125: Larry Flynt vs. Jerry Falwell & the Murder of Becki Dillard

Published: June 10, 2020, 11:30 a.m.

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Moody, Missouri, isn\\u2019t known for its crime rate. So when a passerby discovered a dead body on the side of the highway, they called 911 and reported a fatal car crash. But when police arrived on the scene, they discovered something much more unusual. The body belonged to 24-year-old Becki Dillard. She had been shot twice. When investigators went to notify the family, they were immediately suspicious of Becki\\u2019s husband, Justin. His reactions were strange. But over time, they began to focus on Justin\\u2019s mom, Debra Dillard and her boyfriend, Billy Joe Eastep.
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\\nThen Kristin tells us about Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt. When Hustler hit its peak in the early 80s, it became known and loved for being a smuttier version of Playboy. Hustler\\u2019s contents made Larry a lot of enemies, but perhaps none were more passionate than televangelist Jerry Falwell. One day, Larry decided to poke the bear by creating an ad that parodied a popular Campari ad. It was rough. The ad featured an \\u201cinterview\\u201d with Jerry Falwell, in which he confessed that his first sexual experience had been with his mother, in an outhouse. When the reverend saw the ad parody, he was incensed. So he sued.
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\\nAnd now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
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\\nIn this episode, Kristin pulled from:
\\n\\u201cThe Jerry Falwell v Larry Flynt Trial,\\u201d famous-trials.com, by Douglas O. Linder
\\n\\u201cHustler Magazine v. Falwell\\u201d entry on Wikipedia
\\n\\u201cHustler Magazine v. Falwell\\u201d by James C. Foster for mtsu.edu
\\nThe Supreme Court decision
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\\nIn this episode, Brandi pulled from:
\\n\\u201cDebra Dillard\\u201d episode Snapped
\\n\\u201cHowell County Sheriff Says Woman\\u2019s Death Was No Accident\\u201d by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
\\n\\u201cMother-In-Law Charged in Howell County Murder\\u201d by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
\\n\\u201cJury Convicts Debra Dillard of Murdering Daughter-In-Law\\u201d by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene
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