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Jun 2020
1h 18m

Steven Ray Thacker

Emash Digital / Wondery
About this episode

Steven Ray Thacker had a fear of rejection and abandonment. He suffered quite a bit of it during his childhood. He turned to drugs and alcohol and racked up a long rap sheet by the time he was in his twenties. After one stint in prison, he met and fell in love with a woman who had two children. Thacker now had a ready made family and he craved their attention and approval. But, when he lost his job, and couldn't provide for them, he made a fateful decision that would lead him to commit three murders in three different states.

Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss the life and crimes of Steven Ray Thacker. Thacker's killing spree began just before Christmas 1999 when he feared that he wouldn't be able to provide the Christmas that his family deserved. Was it the fear of rejection and abandonment of his new family that drove him to rob and commit murder? What part did his diagnosed mental illness, for which he refused to take his prescribed medication, play into his decision making?

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