Today is Friday, April 22nd, 2022. On this day in 1987, Joe Hunt, the mastermind behind an investment scam, was convicted of murder.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Due to the graphic nature of this crime, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes descriptions of murder.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

Today we'll be talking about Joe Hunt, the murderous mind

behind an infamous investment scam disguised as a social club. Now let's go back to Santa Monica,

California on April 22, 1987. The atmosphere was tense in the courthouse that day.

27-year-old Joe Hunt struggled to keep himself composed next to his lawyer.

He was accused of murder.

There was no way he could talk his way out of that.

The jury had deliberated for only two days.

Also in the gallery sat Martin and Carol Levin. The elderly couple looked at Hunt with

grief, despair, and hatred. Their 42-year-old son vanished three years earlier, and they

hoped he would finally receive justice.

Finally, the clerk handed down the verdict. Joe Hunt was found guilty of murder and robbery.

Hunt burst into tears. The guilty verdict was the culmination of his tenure with the billionaire

boys' club, a scheme he and his friends

had hoped would make them all rich. Six years earlier, in 1981, things were different for Joe Hunt. He was a USC dropout,

who was banned from the commodities market in Chicago for, quote, unsound trading practices.

Now he had a new idea for a get-rich-quick scheme.

He reached out to his USC contacts to recruit them for the most exclusive group ever.

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