meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Criminal

Sunset Mesa

Criminal

Vox Media Podcast Network

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.738.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Debbie Schum waited a long time to receive the cremated ashes of her friend, LoraLee Johnson. When she did, she felt relieved to finally take them home with her. But then, she got a call from the FBI. We first aired this episode in 2020. Earlier this month, Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced for their crimes. We've included updates about the case in this version of the episode. To learn more, check out Elena Saavedra Buckley’s article, “‘None of this happened the way you think it did.’” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. Listen back through our archives at youtube.com/criminalpodcast. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Support for this show comes from Krakan.

0:03.0

Krypto is like the financial system, but different.

0:07.0

It doesn't care where you come from, what you look like, your credit score,

0:11.0

or your outrageous food delivery habits.

0:13.7

crypto is finance for everyone everywhere all the time.

0:18.4

Krakhan, see what crypto can be.

0:21.3

Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.

0:25.0

This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

0:32.0

I was coming back from Alaska. I had spent a summer up in Alaska and when I was coming back,

0:41.0

it was the middle of the night and I was in Grand Junction and waiting for a bus to

0:46.1

connect to take me further south.

0:49.3

This was in October of 1989.

0:52.2

Debbie Schumm didn't want to be at the bus station all night, so she showed

0:56.3

up at the house of an old friend. He wasn't there, but his girlfriend was. Her name

1:02.2

was Laura Lee Johnson.

1:04.0

I was kind of fumbling around trying to explain who I was

1:08.0

kind of fumbling around trying to explain who I was.

1:09.0

She asked me,

1:11.0

do you need somewhere to sleep for the night and invited me in and that was basically

1:19.5

exactly how the whole thing started right there and we became very close friends pretty much

1:25.2

immediately. We stayed up and talked and that kind of became the theme of our friendship that mostly we talked.

1:37.0

Lour was an artist and would send pieces to Debbie.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.