Love Fraud (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - I'm Glad You Called - full transcript

Slow, romantic guitar music...

Tempo increases...

[waves crashing]

[man]
Welcome to Belize,

a land of great
contrast and beauty.

Rugged mountain peaks,
verdant jungles,

clear, impossibly blue waters,

white sandy beaches,
a tropical paradise

where English is
the official language

and the people are
warm and welcoming.

This is where
the Caribbean begins,



a rare place that
is easy to access.

And yet, once you are here,

under the warmth of the sun,
sand at your feet,

time seems to stand still,

and you experience
the beauty of Belize.

Suspenseful music...

Hmm.

Dramatic, percussive music...

[Ellen] We'd only been together
about three weeks.

I had moved in with him

because he said he needed
to see me every morning.

He need to wake up
to me every morning.

I don't know. Maybe a couple
of weeks later, he says,

"This is as good a time as any."



I said, "For what?"

He goes, "Well, let's move to
Belize and let's get married."

Of course I was all excited, you
know, new with him and stuff,

and I thought, "Well,
I'm-I'm kind of a free spirit.

Let's just get up and go,
let's do something fun."

He found all these houses,
he found the prices.

The one he was looking up

ended up being,
like, $1.3 million.

And then he ordered
two Sea-Doos,

six life jackets,
a four-wheeler thing,

because they said that's
how they travel down there.

But then he said,

just out of the blue,

"You know, you cannot be
extradited if you go to Belize."

I thought that was weird.

"Part Time Love"
by Bridget Everett

♪ Oh ♪

♪ You tell me the truth ♪

♪ And then you tell me lies ♪

♪ First you say hello ♪

♪ And then you say goodbye ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ I never know ♪

♪ I never know just ♪
♪ what you're thinking of ♪

♪ But I don't want no ♪

♪ No, I don't want no ♪

♪ Part-time love ♪

[thunder crashes]

♪ No... ♪

♪ I'm watching you ♪

"LOVE FRAUD"
Season 01 Episode 03

Episode Title: "I'm Glad You Called"
Aired on : September 13, 2020

[train whistle blowing]

[siren wailing in distance]

Soft, melancholy music...

[click]

[Sandi]
Our accommodations stunk,

so we went back down.

[laughs]
Rick griped,

and we got
the presidential suite.

- It's bigger than our house.
- Hi, Rick!

- It's bigger than our house.
- Hi, Rick. [laughs]

[Richard]
It's bigger than y'all's house!

[Sandi]
It is big.

[Richard]
We're moving in.

[Sandi]
Here's the bellhop right here,

putting my clothes away.

[Sandi]
It started out wonderful.

We got engaged.

And that's when he just became
a totally different person.

So I said, "I'm leaving you."

I went for the door,
and he pushed me,

and he pushed me
down on the bed,

and now he's kind of
got me pinned down.

I saw him grab
something on the bed.

It was the iPad.

And he just took one swing
as hard as he could on my head,

and I just kept screaming,
and I finally scream,

"Please stop.
You're going to kill me.

You're going to kill me."

Tense music...

[Richard sighs]

Suspenseful music...

[woman]
Is there a Richard Smith?

[woman speaks indistinctly]

Richard Smith?

[indistinct chatter]

Is there a Richard Smith?

[door opens and closes]

[in distance]
Richard Smith? Richard Smith?

Richard Smith.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Hypnotic music...

[Sandi]
I'll never forget it.

They got him that night,

and they took him
to the police station.

And they said Jean, his wife,

keeps calling
the police station.

Jean, his wife.

And that's when I found out

that he was already married.

Haunting music...

[Jean]
I get this call.

He told me that
he had been jumped...

and he's saying,

"They picked me up, and they're
blaming me for everything.

They're putting me in jail, and
you need to come and get me."

I'm hearing what he was
arrested for,

which makes no sense to me
because it was domestic abuse.

And I said, "Well,
that's not likely,

since I'm his wife,

and he didn't beat me up."

Sandi found me,

and she told me
what really happened.

And then I read the blog.

And I realized that

I was just part of a huge game.

But I wasn't alone.

[Sandi]
Where did you guys first meet?

- The first time? Uh...
- Yes.

Well, we met in Wichita,
at a restaurant.

He just kept saying, "You know
what? You're everything.

You're the package.
You're the package.

You're exactly
what I've been looking for."

Then he wanted me
to quit my job

because we were going
to go to Belize.

Oh, Belize?

- Oh, brother.
- [Ellen] Pictures,

I had paperwork,
we had signatures. He knew.

[Tracy] He was going to
Guatemala when he met me.

[laughter]

- Oh, my gosh.
- He's full of shit.

[Ellen] So, has there been
people after me, I wonder?

[Sandi]
Oh, I'm sure.

[Ellen]
I mean, but we don't know that.

[Sandi]
We don't know that.

[Sabrina] When did
he disappear from Wichita?

[Ellen] The last time
I saw him was the 19th.

- [Sabrina] Where did he go?
- I have no idea. I left.

[Sabrina] You mean,
he just up and just disappeared?

[Ellen]
I don't know. I left.

But you know,
I thought it very strange,

because when
I found the blog,

I went to confront him,

and then he goes,
"I want you to talk to somebody.

A woman named Lee

out of Knoxville,
Tennessee."

And she could not say enough
nice things about him.

Lee took up for him.

So I still think he's with Lee.

She's got money,
and she liked him.

Slow, suspenseful music...

[Jean]
Lee.

I don't know what,
totally, to make of her.

Some of the other women
have talked to her before.

They told me that she had been
engaged to him...

...and that she was very much
in love with him.

I think something's going on.
She knows something.

[line ringing]

Hi, is this Lee?

Hi, Lee. This is Jean Hansen.

I've had a lot of people
talking to me

and asking questions and stuff.

Um, they're trying
to figure out where Rick is.

Do you know where...
anything about this?

Scott. Sorry, that's right.
I forg...

I keep forgetting.
You knew him as Scott.

Well, how often do you even
get the chance to talk to him?

So...

So, he's not in Knoxville?

[Jean] I absolutely, without
a doubt, think she knows

where he is.

There's not a doubt in my mind,

because of the way
she handled that phone call.

Contemplative music...

[Steven]
So, we've been following Lee

for about 48 hours...

...and there's no sign
of Scott.

You know, he may go underground

for a short period of time,

but I-I believe
that he's got needs in life.

Uh, he needs a place to stay,
he needs a vehicle.

Uh, he needs some money.

So he'll stay on the grid,
and, um,

I think eventually
everybody can be located.

[radio chirps]

I'm pulling in
to Lee's house right now.

Okay. We'll stay
stationary here.

This is... Richard Scott Smith

background check.

Let's see. One, two, three,
four, eight, nine,

ten different socials
showing up.

Looks like he's had about
43 different phone numbers.

There's about 58 different
addresses on here.

He spends very little time
in each one of them.

[sighs]

Yeah, he just moves
with the wind.

But if he is in the area,
my gut instinct is telling me

that we stay with Lee,

and she'll eventually
lead us to him.

[insects chirping]

Atmospheric music...

[line ringing]

[wind chimes jingling]

[Lee] I had gotten divorced,
and my life was just boring.

I'd become very much
of a recluse.

Once he and I started dating,
we went out all the time.

I mean, I got
to dress up again.

Do you remember the show
Melrose Place?

Heather Locklear's character?
That was me.

Professional on top,
hooker on the bottom.

And it was not even
a bad breakup.

You know, I'm fortunate
that we still are friends

and we don't have anything bad
to say about each other.

So this blog,

I was certainly upset about what
he was being accused of doing,

because I thought, "This cannot
be the person I know."

It seems like
a witch hunt to me,

because I think Scott
is just looking for love.

He wants to be
part of a family.

And I've always known that.

He called my parents
Mom and Dad.

He's very close with my father,
who's into boating,

and so is Scott,

and they have
a loving relationship.

As my father would say,
"He's a son-in-law

I wish I had," to this day.

I actually do not know.

I don't.

[water bubbling]

Intriguing music...

[Lee] I mean, she's been
a little pissed off today,

except... been picking snails.

There he is, there's one of 'em.

- See, he...
- He's sharp.

There's... there he goes.

There's two of them.

[Lee]
Which one is that?

- You know, that's you.
- Goldie.

That's Snuggle Bug.

What do we call them?

Our aqua babies.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

- [kiss]
- [Lee] Bye. Love you.

[Darryl] Love you, too,
have a good time.

- I will.
- [chuckles]

- I love you, too.
- I'll see you.

Eerie music...

This is a really good picture
of my mother and I.

My mother was
a walking pharmacy.

There's the relationship
you can see

my mother and I had drinking.

It's sad.

And I have tried
to deal with it as best I can.

Scott used to say,

"We're gonna have to get
through it together."

And I thank him
every day for that.

Because he has been through
the same thing.

[gates creaking]

[slow footsteps]

[wind chimes tinkling]

[teakettle whistling]

[bell clanging]

[fly buzzing]

[birds chirping]

[thunder rumbling]

[cow moos]

[Toni]
Scott is my brother.

And there's about
20 years' difference

between the two of us.

When I was 12,
our mother passed away,

and I ended up moving in
with Scott.

It was the scariest time
of my life.

And Scott was the person
I trusted the most.

Scott was jumping
from woman to woman.

And he was telling them

that I was his daughter.

He used me as a tool

to play at their heartstrings,

to get them
to feel sorry for him,

maybe want to be with him more,

because, oh, look,
he's a single dad.

He's trying hard.

It's like a game of chess
for him.

Everything's a chip that
can be moved and manipulated.

I was just another pawn for him
to put into play.

He'd say,

"You're awful. You're nothing.

You're never going
to amount to anything."

Um, "You're trailer trash.

I don't see why Mom
kept you around."

And then he became violent.

He has no idea where I am

other than the state of Texas.

And I don't want
to be found by him.

Because I don't want to live
with a monster in my life.

Atmospheric music...

[Katie] I hadn't seen Scott
in 27 years.

Maybe three years ago,

I was on Facebook

and got a message.

And you know, immediately,
I type back,

"Scotty, you... you finally...

you tracked me down."

[Kemmy] Katie and I
had thought, "My goodness.

This is wonderful.
He's back,

and we can be a family again."

[Katie] He told me
it was his first chance

at really having a family.

I was never able to have
children, and he'd say,

"You're the closest thing
I've got to a mom."

Then he started introducing me,

if we'd be out
to dinner some place,

"This is my mother."

[Kemmy]
He has this way

of making people believe
he is sincere.

And I think that's why it was

so easy to con me
and everybody else.

Katie's husband is
my brother Wally.

Wally was in the service
during Vietnam,

and he ended up with
a brain condition

from the different chemicals
and all that.

Wally had been in the hospital,

and Scott jumps in to be a hero

and takes Wally's medical
power of attorney,

everything, trying to sign Wally
into a home and get his home,

take his home.

He sold off some of
my brother's possessions.

His own uncle.

[bird squawking]

And he tried to turn us all
against each other.

[sighs]

It hurt me so emotionally.

I didn't think I was that bad
at reading,

but as I said,
I was an easy target.

A-And he knew that.

You know, I may hate him
for all these things,

but...

I wouldn't have
gotten in so deep

if I hadn't thought I loved him.

Atmospheric music...

Suspenseful music...

[woman]
Oh, my God.

[Jason]
That's our guy.

[Jason] All right, he came out,
Steven, and he's wearing a polo,

blue jeans.

He's mobile.

[Steven]
All right.

You guys got everything
you need?

- [woman 1] Yeah.
- [woman 2] Yes.

[woman 1]
Okay, you just follow the car.

Don't worry about us.

[Steven]
All right, so he's gonna go out

on the Mercedes side?

[Jason]
Yeah.

[Steven]
Come on, dude.

Okay...

Oh.

Okay, I got him.

Absolutely not.

The last thing
that you want to do is

tip the subject off and blow it.

We need to gather intelligence
about his everyday life.

We're gonna make sure
that we know his patterns,

we know his behavior before we
get the authorities involved.

Because we're only gonna
get one shot

at getting him arrested.

Disorienting music...

Yeah, we're sitting
in the parking lot.

-
-[dialogue inaudible]

[Natalie]
Yeah.

I got three major pet peeves:

liars, cheaters and thieves.

So I can completely empathize
with the women

that this asshole
is fucking with.

-
-[dialogue inaudible]

Suspenseful music...

[Heidi]
Who's that in the white car?

It also says that the vehicle
that Richard Scott Smith

is driving actually
belonged to Oscar.

Yeah.

Dramatic music...

[phone line ringing]

Energetic music...

[birds chirping]

[Darryl] I've been dating Lee
for three years.

And today, all of a sudden,

I get a text saying
we're no longer a couple.

We're done.

[exhales sharply]

I didn't have this problem
till he showed up.

It's just like,

that's where she's focused at
in her mind.

Scott, Scott, Scott.

Gentle music...

I met Lee through
a friend of a friend.

I believe it was on Facebook.

I thought she was
very attractive.

Very sweet person,
very likable person,

but she has a problem
with alcohol.

When she starts drinking,

she's easy
to take advantage of.

So, a couple of weeks ago,
Scott called,

supposedly needing a place
to stay and everything,

and she okayed it for him
to come there at their condo

and stay for a couple of days,
and had her dad

go to the bus station
and pick him up,

and I was unaware
of the whole thing.

Oscar is a good man,

but Oscar's getting
some age on him,

and sometimes he don't remember

what he said that day
to the next.

All of a sudden,
Scott's calling Oscar "Dad,"

saying "I love you"
and all that stuff to him.

That's very weird.

The love part's a lie.
A con man's a lie.

That's... there's
no truth in him.

You don't go around
doing people that way

and s... and it's love.

Love is for real.

Love-love will stay with you
forever, if it's love.

I don't try to judge people

or pass judgment on people.

It's just, I-I see
the facts of this thing.

It's there, it...
the writing's on the wall.

I've told Lee that.

I told her, I says, "You wake up
and all your assets are gone

and you're kicked out
in the store

and he's sitting there,
holding the money bag?"

I said, "I've told you
before this ever happened.

That's a con man."

suspenseful music...

[Steven] We're coming up
on the roundabout

to go to, probably,
west on Northshore.

[radio chirps]

[Steven] He's gonna be, uh,
taking a left into Weigel's.

[Steven] There he is.
See him, on the phone?

He just got over
in the number two.

One thing that
I've already noticed,

his rearview mirror

is positioned in such a way

that the only thing
that he can see

is his hair and his sunglasses.

So, as he drives down the road,

I have never seen his rearview
mirror positioned in a way

that he can see
out of his back window.

Which is great for us,
because, you know,

he's not looking behind him to
see if anybody's following him.

You know, typically,
with a sociopath,

you definitely got
some narcissism.

They only care about themselves,
the way that they look,

what they can gain.

They don't take
into consideration

the feelings of the person
that they're hurting.

And they typically do hurt
a lot of people.

Then, of course, nothing is ever
their fault, you know?

Even if they're
the common denominator

in a dozen or more scenarios,

it's never their fault.

[radio chirps]

[radio chirps]

[radio chirps]

[Rhino Bucket's
"The Devil You Know" playing]

-
-[indistinct chatter]

♪ The devil ♪

♪ The devil, yeah, you know ♪

♪ Where can you run to? ♪

♪ Where can you go? ♪

♪ The devil you know ♪

♪ Walkin' round the world
with a rope around your neck ♪

♪ You can't find no love ♪

♪ You get no respect ♪

♪ You say you don't want it ♪

♪ Say you can't have it ♪

♪ But everybody knows
you'll never get to heaven ♪

♪ The devil ♪

♪ The devil, yeah, you know ♪

♪ Where can you run to? ♪

♪ Where can you go? ♪

♪ The devil you know ♪

♪ Runnin' through
the mountains ♪

♪ With my foot
through the floor ♪

♪ There's something
in my pocket ♪

♪ What you askin' me for? ♪

♪ You made your money,
you got nothin' to say ♪

♪ You're bitin', motherfucker ♪

♪ So get out of the way. ♪