The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

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Unknown Speaker 0:26
Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan. I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me. Here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics, and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started.

Unknown Speaker 0:53
Welcome to another Sunday morning with the scoop. I'm your host, Tanya Flanagan. And I'm so excited that you're up this morning to talk with me. I am welcoming to the show today, an old friend and a new acquaintance to talk about a gripping novel that's out in bookstores today. You can put it on your shelf, if you like it's called St bloodbath written by Frederick Douglass, Reynolds. And this subject. It's about it's just like a true crime novel folks. And it's near and dear to me. I used to be a cop reporter. When I first moved here to Las Vegas, I worked for the review journal and I cover police and fire. So a different type of understanding of law enforcement and police work. So I'm excited to talk today about what really is going on in the minds of the characters in the book, the author of the book, and how true crime really works in in cases evolve. So join me in welcoming author Frederick Douglas Reynolds. Who wrote St. bloodbath to the show. Frederick Good morning.

Unknown Speaker 2:01
Good morning. I'm glad to have you back. Glad to be here on this beautiful Sunday morning.

Unknown Speaker 2:05
Thank you for joining me. He is also on with we have retired Long Beach police detective Mark McGuire. Good morning, Mark.

Unknown Speaker 2:15
Good morning. Good morning.

Unknown Speaker 2:18
That is the type of voice we want to hear on a Sunday morning. So both of them are retired from law enforcement. And Mark is with us because he's the subject. He's the detective in this book. So so we can lay a little foundation. Fred, why don't you give us a quick overview, or either one of you who wants to take a give us a quick overview of what the story is. So we can put things in context for our listening audience.

Unknown Speaker 2:47
Okay, the story is about the massacre of five homeless people in the city of Long Beach in 2006. And those murders eventually tied into an additional murder. That happened three months later and in the desert area of Lancaster in 2009. And the story basically details how how the investigators responded to the scene how they ended up collaborating with with another agency because there's two different agencies involved the llambias police department, and the LA County Sheriff's Department who investigated the murder in the desert. So the story basically talks about the interagency cooperation between the two agencies and how the Long Beach Police Department initiated the investigation and also eventually helped the sheriff's department solve their case.

Unknown Speaker 3:47
Okay, so I think that lays a foundation. So for those of you who love to watch, like 48 hours, this is really the real deal. This book is the book is great. Let's talk a little bit about how one finds themselves taking the life path both of you have taken and then ending up in law enforcement and then choosing to write a story about these murders. And you mentioned it's of homeless people in the city of Long Beach. And a lot of times we feel like crime, places value on the lives of people depending on their lifestyle. So I was looking at a little bit of your background. And interestingly enough, you have a second book called black, white and gray all over which is I believe your first book, and it's a memoir, so in there you share and I learned from reading the intro the same bloodbath. A lot of times I will read the foreword, let me be honest, this time, because I knew mark and I've known him for a number of years as a homicide detective from my reporting days and just as friends. I read the foreword. And then I began to which was a lot of information that I was like, Huh, what am I gonna do with this. And I began to read the story some several chapters in today, before talking with you, I just happened to go back to the foreword again. And as I read that it really laid the groundwork for me, talks about you being homeless, and growing up in Detroit, in Detroit in the Motor City, becoming homeless, later working in security and eventually finding your way into law enforcement. How does that lead to writing a book and then having the discipline to write a book like this?

Unknown Speaker 5:36
You know, I had a difficult a difficult upbringing. You know, I grew up in Detroit, really rough area of the city. And I was I had a rough home life. And I started hanging out in the streets with, you know, with the wrong crowd. And ended up dropping out of school was bumming around. And, you know, I knew that it was going to lead to incarceration or to death, right. So I just, I knew that I had to get out of that environment. So I joined the Marine Corps, which took me away. After I got out of the Marine Corps, or shortly before I got on the Marine Corps, I met met a young lady that lived in the city of Compton. And when I eventually got out of the Marine Corps, you know, we were married, and things didn't work out with us. I couldn't go back to Detroit. I didn't have a home out here in California. So I didn't have any source of income. So I was homeless for a little while, I slept in my car, stepping on my movie theaters, until I got a job working in security. And that led to me working in the city of Compton as a police officer, because I had a connection with Compton because of my ex wife. It was a rough, it was a rough going from me. But once I got into law enforcement, it was good for me help help provide a life for me. And the two children that I had, with my ex wife, they also cause me to, to look at homelessness was a new outlook. Cuz I know a lot of people just look over homeless people, or as we call them nowadays, the on house. But but they each have a story. There's a there's a story behind all of us. And and a lot of times these people, they, they're in these situations because they have no choice. And when when I started writing this book I lived in as my career progressed, I ended up meeting Mark McGwire, who was one of the investigators in this book, and we've worked several cases together. No, I'm really well. And we the murders of the five homeless people in 2000, and occurred approximately less than a mile from where I was living at. At the time, I knew some of these homeless people. I bought some of them food on occasion, I gave them money from time to time, two of them, two of them were well, one of them, at least what format for the unit that I was working at, at the time, because I worked in the city of Carson, which is right next to where they were murdered. So I had a really, really good connection with the people. And and, you know, I was devastated that it happened. And I was able to to assist detective McGuire because my team, like I said had a connection tool. So I had a I had a strong grasp on the case. And it also affected me deeply because because of my background I had been homeless for not far from where I lived. And now it's one of the people charged with investigating the case is one of my dearest friends. Right.

Unknown Speaker 9:29
So that's that's quite the twist. And I think that's what grabbed me. You know, I'm into the book I'm reading. And then today I just happened to go back and glance at this forward and I'm like, Oh, wait, he was homeless. So yeah. And then it tied to Marx. I think there's a there's a portion of the book where it's like, in this book, you you acknowledge the value. And it made me want to ask you mark if there was a code of ethics and honor as a homicide detective. So at one point, Fred is homeless. And he becomes a police officer ends up working homicide, you become a police officer end up working homicide. These people are homeless. But you're it's almost like you have this code of ethics that everyone's a valuable person. And everyone's case deserves to be worked. And so this book just reels into the details of that. And there's so much humor. Let me let me compliment you for it. Because I've known Mark for, I used to be a reporter for a short while, at the Long Beach press telegram. And that's how I met detective McGuire. I was working on a story. And his humors always been drying, he's very direct. And so if anyone knows his personality, you know how dry it's dark? Is no nonsense. If you're not ready, it's like a slug to the chest. Right? So as I'm reading your book, I'm like, well, he should have kept that personality. good and honest. And so some parts of it. Like, it's dark, but I found myself laughing. And so on the one side Mark, I want to ask you about your code of ethics and how you work a case. But real quick to Fred. Is the humor accidental? Or is it intentional? Or is it just because I might have a different bit of insight into this lead character for this book? And I don't think I've ever known a lead character of a book like this.

Unknown Speaker 11:24
No, it's, it's absent. intentional, because one of the things that I wanted to do as much realism to the book as I could, right. And Homicide investigators see so much travel tragedy, we see so many horrific things. Right? You know, when you look this the, you know, the quote, you know, Nietzsche, but you have to be able to balance that horror and that devastation with humor. And every homicide investigator does it.

Unknown Speaker 12:11
So Mark was sent you I mean, it ties into your code of ethics, but it ties into your character, this book, really, I think it just honestly captures how you respond to just life because I know you. So how did you come? How does it feel to be the focus of a book?

Unknown Speaker 12:35
Well, um, it was an honor for me, for Fred to ask, to write the book. And I've had other offers to write a book about this case of five homeless people murdered in the city of Long Beach. But I knew Fred, I've known Fred for quite a while. And after he wrote black and white and gray all over, that's still the deal for me, as far as how he captures things, how he, how he writes, and he puts you inside of the book or their circumstances in the book. And after I read black and white and gray all over, and I know him as well, as he knows me, I would think we're both Scorpios, by the way, and don't let him fool you, Tanya, he's exactly like me. It's actually kind of scary, that we're this close. He could be another McGuire brother, but that's another story. But when I worked at case, you know, and what really set me apart from other other homicide detectives or detectives is that I treat all my cases the same. I tried to put myself in the victim's family shoes. And one of the things that helped me do that was when Daryl black got killed in 2000. That sets the tone for me to work every case, like it was a family member. And my secret if there is one is that I try to find somebody of the family of the deceased to work for. To carry on, you know, the justice for the for the deceased person and for the family. So I work every case exactly the same. Everybody gets the same treatment, they get the same level of intensity when I'm working a case so it is it is my coat. Um, homicide is a special job, you know, we speak for the dead. And we're supposed to search the end of the earth for the suspect. And that's what I tried to do. And Fred is exactly the same. You know, when we met back in the 90s, we were working gangs, and we worked our gang cases the same way and then it segwayed into work and murder. are working homicide. So that's, that's why. And then with my work ethic, you know, the way I was raised by pops, and you know, to do the right thing, to take care of people, that all part of my personality, and to deal with the horror that we see in some of the stuff that we see, humor is a huge plays a huge part in coping with that, as you know.

Unknown Speaker 15:24
Yes, I remember sometimes having conversations with you, and I urge you to be careful. And your comeback was always like, let me do this random thing. I can lose my life any day just going to work. And it was always really sobering when you would say that to me. And at the time, I think I was a few years out of being a homicide cop reporter doing you know, police and firemen. And Las Vegas is another landscape that's really colorful when it comes to, to police work. Going back to the days of how, you know, things started here, the stories of bodies in the desert and just other stuff. It's a really colorful place that no matter what seems to happen in the world, almost. It's like the people touch Las Vegas. It's crazy like that. So I, I see stories from the inside, even now I watch things on the news. And I can almost hear what your reaction is gonna be to certain stories, like kidnappings that aren't really kidnappings or disappearing people who make up things that they you know, were abducted, it's like, there's more to that story. So there's so much that goes into police work. And I think this book is just a great tale story. And I wonder if that if that homeless component, why this story, why not like, friend, you're a police officer, you're in this in this space, Mark, you're in this space. There's so many stories you could have told, but this is the story that you chose.

Unknown Speaker 16:56
Let me go first, Fred and and you can. It was the pinnacle case of my career, because it was what we call a who done it. You know, we had no suspects, we had nothing, just just a bunch of victims in an ugly crime scene. So it was a who've done it. And then as we started, we mean in when I say we, Long Beach PD, the forensic people, LA County Sheriff's lab, coroner's office, it's all a team, including the witnesses that we had to interview. It's all one big team trying to solve this case. And I had to use every bit of my my skill set as a policeman, and as the person to solve this case, you know, working with other agencies, California Department of Corrections is involved as well. So LA County Probation. So it was my biggest case, because we had nothing. And then we went from nothing to you know, getting a suspect or two, and then putting it all together. And then the LA County share, Link Los Angeles Lancaster case became a part of it. And then it grew even more. And it took it took a cop the case in November of 2008. And we didn't file it until two and a half, three years later. I'm not going to give up a lot of that, because I'd like to want people

Unknown Speaker 18:30
to read the book. Yes, yes. Right. Read the book or watch the story unfold. Absolutely. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 18:36
It wasn't one of the greatest one of my greatest investigations that I've ever done simply because when you do a case like this, and we knew it was going to be a potential death penalty case. You know, you have to follow rules, you can't have any shenanigans. And you got to make sure everything is right. And that's what this case was for me. And I was able to give those five families some justice. Now Fred can tell you what, why he picked it.

Unknown Speaker 19:10
And tell me for it when you do. I'm often curious about what motivates a person to name a book the way they you know what they do call it? Yours is st blood bath. And so why don't you pick the story? Why don't you name it st. Blood BAP Can you tell us that I was that part of the twist? We need to read the book?

Unknown Speaker 19:30
Yeah, I'll I'll answer the first the second question first. I can't reveal why the title. The basis or the reason why I picked that particular title without telling a large part of the

Unknown Speaker 19:47
story. That's fair.

Unknown Speaker 19:50
As far as that I wanted to write about this story, a lot of different things. played a part into it. Like I said, I I knew some of the victims I interacted with some of the victims, I bought food for some of the victims, one of the victims actually worked for my team, when I was the supervisor of the gang unit in the city of Carson wood, right next door to long, I live less than a mile from where the murders that. I knew McGuire is a friend of mine at work cases with him before and also knew his partner on this case. So I'm gonna tip my cap to as well you go Cortez, I have worked cases with him as well. The Sheriff's Department of Personnel, Martin Rodriguez, and Bobby have worked with them when I worked there. So I had a good grasp everything connected with this as far as the victims as far as the investigators, as far as the location. Right. Additionally, this was the largest mass murder in the history of the city of Long Beach. And like you mentioned before, Tanya, earlier in this interview, a lot of times people like this are glossed over. Right, right. Homeless people they don't know is here today gone. Tomorrow when this story first happened, it was a huge story when when when the powers that be when local government thought that they were part of a serial killer. So mad man, a woman going around, you know, killing serial killing homeless people, right? That's a big one. Maguire's partner determined that out of serial killers, you know, it's, it's a murder, horrible as it may be, but it's a murder to have the street. Right? Now, all of a sudden, no, no one cares about these people. It's more. Right. And that's what I get. That's why I was trying to quit credit for because to them, it didn't matter. They work the case the same from beginning to end. And it didn't matter whether a killer was responsible, or whether it was

Unknown Speaker 22:04
within a bank. And I want to say in your in your story, you do a really great job of introducing these people to your readership, right, of giving them personality and color and details. So that we begin to, because when you first read, and I'm gonna be honest, you're reading about dead homeless people. So you're like, is this where we're staying? Are we going anywhere else, and then you start to realize, okay, he's really showing you who these people are. And it also raises your sensitivity level to think about how people end up there. And like you said, when we first began to talk, everyone has a story. And you realize, you know, this homeless person is someone's mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, cousin, friend, wife, it's a person, it's not just a dead person, but they wore multiple titles and hats to someone, despite the circumstance of where their life is, at this point. They could have any one of these various titles, and they matter to someone. And you really brought that out that while the struggle was there's a lot of homeless people in Long Beach who get killed that make this the most interesting winding police investigation over a three year period. Until the charges are filed, here's who is watching what happens. And here's who cares about these people. And this is why this matters. Looking back of all the things you've been through cases you've worked, how it has enhanced your life affected your life, would you do anything differently? Would you be in law enforcement of what you have done something different?

Unknown Speaker 23:58
I wouldn't change a thing.

Unknown Speaker 24:00
That's beautiful for it.

Unknown Speaker 24:03
I wouldn't change a thing either, because, you know, the butterfly effect is real, right. And I affect it, a great many people during my career for the better. Right. That's what was able, I was able to bring closer to a lot of families, I was able to take a lot of bad people off the streets is, and I'm sure Mark shares my exact feelings in regard to that issue. But one thing that you brought up that I need to I need to touch on was how the victims in this case were humanized. That, to me, that was the single most important part of this book. I didn't I didn't want a reader to pick up this book and just read about five dead people or six people. How the investigators caught who killed Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 24:55
and I see that because you spent a great deal of time in the beginning of the book, like laying the groundwork in and giving us that painting the story. Yes, we are coming down. I want to make sure people know where to find if you ever have if you're one of those people who loves a who done it. But you like real life stuff. This is a true crime story st bloodbath by Frederick Douglas Reynolds, starring the Mark McGwire. But it's a true crime story. And I want people to know where they can find it. So and you are, let me just mention, have won several awards for this book. So where can people get their hands on it? And if they want to start to see more stuff from you, and Mark, I don't know if you in your celebrity status, we're starting to get into your social space. But I know you've got some other platforms out there, you're being vocal on we can share those for at work and people get to get their hands on the book, and how can they follow you and get more?

Unknown Speaker 25:52
Okay, the book is available through Amazon, and also through Barnes and Noble. The first book, black, white, and gray all over is available through those two, two vendors as well. Okay, my website is is Frederick D reynolds.com. And like I said, But I'm proud of both books, I actually think the same bloodbath is probably a better book, even though black, white and gray all over as 122 Book Awards. But I see that many in the future for foresight, bloodbath. So Amazon and Barnes for both books.

Unknown Speaker 26:36
Awesome. Mark, I know you got some stuff going on any? are we given up social handles today,

Unknown Speaker 26:42
be on IG, you can follow me with the book thing, bloodbath, and I gotta say this before I go. You know, I've known Fred for however many years. And he is my mentor and one of my closest friends in life. And we've been through hell and back. So when he wrote black and white and gray all over, and then he wanted to write St. bloodbath, I have to say this. I couldn't have picked a better person in the world, to capture the story, and to capture my personality. So I had to say that I got to say that every time I get interviewed, just so people know, you know,

Unknown Speaker 27:26
and I have to close on that because I have to close on that because I know you and Fred, I don't know you. But I rent this and I'm like, that is Mark McGwire for it like I you know, having my police background, my reporter background and just because I've known Mark for years as a friend, he's one of my closest friends I was excited to to have this opportunity to see his life in writing this way to see his life historian aspect of it a segment shown to me the the intensity of the work that goes into working a case, I'm telling you, if you like Who done it's in, like real life stuff. Yeah, I think the reality TV is was that reality TV is cool. To take a look at real life work, and how a story unravels and what happens in these five people, what happens to their life, and then how its told how they were living homeless, they die, but then how they matter in their death, and how justice is brought to the families and just to see how it all works. So st. bloodbath. Detective, Mark McGuire is a big focus in this book. He's an interesting character to get to know. You were going to tell us you have an Instagram page. Where's What's that social handle McGuire

Unknown Speaker 28:50
at DW drummer 90,

Unknown Speaker 28:52
at BW, drummer 90, and you can get more in Frederick Douglas Reynolds at his website, Frederick D reynolds.com. I want to thank both of you for hanging out with me this morning for grabbing a cup of java and just sitting and talking about st bloodbath. It's been a pleasure to have you on scoop. So thank you.

Unknown Speaker 29:11
Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Unknown Speaker 29:13
Until next time, thank you folks for tuning in and have a wonderful Sunday. I want to thank you for tuning into the scoop with me telling you Flanagan and I want to invite you to get social with me I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle TA in YAFL a na GA N You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya almond eyes Flanagan and if you have a thought and opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tanya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai