Ep 229: A Dangerous Family (Ward Weaver)

Court Junkie

PodcastOne

True Crime, News, Talk Radio, Government

4.8 • 8.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

NOTE: This episode contains some graphic descriptions and testimony. Listener discretion is advised. Also, please excuse my slip as I accidentally refer to self incrimination as “self-discrimination”. In 1984, Ward Weaver, Jr. was convicted of first degree murder in California. Decades later, another member of his family would be convicted of murder. And then decades later... Please subscribe to our new podcast, CIVIL, which covers civil cases and trials. Listen to the trailer here - https://link.chtbl.com/CivilPodcast Sponsors in this episode: Firstleaf - Sign up today and you’ll get your first 6 bottles for $39.95 plus free shipping. Go to TryFirstleaf.com/COURT. Progressive Insurance - Visit Progressive.com to get a quote with all the coverages you want, so you can easily compare and choose. Pluto TV - Download the free Pluto TV app for Android, iPhone, Roku, and Fire TV and start streaming now. Post-Production for the show is provided by Jon Keur of Wayfare Recording Co. This episode was researched and written by Gabrielle Russon. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie to receive ad-free episodes. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to bonus monthly episodes. Follow me on Twitter @CourtJunkiePod or Instagram at CourtJunkie

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is a story that begins with a man, a patriarch, named Ward Francis Weaver,
0:08.8	Jr. In 1984, he was convicted of first-degree murder in California.
0:14.4	I'm going to refer to him by his nickname Pete throughout the rest of this episode.
0:20.9	The couple Pete killed was just starting out.
0:24.6	A teen-year-old Robert Radford had met his fiance, 23-year-old Barbara LaVoy, when he was
0:31.0	assigned to basic training in Colorado, according to court records.
0:36.5	Robert finished his training in the young couple planned on settling down in Las Vegas,
0:41.2	where Robert was scheduled to begin his first tour of duty at the Nellis Air Force Base.
0:47.2	But first, Robert took Barbara on a tour out west, so she could meet his family.
0:52.7	He traveled to Washington State, and Barbara was introduced to Robert's parents.
0:58.3	Their road trip continued.
1:00.4	The next stop, meeting Robert's grandma in Fresno, California.
1:06.4	On February 5, 1981, Robert and Barbara spent several hours visiting Robert's grandmother,
1:13.6	and departed her home around 7pm to continue on to Las Vegas.
1:19.0	Along the way, tragedy struck, cruelly and randomly.
1:24.8	Their car broke down on Highway 58 in the desert.
1:29.8	One man who testified later as a witness in court said he drove past them at about 11pm
1:35.9	that night.
1:37.2	The witness's name was James Powell, and he remembered seeing their car on the side of the road,
1:43.0	emergency lights flashing.
1:45.6	He noticed Barbara inside the car while Robert was outside.
1:50.2	James offered Robert a ride back into the city a mile away, but Robert said no, because
	...

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