Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

Well, despite how I ended her life, I'm kind of more fascinated by the more artistic ways of murder, a meticulous manner, the way they cut them open, just slice them to pieces.

I mean, such care, such love.

Hello. Hello and welcome to Season 5, Episode 114 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Today's episode is a particularly nasty one.

I mean, it's got a trifecta of triggers.

Children, mental illness, and yes, the family cat.

That's all you get to know for now.

You're an adult, presumably.

Proceed at your own risk.

Yeah. On the On the On some level, almost all the stories we tell involve deception.

We've seen over and over again how a secret fantasy, a hidden lifestyle, or a false identity can lead someone to take another life.

Thankfully, such extreme examples of deception are not commonplace.

But even though they are rare, they speak to something far more common about the human condition.

None of us can ever truly know what is going on inside the minds of those around us.

And in the words of a man you're about to meet,

it's kind of funny how you never really know someone,

not even your own son or brother. March 27th,

2014,

Robstown, Texas, just outside Corpus Christi.

It was a Thursday morning.

Timothy Johnson and Luanda Houston were sitting down watching TV and enjoying a cup of

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