Thank you for listening to this Podcast One production available on Apple Podcasts and Podcast One.

This episode contains some explicit language as well as a graphic depiction of violence.

It's not recommended for younger listeners.

Close your eyes. Go ahead. Look at the dark. Is it scary?

I think it's not the dark we're afraid of, but rather what could be in the dark.

When we can't see clearly, our brains have a harder time interpreting what's happening around us.

We don't know for safe. We don't know what's out there. Who's out there? And that leads to fear.

Without getting too technical, let's talk about the brain for a second.

The brain is like a factory. It uses our feelings like raw materials. Then it sends them on to our neurological pathways.

Our neurons fire, creating chemical reactions, which later become behavior.

When the raw material is fear, the factory goes into crisis mode. The longer pathways leading to the parts of the brain that are responsible for logic and reason, shut down.

The brain tries to keep us safe by using the emotional pathways, allowing people to make a quicker decision.

I have to wonder though, how often is the moral choice and the safe choice the same?

Based on the hit show on A&E, I'm Brooke and this is Cold Case Files, the podcast.

The story of Brad Perry's vicious murder starts with the Dark Knight, a gas station, and a man who was perceived as having scary eyes.

Brad Perry was 22. He was described as a good person. He made good choices and he had a positive impact on those around him.

He worked at the family business, the local gas station, and his hometown of Brigham City, Utah. He frequently picked up extra shifts to earn money. He was saving to go to college and to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend, Laura.

On May 26, 1984, he chose to work the late shift. That same night, two college students had stayed up late studying for upcoming exams. Instead of going to bed, they decided to go for breakfast.

On the way to their restaurant of choice, at about 10 minutes before four, they stopped at a gas station.

This seems like a very normal, non-scary thing to do. When they pulled into the gas station, they were surprised to discover that an attendant had come out to serve them.

This wasn't New Jersey or Oregon, where gas stations are full service. This was Utah, so there should not have been an attendant. They needed gas though, so they went along with the situation.

They were explicitly told not to go into the store and ask what they wanted. The student who was driving specifically asked for $5 in fuel and gave this attendant $5.1 bills. The other student wanted cigarettes and gave him, I believe, a $5 bill.

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