TERRY
Join us next time as we talk to more people in Russell's life and follow his progress toward vengeance. Next week on Russell Gets Revenge.
[THEME MUSIC]
TERRY
Russell Gets Revenge. This episode starring Josh Callahan, David Alfano, Nick Casalini, Muriel Montgomery, and Peter Hoffman Kimball. A Don't Matter Media Production. Follow us on RussellGetsRevenge.com.
[THEME MUSIC]
TERRY
If you like this podcast, please subscribe and tell a friend. And even if you feel like the part of you that likes it is a dark part of you that you don't want to expose to the world - you know what, that's ok. This is some good dark humor. And, frankly, it's going to be a good way to see if which of your friends are people you really want in your life and which ones are people you don't need in your life. So just tell everybody about the show. And we'll see you next week.