UPDATE: Laura Sweetman

25:46And then you'll be happy. If you want me to kill myself, just say so and I'll do it now. And I'm not joking. I've got a gun upstairs, I'll kill myself. Will that make you happy? No, David. I want us to do the best thing for the kids. No, I want to. Laura, Jesus, I care about you so much. Don't leave me. You're the only person that I've trusted and cared about for 25 years, Laura. We've been together since we were kids. I know. I care about you more than anything. But my life sucks, David. So does mine. Can we work together and fix it? Please? I think I deserve something else than people telling me all the time.

26:34All right, well, first of all, you're right. You do deserve better, and I apologize. You deserve better. People should never. These pieces of shit that would call you and say these things are pieces of shit. Okay? I agree. And I'll get them. Okay? They're trying anything. Can you see that they're trying anything they can to hurt me? Nothing will make them happier than you to leave me. All it does is hurt me. And I'm sick of being hurt all the time. Time after time after time. Okay. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be, though. It's not time after time after time after time after time.

27:12I've made mistakes. I agree. But I'm not perfect. I agree. But I mean, it's not like I went searching for anything. Accidents have happened. Mistakes have been made. I swear to God. Mistakes have been made. But they were mistakes. They're not. I am not perfect. I agree. Okay, I've made mistakes. But it's not like I'm leading a double life. it's not like I'm living somewhere else you are living a double life you visit her, you bring her money and the last few weeks I've had like $14 to buy groceries and she gets your money ask me for money, I give her money at the start of the month to help with him she has a job, I've given her what about me that's our money you're right I've got nothing I have this house which is a noose around my neck and that's it and I go to work all day and then I bring you your dinner upstairs and I have nothing I have my children and I have my job and I just try to put my feet every day and lay in my bed and I'm like if I could just get my foot on the ground then okay then let's fix this together please

28:30please please I don't want it David I'll give you every ounce, every penny of money I've got. I don't care about money. I just want to have a day where I have more than$14 to buy groceries. Okay, all right. I make a fuckload of money. Okay. And I have nothing. Okay, I agree. We've had this problem for a while. Fine, let's... Sure, she has groceries. She has her own job. I gave her$300 a month. Okay? I'm not rich. I'm barely making it. I'm barely fucking surviving. My business is going in the tank. So what did you think was going to happen? I didn't know. I didn't know how I was going to explain it.

29:17And why would you hide your son? He's your son. Laura, because I love you and I care about you and I didn't want to hurt you. And I'm embarrassed. But at this point, pride doesn't mean a goddamn thing to me. I'm embarrassed beyond all embarrassment. I didn't know what to do or how to do it. Okay. She used to be Maceo's girlfriend. Oh, you already know the whole story? Do you know everything? I'm sorry. Go ahead and tell me. Okay. She was Maceo's girlfriend. I was Maceo's friend. We ended up just somehow in it. It ended up where it ended up. Okay. She refused to have an abortion. And there it is.

30:02I'm stuck with a goddamn kid

30:09I I wanted more than anything to not have another child I wanted more than anything starting businesses with her and my kids names and her names all over everything together like you're a family no that right there was down there at the coffee shop I had to start the LLC she demanded to be a part of the LLC I said, here, fine then. If you can run this, great. And if you can make any money, great. And it never worked out. Not for a couple. Why are my kids' names with her? Okay, your kids' names are on the LLC in case she ever tried to do something where she tried to take anything that wasn't hers.

30:49Okay, that way she's not a majority owner.

30:59I'm not trying I've never tried to be Mr. Subversive about anything and I knew someday I'd have to confront this issue and I didn't know how I was going to do it and it really weighed heavy on me I don't know I have no idea or had no idea how the hell I would deal with this this is a huge problem and a huge embarrassment. I don't know what to do. It's embarrassing to me. I know. I know. I know. I'm like the biggest fucking loser of the planet. No, you're not. Yeah, I am. Come on. Don't, don't, don't. Don't. I don't, I don't even hate you. I just. Jesus Christ. I just. Can't you see that. I just want to be alone.

31:49I don't want you to be alone. That's the thing that I've never wanted. I've wanted to be with you. I love you. I love you. I've wanted us to be together for the longest time. Okay. But everywhere I go, people are telling me that you're with other people. Who is saying this? Who is saying this? It's everybody everywhere. Everybody everywhere is saying that I'm with other people? or I'm not. I'm with you. You're my wife. You are what I care about. You are who I love. Granted, I haven't felt love back for a long time, but I've wanted that. I figured maybe once, you know, we got this house situation worked out, then, you know, things would be a little bit better for us.

32:44I have nothing. I'm 42 years old. I am losing my home. I have nothing. I have no retirement plan. I have$400 ,000 of tax debt. And they're going to come after me. You don't know what you're talking about. Because I'm the only one with a paycheck. Hold on a second. There's no one coming after you. this is getting handled. This is being handled by

33:11Fred I've got the lawyer's name. I've got the lawyer's name. He's handling it. He's really hey, this is being handled. Okay, you don't have$400 ,000 of tax debt. Don't think that it doesn't weigh on my head that it's sitting out there, but I'm handling it. I'm handling this. And when I talked to a lawyer he said they'll leave me$2 ,000 a month to live on. And then I'm going to be the person paying it back. You don't have$400 ,000 of tax debt. You don't have$400 ,000 of tax debt. The IRS, what they did was they didn't accept those two years worth of taxes because they were repetitive. The tax change that they made, the$24 ,000, then what they do is they take that and then they just disallow the next two years.

34:03Okay? This is being fixed. I swear it. This is being fixed. Okay? I've already paid the attorney. I paid him a year and a half ago. Okay? I am working to fix these problems. I really am. Okay. Well, then come and find me when they're fixed. I can't even find my kids. You've taken my kids away from me, Laura. I don't want to come and find you. I wish you would work with me. I am working with you, and I'd love to see you tomorrow at wrestling. Laura, no, don't, no. Why can't we be a family? Why can't, what? All I want is you. I want you to love me. I want you to love me. I've wanted that. That's all I've wanted is you to love me.

34:55I haven't felt it for a long time. I can tell you that honestly. I mean, I know you're stressed and you're having a hard time, but I really am. I do have plans to fix that, and I did want to fix that, and I still do want to fix that. I want us to be a happy family.

35:16My plans were to buy the house, and then I probably aren't going to be able to work very much because I'm not going to have any money to put back into the business. and that's going to, you know, I'll just have to sell things off as they go. But then at least we don't have that enormous, you know, you know, house bill.

35:43I really do have plans to fix this. I don't know how to fix that. I can't. I don't know. I don't know how to deal with that. I want. Okay. Could you forgive me?

35:56I love you. I know that much. If I gave birth to a black kid, would you forgive me? Laura, if it meant you not leaving and our family staying together, I'd have to deal with it. I would have to deal with it. That's not bullshit. I would be hurt. I would be devastated. I would be feeling all the same things that you're feeling. But I would still love you because you're the person I've loved and I married. Because I loved you and because I cared about you. And we've been through so much. I can't even imagine being with anybody else. I can't imagine wanting to be with anybody else. I don't want to be with anybody else.

36:46I don't want to be with anyone else. I just can't live like this anymore. Okay. It's so mortifying. I know. I know. I know. Believe me, I know.

37:05There isn't anything that I don't know better. I know that. But how could I come to you and say, geez, honey, guess what I did? I fucked up again. Not only is everything else in turmoil, but I'm a complete fucking idiot. Look at this enormous fucking blemish mistake I've made. and I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody fucking decided to really stick it in my side and call you.

37:38It's your phone. I set it down over there. It was in my hand.

37:57That's got to be your police friends. No, I'm on call.

38:27So as you can see, I have no friends in the entire universe. Okay. They give two shits about me. Everyone's out to fucking stab me in the back. I am not. Trying to fucking hurt. I want us to make those kids have a great life and help them with their careers and their wrestling and everything. And I think we can do that. But there's no reason. We can't do that separately. Laura. We can't. No, every family that breaks up, the kids are destroyed by it. You know that. you know that you know that as a fact that broken homes are terrible look at what Robin is I'm not vindictive like her yeah well things like that happen and I'm a piece of shit that would be vindictive because as soon as you're with somebody else I'm going to lose it but that's going to happen it will happen or you've turned yourself into a beautiful woman all you care about is working out and being in shape Because otherwise it's an antidepressant because it's the only thing that makes me feel better Well I wish I could fucking make you feel better Look at what's happened to me I've just turned to shit because I have no fucking dignity or self respect about myself I don't care about myself Will you help me?

39:45But I'm not staying in this house David No No no no no let's work together and make it better let's work together and fix it let's work together please let's work together i've been doing all i can okay and i died in my room and i didn't fucking care okay that's how bad it is what do you mean when i had a heart attack I knew what was happening and I thought I died in there and you know what happened? I just woke up the next day. What are you talking about? When I was sick. When was this? The first time you had a heart attack? I passed out. I thought I was just done and you know why? I didn't care.

40:43Because at that point I would have rather been dead. This is like a year ago.

40:52I knew when you took the baby stuff that you had a baby and I knew you had it with her. And this whole time I've been thinking that I'm crazy. Oh, my God. Because you had 14 stories about what you were doing with the stuff. And I knew you were with her. I always know when you're with somebody. Okay. I'm not with her. I'm not with anybody. I'm with you. First of all, I'm not with her.

41:23You mean everything to me. You are the only woman in the world that ever has meant anything to me. But you can't force me into this situation, David.

41:39But I'm going to try. Or I care about you. You're the only thing I care about. I would rather see us both dead than no I'd rather see me dead than not have you in my life because my children are going to be destroyed by this they're going to be destroyed from this and it's all my fault

42:04my children's lives are going to be fucked up because of this I fucked I fucked up everything with you I fucked up everything with my kids everything

42:21I would like to help you. I just can't stay here, please. I don't want you to go, Laura. I don't want you to go. I don't want you to go. I don't want you to take my kids.

42:39I don't want you to go.

42:44Their fucking pictures. You took their pictures.

42:56You can't do this to me. You can't do this to me. Please. Please. Please. Let's us make this better together. Please, Laura. Are you just looking for a way out? Are you just looking to make your run? Is that really what's going on here? Are you not listening to me at all? I'm listening to you. You really don't care about anything I've got to say? Is that really it? No, David, I care. I've been over this 800 ,000 times alone. Okay? You've been over what? This whole scenario. And there's not going to be a way that I'm going to feel better about that baby. Okay, there's not going to be a way that I'm going to be able to make you feel better about that baby.

43:39But can you forgive me for making a mistake? because I'm not going to, the minute you're gone, I'm not running over and being with this baby. I'm not doing that. But you should. It's your obligation. No, I'm not going to. Okay, I'm not going to run over and be with any. I'm never going to be with that person. I have never, ever, ever. You should fight for your son. You should have your son half the time. He is yours and he deserves to have a good dad too. Will you accept him into the house? No. Okay then I'm going to fight for all your kids Because they're yours and they deserve a good, respectable dad Okay I'm not going to do anything that's going to jeopardize my chance with you Laura I'm not going to do You know what?

44:26You know I'm a pediatrician, right? I mean, I actually feel bad for that kid Because I want him to have you as a dad Laura You need to be there for him too, David I'm not going to do anything that will jeopardize us. Lord, I'm not going to do anything that will jeopardize us. I'm not going to do it. I want us. I want you and me. I want our kids. I want our family. That's what I want. That's the only thing I want. That's the only thing I want. I don't want anything that will jeopardize us. I love you and care about you more than anything. I really do. I love you and care about you more than anything in this entire world.

45:13And I would do anything to prove that. I don't want anything but you and my children in my life. That's it. And the only reason why I even had to deal with this other person is is because there's a kid there. And yes, it's an enormous mistake. But I do have to take a responsibility for the kid in some way. But I've never brought it up to you and I've never admitted this terrible problem because of the problem it's going to cause me. Because I don't want to lose my family. I don't want to lose you. I love you. I love my kids. this is all I want, is you and my children. It really is.

46:17It really, really is, Laura.

46:24What can I do? What can I do? Please tell me. What can I do? I don't know. I think you have the potential to be a great dad. You are a great dad. and you need to be a dad to that kid. But you've never been a good husband. I have been a good husband. I have been a good husband. I haven't been a perfect husband, but I've been a good husband. There are a whole lot worse husbands out there. I admit, I've got issues because of how my mom fucked me up. I've got issues. I've got some deep, dark stuff that I've never told you. I've got problems that I don't know how to deal with. Okay? But, you know...

47:29What do you want to tell me? I mean, if there's stuff that you need to say, then get it off your chest.

47:50What?

48:01it's really embarrassing okay well I've been your friend since I was 16 years old I know but I never told you before I've never what this is the part of the recording where Dave shares something personal with Laura Look, I know I'm fucked up, okay? I know I'm fucked up, okay? Everybody fucking leaves me. My mom left me. Grandma died. You're leaving.

48:51.

49:09What about her? What about her?

49:29Sorry that that happened to you.

50:03I think we should just work on a better situation for our kids. Laura, I'm fucked up. I'm so fucked up, okay? There's a lot of shit wrong with me. Okay, David, I'm friends. Will you please help me fix and stay with me? I would love to help you. Will you please stay my wife? Can I get it? Will you please stay my wife? Do you care about me? Yes, I care about you more than anything, Laura. I need to be fixing myself. What about me and Rick? Please, I know. I will do anything to help. I will do anything. I will do anything. I will do anything. Please don't leave. Please don't take my kids. Please, I will do anything.

50:52I'm not taking them, David. We're just going to work together. I'll pour my heart out to a psychiatrist. I'll tell them everything, and I will get better. I will get better. I will do anything. I will do anything to keep you. Anything. Please don't leave. Please. Please. Please. You're the only thing I want in this entire world. What about my mental health? Okay, whatever. I will do anything to make that better. To make it better for you. I will do anything to make it better. I will do anything to make it better. I will get help. I will be the best husband in the world to you.

51:39I will be who I've never been. I will do anything. Please. Please. You're the only thing I care about. I don't care about anything in this world except you at this point in my life. And my kids, of course. These are the things that I care about. More than anything. I want you to love me again. Okay, we can work on it, David, but I need some recovery time. I, you cannot imagine what I have been through with this.

52:18It's not a very easy thing to get over your spouse having a kid with somebody else. It's not a joke, David. I know it's not, Laura. I know I made a mistake. I know I made an enormous mistake. A huge mistake. The biggest mistake ever.

52:44And there's no way for me to fix it. There's no way for me to... There's no way that you don't... I can't just fix that. I begged and pleaded with this person to please not have a child. Please don't have a child. Please. Please. This is going to destroy my life.

53:07Someday it's going to come up and destroy my life.

53:40You're not going to tell anybody about that, are you? No, David.

53:47I would like to help you. I want a great life for our kids. I want us to get along. That's what I really want. But you don't want anything to do with me. I do not want to live in this house with you right now. We have major problems. And I... I can barely function right now. I feel the same way. But I have to. And then it got to the point. My student loans, I couldn't defer them anymore. There's nothing. I've just and imagine my self esteem imagine how I feel for one second I'm not good enough for you I can't pay the bills I'm just I try so hard so many hours every day and it's never enough I know it's not that you're not good enough don't ever think it's good well that's how it feels David that I'm the loser.

54:57You know what I felt? I felt like I haven't been loved and I felt like I'm not good enough. You're wildly talented. You're beautiful. And then I was so excited to tell you about the Top Doc thing and you said oh, you probably just made a mistake. It's just political. I was joking. Jesus Oh my God I was so excited for myself Because it's the biggest deal I expect it Oh my God Jesus Christ you get it every time God what do you mean How do you not have the highest self esteem Look at yourself

55:51You're the most talented person I know. You're so accomplished. You're so good looking. And look at me. I've just turned to shit. Everything in my life has turned to shit. Haven't you noticed I've gained like fucking 30 pounds in the past year or so? I know. Haven't you noticed how much I'm drinking? I know. And you know what that makes me feel like? That I'm not good enough. No. It'll make you happy because then you have to drink just to be around it. No. I have to drink to escape the problems I've got. Because I don't know how to come to you for help.

56:36I mean, I've got plans in the back of my head and I'm trying to make them all work out. But it's like when I tell you about the plan, you're like, when I told you I wanted to buy the house. But every single thing you do is illegal. No, it's not. Every single... I don't do everything illegal. What do I do that's illegal? My business isn't illegal. It's not perfect, but it's not illegal.

57:13It's not illegal. What about the fire? That's not, I'm not, I'm not responsible for that. Are you blaming me for that? I don't know. I'm asking you about it. I'm not blaming you. No, I'm, why would you blame me for that? I'm asking you. I was here. You were, you were here with me. We were here. I have nothing to do with it. For all I know, fucking Jesse and Chris fucking set the place on fire to fuck me then.

57:48I'm not trying to go to prison, Laura. I'm not trying to fucking be away from my family.

57:57I just, sometimes it seems like if we just did things rationally, you know, and I don't understand what's going on with your business, I mean, just nothing makes sense. I don't do things irrationally. I, granted, I'm not the most brilliant businessman in the world, but.

58:27I mean, the, the, the, the tax thing is getting fixed. It is. It really is. The, the fucking, the, the attorney, I had to give him this stuff last week. the stuff that they sent back to us

58:46I gave it to him last week he said that that's coming up you can call him you can call him and ask him if you don't believe me he's handling that fucking it's like an independent arbitrator he's handling it okay I swear to you

59:08that's being handled So I talked to the guy from the insurance company. Well, there's two different insurance companies, but he's got approval already this week. I heard from him on Thursday. This week, he's supposed to send me a check for$30 ,000 for the one truck. That's 80 % of it because he can do that right away. Then he's going to send me the other 20 % of it. And then the big truck is probably going to take another week because he has to get approval. But that's like$150 ,000.

59:41And the attorney for the other insurance company, he said that that has been kicked to a supervisor on the insurance company's side. And that that guy is going to more than likely cut a check on that. And when we do that, that will be like$400 ,000 we can buy the house. Or we'll buy another house. Whatever. Whatever you want.

1:00:10I'll give it all to you. You can have it. You can be in control of everything. I don't care. I don't want. I just. I just don't want to lose you and my family. Because believe it or not. I really do love you. Believe it or not. Okay. I know I'm not perfect. I know I've made a lot of fucking stupid mistakes. I mean a lot of stupid mistakes. I know it.

1:00:34But I really do care about you. And I really do only want you in this world. that's all I want, you and my kids, that's it, I mean, I want you to love me, I wish, I wish you loved me more physically, I really do, honestly, Laura, look at me, I swear to you, I really wish you loved me physically, I mean, I know I'm not attractive, I, you know, I know I'm, you know, you know, but I'll get in shape, I'll do whatever I have to do, if, you know, if I need to get in shape, you know, to be more attractive I will if I'm not attractive I'll do anything I have to do problem is I have I don't I've lost my own self-respect and it's hard for me to be attracted to you when I'm thinking about you being with her okay that's a big mental barrier I just said yourself you wouldn't be able to handle me being with someone else you'd lose it well I've lost it I would lose it, but I would...

1:01:39I've lost it. Okay, but I would regroup because I don't want to lose my family and I don't want to lose the woman I love. I don't want to lose that. Why would I lose it? Why would I lose it? Because I don't want to lose the woman that I care about. That's why I would lose it. I don't want to lose who I love and care about and who I want to be with. That's what I don't want to lose.

1:02:08I don't want to lose that because you really are the person that I love.

1:02:19You're my wife, Laura. You think if I loved some other woman, why wouldn't I just leave? Why wouldn't I just try to take half your money and leave? Why wouldn't I do that? Why would I even be here arguing and pleading with you and telling you my deepest and darkest fucking secret? if I wanted anything other than you. I'm sure some fucking shyster divorce attorney would say, hey, you helped her all this time. You could get half of that. Why wouldn't I do that if I wanted that? I don't want anything but you. You're what I want. I don't care about any of that other shit. I want you and my children.

1:03:00I want my family. That's the only thing in this world that I want. Thank you.

1:03:25And I know you're probably not being honest with me when you're telling me that you're not seeing another guy. You had to have guys come over here and move all the stuff out. I paid movers. I had a receipt. Okay. But if you did I wouldn't fucking be happy You're right I'd fucking lose it But I'm I would have to find a way to get past it

1:03:59I don't want to hurt you David I'm not here to hurt you That's all this is doing to me is hurting me Just sticking to it I got to give you that, Laura. You're sticking to it. I don't want to lose you, and I don't want to lose my kids. And I said, I want to create the best scenario that you can that's the most positive for them with two parents that love them and don't fight about it. And you want to take them to wrestling. You want to take them to football. And I'm going to be right there. No, I want my kids. I want to wake up in the house with them. I want to be in the house when they go to sleep.

1:04:33When they wake up in the middle of the night And I come out and I say Hey what you doing bud I'm just going to the bathroom dad I don't want to lose that Lord Jesus This is going to fuck them up This is going to destroy them

1:05:03He needs us. Oh my God.

1:05:10Oh my God.

1:05:17Can you please, please find it in your heart to try to forgive me and let me do everything and anything I can to fix my problems? Can you please? Please? Please? I don't think that I can live with myself with my self-esteem any lower. I feel like crap.

1:05:51Tell me what I can do to make you feel better. Please. or you know you can you know you know that you can find a way if you really want to you just don't want to you're that mad at me you don't want to you just don't want to but you know you could

1:06:32please you can't force it David all I am asking you is to give me a break where did you move to just the road in Calvert

1:06:48you see you won't even tell me where you just where are the divorce papers are they already here you've already been talking to lawyers where are they at but you have them just talking about it

1:07:15What did you tell the children? I told them I'd be back in a few minutes. And you left them at the police station? Well, I left them with my friend. At the police station. And she was probably going to take them there. Where are they spending the night at? With me.

1:07:34Out of their home. Away from their rooms. Away from their beds. Did you take all their clothes? No, I left their stuff here so they can be here with you and they can be there with me. I'm not going to be able to live here, obviously.

1:07:55All of their stuff is here.

1:08:00Because I'm not here to hurt you. No, you are here to hurt me. That's fine. You're just like the rest of them. you don't you nobody gives a shit that's fine i do give a shit and i want to help you i'd be glad to help you i just can't stay in this house and do no that whatever okay okay i love you and i care about you and i want you okay well let's work on it but i can't stay in this house and work on it right now i'm just so far down i try to be good i go to church i go do exercise try to anything to make myself feel better and I still feel like crap. Why don't you do stuff with me? I guess if you want to go to church a hundred times.

1:08:42Okay, why can't we do something that is fun for us together? Why can't we do stuff together? Something where I don't have to walk 800 miles on a knee that already hurts. Why can't we do stuff together that will bring us closer together and maybe you know hey there might be a spark between us and you might care about me physically and you might love me again why can't we do stuff like that I'd be happy to start trying to do that but right now I'm very you just want to be single I don't care about that put yourself in great shape out there on the market have a great time that's what you want clearly no it's not yeah it is Laura because you don't want me.

1:09:31You haven't wanted me in a very, very long time.

1:09:37I mean, look, I know that you're up here and I'm right here. I didn't say that. I understand. I've known for two years that you had a kid and I thought I was crazy. First of all, you haven't known for two years because there hasn't been a kid for two years. Okay, well, his birthday's coming up. Okay, well, he's not two years old, so you haven't known for two years that I've had a kid. why didn't you when you cared about me the last day that you gave a shit why didn't you say something so we could fix it because I didn't know how to say something

1:10:09and I wanted to fucking fix this problem I wanted to fix it because there's nothing else I want other than this because every time I've approached you with these problems it's I lose it? okay I understand I lose it.

1:10:30But I've never been faced with the fact of having to lose you.

1:10:49Their stuff is here. They're going to be here whatever nights you want.

1:11:03Yeah, you can do sports with them every night and I will be there every night Laura, I want you as well I want you So tell me what track I have to get on to get you back I want you to let me walk out this door. I'm sitting on the floor. And we can talk tomorrow. We can talk the next day. We can talk every day. You don't. You won't. You won't come back.

1:11:50He doesn't. I'm pretty sure we hide it pretty good.

1:12:00Really? Yes. Every time you're horribly upset with him, he gets a headache and throws up. He feeds off us all the time. When does he get a headache and throw up? When did he do this? He's done that three or four times recently. After you yell at him and he goes upstairs, he throws up his dinner or he throws up in the bathroom. There's a lot of stress in that kid, okay? And then in another weird way, when I'm spending a lot of time with him, it'll be like after spring break or something, and I'm really trying to be so positive with him. He goes back to school and gets in a ton of trouble, and I ask him why.

1:12:39He says, because I want to be with you, Mom. I want to do the fun things that we did last weekend or something. And I feel like I'm overcompensating. You know what I mean? It's just like this never-ending. And this is going to work out so well with us apart. Well, hey, if you want to fuck up the kids, you want to have fucked up kids, and you want to go out and do whatever you want to do, and you want to see me run off the edge, then go ahead. You got to do what you got here. I took your keys, by the way, because I didn't want you to leave. Go do what you got to do, Laura.

1:13:16I have to go and I don't want to fight with you I know you don't want to fight with me you just want to do this and I want to see you tomorrow no you don't I'll bring them there myself when are my kids coming home tomorrow night because that's all I'm going to have to care about because you don't it's clear you don't care about me whatever days you want tomorrow night I want them every night this week And then I have the weekend? I mean, the thing is... No, I want my children. You said I can have them anytime I want them. I want them. I want my children. Okay, but... I don't know. The law is half and half.

1:13:56Laura, I don't know. The law isn't. Laura, see, you're just telling me you don't want to be vindictive and hurt me. But that's exactly what you're doing. When you're taking my kids away from me, that's what you're doing. You're hurting me. You're taking my children away from me. You're hurting me. you're right now what you're doing is you're taking an opportune time to leave me with everything hanging over my head and here you go David maybe you can here you go David here you go David here you go no that you know this is exactly what everybody's wanted this is what exactly what where everyone who's been stabbing in the eye has been hoping for this is great this is exactly it

1:14:44they can come home tomorrow after wrestling and we will I want my children tonight we'll both see them every day I want my children tonight I want them to wake up and go to school they're going to wake up when Stacy gets here take them to school and that'll be it I want my children I want my children tonight they're going to leave me alone in this house you're gonna take my kids and just run off and do whatever to somebody some strange house I don't even know where my kids are I don't even know where they are and some strange house I want my kids tonight I want them in their house tonight I don't want my I don't want my children away if you want us if you're gonna fuck me and destroy me and hurt me that's fine I'm gonna have to I'm going to have to pick up my ass and live with it.

1:15:41Okay. I don't know what else to do. That's all I can do. I wish, I wish I could do anything to fix this, but you're telling me that it's just not going to happen. I see it. I smell it. I feel it. It's not going to happen. You're not going to, you're not going to forgive me. You're not going to give me a chance. You're not, you know, you've said it, that's it. You've got the papers, you're going to file them and that's it. You're just waiting to do this to me.

1:16:14I want my children. I want them here. I want them in the house. This isn't fair to me. It's not, this is not fair. And I understand that me saying something fair is not probably the right terminology that I should be using because I haven't been fair to you, but I want my kids. These are my kids. I love them and care about them. I don't want them in some strange house. They should be in their beds. Wake up in their beds, go to school. I want my children here. This isn't fair. This isn't fair to them. You want to talk about not doing things to them, that's exactly what this is doing.

1:17:08The first second of this, what you're doing here is destroying. I'll tell you what, for all the mistakes I've made, the last thing I've wanted is to destroy my family. That's the last thing in the world that I've wanted. The last thing is to destroy my family. I don't want them hurt. I've never wanted you hurt. Never once have I wanted you hurt. That's why I've obviously concealed everything. Because I've never wanted you hurt. Ever. Because I care about you and I love you. But I love my kids too. They're a piece of me.

1:17:54I can't be without my children. If you've got to go, then you've got to go. And you've got to go be seen. That's fine. But I've got to have my children. These are my sons. These are the only things in this world that are proof that I've been here. I have nothing else. I have no family, nothing. Fucking I've got a half-assed uncle. Are you kidding me? This is the family. This is the only family I've got is those boys. That's what I love. That's what I care about. You can't take them from me. You cannot. I'm not going to, I'm not going to, no, I'm not going to go for that one.

1:18:36A lot of things will happen before my kids will be taken from me, Laura. You can go spend the night at your cop friend's house, date a cop, all, whatever you got to do. But my kids are going to be with me come hell or high water. I'm sorry, but I've got to fight me now. These are my children. And if it takes me doing something crazy, I'll do it. Because you know I'm capable of it and you know I love my children. Those are the two things you're not going to cross. Do not take my children. Do you understand me? Do you understand me? Where are my children? I'll get them. No, I'll get them. I want my children.

1:19:22I'm not going to just trust you.

1:19:28Where are my children? They're with the police. All right, well, you have the police bring them here.

1:19:36Let me step outside. No, you can do this here. Let me step outside, okay? At this point, Laura steps out and makes a call to the person who has her kids. And then the audio cuts off. When the deputies go to arrest Dave, they have not listened to this whole recording yet. But they show up with a huge police presence, mostly because of the threats Laura accused Dave of making and the weapons that she said he had. The following body cam audio of their conversation with Dave has been edited for time and clarity. And it's going to pick up at the point where Dave has already been put in handcuffs. The reason I'm here is your wife, after she left, she called the sheriff's office saying that you and her were involved in an altercation where she alleged that you wouldn't let her leave.

1:20:33You tried to choke her a couple times. Every time she would go out the door, you would grab her by the throat and pull her back in while you guys talked for an hour, hour and a half. I'm telling you what she's alleging she said during which time you threatened that neither one of you would get out of it alive you would kill her and yourself then you took that back and said you would only kill yourself which that in itself I have a problem with because I don't want to

1:21:05I didn't choke her I didn't touch her I didn't grab her I asked her if she wanted me You know, I was at that point, I get home from a trip, you know, taking my children to a wrestling tournament. Gone all weekend, and I'm slapped in the face with mistakes that I've made, which, you know, I fully acknowledge, you know, the mistakes that I've made. Okay, well, what started the whole thing tonight? She handed me a notebook saying that the reason why she's leaving is because I've had an affair. Okay. And, you know, I told her that, you know, I wanted to make it right. I wanted to make it better. I didn't want her to leave.

1:21:49Please don't leave me. You know, and in the, you know, would I kill myself thing, I asked if that was something that she wanted. I'm like, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to, you know, do you want me to shoot myself? What do you want me to do? What do I need to do to prove to you how much I love you and care about you? Okay. In the course of conversation, did you make reference to you killing both of you and her? No, absolutely not. In fact, I didn't even say I would kill my... I asked if that's what she wanted. Okay. Because I have an hour and I think 20 minutes worth of audio recordings that I haven't listened to yet.

1:22:29It has the whole conversation you guys have. Okay. That's why I'm asking you before I go and spend an hour and 20 minutes listening to it, What am I going to hear out there? No, no, I don't think I said that I would kill her ever. No. You don't think or you didn't? I don't think I did. Okay. Well, look, I was really upset. You know, I was, you know. Right. Very, very, very upset. Okay, but she was very fearful when she was talking to me, which is why you see the police presence you see here when I came to talk to you. Understood. Because she was worried that you might do something when we get here, whether it be do something like shoot at us, shoot yourself, all the things that we wanted to prevent.

1:23:12That's why there was a show of force. I hear you. I hear you. You've got to do your job. I'd rather be here with a bunch of cops and nothing happen than be here by myself and have to wait for somebody to show up. Understood. Understood. A lot of crazy stuff going on. No, like I said, I don't think I ever said I would kill her. No. Okay. And obviously I would never do that. But the simple fact that she's the mother of my children, I love her very much and I care for her very much. Well, unfortunately people do stupid things. You see it on the news all the time. People love each other and they still shoot each other.

1:23:50Oh, you're right. You're right. In moments of anger. Yeah. Well, yeah. Irrational. Irrational thinking, yes, I understand. And sure, at that point I was probably very irrational, but not to the point where I'm going to punch her or choke her or any of that stuff. Okay. Would you have said anything to make her concerned that you would be coming after her to where she would have to be fearful of you? Well, I did say, you know, hey, I'm not going to let you take my kids. Okay. I'm not going to let you take my kids. you know I'm not going to let you take my kids. Was there any threat to any other bodily harm?

1:24:29Not to the extent of killing her, but something else that she would have been fearful of? What do you mean? That's what I'm asking you. Like if she was to take the kids, would you hurt her? No, no, no. No, I mean, obviously, I mean, if she's going to leave and I can't get her to forgive me and understand, you know, and she's past the point of understanding, then okay. then I've got to go into I've got to fight for my kids. I've got to fight for my kids. I've got to get an attorney. If you look on my phone, when you called, that's what I was doing. I was looking up Arizona divorce law. It's right there on my phone.

1:25:10How many kids do you share together? Three. How long have you guys been married? Since 1991. That's a long time. It's 22 years. Now, was there any type of physical altercation between either you or her, putting her hands on you or anything? No, I mean, the only time we ever even got body to body was I hugged her, and she didn't want to hug me back. Okay. And then... When was this hug, as you call it? what's up i'm asking i have to kind of have it all laid out i got you because you have i gotta get things from your perspective i got you um she uh

1:26:03was it like at the door and did you pull her back inside when you did it what tell me what happened there um okay so i knew something was going on okay When I first came home, she immediately took the kids and said, we're going to Walmart. So I was just like, okay. So I go in the house. I'm starting to put stuff away in, and the bedroom door is locked. I'm like, okay, why is the bedroom door open? I'm looking around for one of those little things to open the door. I can't find it. So I go around to the back door, and I go in the bedroom, and everything's gone. And I'm like, oh, shit. What just happened?

1:26:45her so i start calling her i'm like hey you know are you still at walmart uh no i'm not i'm like okay uh what time you coming back can you bring a pizza you know i'm trying to feel what's going on here um she said sure bring the pizza so um it had been a while so i'm getting ready to leave so you know because i think maybe she's at um another friend of her house our friend of hers house okay um so i pull out and i see her pull in so i pull in um you know i turn around come back um she said your pizza's upstairs um and i met her at the garage to the house door okay she was coming out and i'm like hey what's talking because i knew something was She hands me this and says something to the effect of I can't do this anymore.

1:27:42And we start talking. We, you know, and I'm just, you know, I don't, I don't, you know, strike her or anything. I, you know, I know I did put my arms around her. I'm like, hey, you know, come on, let's talk. Let's talk. Please, let's talk. We move into the living room.

1:28:04um we're talking there uh but but before hold on but before um i um i went in the house i reached into her um her car and i took the car keys which one's her car well it's not here the tahoe the tahoe okay i took the tahoe keys put in my pocket because i wanted to talk to her okay um So we get towards the back door. We're talking.

1:28:43I don't remember everything that was said. Basically I'm pleading to give me another chance.

1:28:56She has the dog and I think she's going to take the dog. the dog for a walk. So we start to walk outside and then, um,

1:29:10I was, I was like towards the driveway side and she, um, she, I don't know if like she was letting the dog go or what, but she like started to bolt that way. And I'm like, hold on, let's talk, let's talk, Let's talk. Come on. Let's talk. Let's talk. And I do think she said something like, you're not letting me leave. Okay. Now that I'm thinking about all this in hindsight, I feel like I must have been set up for this. Because I do believe she did say something to me. You're not letting me leave. I'm just like, you know, I just want to talk to you. Okay. I love you. I want to talk to you. and, you know, we talked for a while longer and, you know, and I, you know, bared my soul and she's just like, you know, you know, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do, you know, and I'm like, okay, you know, I give her back her keys and I'm like, if you're going, you're going, you know, you got to go, you got to go.

1:30:08She didn't know I had the keys. I took them under my pocket and told her, you're going to need these. Did her, you at any point take her phone away from her? I didn't take her phone from her. She carries two phones, by the way. Okay. I had my arms around. I was hugging her. I was like, please, please, please don't go. And her phone is in one of those little slip things. And it slipped in my hand. I just set it down. Okay. And I, in fact, told her. I'm like, because, like, her phone went off or something like that. And she didn't realize it. I'm like, you know, what's over here? It's on the couch.

1:30:41I set it down. I didn't realize, you know. I was more focused on talking to her. Right. But she still had another phone with her, by the way. I mean, if she really felt in fear of her life, she could have called or, you know. Now, during your conversation with her while you were inside, did you stand between her and the door to make her think she couldn't leave? No, I sat on the ground. I was sitting on the ground. Where at? In the homes of the house?

1:31:11I was...

1:31:16A couple times I leaned back onto the bar. Okay, like the kitchen area? Yes. Okay. And she was sitting on the edge of the couch by the door. Okay. While I was talking to her. And, I mean, if she wanted to, she could have walked right out. And I think I made reference to that. You know, if you want to walk out, you can walk out. You know, I'm, you know, I love you. I'm trying to salvage this. So, you know, that was it. Okay. And then she, I told her, you know, I'm like, hey, you know, you know, she's like, you can have the kids anytime you want. And I'm like, well, then, you know, I want them. You know, I want them now.

1:31:58I want them tonight, you know. You know, they're, you know, and she told me she left them with her friend, you know, the cop, who's going to, you know, take them to the police station. I'm like, my kids are at a police station. No. They don't know what's going on with their dad. They don't know anything. Do you or her have any kids from any other relationships? I do, which is part of the problem. Okay, what about her? Does she have any kids from any other relationship or just the three that you guys have? No, she doesn't. Okay. I mean, I've known her since she was a teenager. Oh, I'm just asking.

1:32:29I just want to count for everybody. Oh, okay, all right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's, you know, that's basically it. I'm just like, you know, where are my kids? Where are my kids? You know, I want my kids. I want them tonight. and she's like okay well let me let me go let me go call i'm like i'm like no have your friend bring the kids here you know let me she's like let me go pick them up and bring them i'm not no have your have your friend bring them here we'll go get them you know i don't trust that and rightfully so so she goes outside she um i don't know if she feigned to make a phone call or actually made a phone call but then you know i sat inside for you know 10-15 minutes before you know i walked outside, no one would already know that she left.

1:33:10Okay. Up until today, have you guys had any other problems? Have you been arguing more lately? Anything like that? No, actually no. I mean, we're civil to each other. I mean, we haven't been perfect, but the closest time we've had to, you know, any argument was probably, Jesus, eight months ago. And we just, you know, I thought at that point maybe we were going to, you know, hit the skids. You know, I was just like, you know, I want to have my kids if we're not gonna be together. I want to have primary custody of my kids. Which I do believe is the, you know, honestly now in hindsight, I believe that this entire night It was engineered to, you know, to make me look like a jackass.

1:34:04Well, as far as the kids go, I don't... What I'm doing doesn't determine who gets custody of who or anything. That has to go through a family court judge, and the family court judge has to decide that. It has nothing to do with what's going on right now, who has custody of the kids. Understood. Well, obviously, if she's going to try... You know, she's obviously trying to get me into trouble. If she can get me into trouble, then that, you know, that weighs against me. Well, again, this is a criminal side versus the family court side. I mean, yeah, they can tie together, but this... If I'm a criminal, they're not going to give me a criminal.

1:34:41This won't be a deciding factor if you're going to get your kids or not. No, and you still have to be convicted. Right now, you're not guilty of any crimes. You have to go through the court process before you're found guilty and convicted of a crime and be, as you said, a criminal. I understand. But I mean, I mean, tonight is just not tonight. Allegations are one thing. That's not a definite thing. She made allegations. So that's why I'm here investigating things. Because I haven't listened to the whole hour and 20 minute long recording that she gave me. OK, that's sitting on my computer right now to listen to.

1:35:18OK. and I'm trying to get to the bottom of what would actually happen because sometimes even just because she's the one that called 911 or the non-emerge number doesn't mean everything went the way she said it went. I get you. That's why I'm here to talk to you as well. Sure, I mean, I was a rational, you know, I was an idiot, you know. I mean, I was, you know, begging for my... The reason you saw the presence, though, was because of what she told me initially about firearms, you may not be cooperative, this and that, so rather than take a chance... I got you. I didn't do it. You came out just fine.

1:35:51You cooperated just fine. Well, I'm calmer now. I'm trying to piece together all of this. For my safety, for all their safety, that's why things went down the way they did. It doesn't increase the severity of anything. You don't have to explain that. I understand that. I mean, my only negative thought right now is like, Jesus Christ, did I say something that I didn't mean that's going to be used against me? You know, I'm trying to think, right? Did I say something ridiculous that I didn't mean? And I don't think I did. Well, as far as anything said, the thing that I'm most concerned about is if you threaten to kill her or yourself.

1:36:31Yeah. Those are the two things that... I don't think I... Because... Look, it's possible you look at it or read it or... Well, I'm going to have to listen to it. Yeah. I'm not for sure. I don't, I mean, look, I mean, I may have said something. It's completely possible. I don't think I did, but, I mean, I was in there for a long time, you know, begging for my, you know, my life, my livelihood, you know, my life. You know, trying to salvage what was there, and if I said something stupid, it would definitely be, the only way I could chalk it up to anything is just being a rational thought. Okay. Nothing behind it.

1:37:11All right. Now, off the subject, where are the weapons in the house? Upstairs in the...

1:37:22It's like a little closet area. And if you go into that, there's a... Um, um, it's, it's to the far, like if you walk in it to the far left hand side, there's a, um, like a shotgun case and it's got a shotgun in it with a, uh, the trigger guard and it's unloaded and the, actually the,

1:38:11the pistol is probably with it in the case. Okay, so is it just the two guns? Yeah. All right. And then at my office I have a gun. Okay, and your office in Phoenix? Yes. Now would you be okay with me to take him for tonight as a safekeeping thing and hold on to them so there's no allegations in the future? I don't know. No, I don't, obviously not. I don't want, you know, I don't want to have to go through any of that if I don't have to. Okay. You know, I honestly, I, irregardless of anything that has been said, I don't feel as though I've done anything to, you know, put anyone in jeopardy or harm.

1:38:53Okay. So. I'm going to go talk to my partners a little bit and I got to listen to some of that recording so I kind of know what, if any of the allegations were true because I'm not going to charge you a thing you didn't do or allegedly didn't do. I try to do my job as fair as possible. I got you. Are these as loose as they can possibly do? I'm just, I'm I've been a long time since I've been in any handcuffs in this world. What were you handcuffed before? I had a guy road rage me about four years ago, right out here. I was in my big tow truck. So I pulled into the center divide because where the two lanes go to one, I pulled in that suicide lane.

1:39:47I see him where I live. And I just stopped there and I sat there. that turned around and came back. Now, were you arrested for that? Well, actually, well, what happened was is the guy, I never got out of my truck. The guy kicked my door in. The officer, Gilbert officer, he took me down and charged me with either disorderly conduct or something, and it got wiped away because there was no evidence. Okay, did you go to jail that night or just get a ticket? I came, yeah, they had me drive my truck in here. They took me down, booked me in. Okay. And then that same officer drove me back. I think once he realized that, you know, I didn't do anything, because he came out the next day and apologized.

1:40:37Okay. So, I mean, we... You're kind of a big gal, but I'll put a second set on you so you have a little bit of room to move. Well, thank you. So go ahead and... I guess the fat part of me. Go ahead and step out and then face the vehicle, okay? That way it'll give you more room so there's not much pressure on your shoulder. I got the lock facing you. Just keep facing the truck, okay? Got you. My reporter Nicole and I found this audio incredibly insightful. I mean, we could spend all day guessing how Laura felt about her marriage or her safety when leaving that marriage. But you can only get so much when trying to read between black and white lines on a police report.

1:41:22To hear it in her own words. I mean, it's hard to overstate how important this was. So thank you to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for fulfilling this request. This is how it's supposed to work. And I think hearing this now raises a lot more questions. Not just about Laura's case, but even about Nick Cordova's too. If you remember from Nick Cordova's episode, Dave had told officers that the gun he had in his office he had just gotten because of a domestic custody dispute that he was having in 2020. Well, maybe that gun was new, but Dave was pretty clear here. He had a gun in his office as early as 2013.

1:42:05Did something just get lost in translation, or should we read more into that? I also think Laura had a lot of information about Dave's business dealings, information that I think could be critical to understanding how this man operated then and in 2020, maybe even now. And a couple of questions are top of mind for me coming out of hearing this. One, what fire was Laura referencing? Does anyone out there know about a fire that happened which was somehow connected to one of Dave's businesses? Second, what is the deal with this$400 ,000 of tax debt that Laura is talking about being in, that they're going to be coming after her for?

1:42:51And more importantly, I would love to know more about all those insurance payouts that Dave seemed to be expecting to help them get in a good spot. And third and finally, we obviously looked into all the businesses Dave had in his name. But at one point, Laura accused Dave of starting a business with his mistress and putting his and Laura's children's names on the LLC to ensure the woman wouldn't become a majority owner or take anything that wasn't hers. Now I feel like I have to go down another rabbit hole. Does this LLC still exist? What is it? Do any of you out there know? You guys have been incredible with reaching out and sharing information.

1:43:31this audio that we got is not the only tip we've gotten in relation to this case and I promise when we have more I'll be back in the meantime keep it coming you guys I said it before but I mean it just because the episode ends does not mean our reporting stops so you You can reach out to us anytime by emailing tips at audiochuck.com. We'll be back Monday with our regularly scheduled programming.