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What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to the 500th episode of Going West. Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for being a part of this amazing journey with Heath and I over these last six plus years. We appreciate each and every one of you for sticking around and listening to Going West still to this day. Now, today is such a special episode, not only because it is our 500th episode of Going West, but because it is our 500th episode of Going West.
But we have a very special guest today, Holly Madison. Thanks for having me, you guys. Thank you so much for joining us. As many of you guys know, Holly starred in the popular TV show Girls Next Door. She was a Playboy bunny. And since her time at the mansion, she's written a memoir about her time there called Down the Rabbit Hole, exposing her stories of what life was really like behind the Playboy mansion walls.
And the reason all of this is relevant is because today's case is featured in the episode Terror at the Suncoast Club in the brand new season of the Playboy Murders on Investigation Discovery, also known as ID. So later, we'll talk to Holly about the case and a little bit more on her experience at the mansion. So don't miss our interview with her coming right after today's episode. ♪
Alright guys, this is episode 500 of Going West, so let's get into it. Intro
Tensions were high during the summer of 1983 in St. Petersburg, Florida, leading it to become known as the Summer of Hell after a rash of murders plagued the city.
Two years earlier, Playboy had opened the Suncoast Club, the first of its kind in the area. And now, as the city grappled with a potential serial killer, the club's Bunny of the Year contest would result in both the winner and the photographer turning up dead. The bunnies feared they were being targeted, and they wondered who among them could be next.
With Holly Madison today in excitement for her new season of the Playboy Murders on ID, these are the murders of Linda Lanson, Barbara Grams, and Carolyn Merricks. ♪♪
In 1960, Hugh Hefner's lifestyle and entertainment company, Playboy, began opening dozens of clubs around the world. Inside, his iconic Playboy bunnies would cater to the whims of diners, drinkers, travelers, and businessmen. And in May of 1981, the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, was graced with their own iteration of the Playboy Club.
Adjoined with the Bayfront Concourse Hotel and situated right on the water, Suncoast Playboy Club opened on May 8, 1981, with casting taking place the month prior.
1,500 women auditioned to be club bunnies, but only about 25 were hired, most in their late teens or early 20s. And to protect their anonymity, they were given bunny names and fitted for custom bunny costumes with heels that were dyed to match. Now, it was a really demanding job, though. I mean, bunnies were subjected to weekly weigh-ins and were forbidden from gaining or losing more than five pounds.
Some were instructed to cut or dye their hair, and most importantly, they were never permitted to show up without their hair, makeup, and nails perfectly styled. But the club's legacy was very short-lived. I mean, by the following year, the parent company of the Bayfront Concourse Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and rumors swirled about the club relocating to the larger city of Tampa.
Now, ultimately, a representative announced, quote, St. Petersburg was just not the place for us to go. The club's final day was September 20th, 1983. And despite its brief life, former Bunny Kathy Komarik said, quote, We were such a special group. They really did a great job choosing not only the physical beauty, but just nice, outgoing, wonderful, caring women. That's why it was so special to me.
So it makes sense that the connections made between the women endured beyond the closure. But unfortunately for the bunnies of the Suncoast Playboy Club, so did its dark history. Like the allure of mystery and intrigue lasted long after it closed its doors because in the summer of 1983, there were so many unsolved murders of women in the Tampa Bay area that it was dubbed the Summer of Hell.
The following summer, 1984, the Tampa Tribune announced that there had been 37 unsolved homicides of women in the Tampa Bay area since 1976. But interestingly, the victims didn't seem to fit any sort of profile. They were between their teens and late 50s, killed using a variety of methods, and found in various states of undress. Some of them had been raped, while others weren't.
So although law enforcement didn't believe them all to be connected, they did begin to suspect that a serial killer was stalking the area. And not one, but two of these victims had ties to Playboy's Suncoast Club. In the summer of 1983, 41-year-old aspiring photographer Linda Lanson was given the distinguished honor of shooting the Playboy Bunny of the Year contest.
whose winner would then be sent to California to meet Hugh Hefner and stay in the infamous Playboy Mansion, in addition to receiving a cash prize. So something very much that they all would probably want to win. Oh, yeah. I mean, the perks are just amazing. Well, according to friends and family, Linda was kind, she was shy, and she was very personable.
Her niece and namesake, Linda Sheffield, described her as warm and a wonderful role model for her daughter. Born on May 14, 1942, Linda had been living in New York City before she moved down to the area, married, and had a daughter that she named Dessa. But by the time her daughter was about seven years old, she and her husband had split up. In 1983, newly 41-year-old Linda was living in the Woodland Terrace neighborhood of Tampa with her niece.
and she was sharing custody of her daughter with her ex-husband. And although her photography business was her passion, providing for her daughter took precedent in her life. But, of course, she was absolutely thrilled to accept the job as the photographer for the Suncoast Club's Bunny of the Year contest. And
And she took her position very, very seriously. I mean, the women fondly remembered Linda working tirelessly to capture just the best possible angle for every bunny and offer up the most footage that she possibly could. Yeah, she was such a great photographer because she was so personable like that. And she made such great connections with everybody that she was photographing. But this really was such a great opportunity for her because these Bunny of the Year contests
were huge, they were nationwide, so she probably loved this chance. Absolutely, and everybody had a positive thing to say about Linda. Well, that hot Florida summer day, Sunday, July 10th, 1983, Carolyn Merricks, who went by the name Bunny Shonda, was crowned the winner of the Bunny of the Year contest.
And after a successful night of shooting, Linda left the Suncoast Club alone. But she never made it home.
And horrifically, the day after, which was Monday, July 11th, 1983, a pedestrian came across her remains. And this happened while they were walking along Old Memorial Highway in Town and Country, Florida, which is a community east of Tampa on Old Tampa Bay and about 13 miles or 21 kilometers from Linda's home.
When Linda was found, she was lying face down, she was naked from the waist down, and she had a bloody towel that was tossed over her head.
Now, I do not know what it's like to stumble upon a body, which would be absolutely horrific, but this person found Linda, so they immediately ran to a residence and were able to contact the police. Initially, with no items found alongside her body, law enforcement couldn't really determine her identity, so they had to get a little bit creative here. So that's when law enforcement released a police sketch of her remains.
Her ex-husband was in Orlando, Florida with their daughter Dessa, so nearly two hours away, and he actually saw this image. And we will go ahead and post the composite for you guys to see on our socials, but it definitely did look like her enough that he contacted the police to report that he believed it resembled his ex-wife Linda and that he hadn't been able to get a hold of her. That's actually so wild that he just saw this police sketch of
on the news or on TV or whatever and was able to be like, yeah, I think that looks like my ex-wife. Which must have been such a horrific realization because obviously...
He hasn't been able to reach her, so he says, wait, is that her and is she dead? And this lead had an even stronger connection when later on the day that her remains were found, a group of teenagers found a discarded purse in Clearwater, Florida, which is just north of St. Petersburg. And they actually turned it in to the police to be returned to its rightful owner.
Which also is kind of shocking to me. Yeah. Like, if I saw a purse on the side of the road, like, I don't think I would bring it to the police. Like, I don't even think that would come to my mind. I think a lot of people would probably think that way as well. And even more shocking that they were teenage kids. Yeah. Like, you know, you would think that they would just want to take the purse and whatever was in it. Yeah, or just, like, walk away. But it was so pertinent that they did this because this was Linda's purse. Yeah.
And so you guys know it was found about a 30 minute drive from where her remains were found so creating that sketch was definitely important or else they may not have linked it to her at all. But police did prove again that this was her purse and now they're kind of getting this idea that her killer dumped her body in one area and then her purse in another area.
Well then, the following day, her car was located near Interstate 275, with the windows rolled up and the keys still inside. So they have her body, her purse, and now her car. And these all three being in different locations really told them even more so that she had been murdered. I mean, as if her cause of death hadn't been reason enough to believe so, because Linda had been shot four times in the head.
And she was sexually assaulted. Her shocked friends and family couldn't think of a single person who would want to hurt this sweet, soft-spoken, and hard-working single mom, including her ex-husband, who was cleared of suspicion very quickly because, like I just said, he was two hours away in Orlando.
Although detectives were unaware if there was a connection to the club that Linda had been shooting photos at on the last night of her life, again, the Suncoast Playboy Club, they questioned the girls as a precaution. But none of them had any information to share, and really, the mood at the club in the days following Linda's murder were tense. Detectives were questioning the women, and the girls were questioning the girls.
wondering if they had seen or heard anything that would have indicated that maybe there had been a man there that night who may have followed her in her car after spotting her there. But they continued to come up empty, and Linda's case rapidly turned cold.
Actually, it would remain as such until 2022, nearly 40 years later. But there is far more to the story that was being uncovered back in the 80s, because just over a month after Linda turned up murdered, another young woman fell prey to the same killers, though this wouldn't come to be known for nearly four decades. ♪
Barbara Grahams was born on October 25th, 1963. In August of 1983, 19-year-old Barbara was working as the assistant manager of a restaurant called Hot Potato, located inside the Tampa Bay Center Mall, which is now the Raymond James Stadium.
On the evening of August 18th, 1983, Barbara finished up her work shift and was walking the two miles or 3.2 kilometers along North Boulevard, which would lead her to the home that she shared with a handful of roommates.
But the following morning, Barbara was found naked from the waist down, just like Linda Lanson had been, behind a dentist's office, after she had been raped and beaten to death. And a bite mark on her cheek was the strongest evidence that they had to lead them back to her killer.
Detectives closely investigated the mark, attempting to match it back to someone that she knew. Actually, assuming a friend, maybe former boyfriend or acquaintance was responsible. Well, that's when 18-year-old Robert Dubois fell into the latter category. At the time, Robert, who was born and raised in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, was living at home and working part-time at an automotive upholstery shop.
Having known Barbara and possessing two minor nonviolent criminal charges, Robert was on the radar of police from the onset of this investigation. Which I have to say is so random. Like he had nonviolent criminal charges. He just worked at an automotive shop and he knew Barbara. Yeah, that's it. I feel like that's kind of the dumbest connection ever. Like, oh, you knew the victim. Yeah, so did a bunch of other fucking people.
Well, police got a bit tricky here because they brought him in for questioning under the guise of his mother being in legal trouble. So he readily offered up dental impressions in hopes of eliminating himself as a suspect.
Now, we've talked about bite mark impressions on the show and just how completely finicky they can be, especially back before technology really advanced. But though not a perfect match, his bite was close enough for him to be charged with murder and sexual battery. We could talk about this forever, how ridiculous this is, that your bite mark is close enough. So we're going to throw you in jail forever.
and put you on trial for murder, even though there are no other connections to you being responsible for this crime. Yeah, I mean, the only other evidence that they had, you know, against Robert was the subsequent testimony of a jailhouse informant who claimed that he had admitted to this crime. Which
Which, can we even really trust that? Because this guy probably just wants to get out of jail early, so he has a lot of motivation to lie about this. Yeah, and we see this all the time. I mean, people do this all the time. Yeah, exactly. Well, investigators believe that Robert may have had help from both Robert's brother and a mutual friend of theirs, but there was never any evidence that the other men were involved as well.
But thanks to all this quasi-evidence, in March of 1985, Robert Dubois was sentenced for Barbara's murder.
And of course, the nail in the coffin had been the expert opinion of a forensic odontologist who believed that Robert's bite mark matched the one left on Barbara's remains. And it's absolutely wild because even with this little proof that he was responsible, after Robert was convicted of attempted sexual battery and first-degree murder, the judge sentenced him to death by the electric chair. Later, Robert remembered, quote,
Well, after his conviction, Robert began a campaign to prove his innocence by appealing to newspapers, politicians, and journalists, among others, though he apparently didn't hear back from any of them.
Eventually, his defense attorney was able to commute his sentence to life in prison. So the electric chair was off the table. But still, like Robert had been proclaiming his innocence from the day of his arrest. So he obviously was not satisfied with spending life behind bars for a crime that he swore he didn't commit.
He continued to apply for parole but was denied every single time. Like everybody believed this expert opinion that his bite mark was a match to the one found on Barbara's cheek. Then finally, the Innocence Project, whom Robert had written over a decade prior, began their own investigation in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office Conviction Review Unit.
The organizations took a second look at Robert's case and followed Robert's petition to re-examine the decades-old DNA from Barbara's rape kit, which had thankfully and honestly kind of shockingly been preserved after all those years.
Yeah, I mean, because, like, a lot of times police departments will lose DNA evidence that can help solve a case later down the line. Or sometimes if the case is solved, they just get rid of shit because they're like, well, don't need this anymore. Yeah. Which is not a good practice, but it's just amazing because obviously at the time, DNA technology was not advanced enough to actually test his DNA against what was found at the scene. And now that they had the ability to do this...
The DNA from the rape kit was tested against Robert's DNA, and it wasn't even a match. Imagine spending all of this time in prison and...
finding out that, I mean, he knew the whole time, but just everybody else finding out like, hey, it wasn't Robert. His DNA was not a match. Which is so depressing that all this time he's like, I didn't do it. I didn't do it. And they're like, sure you didn't. They're like, oh yeah, well, we checked your bite mark, buddy. So. Yeah, right. Exactly. Which is such bullshit. But here's the thing. So it wasn't a match for Robert.
But there was a match for two other criminals, both of whom were present in the CODIS database, meaning they had committed a crime before, and they were actually already in prison for other crimes. Found on the towel atop Linda's body contained the DNA of Linda, but also of serial killers Amos Robinson and Abram Scott.
So 55-year-old Robert Dubois was released from prison three days later, but not before serving 37 years for his alleged crime. I mean...
Just thinking about the fact that he was arrested when he was only 18 years old. He spent all of these prime years locked away in prison, away from his family and friends. And the joys of life, knowing every single day that he didn't hurt Barbara, is just like 37 years is so long. Yeah, and I mean, it doesn't happen often.
as much nowadays because nowadays we have a lot of testing that will help either rule somebody out or help convict someone. But back in the 80s, you know, you could go to prison and potentially spend your life in prison when you didn't commit the crime. It's honestly so sad. And especially when you realize that there are so many people right now, probably, that are behind bars.
for something that they didn't do either. It's just a fucked up situation. That's why the Innocence Project is so amazing because it's not like they're just picking anybody out of a line. They're really just trying to make sure that people are not in prison if they didn't do the crime. Which is why it took them like over a decade to get to Robert Dubois' case. Well, on August 26th, 2021,
Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren announced, quote,
Regarding Amos and Abram, the two horrific monsters who had really been responsible for the despicable murder of Barbara, they had done way more than what they did to her. She had not been their first victim, nor would she be their last.
In fact, Amos and Abrams' last murder took place on the same day that Robert was arrested. Both men had extensive criminal histories, and by the time they were linked via DNA to Barbara's murder, like I said, they were already in prison, but they were actually both serving life sentences for murdering a 33-year-old man from Honduras.
To the surprise of law enforcement, between July 10th when Linda Lanson was found and October 27th when they were arrested, Amos and Abram went on a crime spree that claimed at least four lives. ♪
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Carlos Orellana moved to the States from Honduras in the 1970s and worked as a shoe salesman and an office manager.
On October 21st, 1983, so three months after the murder of Linda Lanson and two months after the murder of Barbara Grams, as Carlos was leaving a bar on West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, Amos and Abram approached him and they beat him into unconsciousness. Once he was knocked out, they threw him into the backseat of his Toyota Celica and they drove off in it. They drove to Oldsmar, which is northwest of Tampa, and tried to pull him from the vehicle.
But when Carlos woke up and began to fight back, Amos climbed into the car and tried to run him over. Abran then continued to beat and strangle Carlos as this happened, before dropping him in the road and getting into the car with Amos. The pair then struck him with his own vehicle, trapping him face down beneath it. So ultimately and terrifyingly, his cause of death was asphyxiation.
And to make matters even worse, his car then got stuck in the sand on the side of the road with Carlos's body lodged underneath of it. As the men struggled to free themselves, a truck with two more men stopped to help them. You know, very much thinking that these normal men had gotten their car stuck and very much unaware that a dead man's body was concealed beneath. That's crazy. Yeah, then actually the four of them were
were able to dislodge the vehicle, but these other two men just had no idea that Carlos was underneath the vehicle. So after the men left, Amos and Abram covertly stashed Carlos's body in the woods, and that's where it was found days later.
Now, stupidly, Amos could even be seen driving Carlos' car around the area in the days following his murder. So, this dumbass is just driving around in a stolen car as if he's not going to be connected to the guy that they just murdered. Then, when two friends climbed in for a ride in the days that followed, they noticed an ABBA cassette tape
which Amos claimed was his, as well as bloodstains and credit cards that bore Carlos' name, proving that the vehicle was not his after all. After their arrest, the two also were charged with the murder of Herminia Castro, but the charges were sadly dropped due to the lack of evidence.
57-year-old Herminia Castro had been locked in the trunk of her car, which was a blue 1973 Dodge Swinger, and it was set on fire, with her body being found September 5, 1983, about two weeks after Barbara was found. A widowed mother of six, Herminia was described as kind and easygoing. On the morning of September 5, 1983, she failed to return home after visiting a relative in West Tampa.
So, similar to what the men must have done to Linda Lanson, they likely pulled her over to rob her and they wound up killing her. Now, after her remains turned up in her charred car, a woman who crossed paths with Amos in the aftermath of Hermenia's murder recalls hearing him say, quote, I mean, these guys are just such pieces of shit.
So the two were questioned in regards to her murder and suspected to be responsible. But to the frustration of her family, the charges against them were dropped for lack of evidence.
Amos and Abram were arrested on October 27th, 1983. And according to Amos Robinson's defense team, he suffered from a low IQ, estimated around 60 at the highest. And the U.S. average is 97, by the way. So they say that this led him to commit crimes without knowing that they were morally wrong.
So I was essentially right that he was a complete dumbass. Oh, I mean, for sure. But also, I hate when they use defenses like this because, oh, he has too low of an IQ to understand that what he did was wrong, so he shouldn't be punished to the fullest extent. Like, no, you're killing multiple people. And I guess, you know, we do see this sometimes in criminal cases where people are dealing with mental health issues and they really don't know
from wrong, but it just seems like he's just low IQ and he does know right from wrong. Yeah, I mean, I think that quote that you just read said a lot. Yeah, I put that bitch out of her misery. Like, you know what you're doing. Well, on top of saying that he had a low IQ, they also detailed for the court that they had very troubled childhoods. Like both of these men had
poor childhoods. Like, for example, Abram sustained multiple severe head injuries as a boy, including being pushed out of a car by his brother, being hit over the head by a baseball bat, and being beaten by men his father, who is described as a raging alcoholic, was dating. Jeez. I mean, now I kind of feel a little bad. Fuck. I'm sure that sustained some damage for sure. And
And obviously, I understand why this is being brought up. It is relevant to an extent, but you're still a horrific criminal. And then they talked about that he started drinking in his early teen years, even showing up to school drunk. And eventually he dropped out of school or out of high school, rather, which only gave way to drugs and petty crime before he reached the age of 18.
After being placed in a group home, he crossed paths with fellow delinquent Amos Robinson, who became the ringleader and instigator of their two-man criminal operation.
To no surprise, Amos' violent nature emerged at a very young age as well. Like, he once sent his sister to the hospital after cracking a vase over her head, which is precisely the type of act that made his relatives describe him as devilish. He even once told a family member that he took a sick satisfaction in seeing others in pain.
And disgustingly, he had a long history of harming animals. But he started out his human crimes by snatching women's purses and staging robberies by age 15. And by 18, he had served prison time for his first rape.
While in the courtroom, Amos told Carlos' family simply, quote, In addition to the murders of Linda, Barbara, Carlos, and Herminia, the men are suspected in the murder of at least one more victim claimed by the Summer of Hell.
Because the same month that Carlos was murdered, 14-year-old Rose Haney was found dead in a wooded area of Oldsmar, mere yards from where Carlos' body was discarded. But to this day, her murder remains unsolved.
Now, as we know, Linda's murder was cold for three more decades, and the wrong person took the fall for Barbara's, losing nearly 40 years of his life to his prison sentence. But the men stayed quiet, even though they too were locked up for life. Yeah, they could have easily said, okay, we did...
We committed these murders too. You're already in prison for life. You're not getting out. And one really crazy thing about Robert is the fact that police probably thought that he was this serial killer running around killing girls and women in Tampa because they stopped after he went to prison. But little did they know, it was these two assholes that went to prison and that's why the murders stopped. It's actually so crazy because you are 100% correct.
Well, in their 1984 trial, Abram Scott's own attorney, Gary Hewitson, told the court, quote, It was a stupid, senseless act committed by a person who does not have the intelligence to understand what went on.
At times, I feel like we're dealing with a dumb animal. Okay, but it's like they're almost describing him like he's an imbecile, you know? Yeah. And maybe he is to some extent, but this is a man who can speak. He can live his life. He's made it this far. They're really trying to make it seem like, oh, he's just so dumb, right?
He just didn't know what he was doing. Yeah, it's like, oh, well, you know, he could easily just like walk onto some train tracks and get hit by a train. That's how dumb he is. He couldn't have murdered somebody. It's like, no, he did. I always think it's really funny when defense attorneys like shit on their clients to make
to make it seem like, see, God, he's just so dumb, you know, or like, he's just so, like, I think it is hilarious when they do that, but it's honestly a tactic. It is. It really is. Well, the jury deliberated for just 20 minutes before assigning the death penalty. Yeah, because they knew. Yeah. And ironically, they were awaiting their fates on death row at the same time as Robert Dubois. And like Robert, both of their sentences were eventually commuted to life in prison.
Amos Robinson, who was later outed by Abram Scott as the ringleader of their operation, actually committed two more murders behind bars. The murders of two of his fellow inmates, one of which took place in 1998, and the other which took place in 2004. So this guy really does not, he really did not learn his lesson.
The first was the murder of fellow prisoner Arturi Vera, who Amos had entered into a sexual relationship with, which Arturi was simply trying to end when Amos killed him out of spite.
And the second was when Amos beat his cellmate, saying when to death during a sexual encounter. I mean, both very sad situations. I mean, just horrible, yeah. Well, though no longer on death row, Amos Robinson is currently serving three life sentences for charges of kidnapping, robbery, and first-degree murder. And Abram Scott is serving a life sentence for the same charges.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren announced, quote, these men are serial murderers and rapists, and although they're already serving a life sentence, their crimes against Barbara Grahams and Linda Lanson cannot and will not go unpunished.
When questioned, Amos denied any knowledge of or involvement in the two additional murders of Barbara and Linda. Of course, I mean, how can we expect this horrific piece of shit to do the right thing? But I will say, initially feigning ignorance as well, Abram Scott was the one who eventually broke down and pleaded guilty to the murders of Linda and Barbara. And he even offered a tearful apology for
Investigators believe that both women fell prey to extreme examples of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As Linda was believed to have been driving home when she, you know, came upon Amos and Abram in the street. And then when they saw her, they pulled her over, raped and murdered her, and then discarded her body to be found by the pedestrian.
The men were charged with Barbara Graham's murder in 2022 as well, but neither trial has happened yet for Amos Robinson, as both Linda and Barbara's are currently slated for March of 2026, with Abram Scott expected to be the star witness in his testimony against his former co-conspirator.
When asked by a prosecutor why the senseless murders occurred in the first place, Abram told her simply, quote, Which, like, it's great you're at least coming forward and admitting responsibility alongside Amos, but you were also there and a part of the unthinkable actions against these innocent women, so, like...
Just explain. Like, you don't know? Like, what do you mean, bro? You were there. Yeah, at this point in time, like, you should just, like, lay it all out for everybody to see. The jig is up.
Well, after their connection to Linda's murder was established and Abram admitted to his misdeeds, he issued a statement begging forgiveness from Linda's family, saying, quote, I want you to know sincerely, willingly, and humbly, I apologize for my participation in the crimes committed against your loved ones. I ask you to please forgive me.
In response, Linda's daughter Dessa said, Later publicly, she said,
Linda's niece, Linda Sheffield, echoed this by saying, quote,
She then added, quote, quote,
Now, when it comes to Robert Dubois, he filed a lawsuit regarding his wrongful conviction, and he actually received $14 million in restitution. However, he admits, quote,
Meanwhile, the following year, yet another Playboy connection fell prey to the violence that was gripping Tampa at the time. Though whether or not her employment at the Playboy Club was involved is still a mystery. And honestly, this aspect of this case is one of the most shocking pieces of it. So at the time...
police announced that they didn't believe any of the cases were related. And though we know now that at least four of the casualties from that summer were at the hands of Amos Robinson and Abram Scott, this particular murder that I'm about to go into could not have been committed by the men because they were already detained for the murder of Carlos when it occurred. But still, let's dive into what we know about this other case.
At 6 p.m. on July 23rd, 1984, a year after Linda Lanson was murdered...
Former Playboy Bunny, Carolyn Merricks, who went by Bunny Shonda at the Suncoast Club, the very woman that we spoke about earlier who won the Bunny of the Year contest that Linda Lanson photographed, was found murdered inside her home. That's just such a wild detail. It's crazy on so many levels, but you also think about how a year earlier when Linda Lanson was murdered,
Carolyn and all the other women, all the other bunnies at the club, at this club, were terrified that they could be next. And then a year later, the woman who won the freaking contest, Carolyn Merricks, is murdered. So then this really shocked all the bunnies because even though by this time the club was closed, this was a terrifying development.
But before anybody found out that she was killed, her sister Beverly stopped by her apartment in the Queensmark apartment complex in South St. Petersburg after not having heard from her in a few days. And inside, Beverly found her sister's body in the living room of her apartment.
Carolyn had been stabbed over a dozen times in the chest and may have been dead for as long as two days by that time. Tampa Police Department Sergeant William Sanders noted, quote,
Their suspicion was that the perpetrator had been a man that Carolyn had been seeing romantically, but with no inkling as to who that was, her friends and family just really couldn't help. So on their own here, police interviewed about a hundred of her friends, family members, and acquaintances, including some friends and former co-workers from the Suncoast Club.
But they were unable to find any connection to her murder. So with no developments to speak of, this case quickly went cold, where it remains today. According to her fellow former bunnies, as discussed in the Playboy Murder Season 3 episode on this very story, it's episode 2, Terror at the Suncoast Club,
Carolyn was very private and she seemed to want to keep her personal life separated from her work life in order to keep herself and her child safe. So because of this, most of the women that she was working closely with didn't even know that she was a mother. They didn't know where she lived. They didn't know where she was from, which just made everything so much harder because they really couldn't offer any assistance to investigators just like they couldn't in Linda's case a year earlier.
After the closure of the Suncoast Club, Carolyn was working as a cocktail waitress at a resort on Tierra Verde Island off the southern tip of St. Petersburg. But she had studied theater at a young age and loved being in the spotlight despite her very private nature. So one fellow bunny claimed that after the closure of the club, Carolyn was working as a cocktail waitress at a resort on Tierra Verde Island.
Despite her penchant for secrecy, Carolyn was known as warm, gregarious, and well-liked, and had many friends. So it was anyone's guess who could have been responsible for such a heinous act against such a beloved young woman in the Playboy scene.
The identity of Carolyn's murderer is still a mystery, and it's not linked to the murders of Linda and Barbara as we know. So her story needs a ton of attention so that she and her family can have some closure into why their loved one was taken from them.
If you have any information about the murder of Carolyn Merricks, please call the Tampa Police Department Unsolved Homicides Unit at 813-898-1435. And there is much more to discuss. So without further ado, let's have a little interview with Holly Madison. ♪
As we mentioned in the beginning of this episode of Going West, the Playboy Murders is back for another season. So congrats on that. Thank you. Third season. And it's really amazing because so many of the stories on this season and your other seasons are so deeply under discussed. And we feel like that's really important on our show as well, just covering lesser known stories to help bring them to the light. And you guys are bringing them to the light in such a powerful way. How do you find these cases?
Well, the first season, the cases were already picked when the show was pitched to me. And at first I didn't want to do it because it was called the Playboy Murders. And I'm like, I don't want to do another Playboy project. Like I'm up to my ears and that stuff. But they sent the deck over and I hadn't heard of most of the cases in season one. And I was super intrigued by it. And I was somebody who grew up like loving and watching unsolved mysteries. Like I love a good mystery. I'm super intrigued by true crime. So I was like, I would actually watch this show. So I definitely want to be involved. And, you know, I've
It's been so rewarding these past three seasons. So with the Playboy murders, I mean, it's so, so well done. And you bring such a personal lens to the show. Does that connection ever make it kind of harder to tell some of these stories? I don't know about harder to tell. I kind of have to pace myself with it a little bit. Like if too much Playboy stuff is out there, things that, you know, trigger me, whether it's like the media or other projects, I'll have to like pace myself doing this. But really what I like to do is try to tell the victimization
and portray them in the most well-rounded way possible and have people know more about them than just the fact that they were a victim or that they worked for a Playboy. So that feels good. You know, it's tragic that the story has to be told at all, but to get in and get to know the person better, like that feels good to me. And I just try to tap into if I were this person, what would I want about myself to be known other than that I was the victim of this crime or that I worked for Playboy. So it's rewarding because of that.
So it's not as heavy sometimes as I think it could be otherwise. How did you first learn about some of these cases? I know you said you were pitched the cases in the first season originally, but did you hear about any of this when you lived at the mansion? Did you know that anything had happened previous or did you learn about all of it afterwards? Some of them, but very few. There was the very famous case of Dorothy Stratton that we covered in season two. Of course, I'd heard about the
that one and there was another case we did in season two I think it was the premiere episode of season two involving a woman named Sandra Bentley and that one I had actually heard about at the dinner table at the mansion one of Hef's friends was talking about it because it only happened in
you know, right around the time I moved in. So, and it was undercovered in the press. Like you didn't hear about it a lot in the media, but one of his friends was telling me about this story. Like this story is stranger than fiction. Like you couldn't write this story. And it just always stuck in my head. So by the time we got renewed for a season two, I was like, this is one that I think would be really interesting to cover. So do you feel like you still consume some of that media or is this show kind of just like enough of the true crime for you?
These are the cases I dive really deep into. I do still consume true crime content, whether it's shows on ID or TikTokers that cover true crime. But these are the cases I really concentrate on diving deep into. Yeah, for sure. So in the episode that we covered today, we dove into a few different murders that happened during what, as you know, a police officer called the Summer of Hell. And obviously women who worked at this Playboy club died.
were terrified that they would be next because of everything that we discussed today. Obviously, I know you never worked at a Playboy club, but I know in general people really glamorize the Playboy lifestyle. And I wanted to know from your perspective,
If you think that club life was similar to what you experienced at the mansion, or do you think it was different maybe because Hugh Hefner wasn't physically there? Like, do you think he purported a lot of that or it was just the industry as a whole? I think a little bit of both. And I think it's different depending on which Playboy club they worked out. Like there was one in Chicago that was the first one. And back when Hef lived in Chicago and had his original mansion there. So he was there a lot.
His brother was there a lot. His brother selected and trained a lot of the bunnies. He was really involved in the club. So there was some of that trickle down, but by the time the club opened in the Tampa Bay area, this was like the early 80s. It was kind of like a world unto itself. I know that this bunny of the year pageant where, um,
you know, unfortunately the winner ended up being one of the victims. Like she won a prize where she got to go to the mansion for a weekend and things like that. So it was really a different world. And I can come into the show and speak to what it must've felt like to be a bunny because I worked as a bunny, not as a waitress, but at the mansion we would give tours and things like that. So I know a little bit about that.
But yeah, it's, I mean, this case in particular is kind of like a whole different world. And I can't imagine what it must have felt like living in a smaller city where all of a sudden, you know, eight people are found murdered in one summer. And it was so scary. Like you said, you know, when you covered the case earlier,
how the first victim they found was a photographer the night of the Bunny of the Year pageant and then the last victim was the winner of that same pageant. It's just so incredibly eerie and scary. Yeah, and especially like exactly almost one year later and the fact that
they were just totally different situations. Like, that's just insane that that happened. Absolutely. Do you think that maybe possibly Carolyn's murder could have been connected to like an old Playboy Club guest? Or is it just kind of hard to hard to kind of go down that rabbit hole and assume something? I try to keep my opinions, you know, out of it for the most part and just kind of let the viewer decide based on, you know, the facts we present.
but it's definitely tempting to think that because there are so many eerie connections in this case with the playboy club for sure and it you know it's sad and frustrating too because carolyn was so private about her personal life that nobody really knows you know who was this person who would have had access to her apartment yeah she has very much one of those cases where like speculation just runs rampant because you really have nothing to go on because like you said she was so private
And it's just crazy also thinking about the fact that she was amongst that group of Playboy bunnies who was so scared because it was the summer of hell and because of what happened to Linda Lanson. And then it happened to her a year later. It's just terrifying. Yeah. So scary. Now, you have spoken in depth about how controlling Hugh Hefner was. You talk about this in your book, Down the Rabbit Hole, that there were drugs in the mansion like Quaaludes or what Hef described as thigh openers.
and just in general how toxic and emotionally abusive the
the environment was. So being on the other side of it all now, is there a message that you would give yourself back then if you could now? Hold on, because it's going to be a crazy ride and take more pictures, keep more seats. You know? Yeah. I don't know what I could have told myself, though, because, you know, when you're a 19 year old woman, like you think you're a badass and can handle anything. A hundred percent. Those big dreams. Yeah. So I had a lot to learn. When did you really like decide to reclaim your own story and get justice for for other people?
Well, as far as my own story, when it happened a couple of years after I left the mansion, because I would be asked every day by just random people who would approach me, you know, how's Heft? You missed the mansion. Oh, my God. I wish you guys would have got married. And I would always say nice things just because I thought that that was the nice thing to do. And it's kind of like an easy way to, you know, get the topic over with and move on to the next thing.
But it started to feel like I was living a lie. And when you're doing that, you start to feel sick about it and you just want to like lash out and can't do it anymore. So I was really compelled to just write my book and put everything out there, which was a great move for me because now I'm not asked about it and I don't have to lie about it anymore. I can just
be honest and then working on these cases has been really rewarding as well because I really want to tell the women's stories because I know what it feels like to be swept under the rug by the media or by other people trying to tell your story who just want to write you off as like some bimbo who was part of Playboy you know and I want to try and do the opposite as much as I can.
I think it's amazing that you did that, especially with people coming to you with questions and you're like, God, if only you knew. So being able to share that is amazing. And I have to say, I know, of course, you are a favorite to Hugh Hefner, but also fans of Girls Next Door alike, us included. Us included. We grew up watching it. Religiously with my sister. We loved you. You were our favorite. Thank you. And now you're obviously leading this very powerful movement to get justice for other women, just like you really did for yourself. So I really want to know how that feels and what you think
your younger self would think of the path you're on now and how you've really like made the best of your situation.
I think my younger self would love it. Like I said, I was a fan of this type of programming growing up. I never would have imagined it would have taken me here specifically. I almost had like easier goals for myself or like, I just want to host like a game show or something. You know what I mean? But this is so much better and so much more rewarding. And I hope it can make an impact, especially when we cover unsolved cases. I hope that somehow more leads can come out and people can get closure to these tragic cases.
Bye.
Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to episode 500 of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening. Thanks for sticking around through all these years with us, all the pieces of shit, or all the pieces of shits, I should say. Thanks for hanging out and listening to the Holly Madison interview. It was an absolute pleasure to interview her. She is amazing. Make sure you check out season three, episode five,
of the Playboy murders. Yes, that is going to be on ID. As you guys know, Investigation Discovery. Check it out. It came out yesterday. So the season or the episode covering this case will come out next week. But check it out. It's truly such a great show. So well done. Thank you guys for being here with us. And we will see you for episode 501 on Friday. Love you guys so much. And for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger.
So
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