Rod Ferrell

Then they sat beside the gravestone in a meditative silence under the night sky.

And just like that, Rod Ferrell became the newest vampire in Murray, Kentucky.

For most of the people in Murray's vampire scene, it was an aesthetic and a chance to bond with other outcasts.

Playing vampire was a way to stand out in a small conservative town.

Vamps was equal part improv and theater.

In sessions that could last hours at a time, a storyteller would guide the group through political and moral quests, and players were rewarded for getting into character, using red dye and makeup for dramatic effect.

Eventually, word of these Vampire the Masquerade sessions would spread to the nearby town, which is how Stephen Murphy and later Rod Ferrell got involved and got their vampire names.

Stephen chose the name Jaden after a character from Star Trek, and Rod named himself Visago, which he picked from a book of demonology.

They drank each other's blood and lived in the shadows.

But for Rod Ferrell, the fantasy turned fatal.

Two parents were beaten to death with a crowbar in their own home, and their 17-year-old daughter was left with nothing.

This is a story about what happens when a troubled teenager finds a community that calls violence Sacred.

And every Saturday is cults, cons, and personality.

where we get into the cults, cons, and larger-than-life characters who deceived and manipulated their way into infamy.

Now we're turning to Rod Ferrell and the Vampire Cult, the second of today's two cases.

And this case is moving again.

Can I just say how much I love doing What the Fact? with Carter, and when I learned about what case he was covering today, I just had to come on this show.

For everyone listening at home, it's the case of Rod Ferrell and the Vampire Clan murders, about a young man who committed murder and may have believed he was an actual vampire.

Today I'll take you through the story of this case.

Uh, then be sure to stick around afterward as Connor and I bring you an exclusive peek into our dynamic on What the Fact? with a minisode we're doing just for Murder: True Crime Stories about the man who inspired Count Dracula himself.

Over the next few days, the whole country would learn who did it, a group of teenagers who called themselves the Vampire Clan, led by a 16-year-old boy who said he was 500 years old.

The vampires are the part everyone remembers, but they were never the reason two people died.

This is the story of Rod Ferrell and the Vampire Clan murders.

[tense music] People's lives are like a story.

As police worked through the night and began contacting other agencies, the names from Kentucky produced a very important response.

As we know from Part 1, the authorities in Murray already knew Rod Ferrell and who he was.

He was the 16-year-old who was suspected in the October 14th Murray-Calloway County Animal Shelter break-in, where two puppies were killed and mutilated and dozens of dogs were released.

Local authorities also knew about the group of teenagers surrounding Rod and the vampire identities that they had adopted.

laughing Oh, my God, that's the best part.

Well, our subject tonight is a boy named Rod Ferrell, who was born in Murray, Kentucky, on March 28th in 1980.

His mother, Sandra Gibson, was only 17 years old when she had him.

And his dad is a teenager, too, when he's born.

Now, on the surface, from the outside, without some of these finer details we filled in, this gives the picture of an out-of-control teenager, a young mother who's got troubles of her own that are also trying to solve the troubles of her teenager.

Clearly, that is not what this is.

Rod Ferrell was not hiding this from his mother, was not acting up in rebellion of his mother.

He is doing these things alongside his mother.