125: Larry Flynt vs. Jerry Falwell & the Murder of Becki Dillard
Let's Go To Court!
Let's Go To Court!
4.8 • 4.8K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2020
⏱️ 139 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Moody, Missouri, isn’t known for its crime rate. So when a passerby discovered a dead body on the side of the highway, they called 911 and reported a fatal car crash. But when police arrived on the scene, they discovered something much more unusual. The body belonged to 24-year-old Becki Dillard. She had been shot twice. When investigators went to notify the family, they were immediately suspicious of Becki’s husband, Justin. His reactions were strange. But over time, they began to focus on Justin’s mom, Debra Dillard and her boyfriend, Billy Joe Eastep.
Then Kristin tells us about Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt. When Hustler hit its peak in the early 80s, it became known and loved for being a smuttier version of Playboy. Hustler’s contents made Larry a lot of enemies, but perhaps none were more passionate than televangelist Jerry Falwell. One day, Larry decided to poke the bear by creating an ad that parodied a popular Campari ad. It was rough. The ad featured an “interview” with Jerry Falwell, in which he confessed that his first sexual experience had been with his mother, in an outhouse. When the reverend saw the ad parody, he was incensed. So he sued.
And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“The Jerry Falwell v Larry Flynt Trial,” famous-trials.com, by Douglas O. Linder
“Hustler Magazine v. Falwell” entry on Wikipedia
“Hustler Magazine v. Falwell” by James C. Foster for mtsu.edu
The Supreme Court decision
In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Debra Dillard” episode Snapped
“Howell County Sheriff Says Woman’s Death Was No Accident” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
“Mother-In-Law Charged in Howell County Murder” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
“Jury Convicts Debra Dillard of Murdering Daughter-In-Law” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you're listening to this podcast, then you're probably a fan of True Crime and if you |
| 0:05.6 | are, then we'd love to see you at CrimeCon which returns to London on the 10th and 11th of June. |
| 0:11.6 | Across two days patch with immersive and interactive sessions, you'll be able to get up close |
| 0:16.7 | and personal with some of the biggest names in True Crime. |
| 0:20.0 | Now, if you're concerned about attending on your own, many of last year's guests came |
| 0:24.6 | on their own and had an amazing time. CrimeCon London, 10th and 11th of June 2023, partnered |
| 0:31.6 | by CBS Reality, home to expert led True Crime. To find out more about the event and to buy your tickets, |
| 0:38.3 | go to crimecon.co.uk. |
| 0:42.7 | One semester of law school. One semester of criminal justice. Two experts. |
| 0:49.0 | I'm Kristen Caruso. I'm Brandi Egan. Let's go to court. |
| 0:53.5 | On this episode, I'll talk about Larry Flint versus Jerry Falwell. |
| 0:58.8 | And I'll be talking about the murder of Becky Dillard. |
| 1:03.6 | Brandi Brandi Brandi. What? Your baby just waved to me. No, she's still in there. |
| 1:10.3 | But because this bump got significantly larger since last week, you could barely drive the car today. |
| 1:15.6 | You are so very pregnant. |
| 1:20.8 | So very pregnant. |
| 1:23.6 | I guess so every time I get a text, I'm like, it's here. It's happened. |
| 1:28.0 | I thought that I was going to get you with that. It's happening. |
| 1:30.5 | Oh, you sure? |
| 1:31.2 | Next week or the other day. Did that like, |
| 1:34.0 | I was referring to it that I made the pizza that you guys recommended for me. |
| 1:37.9 | But I was hoping you'd read like just the first line at first and be like, oh my god, |
... |
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