Ep 75 | Paula Hall Transcript

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Welcome back to Voices of a Killer. Today we bring you the tragic case of Freda Heyn. The last time anyone remembered seeing 68 year old Freda Heyn alive was on November 3rd, 2003 at the post office in Oldfield, Missouri. Six months after she went missing a couple out running fire trails in the Mark Twain National Forest discovered a skull and called authorities.

Medical examiners positively identified the skull as belonging to Freda Heyn and a murder case was opened. Detectives began questioning residents who lived near Freda's trailer, including then 36-year-old Paula Hall. Paula had been romantically involved with David Epperson, who was renting a house from Freda's son-in-law.

In 2006, prosecutors charged Paula Hall, her ex brother-in-law Billy Wayne Hall and David Epperson with murder in the case after Freda's DNA was matched to the crime scene thanks to a domestic assault of his girlfriend. In 2009, a jury convicted Paula Hall of second degree murder, but that conviction was overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals. In 2013 and Paula walked free. However, today, Paula joins us still from Behind Bars. On this episode, we'll talk to Paula about what exactly happened in the case of Freda Heyn, why she was able to find justice, and why she's still behind bars today. So sit back and listen closely as we explore this mystery on voices of a killer.

Hello, this is a prepaid collect call from paula. An offender at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. This call is from a correctional facility and may be monitored and recorded. To accept charges, press 1. Thank you for using Seqirus. You may start the conversation now. Hey, what's up? Paula, did you grow up in Missouri?

Yes, Springfield. Springfield, okay. What was your childhood like growing up? My family was real well to do. Really? What'd they do? My dad worked for Levi and my mom was the house mother. Okay. She stayed home. Did you have like a privileged childhood where you got anything you wanted? Yeah, pretty much.

Anything negative growing up? My brother m*lested me when I was a kid. Like an older brother? Yeah. Did your parents know about it? Well, I don't know if they knew or not, I think they kind of, it was better out of sight than out of mind. Yeah. So, did you get into dr*gs at a young age?

Yeah, I got into dr*gs when I was about, oh, I was probably 10 or 11 when I had my first joint. Yeah. What about hard dr*gs? I got into coc**ne and cr*nk when I was about 13, 14. Was that the time that you basically kind of took off and became a dr*g addict? Yeah. What's the worst thing you did as a child before you became an adult besides doing dr*gs?

Did you commit any crimes? I got in trouble for not going to school a lot. Yeah. So you have a unique situation because you're in prison right now, but not for murder. But you were in prison for murder. However, you were let off with a second trial. So, I want to go back to the time that you were the age when this crime happened, which would be 2003, right?

Actually, I'm looking at this wrongly convicted database record and it says year crime 2003, year convicted 2009, year cleared 2013. Okay, there you go. All right. Unless it's inaccurate, it doesn't mean it's accurate, but that's what's on the internet. It's forjustice.org. So you got justice, you're on a website called forjustice.org.

So you actually are probably set a precedence in court. Your name is gonna be synonymous with whatever you got off on, which, what was the technicality? I got off on, wrong. The technicality was, The lady said I touched it, said that I did it, and so, we proved that in court, when my lawyer asked her what she was getting out of it, we proved that she was getting a deal.

Oh, she was in trouble? Yeah. And she was trying to cut a deal with them, so is that something you can't do? Yeah, right. And not when you're, asking at trial. You have to be honest about it. Okay, gotcha. Well, so here's the deal. 2003, what kind of person were you back then? Same kind of person you are now?

No. Because you're in prison for stealing, right? Yeah. So you got out of prison for, on a technicality for murder, and then you went back for stealing. So why are you, what's going on with you? My husband passed away five years ago, and I kind of went crazy again. dr*gs? Yeah. So in 2003, what kind of person were you?

What's the difference between then and now? Well, I'm a better person now because I'm not in here for murder number one and number two I read my Bible more and I'm getting back to the Word of God more. Okay. So, let me ask you a question, do you feel like you really do played a part in the murder and you just got off or you got off because you really didn't play a part in it?

I did not play a part in it, but I was there. Paula Hall's journey is seriously a wild one. Born to a well to do family and having everything she wanted as a child, she soon found that the troubles she experienced as a kid could be forgotten in the world of dr*gs. But little did she know that this would be the start of her downward spiral.

According to her book, Open Gate to God's Grace, the Paula Hall Story published in 2014, Paula was not only s*xually assaulted by her brother at age 9, but soon became addicted to m*th at the age of 11. And by 13 years old, she was prostituting herself to sustain her habit, and soon fell pregnant. Abused, beaten, and battered,

by 2003, Paula had lived an eventful life that eventually led to her living in the trailer, not far from Freda Heyn's trailer near Oldfield, Missouri. Okay. So in 2003, you were not the person you probably wanted to be, I'm assuming. Were you hanging out with the co-defendants, which is David Epperson?

Do you know him? Yeah. Bill Hall wasn't there. Bill Hall was not there. Who's Bill Hall? He's one of the people that got arrested for the murder too. Is he locked up? Yeah, he was locked up for it, and whenever I was exonerated and wrongfully convicted, then he got off too. He did, he got off too. So who's the killer?

Dave Epperson and Willie Baker. They, two people killed, both took part in it physically? Yes. So, who's the other person you said, it's David Epperson, and what's the other one? Willie Baker. Okay, so, first let's start with David Epperson, how do you know him, before this? I cleaned for him, and I, and I had s*x with him a couple times.

Yeah. And then, you did dr*gs with him, and s*x, and work, and stuff, so what about Willie Baker? What's your relationship with him? Same thing? No, he's my second husband's uncle, and he was living down there with me at the time. So let me ask you a question, these two people, either one of them, when I ask you this question you can apply to either or both, would you say these are, and this is prior to the murder, would you say these are sinister people, they just had a bad side to them, you felt something, or are they just normal people that did dr*gs?

Now, they had a bad vibe. Why do you say that? Because I could tell. Tell me what would, tell me how would you, know, guess that before the murder? Well, Willie had one eye and he wasn't very nice about things when he got mad. And Dave Epperson had hit his kids in front of him. And, I took his kid, his teenage daughter, home with me because he had hit on her.

So he was violent. Both of them were violent people? Yeah, definitely. Like violent enough to where it really wasn't a surprise that they murdered somebody? Right. In 2003, Paula was romantically involved with David Epperson, who was renting a house from Paula Heyn's son-in-law. The house was about a mile down the same road where Paula Heyn's trailer was located.

According to news reports at the time, Freda Heyn was described as a nice woman who made no enemies in her life, and she was very religious. She was married to her husband Fred for 47 years, but they were separated in the last three years. Still, Fred and Freda Heyn remained in touch and had spent camping trips together with their grandchildren since their separation.

Fred described Freda as a very gentle woman. David Epperson, on the other hand, was a more rough around the edges type of character. Not much is out there about David prior to the incident, but we do know that he used m*th and p*t since he was 18. From the outside, Paula and David just looked like casual dr*g users.

Paula would stay at Freda's farmhouse property that she rented, looking after David's kids, while David went to his rock removal job in Branson nearby. However, the reality was that David ran a m*th lab in the same trailer park where he and Paula lived. We also know that David was a violent person. Domestic abuse often goes hand in hand with dr*g addiction, and unfortunately for Paula, she found herself dependent on a supplier of m*th that was not only violent towards his own kids, but towards her too.

Eventually the couple split because of this. Willie Baker, on the other hand, seems to be something of a ghost in this case. There is only one mention of him in all the court documents available online, and that's during the testimony of one witness, who says he helped to move Freda's body after the murder.

So this accusation that Willie was the killer is something that we have to take with a pinch of salt from Paula. According to David's original testimony, one afternoon in late 2003, he returned home from work from a rock removal job in Branson, where he found Paula, his former girlfriend, folding laundry and pacing back and forth, in the home he rented from Freda's son-in-law.

David then said that Paula told him that Heyn had seen the m*th lab and was going to warn the police. Shortly after, Paula's former brother-in-law, Billy Wayne Hall, went to Freda Heyn's house with a handgun. The reality of the situation was that according to court documents, Paula had caught David and Billy cooking m*thamphetamine and they feared she would rat on them to authorities.

However, there is another twist to this story that Paula hasn't told anyone until now. We'll find that out, after the break.

So the day that this happened, well, actually, the victim, why did they, who'd want her dead? Why? Well, what happened, her husband wanted her dead. What happened is that she was wanting a divorce, and he, they'd been married 14 years, or they'd been married 40 some years, and 14 years they'd been separated, but she told him she wanted a divorce, and so he paid Willie and Dave to kill her.

Did you know about the payment? No, I did not until after I was off. I didn't know that there was any money transferred. I didn't know that anything was going to happen like this. What was your relationship with the victim, Freda? Well, I dated her son and I lived in her and her husband's farmhouse at the time.

Oh, you lived on her property then? Yeah. How was your relationship with her though? Did you like her? Yeah. Yeah, I liked her a lot. She was a good person. We went to cocktails together. We went to all different kinds of things together. So, and this murder took place in her trailer, Freda's? Yeah. And why were you in Freda's trailer?

Well, I was there, I went in the car and I didn't know where we were going. Dave Epperson and Willie Baker pulled into Freda's driveway and they left me in the car. They went inside. Well, I was like, "what's going on?" So I got outta the car and went inside. And when I did is when I saw all this go down.

According to Paula, it was Fred Heyn who paid David Epperson and Willie Baker to kill Freda Heyn. This accusation is a shocking twist in the tragic case of Freda's death. Yes, Fred and Freda were estranged, but there was no evidence that their relationship was acrimonious. By all other accounts. Their relationship was still very friendly after their split, and they even went on holidays together with their grandchildren.

If David and Willie were really paid off to kill Freda Heyn, it would've been very serendipitous with the m*th lab being run from the property that Freda owned. We also have to ask ourselves, why would Paula bring up this information now, especially after she was acquitted of this crime in 2013, over 11 years ago?

Nevertheless, Freda met a grisly and tragic end, and we'll discover exactly how much of a role Paula played in that on the next episode of Voices of a Killer.

If you want to find out what happens next, right now, you can sign up at patreon.com/voicesofakiller. There you can find bonus content, early access, ad free listening, and access to our chat community. So go to patreon.com/voicesofakiller to sign up now. Your support is what keeps us passionate about bringing these stories to you.

That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voicesofakiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast.

Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in.

I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.

Ep 75 | Paula Hall Part 2

Welcome back to part two of this episode about Paula Hall and the tragic case of Freda Heyn. Last time, we were left with the shocking twist of Paula accusing Freda's husband, Fred, of paying David Epperson and Willie Baker to kill Freda. Now, Paula takes us back to the day of that fateful murder and to what actually happened on this episode of Voices of a Killer.

So, whenever you walked in the house, were they, like, cornering her, or were they already starting to try to do something physically? There was blood flying. There was blood flying? Is that what you said? Yeah. Underneath the table. on the walls. It was awful. It scared me to death. So, when you walked in, they had already killed her?

Yeah, they were on their way to doing that. They were still in the, they were still in the process of killing her? I, don't know if she was dead or not. She was, being beat on and blood was flying everywhere. She was unconscious if she wasn't dead, I don't know. Were they beating her? Yeah. With what?

With a, like a, you know those pokers that you poke fires with? yeah. Like it was that. Wow. And all of her body, and they were, it was crazy. I went into shock, I think is what happened they were both just, they both had the same kind of, iron piece, or did one have something else? Only one of them had the iron and it was Willie Baker. And he was beating her violently?

Yeah. What was David doing? He was hitting her with his fist. Wow. That's just crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. And I went outside because I couldn't believe this was going on. I didn't understand what was going on. There was a broken bakery in there by the door. And anyway, I went outside because I didn't know what to do.

I couldn't stop them. Well, I got to tell you something that it's, pretty telling for these people to do this and comfortable about you being there, and... they weren't comfortable at all. if I were you, I would've been like, "well, sh*t, I'm definitely gonna be killed. Because if they think that I'm," you know. I thought, that is what I thought and I took off running out that door.

Did they chase after you? After what took place. No, they did not. According to Paula, the night of Freda Heyn's murder was nothing short of chaos and horror. She claims she walked into the middle of a brutal attack, where Freda was already being viciously assaulted by David and Willie, one of whom was wielding a fire poker.

Overwhelmed and terrified, Paula says she ran out of the house, unsure of what to do or how to stop the attack. In her version of events, she felt like a witness caught in something she had no control over. But the court saw things differently. According to testimony presented during the first trial, Paula wasn't just a bystander.

David Epperson, her former lover, testified that Paula herself took an active role in Freda's death, picking up a golf club and swinging it at the elderly woman's head. David claimed that it was Paula's blow that caused Freda to fall face first to the ground, leaving her fatally wounded. His testimony painted a stark contrast to Paula's claims of shock and fear.

Instead of a woman running from the crime, the court heard about a woman complicit in a cold and calculated murder, motivated by fear that Freda would report them for their m*th lab operation. This conflicting narrative raises many questions. Was Paula simply a witness who fled the scene out of fear, or was she an active participant in the crime as the court concluded?

We'll find out what happened in the aftermath after the break. Well, after they were done there, I was running down the road and they came and stopped and made me get in the car. What did they tell you? They told me to get in the car or they were going to take care of me. And so I said, I got in the car.

Whenever they bring you back to the murder scene? No, they took me up to, Freda had a house that she grew up in. And Dave Epperson was renting that house and they took me up to that house and they had her in the trunk and which I was not aware of this until we got to the house, but they had her in the trunk. And when we got to the house, they took me inside and I had to go inside and I sat on the couch and I didn't see what they were doing outside, but what they had done was they had took and rolled her in a piece of carpet.

And they had her out beside the house. They brought her in the house and put her in a bathtub. She was dead at that time. And they brought her in and put her in the bathtub and started cutting her into pieces. And this guy drove up. Did you go in the house while they were cutting her up? I was sitting on the couch screaming and crying and they wouldn't let me leave as, Darren Maggard pulled up.

And when Darren Maggard pulled up, he went, Darren, he walked in the house and he smelled it. I don't know if you've ever smelled someone pass away, but it's got its own odor. Well, it's probably, this wasn't a long time afterwards, was it? No. So it's probably just all the insides. It was awful. Yeah. So anyway, he freaked out, and they knew him, and believe it or not, they let him go.

And he went back and got in the car and left, and then they got on the phone and they called Clinton Ward and Tommy Pettit. Who were those people? Well, they were friends of David Epperson and Willie Baker. One of them was Willie's son, and the other one was the cousin of his son. Okay. They were. Okay, and, they pulled up, and I begged them to let me go, and they let me go.

Clinton Ward, I knew real well. What were they, cutting her up with? a knife. Were they both cutting her up? No, what took place, this is what ended up happening, that was Clinton Ward, what, Willie told Tommy Pettit to do it, okay? Tommy Pettit said no, he wasn't going to do it, and Clinton said, "come on man, let's get this over with," and he bent down too.

Well, that's when I was on my way out the door, and I didn't have a car at the time, and I had to go all the way down to, it was quite a ways to get to the house. So I just ran the whole way and walked and cried. Paula claims that after fleeing the murder scene, she was forced back into the car by David Epperson and Willie Baker, who threatened her life if she didn't comply. She recounts how she was forced to sit on the couch, crying and screaming, as the men began cutting Freda's body into pieces. Paula insists she had no part in the dismemberment, describing how she was overwhelmed by the grisly scene. But unable to escape. This account is starkly different from the version presented in court.

Prosecutors argued that Paula was much more involved in the aftermath than she claimed. According to testimony and evidence, Paula had a direct role in cleaning up the scene of the murder and helping dispose of Freda's body. David Epperson, who made a deal with prosecutors, testified that Paula actively participated in wrapping Frieda's body in carpet and helping to clean the crime scene, all while high on m*th.

It was David's DNA, left behind during the cleanup, that led investigators to Paula and implicated her in the crime. The court's version paints a picture of complicity, not just a bystander trapped in a nightmare. Paula also recounts how two other men, Clinton Ward and Tommy Pettit, were called to help dispose of Freda's body.

According to her, she begged to be let go, and eventually, Clinton allowed her to leave. However, the testimony of those involved and the legal findings suggest a far more calculated effort to cover up the crime one in which Paula was an active member. As we move forward, we must ask ourselves, Was Paula truly a victim of circumstance?

Or was she a willing accomplice in the brutal dismemberment of Freda Heyn's body? So they literally had other people just came after to help cut the body up? Yeah, and they put her, now this is what I was told. This is not what I saw. they put her in five different bags. You know, I just, it boggles me that how many people are complacent with exposing, you know, it's not like she's an enemy or something like that hurt her kids, you know, that's different, but, you know, I don't know, it's just crazy, all these people are just riding along with this.

And the reason that they were, the reason they were after her, is because when she went in Dave's house, she had found some d*pe, and that's where she grew up at. Yeah, so they were afraid that she was going to tell. She told them she was going to. It was actually, from what I read, it was actually a m*th lab that she walked in on.

Okay. I don't know. Yeah, so she knew more than just a little bit of a bag of m*th. It was an actual operation that they were worried about. Okay. So that's why this was so violent, because I don't think, obviously, you said that her husband wanted her dead, is that right? Yes. Yes, but also, I think that they walked, she walked in on some of them, yeah, cooking or something like that.

Well, that's what they said, I don't know. I have to admit that Paula's story about Fred Heyn wanting his wife Freda Heyn dead is tenuous at best. When I remind her about the m*th lab, she claims ignorance to this. And there are definite patches in her memory about who was there and what exactly happened.

Also how much of a role did Willie Baker actually play in this murder? At the moment, it doesn't seem clear at all. While the murder happened more than 20 years ago, you would think that something this traumatic would still be clear in her mind. Well, for Paula, perhaps part of coping with trauma is blocking it all out.

In fact, as we'll find out in the next episode of Voices of a Killer, it wasn't just Paula's memory that was cloudy. As we discover just how Paula managed to be acquitted of second degree murder.

If you wanna find out what happens next, right now, you can sign up at patreon.com/voicesofakiller. There you can find bonus content, early access, ad free listening, and access to our chat community. So go to patreon.com/voicesofakiller to sign up now. Your support is what keeps us passionate about bringing these stories to you.

Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in.

I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.

Ep 75 | Paula Hall Part 3

Welcome back to the third and final installment in the Paula Hall story and the tragic case of Freda Heyn. When we last left off, Paula had described how she had been part of the horrific scene of Freda's death. With holes emerging in her story as to the real motive for Freda's death, we now rejoin Paula three years later after police finally put enough evidence together to lead the trail back to her on this episode of Voices of a Killer.

How long after this murder did they catch you? It was five years later, they, and I'll tell you, they didn't catch me. What they did was, they arrested Dave Epperson for first degree murder. Yeah, and then they mentioned you a whole bunch of times and he implicated you? Exactly. That's what I read, is they started off with the interview talking about you constantly and then interviewed him and then he just ended up implicating you with it.

That's exactly what happened. And then after that, they got somebody else to cut a deal, right? Yeah, they all cut deals after that. You think David Epperson will talk to me? No. You don't think he would? No, I don't. What about Willie Baker? No way. Willie wasn't even implicated in it. You see, Willie didn't go to prison? Nope. He never got charged and he's in there cutting up a body? Yep. He never got charged, he never got nothing. Are you for sure that he was in there cutting up a body? He was there and he never got nothing. And you actually said that Willie was the one With the ti the metal thing hittin him. tell Clinton Ward what to do.

And, see, Clinton, when I got out, I saw Clinton. Okay, after all these years, and all this went by, I saw Clinton. And, I said, "Clinton, what the hell really happened?" And, Clinton told me that Chip, that's when Clinton told me that Chip paid Willie and, Dave. So you're telling me that Willie, as part of, like, you know, took part in the murder, took part in the cutting up, he never served one day in prison, he's out there right now?

Not one day, he never even, he got questioned. He lived down there on the farm with me too. Did he, does he come across as a guy that doesn't get into trouble. You think that's why or what? Why? Why did he get off? I guess so. Yeah. Willie Baker is truly the one mystery character in this case. It's hard to say how much he was involved when the only mention of him comes from testimony from Tom Pettit.

Pettit said they put Freda's remains in five separate bags and they spent hours cleaning the sh*t out of the bathroom. He then said he and Clint Ward removed their clothing when they got outside and they were put in bags and David, Clint, paula and Marilyn and Willie Baker loaded them in their vehicles and took them bags in different directions to be disposed of.

Willie, who had been staying with Paula because he was having problems with his wife, told Pettit that they took the body parts to a hog farm and fed them to the livestock. According to Paula, he didn't face any charges and we can't find any evidence of him having done so too. As for David Epperson, Paula's former lover, he ultimately struck a deal with authorities.

David testified against Paula, recounting his involvement in moving Freda's body and cleaning up the scene. In exchange for his cooperation, the murder charge against him was reduced to tampering with evidence, and he received just four years in prison. David's DNA, left at the scene after he cut his hand during the cleanup, was the key evidence that linked him, and ultimately Paula, to the murder.

Then there's Billy Wayne Hall, Paula's former brother-in-law, who was implicated in both the murder, and the dismemberment of Freda Heyn's body. Initially, charges against Billy Hall were dropped due to a lack of evidence, but new charges, including second degree murder and kidnapping, were later filed against him after additional evidence surfaced during Paula's trial. Like David, Billy Hall was heavily involved in the events surrounding Freda's death, but he managed to allude conviction for some time going on the run before eventually being captured by authorities. The legal proceedings surrounding Billy were complicated by his other criminal activities, and the murder and kidnapping charges were dropped.

Eventually, he was sentenced for possession of marij**na in 2018 to a 15 year suspended sentence. As for Clinton Ward and Tommy Pettit, their roles in the dismemberment of Freda Heyn's body were also brought to light during the investigation. According to Paula, both men were called to assist in cutting up Freda's remains.

While Tommy reportedly refused to participate, Clinton Ward was more directly involved, urging the others to get it over with. Despite this, neither Clint nor Tommy faced the same level of prosecution as Paula or David, with Tommy even managing to avoid significant punishment. Their involvement highlights the complex network of individuals surrounding the crime and raises questions about the deals that were made to secure testimony in exchange for reduced sentences.

Nevertheless, due to David's testimony, Paula was sentenced to 20 years in prison, as this news report from the time points out. It took a Taney County jury just four hours and ten minutes to convict Paula Hall of Sparta of second degree murder. Christian County Prosecutor Ron Cleek says the verdict came back Wednesday night on the lesser charge.

Hall had been charged with first degree murder in the killing of Freda Heyn of Oldfield in November of 2003. Heyn, who was 68 years old, died from a blow to the back of the head from a golf club. For Hall will be sentenced April 3rd in Ozark. The trial was held in Taney County on a change of venue from Christian County.

Cleek says Hall faces a possible sentence of 10 to 30 years or a life prison term depending upon what the judge decides as Hall waived jury sentencing during the trial. Greg Brock, Ms. Orinette Branson. Paula Hall went on trial before a jury in Taney County in January 2009, represented by criminal defense attorney Rita Sanders, a former police officer turned attorney.

Paula's family had retained Sanders after a public defender recommended that Paula plead guilty in return for a 30 year prison term. The family provided $2 500 for an investigator and Sanders represented Paula without charge for the next seven years. At the trial, David Epperson told the jury that Paula had killed Freda Heyn because Freda had caught David and Billy Wayne Hall cooking m*thamphetamine and they feared she would alert authorities.

Lisa Bonham, a woman who was in the same lockup cell with Paula after Paula was arrested, testified that she overheard Paula tell others in the lockup that she had killed Freda. Forensic pathologists testified that Freda had suffered a skull fracture, but they could not link the head wound to being struck with a golf club, as claimed by David Epperson.

On February 4th, 2009, The jury convicted Paula Hall of second degree murder, and she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But just two years later, Paula was granted an appeal and a new trial. So whenever you get arrested, you know, obviously you're probably Not the one that murdered, not the one that cut him up, but you certainly should have said something, knowing that's somebody's, loved one. But, you didn't, but you got off on a technicality. Did you, in prison, you probably heard, like, you know, it's like a really slim chance for getting an appeal, like, people just don't get it hardly ever.

But you actually got one. Did you think it was a long shot? Yeah. I was very surprised that I got it. What was that like? What was that like getting that? Were you in there when they came in there and said, "hey, you're done, you're free, pack up?" Yeah. I, yeah, I couldn't believe it. And my attorney had told me it was going to happen, but I still didn't believe it.

In 2011, Paula was granted a new trial after the trial judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to disclose to the defense that Lisa Bonham had been convicted of passing bad checks, forgery, and violating probation in Christian County. Prosecutors also failed to disclose that Bonham had charges pending in Green County.

At the time of Paula's trial, additionally, the judge found that the prosecution had failed to disclose that it had reduced Bonham's five year probation sentence to 120 days with time already served and asked Green County prosecutors for leniency for her charges in that county. Prosecutors appealed the ruling and the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the granting of a new trial in 2013.

On May 30th, 2013, Paula was released on bond pending a new trial. By that time, murder charges against Billy Wayne Hall had been dismissed for lack of evidence. On October 8th, 2013, the judge acquitted Paula Hall and found that David Epperson, a long time m*th user, cooker, and seller, has not, and has no intention of telling the truth.

In a written opinion, the judge said David had told so many different versions that were inconsistent with the physical evidence, so many inconsistencies on matters of material importance that for want of space they cannot be recounted. Moreover, the judge noted that Tommy Pettit testified that he went to Freda Heyn's home with Billy Wayne Hall and there was a dead body in the kitchen.

Pettit said they took the body to David Epperson's house, where he died. He and Clinton Ward cut it up and took it to a hog farm up north for disposal. Pettit claimed that a woman named Deb, or Debbie, was at the home, and that she had ordered Pettit to cut up the body. The prosecution contended that the woman was Paula Hall, although Pettit had failed to identify Paula in a photographic lineup, had described the woman as very large, and at least 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

Paula Hall was about 130 pounds and 5 feet, 2 inches tall. The judge found that Pettit was a chronic m*th user with an extensive record of convictions who was facing numerous charges that were dismissed or resulted in probation in exchange for testifying against Paula, and that Pettit's testimony of seeing Paula Hall at the home when Freda Heyn was killed was worthless, and noted that at the time of the crime, David Epperson had been dating a woman named Debbie.

By his own admission, Mr. Pettit has been high for years, the judge ruled. The likelihood of Tommy Pettit telling the truth he may remember is very slim. In acquitting Paula Hall, the judge also noted that two pathologists had testified that their examinations of Freda Heyn's skull showed some indentations on the front and a fracture on the side, but that neither could rule out that the fractures were the cause of death or had been caused after the head was discarded in the forest.

Paula walked free from prison and had this to say. But how did it, how did you find out that you're leaving today? They just told me to line up on the blue line with all my property. What did you think was happening? I knew that was time to go. It's been a long time coming for you. Yeah, But it's good.

It's gonna be all right. So what's going through your mind right now? How do you, what are you? Time. I'm in shock. I've got a lot going through my head. I'm in shock. It's hard to believe. It's been a long time. Yeah. It's been a long time. I'm a follower with the Christian County Headliner paper. What's the first thing that you'd like to do now that you're out, you're free?

Go eat something. That's what I say when I take her to eat something. Probably hold them grandbabies. Yeah, and hold the grandbabies. And, go eat something, hold the grandbabies. And, I'd like to go speak with the people at the church that have been praying for me. And I'd like to, tell them my testimony and how I feel and what I've learned and where I've went, where I'm going.

What are some of the I'm sorry, go ahead. Because they've been praying for me and that's meant the world to me, you know, that's what brought me here. Is there anything you would like to say to Rita? I love you. I love Rita. She's been good to me. She's treated me like gold.

I promised I'd bring you home, didn't I? Yeah. I'll do anything. If you have anything, you'll never sit in that jail again.

To call you Morning. I've been here, was at the Green County Jail. And then we, you ready to go get something? Yeah. Can we go? Hey.

After the break, we let Paula have the final word and we find out exactly why she's behind bars again. And when I got out, I went to a Christian home and stayed and got my associate degree in theology. Okay. That's good. So you started to better yourself and then you said your spouse passed away?

Yep. what did you steal to get a charge like that? A ring. Whose ring? It was a Walmart ring. Oh, you went to Walmart and shoplifted? Yeah. Oh. That wasn't worth it, was it? No, it wasn't. Yeah. They got cameras everywhere. You know that, right? Yeah. I never understood stealing on camera. That was, that always boggles me.

Yeah. I was pretty f*cked up. Yeah. I'm sure, hopefully when you get out you're not gonna do m*th anymore? No, I'm not. I'm going to a christian home again. And you know if you see someone cutting somebody up, the best thing to do is, you know, tell somebody as soon as you get the chance. Yeah. I realized that. And I was just afraid for my life. I'm gonna give it a shot to reach out to David either way. Hopefully he's not in Potosi because it's harder for me there, but Paula, I appreciate you opening up to me and, take it easy.

Alright, thank you. Alright, bye bye.

On the next episode of Voices of a Killer:

what was your first reaction when he pulled that gun on you? He's up the stairs, you're both down the stairs looking at you. What, I wanted to get out of the situation. But all I did know, he got high all the time and he had probably been up for a few days with a gun pointed at me.

He looked pretty angry about, and he did say something to the fact that like, I don't know if he said, shoot me in the face, but he did say something, "I'm going to shoot you." I was trying to figure out what was going on. And I even told him, "Hey, calm down." You know, and I tried to explain to him who I was, like I said, cause it was dark, but you got a little light.

It was going dark. I was pretty scared. I had my gun like down on my side and I pulled it as I was leaving and shot a couple of times when I left. Did, your partner that was with you, did he pull out the same time and shoot, or what? I didn't really pay attention to him. I just know there was gunshots.

I'd like to thank Paula for sharing her story with us today. Her ability to be open and honest is what makes this podcast so special.

That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer, a big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voicesofakiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast.

I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.

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