Overview of Rewind with Karen & Georgia — 116: “Robot Grandma”
This Rewind episode revisits My Favorite Murder #116 (originally aired April 12, 2018) with updated commentary, corrections, and later developments. Karen and Georgia open with their usual personal banter, a few practical safety reminders, and a side story about a mummified monkey found during demolition at Dayton’s in Minneapolis—the bizarre “Robot Grandma” reference that inspired the episode title. The main content, though, is two disturbing true-crime stories: Jesse Pomeroy, a 19th-century child serial killer, and Issei Sagawa, a Japanese cannibal who became a notorious media figure.
Episode Context and Rewind Framing
Why this episode was skipped to #116
- The hosts explain they are skipping episode 115 and going straight to 116 because former contributors were part of the network at the time the episodes originally aired, and they do not want to platform them now.
- This episode is presented with new insights, corrections, and update notes.
Banter and recurring themes
- Karen and Georgia joke about:
- shopping with their mothers,
- emergency-response etiquette,
- listening to true crime while trying to sleep,
- and their ongoing obsession with Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.
- They also discuss how true crime often reflects real fears about hidden monsters, abuse, and people who appear ordinary.
Story 1: Jesse Pomeroy, the “Boy Fiend”
Who he was
- Jesse Pomeroy was a Boston-area child killer born in 1859.
- He grew up in a violent home with an abusive father and an overprotective mother.
- He was bullied for physical differences, including a striking milky/white eye and other unusual features.
- He read violent dime novels and developed increasingly disturbing behavior at a very young age.
Crimes
- Beginning around age 12, Jesse lured boys away with promises of errands, soldiers, or the circus, then:
- stripped and bound them,
- beat and whipped them,
- escalated to stabbing and mutilation,
- and in some cases sexually assaulted them.
- The attacks escalated from assaults to murder.
- His victims included:
- Billy Payne
- Tracy Hayden
- Robert Mayer
- Johnny Balk
- George Pratt
- Harry Austin
- Joseph Kennedy
- Robert Gould
- and ultimately Horace Millen and Katie Curran
Capture and aftermath
- Police identified Jesse after a victim described the attacker as a boy with “an eye like a white marble.”
- He confessed, was sent to reform school, paroled early, and later murdered again.
- When police searched the family’s dress shop, they found the remains of Katie Curran hidden in the building.
- Jesse was convicted and sentenced to death, but due to his age the sentence was commuted to life in solitary confinement.
Long imprisonment
- He spent decades in prison:
- became highly educated,
- learned multiple languages,
- became obsessed with law and his own release,
- and remained largely isolated.
- He died in 1932, still imprisoned.
Key takeaway
- The hosts emphasize that Jesse’s case is a horrifying example of how childhood abuse, violence, and escalating cruelty can produce a serial offender—without excusing what he did.
Story 2: Issei Sagawa, the Cannibal Who Walked Free
Who he was
- Issei Sagawa was a Japanese man born in 1949 into a wealthy family.
- He was premature, extremely small, and deeply self-conscious about his body.
- As a child, he developed a fixation on cannibalism, physical completeness, and consuming human flesh.
- He even told psychiatrists and family members about these fantasies before acting on them.
The murder of Renée Hartevelt
- In 1981, while studying in Paris, Sagawa befriended Renée Hartevelt, a Dutch student.
- He lured her to his apartment under the pretense of translating German poetry.
- He shot her in the head, then sexually assaulted her corpse and attempted to eat her.
- After failing to do so, he bought a butcher knife, dismembered her body, cooked parts of it, and tried to dispose of the remains in a park.
Arrest and legal outcome
- Witnesses saw him struggling with the suitcases containing body parts.
- He was arrested, but the legal handling of the case was chaotic:
- French authorities retained the evidence,
- he was deemed mentally unfit,
- and he was eventually sent back to Japan.
- He was never meaningfully punished in a way that matched the severity of the crime.
Aftermath and notoriety
- Sagawa became a celebrity in Japan and beyond.
- He wrote many books, gave interviews, appeared on TV, and even starred in pornographic films.
- The hosts stress how disturbing it is that he was able to build a public identity around his crime.
- He died in 2022 at age 73.
Key takeaway
- The episode explores how Sagawa’s case raises unsettling questions about:
- obsession,
- fantasy becoming action,
- media spectacle,
- and the failure of systems meant to contain dangerous people.
Updates and Follow-Ups
Golden State Killer update
- The hosts revisit their earlier speculation about the Golden State Killer and note that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was arrested 12 days after the original episode aired in 2018.
- They reflect on how huge that capture felt for true crime, cold cases, and the use of genetic genealogy.
Jesse Pomeroy update
- No major new case developments.
- They mention books and a documentary about him, including his own autobiography.
Issei Sagawa update
- The major update is his death in November 2022.
Notable Side Stories and Running Bits
“Robot Grandma” / the mummified monkey
- A lighter, stranger story involves a mummified monkey found during renovation of Dayton’s in Minneapolis.
- The hosts joke about old department stores, pet displays, and the absurdity of finding a dead monkey in a wall.
Michelle McNamara and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
- Karen especially talks about how compelling McNamara’s work was and how it helped shape public understanding of serial predator cases, especially the Golden State Killer.
Hoorays and closing
- They end with upbeat “hoorays,” including:
- an inspiring Lakers underdog story about Andre Ingram,
- a body-positive Instagram follow,
- and a funny Instagram account called Honest Couple.
Main Takeaways
- The episode is a classic My Favorite Murder mix of:
- personal banter,
- true-crime storytelling,
- corrections and updates,
- and reflections on how victims, perpetrators, and media narratives intersect.
- It focuses on two especially disturbing cases:
- Jesse Pomeroy: a child serial killer shaped by violence and cruelty.
- Issei Sagawa: a cannibal whose case became a bizarre example of legal failure and media fascination.
- The rewind format adds historical context, especially the dramatic Golden State Killer arrest and the ongoing relevance of these cases in the true-crime conversation.