In December 2001 the bodies of two young children were found in the waters of Lint Slough in Oregan. Days later the bodies of a woman and another child were found less than a mile away. Mary Jane Longo and her children Zachary, Sadie and Madison had been found dead and their husband and father Christian Longo was nowhere to be found. Put on the FBI’s Most Wanted list Christian Longo was found and arrested in Mexico where he was using a false name of Michael Finkel who was an American journalist. A killer who denied his crimes until the end, Christian Longo killed his whole family in cold blood to cover up his many failings.
The core of this episode delves into the abyss of one man's unthinkable crimes. This narrative isn't just about Christian Longo's unfathomable decision to murder his family and flee, but also about honouring the memory of Mary Jane and her children.
This is the story of Mary Jane, Zachary, Sadie and Madison Longo.
In December 2001 the bodies of two young children were found in the waters of Lint Slough in Oregan. Days later the bodies of a woman and another child were found less than a mile away. Mary Jane Longo and her children Zachary, Sadie and Madison had been found dead and their husband and father Christian Longo was nowhere to be found. Put on the FBI’s Most Wanted list Christian Longo was found and arrested in Mexico where he was using a false name of Michael Finkel who was an American journalist. A killer who denied his crimes until the end, Christian Longo killed his whole family in cold blood to cover up his many failings.
The core of this episode delves into the abyss of one man's unthinkable crimes. This narrative isn't just about Christian Longo's unfathomable decision to murder his family and flee, but also about honouring the memory of Mary Jane and her children.
This is the story of Mary Jane, Zachary, Sadie and Madison Longo.
Hi there and welcome to Killer and the Family podcast. I'm your host, claire Lachston. So before we delve into this week's episode, there are a few updates and news pieces that I wanted to share with you. Firstly, listeners in the UK might have seen the news this week about a family who were found dead in a house in Norwich. In Norfolk. The police have said that it's an isolated incident and they aren't looking for anyone else in connection with the crime. To me this indicates that it's a domestic homicide, potentially familiar side. If the news comes out that it is a familiar side, then I might do a bonus episode exploring the case as it develops. For now I'm thinking of that family, their friends and their community who are dealing with the shocking events In another update that you might have seen on my Instagram at Killer and the Family pod.
Clare Laxton:
This one's about Scott Peterson. Abc News reported this week that the Los Angeles Innocence Project has actually taken up Peterson's case. So court filings that they submitted claim that Scott Peterson's state and federal constitutional rights were violated, including a quote claim of actual innocence that is supported by newly discovered evidence. The filings go on to state that quote new evidence now supports Mr Peterson's long-standing claim of innocent and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Lacey and Connor Peterson. Now this revelation has really flawed me. I respect the work of the Innocence Project hugely, though it has to be made clear that the LA Innocence Project is not part of the National Innocence Project organisation. They're two separate organisations, but I am really skeptical of them taking up the Peterson's case and have no idea what this new evidence is. There's also the Real Crime Profile podcast is doing updates on this and they had some brilliant episodes on Scott and Lacey Peterson, so please keep an eye on socials for any updates on this.
Clare Laxton:
I was also chatting to my friend, nick this week about how family annihilators are portrayed in films and he made this really great point that in a lot of horror films about family annihilators or that have them in it, they have always been taken over by some sort of paranormal presence and are never in their right mind Think the shining, and they never actually portray them just as they are, which is just normal guys hiding in plain sight logically planning their murders. Maybe that's just too scary for horror films. Now, in the last update there was also some new research published last week that was really seminal and important that I just wanted to flag too. A charity called Brainkind carried out some research with domestic abuse survivors and found that half of them may be living with a brain injury. I think it's so important to know this and think about the implications of this. We measure and research brain injuries in rugby players and boxers, and I think there's about time that we focus on domestic abuse survivors and how they can be supported. You can read the Too Many to Count report on the Brainkinds website, and I've linked the report in the episode nates as well. Finally, as usual, I'll be giving shout outs to anyone who gives the podcast a five star review. So please do get reviewing an Apple podcast, and thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed so far.
Clare Laxton:
So here we go on to today's story. It's another unbelievable one and another perpetrator who tries everything he can to get away with his crimes. In December 2001, bodies of two young children were found in the waters of the Link Slough Bridge in Oregon. Days later, the bodies of a woman and another child were found less than a mile away. Mary Jane Longo and her children, zachary, sadie and Madison had been found dead, and their husband and father, christian Longo, was nowhere to be found, but on the FBI's most wanted list. Christian Longo was found and arrested in Mexico, where he was using a false name of Michael Finkel, who was an American journalist Killer who denied his crimes until the end. Christian Longo killed his whole family in cold blood to cover up his many failings. This is the story of Mary Jane, zachary Sadie and Madison Longo.
Clare Laxton:
Now the story of the Longo family is one that has gained huge media coverage when it happened. It has also been covered a lot in popular culture. For this episode, I've listened to the brilliant crime junkie podcast episode, read many news articles and also read a book called True Story by the journalist Michael Finkel, a book which was later turned into a film of the same name. The film came out in 2015 and it stars James Franco as Christian Longo and Jonah Hill as Mike Finkel. It's available on Disney Plus now if you're interested in watching it.
Clare Laxton:
And what has frustrated me a lot about a lot of the news articles in particular and the True Story book and film, is that they're all about Christian Longo, why he did what he did and who. He was completely absent for the lives and voices of his wife and children, and, as you know, this is often the case with familiar sides, because often it's the husband and father who's the only one left, so it's only his story that we hear, and his wife and children are completely whitewashed out of it, as they actually want. This is one of the motivations behind my podcast to talk about the victims, hear their stories and not the perpetrators, and I have really tried my best here to find out everything I can about Mary Jane, zachary, sadie and Madison. Everything I've read, watched and listened to about this story starts with the discovery of children's bodies in Oregon. I'm going to start a little bit earlier than that, though.
Clare Laxton:
Mary Jane Baker was born in 1968 to James and Susan into a loving family who were Jehovah's Witnesses. She had five siblings, including a sister, penny, and was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses golfside congregation in Michigan. Mary Jane graduated from Huron High School in 1985. Apparently, her family struggled quite a bit, and a couple of her younger siblings actually left home when they were quite young as well. Mary Jane also didn't have the opportunity to go to college herself, but she was so dedicated to her faith and used to walk to her kingdom hall before she had a car. There isn't loads more out there about Mary Jane's childhood and in one news article her sister Penny, mentioned that they're a very private family, so maybe there's not lots lots out there to find. Mary Jane and Christian Longo actually met when she was house-sitting for the Longo family and Christian traveled back to check on their dog. Christian was in trance with Mary Jane immediately, even though at that point she was in a serious relationship and there was quite an age difference Mary Jane was 25 and Christian was 19 years old.
Clare Laxton:
Mary Jane's father, james, said that Longo had an instant charm and people warned him straight away. Longo and Mary Jane were married in 1993 and lived in Ypsilanti in Michigan. I'm really not sure if I've pronounced that correctly, so please let me know if not. The Longo's marriage was funded by fraud and greed really from the beginning, unbeknownst to Mary Jane completely. In fact. Her father commented later that the natural charm that Longo had was obviously something he actually used to defraud people. It was clear that image and reputation was really important to Longo even from a young age, and he wanted everyone to think that he was doing well and could provide everything his family could ever want. He did in fact start the fraud pretty early in their marriage by stealing from the camera store where he worked in order to make a Payment on the 3.5 carat diamond engagement ring he gave to Mary Jane. Needless to say, he was paying that ring off for quite a long time.
Clare Laxton:
Once they were married, the good times continued for Longo. Mary Jane's sister, penny said quote he was like the best. They drove nice cars, like nice things. One of those guys that goes out and gets a $30 haircut. I think he wanted to live beyond his means but didn't want to work for it. Little to Penny know how right she was. She said that she always wondered where the money actually came from. After a few years of marriage, the Longos were joined by their three children in relatively quick succession. Zachary Michael Longo came first. He was born on the 27th of February 1997 and was four years old when he was killed. Sadie and Longo was born on the 30th of April 1998 and was three years old when she was killed. Little Madison Jean Longo was the youngest and she was born on the 19th of October 1999 and was just two years old when she was killed.
Clare Laxton:
With a family to support, longo continued his fraudulent ways. His scams included taking out loans and other people's names, running up debt, creating bogus checks, using fake IDs to keep creditors away. He even created a fake business and would write counterfeit checks from his clients. According to a medium article, when Heena's brother set up a construction cleaning business, it was actually relatively successful. But at that point Longo was already drowning in credit card debt. He started using the business to take out loans and credit as well. He even persuaded his father to invest tens of thousands of dollars into the business. Needless to say, he never saw that money again. So long goes in a tonne of depth. In fact, one of his cars was repossessed for non-payment. So Christian obtained a fake ID, went to a different state's car lot and he test drove a van. He drove the van home and gave it to Mary Jane as a birthday present. Well, actually, when she started asking why they hadn't received bills for the van payment, he actually printed out fake bills and sent them to his address.
Clare Laxton:
His fraudulent ways knew no bounds, obviously. But you know what? Like most things, the fraud caught up with him and in September 2000, longo was arrested for forging checks worth $30,000. He was sentenced to three years probation and had to pay restitution as well. Now, this is bad for Mary Jane, but she forgave him. She stood by him. But one of the worst things that he did was actually start emailing another woman saying he was falling out of love with his wife because she was no fun anymore and only wanted to spend time with her children. So Mary Jane found this email was horrified and to her that was much worse than the financial fraud that he committed. She stood by him, even when he was shunned by the local Jehovah's Witness community, and because she stood by him she was also shunned, which, knowing how much her faith meant to her, was obviously a huge deal for her.
Clare Laxton:
After Longo's arrest and probation, the family moved around, basically trying to avoid the consequences of Longo's financial fraud. They moved to Ohio and as soon as the police were after him they were gone Around September 2001,. The family settled in Oregon, renting a flat which was way too expensive, and Longo was back to his usual ways. In a few of the articles I've read, people have asked why Mary Jane stayed with Longo and moved the children around with him, and all I can say is that Mary Jane made a commitment to him. She had three kids under five years old and trusted Longo, and that was that it's not as easy to leave a relationship as it is to say that. So here we are, december 2001, the Longo family in Oregon. Longo with his first real job in a long time in a Starbucks, but his web of financial lies drawing closer. Longo said that the 16th of December 2001 was the beginning of the end, and if only that didn't mean that it was the end for his family as well. So this is what happened. It's going to be a tough lesson, as Longo was incredibly cruel to his family and death as he was in life.
Clare Laxton:
On the 19th of December 2001, police in Oregon were called to a child's body that was floating in the water of the Alsea River near the Lintz Laobridge. The child was a young boy who had dusty blonde hair and, according to Finkel's book True Story, he was wearing just his underwear, which was blue and green pinstripes. Nearby police also found a pillowcase that was printed with characters from the Rugrats cartoon. Inside the pillowcase was a rock. Later that day, the body of another child was found in the same place. It was a young girl with blonde hair and also wearing just her underwear. This time there was something tied to the girl's ankle Pillowcase which was floral print, the rock inside. It seemed that the boy had also had the pillowcase tied, but it had come free at some point. It wasn't clear how the two children had died, as there was no sign of trauma that could be seen. But two children turning up like this was a huge deal for the Oregon Police Department. They checked and checked and no one had reported them missing. It was baffling for them. They released photos of the children's faces to the media to see if anyone knew who they were. A woman came forward. Her name was Denise Thompson. She actually babysat for the Longo children and had done so a few days before. She confirmed that the boy was four-year-old, zachary Longo, and the girl was three-year-old, sadie Longo. She said that there was another girl as well, two-year-old Madison, and police began searching for both their parents and Madison.
Clare Laxton:
On the 27th of December, about a mile away from the Linslow Bridge, just below a wooden ramp near some docks, divers retrieved two dark green suitcases. According to Finkel's book, the first suitcase was the body of Mary Jane Longo. She was naked and in the fetal position. The medical examiner later determined that her cause of death was head trauma and strangulation. In the next suitcase well, this is a tough one team was the body of two-year-old Madison Longo. She was wearing a nappy with frogs on it and was surrounded by clothes and a five-pound dumbbell weight. She too had died of head trauma and strangulation.
Clare Laxton:
The police now had four members of the same family turn up dead, three of them children. Who they didn't have was the husband and father, christian Longo. Fun benesed them at this point. Longo had fled, but he was their top suspect and they had to find him. The police were right to want to try and find Longo, as he did kill his whole family in cold blood.
Clare Laxton:
It is thought that around the 16th of December or the early hours of 17th of December, longo decided to kill his whole family. It is thought that he came home from work and strangled and killed Mary Jane and Madison. I think that he killed them both like this because they were together in the same bedroom. When he came home from work, he callously put both of their bodies in the family suitcases, which are weighed down with dumbbells, and he put them in his car boot. He then picked up Zachary and Sadie, who were sleeping, put them in the back seat of his car and drove them to the Linslow Bridge over the Alcy River. To me this is slightly reminiscent of Chris Watts, who drove his two little girls to kill them when he had their dead mother, shanann, in the car as well. Now it's not 100% clear how Longo killed Zachary and Sadie, but the pillowcases tied with rocks indicates that he had drowned them, and I really hate thinking about this. There was a bit in the true story documentary that depicted him doing this and it just made me sob. Two sleeping, defenceless children clinging to their father as he throws them into the freezing cold water Just how brutal and unfeeling do you have to be? And then Longo just drove away. He'd on as if nothing had happened more on that later, and little did he know at this point. In a couple of weeks he was about to be added to the FBI's top 10 most wanted list for the callous and cold-blooded murder of his whole family.
Clare Laxton:
Now, before we talk about the investigation and what happened next, I wanted to talk a bit about the memorial that sprouted up for the Longo family. Even though they'd only been there for a few months, oregon really took them to their hearts and the bridge where Zachary and Sadie were found became a memorial for them. People lit candles, brought flowers, cards and toys in memory of the children of Mary Jane, and apparently there were so many toys and flowers that piled up that the fire department collected them and took them to a women's refuge nearby. I really love that community took Mary Jane, zachary, sadie and Madison into their hearts like that. Now Longo was showing no such compassion for his family as apparently he just went on with his normal life after doing one of the most horrific acts humanly possible.
Clare Laxton:
The next day, the 18th of December, he pulled one of his classics, taking a car from a car lot for a very long test drive. That night he actually went to a work Christmas party and he brought a bottle of Mary Jane's perfume as a present for someone. He went to work the next day as usual. He went to the gym, he played volleyball with friends and then he heard on the news that a boy had been discovered in the river nearby. He packed up his stolen car and drove to San Francisco. Now let's just rewind there a bit. This guy had just killed his whole family in cold blood, and he was going to a Christmas party, and he went to the gym, he played volleyball, he was at work, and it was only because the police had found Zachary that he decided it was time to leave. He obviously thought that he was going to get away with this completely in plain sight. Now, when he was in San Francisco, he hung around there for a few days.
Clare Laxton:
The FBI were hot on his tail, though. He decided that he should probably leave the US and book to fly to Mexico using a credit card number from a receipt he took the other day In Mexico, he assumed the identity of a New York Times journalist that he'd always admired, mike Finkel. And so by the new year so January 2002, longo was on the FBI's most wanted list and appeared on America's most wanted show, hosted by John Walsh. Remember that was the show that led to the capture of John List. A $50,000 reward was offered and the FBI were hot on the heels of Christian Longo. He was arrested by Mexican officials near Cancun in January 2002. He told the FBI that he'd sent his family to a better place. So Longo is an absolute piece of shit. We know this already. He was self-serving, fraudulent and cared only about himself, killed his whole family in cold blood because he couldn't bear the web of fraud of his own making that was coming down on him. What he did next makes him an even bigger piece of shit, maybe one of the worst.
Clare Laxton:
At his plea trial, longo pleaded guilty to murdering Mary Jane in Madison, but not guilty to murdering Zachary and Sadie. Now this was the point when Mike Finkel, who had been having conversations with Longo, was really pissed off, since Longo had been found in Mexico using Finkel's name. They'd been in touch and been talking. Finkel asked Longo why he used his name. He was always a fan and had always wanted to be a journalist travelling the world. Finkel said that they had loads of conversations together and Longo sent him a massive note with the title Wrong Terms, presumably pages and pages of excuses for his crappy choices and general approach to life.
Clare Laxton:
I watched an interview with Finkel about Longo and he said that it was the most complicated, intricate, bizarre relationship of his life. Apparently, up until the trial, they didn't actually discuss the crimes at all. Finkel probably thought that Longo was innocent of some things. On a side note, apparently Finkel also sent some of Longo's letters to a psychiatrist and they diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder. No surprises there. That meant that he truly believed that his family couldn't survive without him and therefore he had to kill them. What a load of crap.
Clare Laxton:
So once it came to the trial, it became clear to Finkel that Longo was in fact completely guilty, but, as we'd seen at his pre-trial hearing, where he pleured guilty to killing some of his family, but not all, he stood there on the stand after swearing an oath and blamed his wife, mary Jane, for killing Zachary and Sadie. He said that he came home one evening and told her everything about all the financial troubles they were having. He said that she was really angry and the next night, when he came home from work, he found that she had killed Zachary and Sadie and had tried to kill Madison. So, as he said, he killed Mary Jane and then, seeing that Sadie was actually still breathing, killed her as well For her, her good. Obviously. I just can't with this guy. What an absolute piece of shit.
Clare Laxton:
Mary Jane's family attended that trial and they had to listen to this narcissistic idiot talk about how Mary Jane had killed their children. But she hadn't. Maybe Chris Watts was taking a leaf out of his book when he said Shanann had killed their children. Absolute pieces of shit. I watched an interview with Jonah Hill and James Franco talk about their work on True Story, and James Franco talked about how hard it was when he watched the film of Longo's testimony because he was so emotionless and the jury, thankfully, didn't believe any of the crap that Longo was selling. At the trial and he was found guilty of murdering all of his family.
Clare Laxton:
In April 2003, longo was sentenced to death. In conclusion, the judge said quote the sheer breadth of harm truly makes it impossible, in my judgment, for you as a person to either atone for these crimes or expect absolution. I do not know how the scales can ever ever be leveled. And what I hate most about this story and covering this case is that everything, as I said, has been written about the case is about Christian Longo His life, his lives, his murders. It has been really hard to find things written about Mary Jane and her children In the years since he was sentenced. Longo now doesn't face the death sentence, by the way, but just life imprisonment, a decision made by the governor that Mary Jane's family weren't informed about. But since he's been imprisoned, he's also true to form. He started campaigning about prisoners' rights to donate organs. Now, while I don't specifically object to prisoners being able to donate organs, the fact that Longo is able to campaign right about this issue.
Clare Laxton:
Even write something for the New York Times seems to be incredibly painful for Mary Jane's family. Her sister, penny, said, quote we're not allowed to heal. It's over and over again and it's been almost 10 years. It feels as fresh as when it happened. We will never rest until Chris is gone. We're not allowed to Continuing. Penny said, quote I have nothing for or against organ donation.
Clare Laxton:
If this is truly important, there's a way to do it without going public on Facebook pages. If he wants to do something, do it quietly. He killed his own family and he's talking about saving lives. I can't be the only person who sees this. We're a very private family and we're raw, as we were when this first happens. He can tell the world everything and we don't even have a date of death on my sister's headstone, and I think that quote from Penny says it all encapsulates the narcissism of Longo and his callous disregard for his family, and I can't imagine the pain of Mary Jane's family having to see Longo campaign, write and publicize himself all the time, maybe being on the TV and being in newspapers. I refuse to fall into that trap. There's so much in Finkelsburg about what Longo said to him in his letters about his life and his family and how he feels, and I just don't care. I don't want to tell you about it because this podcast isn't about the perpetrators. It's about the families who are taken too soon and their lives and memories. So I'm going to finish this episode by dedicating it to Mary Jane, zachary, sadie and Madison the joy they brought to people's lives, the love they felt for each other and the memories of who they were.
Clare Laxton:
This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Laxton, with music from the brilliant Tom Box and Pixabay. I'll be back next week with another episode, so please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'll also be giving shout outs to any five star reviews, so please do leave me a review on Apple Podcasts and follow me on social media. Killer in the Family pod. Do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Until then, I've been Claire Laxton. This is Killer in the Family podcast. Until next time, take care, thank you. This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Laxton. Thank you.