The Reporter Who Got a Killer to Confess - Greg Floyd

Hey, everyone, this is Greg Floyd. Who? Viral. Viral Greg Floyd.

I will.

If any questions come out, I will ask them. I don't know if you can see them or not, Greg.

I don't see anything yet.

Okay, well, I'll do it. So tell us this before we get started, since my timing is. I guess my timing is off. What's the top news story right now? Just from a national point of view?

Diddy.

Oh, Diddy.

Diddy and the shutdown.

Diddy and the Shutdown. So what did you report on with Diddy?

Just the last minute efforts to try to get some leniency on his part.

So I know that he. Well, you tell me. You're the one who just did the news, so you tell me. What is it?

Oh, he put on a video, kind of stressing what a family man he is and all his philanthropic good deeds, you know, looking for some leniency.

Okay. Do you think that's gonna work? No, you don't. So apparently, according to a. I mean, a legacy media respected source, Daily Mail, apparently he booked a speaking gig next week in Miami.

Wow, that's confidence.

So he's feeling confident. Okay, so let me. I'm gonna move over so I can see. Hold on one second. So I can see any questions that are coming in for anyone. There you are. Okay, good. Okay, now I have the live chat as well. All right. Okay. So everyone's saying hello to you. Hello. Hello, Hello. And Michelle says it's Molly's guy. Greg. Yes. Okay. Manny sees it now we see everyone here. Okay. Louise pointing out that I did say 12:45 in one email, but everything else. Okay, Chris, I'm waiting to hear what Diddy's sentence will be. Can you imagine if he goes 3, 17 years? Wait, did they already announce it? But it will be a lot less.

I'm seeing the judge did say that Combs is not remorseful, but I don't think a number has come down yet.

Oh, okay.

Wow.

This. What do you think would be the. How are you. Where are you seeing your source about Diddy? Where are you getting your breaking news on that?

I just saw an ABC News alert.

Oh, okay. All right. I'm looking at cnn. Okay, so one person just asked, what is it like to be Molly's guy? That's our first hard hitting news question.

What's it like to be in a relationship with you?

I guess that's the question.

Wonderful. Sometimes challenging because you're always going a mile a minute. You know, you are. You are a dynamo.

Is that PR spin that you threw that in on the end.

No, that's what that. That's what the challenge is. Keeping up with you.

Okay. Keeping up with me? See, everybody's laughing at that.

Every day is wonderful.

Elizabeth saying, we know Molly's a lovable delight.

Yeah, That's a good.

Okay. Wow. That's.

Wow.

I'm. I'm still a little. I'm still a little shook by that one. Okay, so. So let me just go back to Sean Combs real quick. What. What do you think that he'll. What do you think he'll get here? Because who said it. Who said 17 years? Was that you or did someone in the state chat?

That wasn't me. I thought. I thought the max was a little lower than that.

Oh, the max was lower, I thought.

But, you know, I'm not following this case closely.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of more than 11 years.

11 years is what I had heard. Yeah.

While the defense had argued Combs should get no more than 14 months.

Yeah, I think it'll be closer to the prosecution's request.

To the prosecution. But you know what? This guy is luck. He's lucky. I mean, considering where this whole thing started. He was, you know, for trafficking, he was going to go someplace for a long time.

Those were potential life sentences, the two charges that he was acquitted of. So. Yeah.

Yeah. Wow.

Looking at the silver lining, at the glass half full. He's lucky. Yeah.

Okay, so we. So would you get a news alert if we found out why we were on this live?

Oh, yeah. I've got my computer on here, so. Keeping an eye on things. Yeah.

Cindy's saying I'm so irritated that his children are going to speak. I believe they are just as bad as he is. Oh, you know, some of the, like, the older sons and stuff. He's got a lot of kids. Okay, and then what's the other big story, Greg?

The government shut down.

Okay. And what was the news on that? Is it ending in November? Like, do you think it will go till November? I know you're not at Opinion Guard.

I don't think it's ending this weekend, no.

Yeah. Okay. So Manny said. Oh, my God. Wait a minute. I missed the whole thing. You're actually together? Together. What is it in my media content that so many people assumed you were either a colleague or someone that I knew? And they have no idea that we are indeed a couple?

Well, I mean, our professional lives do cross and have. You know, there's a synergy there. So maybe they just thought, you know, we were synergistic. In that fashion.

Okay.

Some charisma there, too. You know, some.

I still haven't gotten over that you call me challenging.

Well, in a nice way.

Oh, you're gonna pay for that.

Oh, boy.

Okay, so before we get into the whole case. So we are gonna. We're gonna keep watching Sean Combs to see what's happening there. But before we talk about why you went viral during the week, I wanna tell everyone I included the link at the top, but I don't think it's a hyperlink. I wanna let you know that on October 22nd and 23rd, you know, my members here know that every month we do lives all the time. We have members only lives where we chat about everything in the Vault. But we also have monthly trainings. This month's training is going to be on. We have three offerings of it. October 22nd at. Oh, my gosh, 12pm and 3pm Eastern time, and then October 23rd at 1pm Eastern time. And you can find the link in the Substack publication, the PR Breakdown publication. The link is live right now. You can sign up for it. But, Greg, it's. Do you know what the topic is? Do you even know that I'm doing a workshop in a month?

I don't know what the topic is now.

Okay, the top is what to do in the first hour of a crisis.

I call Molly McPherson. That's what I do.

Well, but if she's so challenging, that might be a little bit different. But anyone but all my substack people. So join on in. And my substack members, if you're the members of Substack, of the PR Breakdown community, the Vault, there's going to be a little bonus in there for you guys. So October 22nd, 23rd. So you'll see that. Okay, so. Oh, Manny says, challenging sleeping on the sofa, buddy. See, he knows. He knows. But then when I see sofa, I think of J.D. vance.

Oh, gosh.

Gavin Newson posted AI of J.D. vance on a couch today. Did you happen to see that?

I did not.

Okay. All right. So we are a week and a half away from this story, and probably the legs are starting to grow a little tired from a news story perspective on the son in Albany who killed his parents. But it does have life. Like, I would have to say, this story definitely had legs. The video that your station posted of you interviewing him has. Do you know what the number is right now of views?

Is it 1.3 million? 1.4 million?

Over a million views, Greg. It's over a Million views. And you and I were talking about this story last Tuesday. Right. Is when we first had a conversation about it. And now is when I'm getting all the texts from my friends and people I know saying, wait a minute, that Greg is your Greg. That's the same Greg. You know, they're all seeing it right now. Cause it went viral. So Greg, bring us back to. Or actually, what's the update right now for anyone who's not familiar with the story? Greg, why don't you just do like a quick, quick synopsis and then give us an update.

Oh, sure. The very quick recap is that last Tuesday, Tuesday of last week, police descended on this quiet neighborhood in Albany. You know, dozens of police cars, a major search, and then they started searching in the backyard. They were only telling us that it was a financial crimes investigation. And then after one day, they found a set of human remains in the backyard. After two days, they found two bodies in the backyard. And the belief was that an elderly couple had been killed and buried in the backyard. Suspicion immediately fell on the son of the elderly couple, 53 year old man now, but it turns out that this happened in 2017, eight years ago. They've been buried in that backyard for eight years. Police held a news conference on Thursday of last week at which time they announced the discovery of the two bodies, that no arrests had been made. And, and the son, after that news conference, contacted media outlets and said he wanted his statement to be put out there. And it was a statement about some political musings of his. When we received that request to publish his statement, our news director called him. He put his phone number on the statement and said, we'll put your statement online if you.

Oh, wait a minute. I don't think I knew that the phone number was on the statement.

Yeah, it was. He had included or in the, in the. Somehow in the email.

Okay.

So our news director calls him immediately and says, if you want to come over and do an interview, we'll publish this. So he agreed to that. He comes over, he sees that we have published it on our website. He sits down in the lobby of our TV station with me and we start talking about.

Okay, quick question. I'm wondering. I don't think he sent it to all media outlets. Right. Was it just a few?

Yes, he said it to, I think more than just us.

Okay, but your station was the only one to think to call him, apparently so. Wow. Okay. All right, well, good on your news director Stone grizzled for doing that.

So he comes over he made it clear to Stone, the news director on the phone, that he did not want to talk about the circumstances of his parents deaths. He wanted to talk about. Use this as an opportunity to get out. He ran for president, you know, I mean, he had his name on the ballot in. In New Hampshire back in 2020. He wanted to get his views out there. And there were certainly interesting different types of views. So I think that's what he thought he was getting into. And he had told Stone I'd take the 5th and anything you asked me about what happened to my parents. So we sat down and I just immediately started talking to him. There was no preparation because it all unfolded so quickly. And I think I've told you before that I think that's what made the interview successful is that there was no preparation. I went in with no notes, with no preconceived questions. I just started talking to him and listening to him, and he clearly did not want to talk about what happened back then. Anytime I tried to get to that, he backed away. And, you know, we just bantered back and forth, and it took about eight or nine minutes. And then after asking questions repeatedly about what happened to his parents is when he told me that he killed them.

But so, you know, going into this interview, and for anyone who's just hopping on right now or don't know what we're talking about, I think you can go to any news outlet right now and Google Albany sun confesses, television or journalist, and you're gonna see the story. It's been absolutely everywhere. So a question that I did not. Well, here's one right here. Do you think he subconsciously did want to confess, or was he more taking advantage of the media attention on his house? This is from Louise.

I think it was a combination of the two. I think he saw that this was his moment to try to get his thoughts out there. And I think he knew that his time was up, that it was going to come out. So I think it was a combination of the two. And the more we talked, I just felt I was taken to a place he wanted to go. He was ready to say it. He just didn't know how to say it. And we got him to say it.

Okay, so Manny asked Greg prior to the interview, do you think he had done it, like killed his parents?

I thought there was a very strong chance of that. You know, I didn't know. And the way to find out was to have him tell us.

So if anyone wants to see the full interview, Greg and I had an interview we filmed an interview podcast last Sunday after the Giants game and before dinner where we kind of go through everything. And that's on YouTube right now, and it's also in the substack and you can find it and it's also on the podcast on. Find it on your favorite podcast player. But a question that I did not ask you. From the time the police arrive on the house in the interview, was he in the house?

He was coming, and I assume he was not in the house while the searching was going on. He would come and go from that house. He was living across the river in Troy, but he would stay in the house.

No, it's not his house. It was the parents house.

Right. But it belonged to him as well, and he would maintain the home.

Oh, so wait a minute. I never thought about this. I was assuming the whole time he lived in the house that's the parents.

House would come and go, but he was not there on a regular basis all these years? No.

So all these neighbors, though, all these neighbors that have been interviewed after this, your station, including the New York Times, said a great piece about it. I've seen a lot of other people try to speak to other people in the neighborhood and they're mentioning like, the last time they saw him, but really those neighbors had been gone for seven years, seven and a half years, almost eight years. And the son would come back. So in, in eight years. No, no one asked the son or did they? He just.

The son told them that the parents had moved back to Germany.

Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, Louise is saying, wait, he didn't live there? How did, How. How did. Nobody question that? Oh, wow. So I guess I never thought about that. So that means he's managing and juggling. So he's there at least once a month to pick up a check. Right?

Yeah. And I think more than that, I think, you know, he was, you know, mowing the lawn and taking care of the house.

And yeah. Louise was saying, I don't even know my neighbors, but I think I would notice if they were gone for a few months. I think I second that, too.

Everyone knew they were gone.

Yeah.

They had been given what apparently they thought was a plausible explanation for the disappearance. Yeah.

And what did you and I uncover in that New York Times article that really was a signal that there was something more than them just going to Germany?

You were struck by the planting of tomatoes.

Oh, God, that piece. The tomatoes?

Yeah. Who plants tomatoes if they're moving away?

You don't plant tomatoes and then move to Germany.

Right. And what we haven't gotten into yet is that he told me that he took his parents lives because they were in a state of deteriorating health, that they were physically infirm, that their time had come, and that he was doing the merciful thing, basically. But, you know, you have to question immediately two people reach the point where they could barely live at the same time, or the neighbors, they had seen them out taking walks. You know, it just so much doesn't add up from, you know, when it comes to what he says their condition was when he took their lives.

Okay. I don't want to pin anything on neighbors, but is it true? Is it a cul de sac?

I'm not sure.

Okay. I thought maybe that might even be the case.

I'm just not sure.

Okay. And Manny's saying, well, the pandemic probably made it easy to cover for absence, which is definitely true. But would you say that it's like a smaller, condensed neighborhood?

Yes, it's. Yeah.

Okay. All right. True crime, Molly, is just kind of. I'm just. I'm thinking about it. Right. Like you kind of put yourself in the. In the feet and the shoes of people who are there. That's interesting. Okay.

So some neighbors said, I knew something had happened. Well, you didn't do anything about it.

Yeah. You didn't do anything about it, like.

Yeah.

So it makes you wonder if. If someone left. If you left for eight years, Greg, would anyone notice?

It's a really good question, and it's a serious question, too, because it does. You know, one of the things that come out of this, and one couple on the street said this as we were interviewing people afterwards, it is. You know, if you look for any silver lining here or find whatever good you can take out of this is that that should be a message that we need to take better care of each other and keep a better eye on each other and, you know, pay attention to what's happening around you.

Yeah. Now, so at your station, out of curiosity, are you still looking for angles to the story? I mean, obviously it was a big news story for you guys, but, you know, stories have news cycles. Every story has a new cycle. What's happening with the story? Are you guys always trying to find new angles to it, or do you let it rest for a bit?

A little of both. There have been things that we have looked at, and there have been angles that have come up organically. He wasn't back in court. Legal team was back in court. The other day, he was indicted by the grand jury on new counts that Included a first degree murder count. Previously, he had been charged with second degree murder. Now it's a first degree murder.

Oh, I saw that yesterday on the link. It's first degree.

How.

Why did it go from. Do you know why it went from second degree murder to first degree murder?

The premeditation thing.

Oh, okay. And okay, so at what point. Point did you. In this interview, and I know that we talked about this on the podcast a little, but now that you reflected on it a little bit more too, when you were sitting across from him, did it ever really sink in as you were doing this interview? And I know there's a million things going on at once, but did you ever sit there and think, I am sitting three and a half feet away from a murderer?

To be honest with you, not really.

Why?

Because I was just so into the conversation and the questioning and trying to get to the truth and find out what was happening. You know, it hit me later. But, you know, maybe, you know, maybe when he actually, you know, I know it chill. Went down my spine when he actually confessed, but for the most part, I was just trying to keep the conversation going in a way that would keep him talking.

So we. So the moment now, I, you know, I've looked at the clip, I've edited. You know, I've seen it now so many times. What was the first time that he admitted to murdering his parents?

Well, keep in mind, I have not watched the interview a second time.

You still haven't watched it?

I watched it one time. I haven't, but I haven't watched it a second time. So many other people are more familiar with the exact quotes and timing of everything than I am. And I'll go back to it again.

But for now, I won't pin you to it. I won't pin you to it, but was there a moment? I have to refresh my. My Diddy thing, see if we hear anything. Oh, just. I just have to interject here from Diddy. One of Diddy's sons, Justin, described his father as, quote, my superhero. I ask that you give my father a second chance. A second chance at life. A second chance to right his wrongs. A second chance to be the man he truly is. I don't know. He's kind of been around a. I think Sean Combs has had plenty of chances to be a decent guy, wouldn't you say?

I would say you're right. Yep.

Oh, my gosh. Seeing him broken down and stripped of everything is something I will never forget. I can truly, sincerely say he's changed for the better. I don't know how Justin knows this, your honor, I believe my father still has so much more to give the world and more importantly, so much to give his children. I don't know if we would agree with that. We have. Cindy is vomiting right along, going right along with me. All right, Louise asked this and this was going to be my next question back to. And his name. What's the killer's name? Or the. But you know, there's media outlets who do call him Lorenzo. But you're the guy.

But he told me he pronounces it Lawrence.

That's the kind of journalist you are. You know that. Could you tell that he was about to confess? Was there something in his tone, body language that showed you you'd get the confession with the right questions? That's a great question.

That is a good question. And the answer is basically yes. And it's the answer to your previous question, too. He kept. He was describing to me their deterioration and why he felt that the end of life was near for them. And that's when I knew that, you know, that we were going to get to the truth. So, yes, once he started getting more and more serious about where his parents health problems in his eyes stood, that's when it was clear he was saying that, you know, he needed a take their lives because their lives were in such a state of deterioration. So that's when I knew it was going to happen. And that's when I said to a couple times. So you killed them?

Yeah, I feel. Yeah, I feel like looking back, that's when you knew as well. So, Olivia, I'm going to jump in here. I can't see the comments. Any way you can change that? Olivia, that's on your phone. Actually, they might be scrolled at the bottom depending on where you're looking. But if you open up the live chat, you can see them on the side as well. And then if there's anyone in the chat that has a better hack for me, you can let Olivia know there. But no Olivia, that I can see your comment there. Cindy wants to know what happened right after he confessed. Did he go home? Were the police called?

The police had been surveilling him. They knew he was at our station. Our news director, actually, in those few minutes we had before he arrived at the station, alerted the police. Our new instructor was primarily concerned, who also happens to be an attorney, was primarily concerned about safety at the station. You know, we're bringing this man in who is an apparent killer. Are we Going to be safe. And so they want. He wanted the police to know. And the police said, well, don't worry, we're going to be there because we're following him. And he also wanted to make sure that, you know, if the. You know, that the police understood was happening so we didn't jeopardize something that was about to happen with him. So the police were at our station outside. The Albany police were there ready to arrest him if there was cause to arrest him after that interview. So they immediately knew what happened. And, you know, within a very short time period after the interview was over, they arrested him in our parking lot.

Okay, so why were they surveilling him so he wasn't charged?

Well, he was obviously the prime suspect.

Okay, but they could not. Could they only arrest him because of what he said on the air? Could they?

Apparently, we had the Albany mayor on the air last night who said. Who came right out and said that basically that. That the police. That the interview allowed the investigation to progress quickly, whereas it had been quickly progressing slowly.

Oh, so. So you sped up the wheels of justice, Greg.

Her words.

What's that?

Her words.

Those were her words. Interesting. And wait, the police chief's a female.

The mayor.

Oh, the mayor. Oh, the mayor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the mayor of Albany. Okay. Could they have charged him anyway at some point? Do they need this interview?

They could have charged him with something, I'm sure. But there are certainly questions about how much forensic evidence there is after eight years of bodies being buried in the backyard.

Oh, that's true. And there have. I mean, nothing's been released in terms of the conditions of the bodies.

Correct. Other than they've been buried for eight years.

Did we see video footage of the bodies? Like, am I imagining this? That they were in white sheets?

Am I imagining that they came out of body bags?

Oh, those were body bags that I saw. Okay. All right. And then has there been any other news that came out? I mean, other. You know, how fascinated I was about those tomatoes. But also, I believe either you told me this. So on Saturday, let me see, you did this interview on Thursday and a.

Second interview in the jail on Friday.

And the interview and the jailhouse interview. And then you and I were having lunch dockside at a great restaurant on the water, and we were reading the New York Times article, and they. Is it. Am I making this up? Did they report in the article about the peach tree and the apple tree, or did you just tell me that.

I can't be sure it was the New York Times. But somewhere it was reported that. And he had told me, he had told me that he had planted a tree for each of them, you know, apparently where he had buried them.

And wait, in the interview, he said that he planted trees where he buried them?

Yeah.

So were they found at the. Wait, okay, now I'm confused again. So the bodies were found before the interview, obviously. So if the police went into the backyard, didn't you say that in that neighborhood it looks strange to have. Was it a peach tree and an apple tree?

Some police source told a reporter that an officer immediately was suspicious of the way those two trees were planted, that they seemed to be out of place the way they were planted. And that made them think that they could indeed have been planted where someone was buried.

Okay.

Something to that effect. That's all I'm saying.

You know better than I do on this one. But weren't we watching a couple days of newscasts where they were digging? Like, wasn't. Weren't they digging for a couple days?

Yeah, they brought in. I mean, they had to be careful with the digging. They brought in an excavator. Again, we're not privy to what happened with the digging. We've seen with our drone. Now, we flew a drone over the site that the backyard is just entirely dirt now.

Okay, this is just me being. Being snickety pick on it. But if there were. If there was an apple tree and a peach tree that looked out of place, couldn't they just go right there?

And I wasn't in the backyard, Molly. I was with Mr. Krause. I do not know that backyard.

Manny, you wanted to know what our relationship is like. This is what our relationship is like. I just want to know details and spin and all the other stuff and details. And Greg will only give me black and white.

I'll tell you what I know. I can't tell you what I don't know.

The facts of the matter. Okay, this is where the personal relationship comes up against your journalism. Okay, so what was the question? I saw another question in there. So when. When he confessed, though, and. And he said it to you, did you believe. And I asked you this on the podcast, and now I don't remember your answer, though. Did you know you were going to get him to confess coming out of that interview?

I strongly believed I would get him to confess.

What if you. Okay, what if you didn't?

Then I wouldn't have, you know, I mean, you can't make the truth what you want it to be. You have to get, you know, you Know you get what he gives you and that's what he ended up giving us.

But let's say he keeps going on about the manifesto in ancient German law and all the crazy chat that he was giving you there. What if he just kept speaking circularly, circularly like that? You, as a journalist, what do you do? What would you have done?

I don't. It's hard to talk in hypotheticals because that's not what happened. But I would have kept going back to the matter at hand and I guess I had enough confidence in the way things were going that the truth would come out.

Okay, personal question, Greg, and I'll ask you this. Let's say he's still rebuffing you, okay? Because that was a 37 minute interview or something like that. That was a long interview and you had to do a five o' clock newscast.

Yeah, the interview ended about 4:35 or so.

Okay, so let's say he wasn't doing it. When would you have called it?

I guess only when I was absolutely certain that any other questioning would be.

Futile and you had just left it. Then what would you have done?

Well, I mean, at some point I had to, you know, I had to be on the air live at 5 o', clock. So at some point I would have to stop and go and appear on live television at 5 o'. Clock.

Okay, another question then. So let's say that happened. Let's say he just kept spinning, spinning. What would your follow up? So then you do, you go on the air at 5, you go on the air at 6. Then you call me on the way home and I ask you how the interview went. You went, he didn't give it to me. What would you have done next? From a, from a journalist point of view, what would have been your next move?

We might have regrouped with him and we, or we may have just moved on with covering the story with whatever we did have.

I think that would have driven you crazy though.

I mean, there was a police news conference that day where, you know, the new information came out about the discovery of the bodies and, you know, updates on the investigation. So.

Okay, and now, now in one of the things we had mentioned too, in, in, in our podcast interview when I was, I was chatting with you, is I think one of the ways that one of the mechanisms that you use to try and get him to confess or to just reveal more, and I bet you also had an internal clock going on in your head because, you know, without looking at a watch or a clock, when you have to be ready for the five o'. Clock. So I would assume that maybe that even impacted a little bit of the interview as well, if you think about it, because you were so one track and you were so focused that you wouldn't let him meander too far off the question. You let him go a little bit. But do you think that kind of came into it a little. The time factor a little bit?

Again, there was no time to prepare, so we had no plan. You know, I didn't talk to the news director and say, you know, listen, if this interview takes an hour, we're gonna be right up against 5 o'. Clock. Is someone else gonna anchor the news? You know, it's a. It's.

Oh, of course. Oh, yeah. Someone else could have just. Of course. Yeah.

And we do have, you know, we're, you know, totally off topic, but we were dealing with some limited staff, as you know, we've had some parental leave situations. So it's not like we have a lot of available people to do the news. But we would have made some plan. But again, this is so hastily thrown together that we did not plan for the end of the interview. We only planned for the start of the interview. Interviewed. Right.

Oh, that's. That's interesting. That's interesting. Okay, so here, one. Update. Update. Did he burst into tears as children speak where a judge has hinted at lengthy prison stint? So we will still. We have not heard anything yet about Diddy. Manny said the focus was intense. I would have confessed to stealing the bake sale cookies in eighth grade. I think that's a, that's a testament to you. Manny.

Manny sorted past.

Yeah, it's not quite. It's not quite the same. Now, Greg, you've done a number of interviews and you've done podcasts, you've done cbs. You've had documentaries, some really kind of cool documentaries. Is there more to the story?

Well, yeah, I mean, obviously this story would be a major local story. A man kills his parents, allegedly, and buries them in the backyard and they stay there for eight years. That's a major local story. It's a story that might get a little play somewhere else, too. Obviously there was a reaction to the interview itself and the man confessing on. Live on television to announce that confession. And that just, I think, think that's what struck a lot of people. That's what made it different. And let's make it clear here, and I've told you this, and I've told other people this, me talking to you here right now. Or talking to others. And I've turned down some opportunities. I don't want it to come across as any kind of victory lap. I think we're just trying to learn from this a little bit if we can. But you know, my focus always goes back to the two elderly parents, you know, whose lives were taken when they shouldn't have been taken. And I just think he described them quite aptly as children of World War II. And let's not forget that that's what we're talking about here, that the bottom line on this is not some TV interview and not what happened with some journalists, but what happened to those two parents in their home eight years ago. And we can't lose focus on that.

Well, and it is a different story because man saying it's like a Lifetime movie in a way. We already know the ending, unlike a lot of docu series out there. But it's the details of the story that do make it fascinating. So I think even when it comes to a documentary and so many people are asking to interview you and of course they have the footage to work with as well. That's the compelling piece of it. Now you've gotten a lot of praise for your work, Michelle. I'm worried we will hear much more than this. With the passage of the big beautiful bill, people will lose healthcare. And when you are desperate. Oh, see, yeah. So I wanna bring it back into the news. And Michelle's bringing up a good point here. You know, so much of the federal shutdown, you know, depending on who you're listening to, you know why it's happening. Healthcare is a conversation, it's a talking point. I mean, certainly the cost of it and helping families, helping sandwich generation. You have elderly parents and everything that's happening there. What do you think, Greg, is going to be like an adjacent story to this, a spinoff story to this from just from a news point of view or conversation point of view.

Yeah. You know, obviously in some way we don't know how honesty's being about how his parents health situation was, but it does bring out the point very strongly that there are people all across the country struggling with taking care of their elderly parents and struggling with seeing their parents slowly decline and feeling helpless. And that creates such a mental health stressor on the children. So I think that's an important lesson and more that we'll cover and that can come out on all this is how do you deal with this situation in a way that Lawrence Krauss did not deal with it? You know, what's the right way. Where's the help out there? How can you get help when you feel helpless? Those are important things to think about, you know?

And also, what if he only had a mother? Like, let's. What if it was only his mother missing? Would anyone have even heard about it?

Yeah, I don't know. You know, we haven't talked about the second interview in the jailhouse where I was amazed that he was willing to talk again, much shorter interview because an attorney showed up and cut it off. But we did talk about his relationship with his parents. And I was surprised to hear because he talked on the first interview. He seemed to be talking, despite the horrific thing that he did to his parents. He seemed to be talking about them in a loving way. But I asked him about that, and he told me that growing up, it was a harsh relationship, especially with his father. And I said, well, did you have a loving relationship with your parents? And he said, no, not really. It was not a loving relationship.

Yeah, yeah. Cause I noticed that, too. When he started to explain it, it was that it was close. I thought that was unexpected. And then when he said that, it, you know, that it wasn't good.

So.

Oh, Michelle's talking about her mother going through it. Yeah, it's really, really difficult when the mind is gone and things definitely happen. So, Greg, let me ask you from, you know, as I was saying, since you were, you know, getting a lot of, you know, a lot of praise for your work. And I know you showed me, you know, notes from people in the news industry, you know, fellow journalists, people you've worked with, you know, people from the past, everyone, you know, really kind of commending you for the. You are retiring soon, in a couple months. What did you use? If someone were to use this as a case study, like I found out from a student recently, this week, wrote to me and said, I was assigned your podcast about this to listen to. Do you still have this giveaway that you have in there? And I thought, oh, that's interesting. They're using one of my podcasts for teaching material. I think your interview could absolutely be used as teaching material. What are some of. We don't want to call them tricks, because you would never call that. But what are the tactics that a journalist uses in an interview like that where you're trying to get the story? What are some of the things that you typically do, and what did you do in that video if someone were to watch it?

Well, there's different things. You know, persistence is one. Not letting. At times, you want to let them go where they want to go. But then when they're going away from what the focus is, you've got to bring them back. I think one thing you might have seen in that interview, that's an important thing to know, is to not always interject, to give them a little time to answer, to just let them answer. And you don't immediately ask another question. You let it simmer for a second and see what else they can come up with as they start thinking. You know, sometimes if you jump in quickly with another question, it gets them off focus. It makes them feel uncomfortable. You know, let them have their stream of consciousness. If you think that's taking you toward the truth.

And I'm trying to remember, and I don't know if you remember this, when he said to you, you're a good interviewer, do you remember what you were doing when he said that to you?

I was being persistent. I kept going back to their deaths. I think he said questioner.

Oh, yeah, you're a good questioner. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. I used that clip that's in our podcast.

But that's something else that told me that we were close.

You could tell. You could tell by your persistence. And it is interesting you didn't have questions prepared. So. Okay, now let me ask you this. When you were interviewing him, of course, I do this all the time when I interview people. You know, when they're talking, you know, I'm doing stuff in my head. Were you actively listening to him the whole time? Or since you didn't have notes there, were you coming up with the next question?

No, I was actively listening because my next question was always based on what he said. So I was reacting over and over to what he said. And that's why I kind of say, I think he was. In some ways, I was leading him to where he wanted to go. I was using his cues to come up with my next question. So, yes, in many interviews, I am thinking of the next question. In this case, I really don't think I was. I think I just was listening to what he said and using that to ask the next question.

Yeah, and one. One place where you absolutely did that is when you were asking him how he did it, and I pointed this out to you as well. You didn't wanna say, like you never said to him, did you murder your parents? How did you kill your parents? How did. Like, you never use that hard, direct, accusatory language. You soften the language. And the clip that I would say, the sound bite that is included in almost every viral post that has you in it is when you said, oh, I don't know the whole quote, but you did it at your hand.

They knew that this was happening at your hand.

At your. They knew it was happening. Oh, could you imagine? So when you. And I said this to you over the weekend, too, and in our podcast, the death of those parents got to you, but also I think what got to you are the parents knowing when they died that it was at the hands of their son.

Right. And he did say that they never asked him to take their lives. That it was implied.

So do you think. What do you think it was like for them then? What do you. I know you're a journal, so you're gonna say, I don't know. I'm only looking at the evidence. But what do you think happened?

Yeah, I. You know, what the emotions were in that room as it was happening. You know, the one hint we got toward emotion was when he said that, you know, he killed his father by, you know, choking him. His throat with his hand. And then he said, his mother then gently laid her head on the father's chest. And I said, and then you took her life as a question. And he said, no, not right away. And he said, I waited several hours. And then his words were, and then I finished her. Which was both chilling and heartbreaking at the same time.

Yeah. Cindy's asking, do we know how he killed them? But did he actually say he strangled them?

He called it a denial of oxygen. Yes.

Yeah. So we don't know if he's suffocated or strangled. We don't know.

We do. He told me when I used the word, I asked him, did you suffocate them? And he said, I had my hand around my father's neck.

Oh, okay.

But then he said he did the same thing to his mother, but he used a rope in her case and used a rope.

But you know what? And not to make this too graphic, but do you believe that the story that he's painting is that they were both, like, in bed and they were asking him to do this to them that was almost planned, that they were ready for it and already in bed. But do you think it's possible that that's not how it happened? That it could have happened out in the tomato garden, for one, and then he moved a body and, you know, and maybe his mother was in the house. Like, do you think it was something a little more sinister?

I don't know. I don't know if he Changed facts around. He seemed very concerned about being seen by the neighbors when it came time to bury them. So it would seem to make more sense that he did commit the crimes in the house, you know, to avoid detection. So I would believe that's what happened, that he did do it inside the house.

People can have close relationships that aren't.

Good.

Which could have factored in his twisted thinking. He wanted to present it as helping them, but might have been more like he was helping them himself in his mind. I don't support that, of course. Yeah, I don't know, I feel like. Yeah, I mean, he's definitely nutty. I mean, when you were telling me his name, you know, on Tuesday before all this was coming out, and I'm already googling and I'm looking at his LinkedIn and everything that he was saying, yeah, he was nutty, but I don't know, watching that interview and reading the reports, I think he knew full well what he was doing. And he kept money for seven and a half years. And, you know, he was into crypto, probably invested money generally.

You know, I'm no criminologist, but generally I believe when people commit what they consider a mercy killing, they don't hide it. They then alert authorities.

Right. And Manny, bringing up a good point here, joking is harsh. You don't choke someone out of compassion.

Right. But again, we don't know how frail their bodies were, you know, but. Right. You know, I use the word the next day when I talk to them that people seem to think that, you know, they're not sympathetic toward you. They don't feel empathy toward you. They think that you committed these crimes in cold blood, which I do think is the public reaction to what they heard, that these crimes were committed in cold blood. And again, there was the COVID up and the collection of money for eight years after that.

Yeah. Michelle said she had a local murder suicide where an older husband killed wife with Alzheimer's and then took his life. She said he was tired of her suffering and that now I even remember, I remember a story, I wonder if it's the same one. But I think the man lived where he admitted it. Like he took his wife's life, she was suffering and he took her life and then picked up a phone and called and said what he did.

Right. And we know from past accounts of these sorts of things happening that, that very often there is public sentiment on the side of the relative who did that, because it's clear that it was done in a merciful fashion. It's still Illegal and they have to face the legal consequences. But sometimes then the prosecution might be more lenient and the judge might be more lenient. Might be. Might not be too. But that certainly wasn't the case here. He wasn't looking for sympathy from anyone eight years ago. He was looking to hide his crimes. Eight years ago.

Yeah. And Manny's getting all crime talk on us. Guns are cold blood choking his anger, passion. That's true. That is what they say. Second to first degree murder charges are really telling, I think. Yeah, yeah. I mean, when you get into those details and the crime itself and the charges, it makes you wonder, you know, what the police already know.

We don't know what he has said to the police since our. If that's caused him to open up more. They're not sharing that with us. We don't know if he's provided more details. You know, they certainly have hours and hours and hours to talk to him now. So, you know, who knows he has elaborated on. Or maybe he said nothing, but who knows what he's elaborated on? You know, again, he's represented by public defenders and they were very quick to shut down our interview at the jail when they just happened to be there. They weren't even there for him. They were there for another client and saw it was happening and tried to shut.

Stopped you. They recognized you like talking to him and they recognized the guy. So. So to bring this to our conclusion, the story's not over. I mean, clearly you've. And it will go on. It will have another life. Documentaries, other, you know, there will be other. There'll be other parts of the story which.

Well, there are still court proceedings too. You know, it's.

Oh, that's what I was asking. Like, where was that question I was going to ask the public defender when she was interviewed. This was at your station where she said, we don't even know she was somehow implying or questioning. Could the police have colluded with the journalist in this story?

No, of course not.

Yeah, exactly. And I thought, oh, honey, you don't know who you're talking about. Craig would never ever do that, would you?

That would not happen now.

Yeah. And the gray and the. And the police had. This is like two separate church and state here. You know, the police had nothing to do with your story.

Police told me what questions to ask and, you know, told me what they needed. And I never had a conversation with a police officer or a prosecutor or anyone like that. I barely had time to do anything.

Right. Yeah, exactly. All right, so, Greg, one Of the questions that came up, where did it go? Will Greg start his own substack after retirement like Don Lemon and Jim Acosta?

Who knows?

Well, first of all, you can follow Greg right now on the substack. Cause you'll see his name attached to this. So you can subscribe to Greg there. But, you know, actually what you're doing.

Wait.

There would have been zero motivation for police to even do that. They'd ask questions themselves. Yes. Unless they were getting nowhere in the case. They might want to do that, but that definitely didn't happen here. And I think this had a open and shut quality to it. They were going to get there eventually, don't you think?

I would think so, yes. Yes. Yeah.

With this guy.

Mayor said just move the process along a lot quicker. Yeah.

So, Greg. So we'll do a wrap right now. We still have nothing with Sean Combs. Right. Did you see any notes from that? Even alerts on that?

Well, it looks like a lot of people are speaking. It's the lengthy sentencing hearing.

Oh, interesting. Okay. About your next step.

Well, I will be with a person who certainly knows her way around social media. So, yes, I would expect that I would have more of a social media presence with your help. Molly McPherson.

Yeah. I thought you were launching what you're doing next. So there are plans for you to do stuff in the future. We're just not ready to announce them quite yet.

But only working part time. I mean, I am retiring. I'm a retiree.

Yeah, you are. I love how you're saying that to me. Molly, I am not working full time. I am not. I don't know what you have cooked up or what you think you're going to do, but I'm not doing a lot of stuff.

Right.

You're going to be the hustler in this relationship.

Okay.

No, I'm saying that's what you're saying to me.

Yes. Well, I mean, you know, you still have such an active world out there. I mean, you know, you know me. I'm so impressed by what you do.

And looking up for that earlier comment, aren't you?

The earlier comment was positive, but, no, I'm impressed by what you do. And I think, oh, my gosh, the people that you help would be devastated if you. If you hung it up anytime soon, so.

Yeah, but Manny. Manny's got it nailed here. We just don't want to use the word challenging.

Okay.

See? He hasn't forgotten. Here's the thing about the vault, Greg. They never forget. This will follow you for Quite some time. I just want you to know that. Oh, did you. Manny knows. Everybody knows. All right, so now this will not be. Yeah, don't be challenging, Molly. See, it's coming back. No, this will not be the last of. Greg. Greg, you did get a lot of praise for this interview, which was well deserved. You knew it, especially from where the story started. I mean, there's just so many things that happen behind the scenes. One of the things I love doing every day with you is getting the hot wash on the news cycle. How news stories start, begin, and how they certainly end or how they come out on the air. So there's a lot more there. But, Greg, let me throw out one last news tactic to you. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?

No, just that there's a candlelight vigil tonight.

Oh, is there?

Yeah, for the. For the parents. So that again, the focus returns to and stays with.

Oh, now they're concerned about the parents. Well, come on. Where were you guys eight years ago? Well, again, see you guys. Do you see Greg here?

No.

This is what it's like being with Greg. He wants to always defend, I'm sure, stick with the facts.

I'm sure there are people in that neighborhood who wish they could have done things differently, although I'm not so sure. You know, to be honest with. I don't think it would save the lives. I mean, if they had strong suspicions back then when the people were. Had disappeared, all it would have done was possibly solve the crime in days instead of years.

But you know what, you're right. You're absolutely right.

I can't imagine how anyone could predict that a man would take his parents lives inside that house, but it just would have been a case of the crime being solved much earlier. Yeah, but again, there is that vigil tonight, and I do think it shines a spotlight on the idea of we all need to watch out for each other and keep an eye on what's happening. And maybe in some other case, you might see behavior that might be able to stop something like this from happening. Or you might hear someone talking in such a way that you realize they're struggling with taking care of their parents and you might be able to help them get help.

Right.

You want to keep going back to that? I just think that we need to learn the lessons from this that we can journalistically share with the interview, but also with situations like this where there are elderly people who may or may not be struggling and there are caregivers who are struggling to provide that care and worry that it's just getting too overwhelming for them. And, you know, we can learn a lesson from that, hopefully. Right?

Yeah. And I think there's gonna be a lot of good story. Follow up stories that you can. That that can be done about this that I hope you guys are doing in your newsroom. And I think that's nice that they're doing a vigil. Whoever's doing that. I think that's wonderful.

Yeah. Neighbors are doing it. The mayor told me she's gonna be there. You know, I don't know if there's gonna be 50 people there or 500 people there.

The neighbors are doing it.

Yes. It's in the neighborhood.

Oh, it's in the neighborhood.

Yeah. By a local neighborhood association. Yes.

Good. Cause I think the neighbors are probably feeling too. Cause, well, they're feeling guilt. Right. And probably they're looking at like, yikes. You know, they're. They're. People are questioning them too, though. No, I don't think anybody would really blame them.

No, I don't.

That's a smart move. I love that they're doing this.

I don't think anyone's questioning or saying the neighbors could have prevented this somehow. I just don't.

No, I don't think anyone could. You can't prevent this. No.

The only question is, could neighbors have spoken up more at the time and we would have gotten answers eight years ago instead of eight years later?

Right. Well, Gregory, people are thanking us for the session. Love them all in Greg Banter. Oh, you can only imagine what we're like in person. We have stellar chemistry. Thank you for your amazing journalism that they're saying. And as someone who cares for elderly parents, I gotta say Massachusetts is amazing with the elderly and gives so much support to caregivers. Yep. Which is.

And I think, Molly, it's safe to say too, that as we do more of this together in the future, I mean, obviously I'm reserved today here because I just, I cannot take any glee in what happened. But our personal dynamic is often much, much more jovial and you know, is this your cleanup?

Is this where your corrective measures.

No, I'm just talking about my overall demeanor.

Your demeanor. Okay.

That I don't want to treat this light heartedly in any way, shape or form, as many topics that we talk about in the future can be treated lightheartedly.

No, I know. And this is a hard one too. And actually the edited. Even in my podcast, like the editor, the freeze frame of me, it's me smiling at you and I thought, oh, that's a horrible look. Cause we're talking about something that's, you know, that's really, really sad. And it is really, really sad. But I, you know, but we were talking about it from the journalistic angle as well. But also, this is how we talk. You'll tell me things factually, and then I'll come in with my snark. Right, Right.

Or we talk, and then we each give our opinion, and then you tell me, you know, that yours is the correct one.

Oh, you had to zing it. One less in there. All right, Gregory. And just think, I didn't mention your shoes once until now. Until now. All right, everyone, thanks so much for joining us. Gregory, thank you for joining us on this edition of, I guess, our Vault. But, guys, Greg, who was nominated for 11 Emmys, New York City news Emmys, we're going next Saturday. And hopefully my dress comes in on time. My rent a Runway, and that it fits. And I. I think I'm excited to go to that, because not only was it exciting just to go. Because you're nominated 11 times, which is huge. I mean, no one else is nominated for. I have 11 nominations going to that. That Emmy event. Right.

I don't know.

Okay, I will check that. I will definitely check that. What's that, gray?

I'm not going through a listing and counting, so I don't know.

Sure you are. Okay. I know. Look at your eyes. How many times you roll your eyes at me. But this is what I was thinking. As soon as we walk in there, everybody is gonna talk to you about this. It's gonna be everyone. Cause it's all New York. It was a New York. I mean, it was an Albany news story, but it's New York story, but. And it was a national, international story, but. Oh, my gosh, everybody, I think I'm gonna take notes. I'm gonna have a little hashtag hash marks every time someone comes up to you.

Well, I mean, you know, you've been to the last two with me, and, you know. Yes. When you walk into it, you're immediately seeing old friends and old colleagues and reconnecting with people you haven't seen in a while, so.

Oh, this is gonna be a different one, Greggy.

Hmm?

It's gonna be a different one. All right, everyone, thanks so much for joining us. And again, join me on the our next training session, October 22nd or 23rd. There's three options in there. The link is in the publication, the PR breakdown publication here on Substack. And we'll be promoting it like crazy for the next couple weeks, but I certainly hope that you join us. I would love to see you guys. Cause we're kicking off something interesting. And in the future, wank, wank, there might be a little Greg Floyd. Oh, I think you should go live. Oh, you mean with our. Oh, you mean from the Emmys? Manny, look for the chat. I actually might chat in there, too. I think I might do that. All right, you guys, thanks so much for joining us. Bye for now. Bye, Greggy.

Bye, Miles. It.