Author's Note: I gave Cody a middle and a last name for this story since the movie never gives him those. Not even Disney wiki has a proper middle and last name for him. Nonetheless, giving him a middle name and last name helps to make this set up a little more realistic.
*Gina and Jessa take their seats back around the beige platforms. They adjust their boom sets, ready to continue on with the rest of the podcast*
Jessa: We're back, everyone! Hope you weren't too lonely without us. *Jessa chuckles*
Gina: Now that we have that commercial break out of the way, we can dive back into the dark and twisted case of Percival C. McLeach.
Jessa: When we last left off, we dove into the man's background. We saw that he was a little monster from the beginning. He was a bully, a pathological liar, a manipulator, and an animal abuser, foreshadowing his path to becoming a poacher. And this was all from a really young age.
Gina: Started out as a terrible child and grew into an even worse adult. As an adult, he was married twice.
Jessa: In both marriages, he was abusive to his wives. He may in fact be responsible for the disappearance and possible murder of his second wife, Kim Fairchild.
Gina: He then went on a petty crime spree around different parts of the country. He was wanted for armed robbery in Texas and had been arrested for kidnapping and choking out a little girl in South Carolina.
Jessa: The latest crime he was wanted for was hunting pronghorn antelopes, a protected and possibly endangered species, on the Crow reservation in Montana.
Gina: To evade these arrest warrants, Percival became a flight risk and fled the country to Australia.
Jessa: It's here that Percival McLeach embarks on the next phase of his criminal career.
Gina: There's our little recap for you. But we assume you're more interested in what McLeach does next.
Jessa: We are too. We just thought we ought to recap everything we've already talked about not just as a catch up but as a way to set the stage for his actions while in Australia.
Gina: While here in Australia, we get into the crime he's most well-known for and what was ultimately his downfall. And it's about time.
*The sisters grin in anticipation*
Jessa: When Percival first got to Australia, one of the first things that he realized was that if he was going to hunt the local wildlife, he going to have to find a place that he could easily hide out in. This way, if law enforcement or anyone else came looking for him, he would be able to easily evade arrest.
Gina: What he did was build himself this massive hideaway out in the deserty part of the Outback.
Jessa: I would hardly call what he had a "hideaway". It was a freakin' obvious place where shady stuff was happening. I mean, there was a big wooden and metal door visible on the side of a cliff. I don't understand how that qualifies as a hideaway.
Gina: That's probably why he built it out there on that cliff in the Outback. I mean, how many people actually go out to that part of the country other than maybe the rangers?
Jessa: You got a point there, Gina. Percival was probably feeling really cocky when he put that big door out there, thinking no one will venture this far out into the Outback.
Gina: In this hideaway, Percival kept several animals that he hunted and captured so that he could prepare them for when he was ready to sell them on the black market.
Jessa: According to many sources from back in the day, the Australian poaching market was pretty darn high. Some of the most valued animals on that market were dingos and strangely razorbacks despite them being mostly classed as an invasive species.
Gina: Those were actually among Percival's favorite animals to hunt and capture, in fact. The reason being because they were so easy to catch. Though razorbacks could sometimes prove to be a hassle to deal with.
Jessa: Yeah, and we all know that razorbacks tend to have a bit of a reputation for being pretty temperamental creatures.
Gina: About two years into Percival's Australian poaching career, around 1987, he decided that he would have an easier time poaching if he had some kind of hunting dog of sorts.
Jessa: We use the term "hunting dog" very loosely, because what he got was not a dog at all.
Gina: He bought this big, vicious goana lizard that he named Joanna.
Jessa: He bought her off of this traveling merchant who sounds like they may have been a gypsy based on their description.
*Gina gives her sister a pointed look*
Jessa: *Shrugs* What?
Gina: Jessa, don't call the merchant a gypsy. That word is actually a slur.
Jessa: *Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush red* Oh... I-I'm sorry... I-I didn't know that... *She nervously twiddles her thumbs* I thought that's what they were called.
Gina: It's ok, sis. You didn't know, so don't be too hard on yourself.
Jessa: *Smiles weakly* I feel so dumb though.
Gina: You're not dumb, you just didn't know that word was offensive. The proper word for that group of people is Romani.
Jessa: Romani. Got it. *Jessa gives a thumbs up, to which Gina just grins and rolls her eyes*
Gina: Anyway, Percival bought a goana lizard named Joanna off a Romani merchant in the area. From that point on, Joanna became Percival's hunting partner and personal attack dog.
Jessa: Whenever Percival snapped his fingers, Joanna did his bidding.
Gina: With her help, Percival was able to hunt a lot more efficiently.
Jessa: The thing about goana lizards is they have a pretty nasty bite that can often cause toxins to spread in the body.
Gina: Yeah. With that, I can see why he went with a goana lizard as his choice for a hunting animal. With that nasty bite, Joanna could easily paralyze prey.
*Jessa nods*
Jessa: Often, as a reward for helping him hunt, Percival would give Joanna eggs to eat. Goanas are ovivorous creatures, after all.
Gina: That's right.
Jessa: Despite Joanna being his loyal attack dog, Percival didn't always treat her the best, but are you surprised given the kind of person we know he is?
Gina: Indeed. His mistreatment of animals even extended to his own pet lizard.
Jessa: If Joanna ever did anything to annoy or frustrate Percival, or she stepped out of line, Percival would get aggressive on her.
Gina: He would kick her, throw things at her, shout insults at her. Honestly, this all sounds like how he treated his wives.
Jessa: Yeah, it does. Perhaps in the absence of a spouse, Joanna was the closest thing Percival had to a new punching bag whenever he lost his temper.
Gina: That's likely. It's disturbing to think about, but it makes sense.
Jessa: *Jessa nods* Despite Percival treating her like crap, Joanna remained loyal to the man. After all, he gave her easy access to eggs. Without him, she would have had to get them the usual way a lizard like her gets them, by hunting them for hours.
Gina: Plus, it's not like an animal has the cognitive capacity to leave an abusive owner, especially if they're the only easy source of food and stuff the animal has.
Jessa: That's true.
Gina: Around the same time that Percival procured Joanna, he also upgraded technologically. His hunting methods and mode of transportation became a lot more advanced.
Jessa: Previously, he got around the Outback in a small pickup truck. However, Percival decided that he wanted to poach with a little more style.
Gina: In early 1988, Percival got this big half-track, which is a military tank type of vehicle.
Jessa: Don't ask us how in the world he got his hands on a half-track. We have no idea how he was able to score that.
Gina: After he got this half-track, he made a few modifications to it.
Jessa: He added a large cage on the back of the vehicle so that he could transport the animals he caught. This cage would be especially perfect for capturing larger animals.
Gina: He also put these tusk-like things in the front so that the vehicle became more like a bulldozer.
Jessa: This modification made it easier for him to cut through heavily wooded areas.
Gina: Percival also began to make use of homing beacons for his traps so that he could be alerted to when an animal fell into one of his traps.
Jessa: The dude was getting pretty busy during this time.
Gina: Yep. Once this man has his mind set on a goal, he'll do whatever it takes to achieve it.
Jessa: *She winces* However, as Percival was upgrading all of his equipment, this was when the Australian authorities had started to catch on to his activities.
Gina: The moment that really put Percival on their radar was when he learned about a couple of rare large eagles that resided in the Australian Outback.
Jessa: These two large eagles were known as Marahute and Ronoth.
Gina: As we mentioned earlier in the podcast, Marahute was well-known for being much larger than an eagle usually is. Her mate Ronoth was of a similiar size, making them a very rare specimen.
Jessa: Because of their rarity, these poor eagles were pretty high in value on the Australian poaching market.
Gina: As you can imagine, Percival was rubbing his hands together thinking, "these are my next targets".
Jessa: In the summer of 1990, Percival went out hunting like usual. This time, he had searching for Marahute and Ronoth in mind.
Gina: One day, Marahute and Ronoth were just out flying about.
Jessa: Unfortunately, on that same day, Percival was out too.
Gina: He caught a glimpse of Marahute and Ronoth flying around and he got a greedy glint in his eye.
Jessa: He raised his scope rifle into the air and pulled the trigger.
Gina: The bullet sadly hit Ronoth, killing him instantly.
Jessa: Marahute, however, managed to get away after dodging a few of Percival's other bullets.
Gina: *Shakes her head* Sad that she was now without her mate though. If I know anything about eagles, it's that they're a monogamous species. Meaning that they mate for life.
Jessa: Wow, so Marahute losing Ronoth is pretty much like she lost her soulmate.
Gina: Uh-huh. It really was a blow to her, especially since she and Ronoth had a nest of eggs together.
Jessa: Awww, Marahute is now basically the eagle equivalent of a single mom.
Gina: Yeah, she is. Her poor eaglets don't have their daddy.
Jessa: Awww. *Makes a pouty face*
*Beat*
Gina: With Ronoth dead, Percival now had his kill he could present to the black market.
Jessa: From this kill, Percival received a truckload of cash. However, this was not enough for him. Of course it isn't.
Gina: He wanted to take Marahute too. If he got both rare eagles, he would probably become a friggin' millionaire.
Jessa: That greedy piece of trash. *Jessa shakes her head*
Gina: Yeah. That's what greed does to you. Once it starts, you're never satisfied. And boy was Percival never satisfied with whatever money got from just one poach.
Jessa: Percival was determined to go out and get Marahute so he could make just as much money as he did from Ronoth.
Gina: It was through this little quest for Marahute that Percival would come into contact with his main victim for this case, and that was a young boy named Cody Fullerton.
Jessa: Now we finally get to talk about someone other than Percival McLeach. I think we all need a break from him and his evil self.
Gina: Agreed, sister.
Jessa: Cody Edward Fullerton was born on February 18th, 1982, which makes him an Aquarius.
Gina: He was born in Australia in the town of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. He was born to parents, Adam and Rachel Fullerton.
Jessa: Something interesting about Cody's family is that his father Adam was originally from the United States.
Gina: He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. However, when Adam was 19 years old, he was given the chance to study abroad in Australia at the University of Sydney.
Jessa: It was through this experience that Adam met Rachel Watkins, who was also going to school at the University of Sydney.
Gina: The two quickly fell in love and bonded over their shared passion, which was conservation efforts.
Jessa: The two of them were big into environmental causes like that, especially when it came to greedy poachers having no respect for biodiversity.
Gina: I can only imagine how over the moon the two of them were to find each other.
Jessa: Yeah, I mean they sound like they're a match made in Heaven.
Gina: The two were so in love that Adam eventually decided that he wanted to permanently move to Australia so he could be with Rachel.
Jessa: Awww, that's so romantic!
Gina: Yeah, it really is.
*Both sisters smile*
Jessa: The couple wed on Valentine's Day of 1980 and then settled down in Wagga Wagga. Then two years later, they welcomed Cody.
Gina: Up until Cody was around 3 years old, he and his family lived there in Wagga Wagga.
Jessa: Around 1985, Adam decided that he wanted to become an Outback Ranger as part of his passion for conservation efforts.
Gina: As a result, the Fullertons moved out to this remote house in the Outback.
Jessa: Through this arrangement, Rachel, who was a stay-at-home mom, decided to homeschool Cody. Makes sense given that they're all the way out there in the middle of nowhere. It would be a hassle to have to transport him all the way to the city for public school.
Gina: Agreed. It would probably be more convenient to just homeschool the boy. And so, that's exactly what Rachel did.
Jessa: And we do mean actual homeschooling this time, where Cody is actually taught stuff instead of just being left to his own devices like Percival was.
Gina: Under Rachel's homeschooling, Cody thrived. He did well on his work and has been described as pretty bright.
Jessa: Despite thriving in his homeschool environment, however, Cody was a pretty lonely child. Living out in the remote Outback came with a price, and that was being pretty isolated from other children. Not helped was he was an only child; he had no brothers and sisters. So, he really didn't have anyone to play with.
Gina: Because Cody lacked interaction with other children, in addition to being an only child, he turned to the local wildlife for company.
Jessa: It's been said that Cody seemed to have the ability to understand and communicate with animals. You could say that he was a bit of an animal whisperer.
Gina: That's pretty cool. Wish I was as adept at understanding animals. I could have an easier time wrangling my kitties.
*Jessa chuckles*
Gina: I'm serious, though. My cats are wily ones. *She raises an eyebrow and grins*
Jessa: *She rolls her eyes* As Cody grew older, he really grew to love and appreciate the animals around him.
Gina: Respecting animals was a value that was pretty much passed down to him from his parents, which isn't surprising given that they're all about respecting the environment in general.
Jessa: The Fullertons even were vegetarians because of their love for animals.
Gina: I can see that. That especially makes sense for Cody, given his apparent animal whisperer nature. I mean, if I could understand animals, eating their flesh would be highly disturbing to me.
Jessa: *She nods* For a while, things were going pretty well for Cody's family. His dad was excelling at his job as an Outback Ranger while Cody and his mom were killing it with their homeschooling set up.
Gina: Unfortunately, in 1988 when Cody was 6 years old, something tragic happened.
Jessa: Adam and some of the other rangers encountered a pair of poachers encroaching upon a mother kangaroo and her baby.
Gina: Percival McLeach wasn't one of these poachers, as far as we know.
Jessa: Adam and the other rangers threw themselves in front of these fiendish poachers in an effort to shield the kangaroos.
Gina: The mother and baby kangaroos were saved from danger. However, the same could not be said of Adam and a couple of the rangers. Sadly, they were murdered by the poachers.
Jessa: Adam was only 29 years old when he died at the hands of those demons.
*Both sisters shake their hands somberly*
Gina: As you can imagine, Cody and Rachel were devastated by the loss of Adam. Rachel was certainly heartbroken by the senseless loss of her husband.
Jessa: In fact, she didn't eat for a week following her husband's murder. She was so distraught that he died in such a cruel, brutal manner.
Gina: I can only imagine the grief that poor woman was going through.
*Jessa nods*
Jessa: Cody, meanwhile, didn't quite grasp what exactly happened to his father, being such a young boy at the time.
Gina: The only thing that he knew was that his daddy wasn't coming home ever again, and it really broke his usually high spirits.
Jessa: As a way of coping with his father's loss, Cody sort of took on a lot of his traits. For example, Cody spoke in his father's American accent.
Gina: Despite growing up in Australia, Cody never gained an Australian accent. He instead picked up his father's American way of speaking, despite his father not being around him as much as his mother was due to his work with the rangers.
Jessa: You could say that Cody adopting his father's way of speaking was his way of helping his dad stay alive through him.
Gina: Another thing Cody did as a way of honoring his father's memory was he went out trying to help as many animals as he could.
Jessa: He would go into the Outback and rescue animals that were stuck in poaching traps or were hurt.
Gina: Keep in mind that Cody's age is still in the single digits at this point. Obviously, he must've been taught how to do all of these things by his dad. And he was clearly braver than most kids that age if he was doing all of that.
Jessa: That's the magic of growing up in the land down under.
*Gina chuckles*
Gina: Yeah, that's true. Living in a country like Australia with all that crazy wildlife around you would definitely toughen you up.
Jessa: *She grins* I'm honestly surprised that Rachel was ok with her young son wandering around the Australian Outback without adult supervision.
Gina: Yeah, that is rather peculiar.
Jessa: Especially considering Rachel lost her husband to freaking poachers out there. You'd think she'd be a lot more protective over Cody following that incident.
Gina: Perhaps he didn't wander too far from his home.
Jessa: That could be.
Gina: Yeah, if he didn't wander too far, then there's not likely too much to worry about if Rachel can see Cody from the kitchen window.
*Jessa nods*
Jessa: One day, however, this setup of Cody going out alone to rescue animals would end up really biting him and his mother in the butt. Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to dive into the main events of the case.
Gina: One morning, when Cody was 8 years old, he woke up to the sound of a digeridoo coming from the more heavily wooded area near his house. According to him, that sound was a signal that an animal was in danger.
Jessa: Wasting no time, Cody quickly got himself dressed and snuck out of the house.
Gina: He was sneaking around because he didn't want his mom to stop him for breakfast. *She chuckles*
Jessa: He ended up not being as stealthy as he thought because Rachel caught on to her son sneaking out. Like any mom does, she nagged him about getting some breakfast. Cody, being a stubborn 8-year-old boy, was like, "Nah, Mom, I got more important stuff to do".
Gina: Sounds a lot like Eli.
Jessa: He does sound just like my boy right now. Every time I turn around, he's trying to sneak off somewhere.
*Gina snickers*
Gina: Once he was out of the house, Cody raced into the wooded area toward where the digeridoo was sounded. Here, he learned about Marahute, the giant mama eagle.
Jessa: On this day, Marahute wound up getting all tied up at the top of a cliff. It's unknown who exactly was responsible for that trap she was in.
Gina: With all the strength that Cody had mustered up, he climbed the side of this cliff. Something to be noted about this cliff is that it was a pretty high climb. This wasn't just little ledge, we're talking about Mount Saint Helens level height.
Jessa: Dang, that's extremely high.
Gina: Yeah. 8 years old, and this kid is braver than I am.
*Jessa chuckles*
Jessa: Once Cody got to the top of the cliff and approached Marahute, she started to freak out a little bit. Given her situation, it's hard to fault her for being a little skittish around humans. I mean, one had shot down her mate and another had just trapped her.
Gina: *Gina nods* Yep, it's easy to see why Cody's presence initially startled her.
Jessa: When Cody pulled out his pocketknife to free her, however, that definitely scared her.
Gina: That tells you a whole lot about what Marahute's encounters with humans must've been like.
Jessa: *Jessa nods and grits her teeth* Even in this moment when Cody is only trying to help, she's having trouble trusting him.
*Beat*
Gina: This next bit, oh my gosh, it's pretty wild. In fact, I don't know if I believe this entirely, but this is what Cody has claimed happened to him.
Jessa: After Cody managed to cut Marahute free, he has said that Marahute accidentally knocked him off the cliff with the brunt of her wing. Dear Lord, that sounds absolutely terrifying.
Gina: It certainly was a scary moment for him. He even said himself that he truly thought he was going to die in that moment.
Jessa: Oooh, poor kid.
Gina: I know, right? Thankfully, however, before he hit the ground, Marahute came swooping in and actually caught Cody on her back.
Jessa: That's incredible!
Gina: Yeah. This is actually the part that I don't know if I believe entirely. Cuz the idea of riding on the back of an eagle sounds pretty far-fetched. But then I remembered that Marahute is supposed to be as big as a bus.
Jessa: I know what you mean, sis. Ya' gotta remember though, sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.
*Beat*
Gina: After Marahute saved Cody from falling to his death, she flew him back to her nest of eggs. I guess if she's doing all of that, she must've realized that Cody was a friend instead of a foe.
Jessa: Well yeah, he had just cut her free instead of cut her up, so from there, she realized not all humans are bad.
Gina: Yeah, sweet birdy she was.
Jessa: Yeah, Marahute was definitely a really sweet bird and it looks like she and Cody really got on great from what he described.
Gina: I can only imagine how Cody responded to seeing Marahute's eggs when he was brought to her nest. Probably responded like how a child does when they see a pregnant woman, they wanna feel the baby moving.
Jessa: *Jessa chuckles* That's a cute comparison. I know that's how Eli is whenever he sees a pregnant woman.
Gina: That's true.
*Jessa smirks*
Jessa: Something heartfelt about Cody's bond with Marahute is he had deep sympathy for her loss of Ronoth. It stemmed from when he lost his dad, and so he could feel the pain of Marahute's eaglets being without their daddy.
Gina: Awww, that's really sweet. It's great that Cody could empathize with her like that.
Jessa: When you experience loss like that at a young age, it tends to strengthen your empathy for others.
*Gina nods*
Gina: Cody later ran into the woods after Marahute was home safely. He thought he'd play around a little bit to celebrate another animal being set free.
Jessa: Unfortunately, this would be the moment that Cody's world would turn upside down.
Gina: While Cody was out there playing in the forest, he came across what looked like a mouse caught in a trap. In his typical fashion, he went to go free the little mouse.
Jessa: Unfortunately, his fiddling with the mouse triggered a pit trap just below his feet, and poor Cody ended up falling into said trap.
Gina: Guess who set that trap, folks. None other than our good buddy, Percival C. McLeach.
Jessa: *She facepalms* Ugh, here's where the Devil himself comes back into the story.
Gina: Not long after Cody fell into that trap and he tried to climb his way out, here came Percival trekking through the woods with this modified half-track.
Jessa: This next bit is so comical, because it shows just how cocky Percival is in his ability to manipulate and deceive. Percival comes up to the trap Cody is caught in, his shotgun in hand. He's openly bragging to his lizard Joanna about catching an animal, even wondering what he might've caught. You can imagine his surprise when, instead of a dingo or a razorback like he thought, he instead finds a little boy in there.
Gina: *She bursts out laughing* Yeah, I bet he was surprised to see a human child instead of an animal in his trap.
Jessa: Oh yes. Obviously, this meant he had to cover his tracks because Cody is likely someone who could report him. Right then, Percival tried to pretend like he didn't know anything about the trap, even blaming Joanna, the freaking lizard, for creating such an elaborate trap with a homing beacon in it.
Gina: Oh my gosh.
Jessa: Yeah, I know. Cody, however, he's not stupid. He knows this man is up to no good, especially given that Percival, as mentioned earlier, was clearly excited about what was possibly in the trap. Cody even outright accused Percival of being a poacher right then and there.
Gina: Smart kid.
Jessa: Yeah, very.
Gina: Nonetheless, Percival continued to put on an innocent act. He's all, "Oh little boy, whataya mean a trap? This ain't no trap."
Jessa: Psst. Who are you trying to fool, sir?
Gina: Right? Strangely, he even helped Cody out of the trap.
Jessa: Well, that's oddly nice of him.
Gina: Well, he's gotta keep up his deception so Cody doesn't go flapping his gums to the authorities.
Jessa: True.
Gina: The way that he helped Cody out of the trap though, he did it by lowering the barrel of his gun down into the trap for Cody to grab onto.
Jessa: What?! Well so much for gun safety then.
Gina: Well, that was the only thing Percival had that could possibly be used as something to grab onto.
Jessa: Still, any person who knows gun safety would tell you that you're not supposed to point a gun at another person. You're always supposed to treat it as if it were loaded, even if it might not be. But then again, Percival is a complete sociopath who could care less about others' safety.
*Gina nods*
Gina: After Cody was out of the trap, Percival continued acting like he was a harmless older man and encouraged Cody to go about his way. However, Cody was not having any of it. Like I said, this kid was no moron. His age may have been in the single digits, but he had a brain. It was plain obvious to him that Percival was a scumbag up to no good.
Jessa: I mean, if someone pointed the barrel of their gun at me like that, I'd be skeptical of them too.
Gina: True that. Now, this part here is very wild. According to Cody, Joanna, Percival's pet lizard, jumped on him and started roughing him up. Apparently, it was because the mouse that was trapped earlier had climbed into his backpack, and Joanna I guess saw it.
Jessa: Ooh, that had to be really scary for poor Cody. I mean, we had earlier mentioned that goana lizards have a nasty bite that can poison a person.
Gina: Yeah, but thankfully Cody wasn't bitten by Joanna. At best, he was just a little bit shaken up.
Jessa: That's good, apart from being shaken up.
Gina: During that little scuffle, Percival was hilariously knocked into his own trap. In the process, his gun discharged.
Jessa: See what I mean? You don't treat guns like toys.
Gina: Yep. As you can imagine, Percival was angry about Joanna knocking him over. In fact, while she was still roughing up Cody, Percival climbed out of the trap and pointed his gun at Joanna. Apparently, this was something he regularly did whenever Joanna annoyed or frustrated him.
Jessa: Isn't he such a loving pet owner?
Gina: Yes, he's an absolute darling.
*Both sisters roll their eyes*
Jessa: However, he didn't end up firing his gun at Joanna because something caught Percival's eye as he was aiming. He saw that Cody had one of Marahute's golden feathers on his person. She had given it to him as a thank you for rescuing her.
Gina: Aww, that's really sweet.
Jessa: Yeah, it was. Unfortunately, this little feather would open up Pandora's Box for Cody.
Gina: When Percival saw that feather sticking out of Cody's backpack, he grabbed Cody by the backpack and hoisted him up. He asked him, "Where'd you get this feather?" Cody mentioned that it was a present, but he didn't say from who. Percival, however, pressed the boy, but Cody only said, "it's a secret".
Jessa: If I had been in that position, I would've just said, "none of your business" or "I just found it on the ground". Saying it's a secret or it was a present is only gonna fuel Percival's fire. And it certainly did fuel his fire, because Percival revealed that he knew the feather belonged to Marahute because he had a similar feather from Ronoth, Marahute's mate. He pulled out Ronoth's feather and then proceeded to brag to Cody about how he killed "the father". At that point, Percival was no longer even trying to hide his true colors, and Cody realized his gut feeling about this guy was correct. Even more so when Percival asked Cody if he knew where "Mama and those little eggs are".
Gina: Oh boy, this is where crap really starts to hit the fan. Now that Cody realized Percival was after Marahute and her eggs, he knew he had to get away from that man.
Jessa: Cody immediately jumped out from his backpack straps, and he hauled butt outta there. However, Percival sicked Joanna on him and she chased after Cody.
Gina: Cody ran away as fast as he could, especially when he realized that Joanna was on his tail. However, he unfortunately didn't get very far because he wound up at the edge of a place known as Croc Falls.
Jessa: Croc Falls is this big waterfall in the Australian Outback, and as you can tell by the name, it's lousy with crocodiles. The crocodiles that reside in those waters are said to eat anything that falls into their turf.
Gina: When Cody realized he was cornered in this place, he knew he was in big trouble cuz Joanna was really gaining on him.
Jessa: To defend himself, Cody pulled out his pocketknife that he had used to cut Marahute free. Unfortunately, he dropped it. When he went to go pick it up, this is when Percival showed up and stepped on Cody's hand to stop him from grabbing the knife.
Gina: *She cringes* Ouch, that had to hurt.
Jessa: Yeah.
Gina: Percival then told Cody that he was "coming with him", meaning he planned on taking Cody captive since he knew about Marahute. However, Cody told Percival that his mother would report him to the rangers if he did that.
Jessa: However, Percival was not fazed by Cody's threat. For he had a plan for keeping the rangers off his tail.
Gina: He took Cody's backpack, which he was still holding, and tossed it into Croc Falls. Immediately, the crocs swarmed it. We told you they'll eat anything.
Jessa: Percival's plan was to make the rangers believe that Cody had fallen into Croc Falls and was eaten. This way they wouldn't go looking for him, and Percival could keep Cody captive until he was led to Marahute and her eggs. Then he would dispose of Cody once he got what he wanted.
Gina: That is so low of him. It's clever but it's extremely evil and rotten.
Jessa: Yeah, that's the nature of these perpetrators we talk about, the lengths they go to get what they want.
*Gina nods*
Gina: Percival did as he said and abducted Cody. He threw him into the cage in the back of his half-track, ya' know where he keeps the animals he captures.
Jessa: Ugh... how dehumanizing that must've been for poor Cody.
Gina: Yeah, totally. Imagine how dirty and smelly that cage must've been. Not a very sanitary place to keep a child in.
Jessa: Poor kid. He must've been so scared being abducted by that devil.
Gina: You would think Cody would be a wreck from getting abducted, but no. The whole time, Cody was a pretty defiant captive. Cody did call out for help several times, but never once did he cry or beg for his life. He just angrily demanded that Percival let him go.
Jessa: Meanwhile, when we were so much as separated from our parents at Walmart, we were balls of tears.
Gina: Hehe, yeah that's true.
Jessa: Here's a little bit of sick trivia. While Cody was being transported back to Percival's lair, the man decided to sing a cute little song to the tune of Home on the Range to taunt the animal-loving Cody. It went something like this: "Home, Home on the range, where the critters are tied up in chains. I cut through their sides, and rip up their hides, and the next day I do it again".
Gina: *Grimaces* Oh my gosh. He really has no shame, does he?
Jessa: Nope, not at all. As the singer Monica once sang in her song "Like This and Like That", the ones with no class are the ones with no shame. And Percival McLeach certainly has no class if he has no problem taunting an animal lover with twisted versions of classic prairie songs that involve glorifying harming animals.
Gina: *Gritting her teeth* I'd like to rip up his hide, see how he likes it.
Jessa: Same, sister, especially as a mother to a boy Cody's age at the time of this case.
*Beat*
Gina: Eventually, Percival got back to his lair. He pulled Cody out of the cage. The whole time, he was very rough with the boy.
Jessa: Cody tried his best to resist getting out of the cage and even trying to run off. He bit, he scratched, he kicked. However, since Cody was only a small child and Percival was a grown adult, he was no match for the man.
Gina: Percival actually kicked Cody in the stomach pretty hard in order to immobilize him. I can only imagine how painful that must've been for poor Cody. Kids are pretty sensitive to pain, ya'know.
Jessa: That's true, sis. If Eli so much as gets a toothache, he's completely down for the count. But a full grown man kicking a child in the stomach, that's completely unacceptable.
Gina: Yeah, especially since a child is defenseless up against a full grown adult.
*Both sisters shake their heads and cringe*
Jessa: After Cody was down for the count from that kick, Percival tied his hand together behind his back so that he couldn't fight back. For good measures, Percival even grabbed Cody by his tied-up hands so that it was easier to keep him unable to fight back.
Gina: After that, he dragged the boy down into his lair into a big room that had a large map of the Outback. Here, he forced Cody to sit in front of this map.
Jessa: This next thing is really infuriating, because it truly shows the lack of care he has for even a small, defenseless child. Percival took some knives and cleaned them off. While he did that, he demanded that Cody tell him where Marahute was. He then proceeded to throw the knives at various points on the map behind Cody. Each knife was inches away from hitting him.
Gina: Oh my word! That is just deranged!
Jessa: Yeah, it is. However, it's not surprising though, given he's a sociopath with no regard for people's rights and safety.
Gina: Yeah, it's surprising how I still get shocked at the messed up things this man does when I should be used to this by now.
Jessa: I know, but that's just the nature of things.
Gina: *She nods* The whole time Percival threw knives at Cody, he was all, "Is she at this point? Or at this point?" whenever he would toss a knife at a location on the map. This was purely to scare Cody, to intimidate him and make him crack.
Jessa: However, Cody refused to give up Marahute. Even though this grown man was threatening him with knives and getting in his face, he managed to remain calm instead of crying and pleading.
Gina: Instead of giving away Marahute's location to Percival, Cody lied and said he didn't remember where. Naturally, Percival didn't take too kindly to young Cody keeping his mouth shut.
Jessa: He never takes kindly to things not going his way. *Jessa rolls her eyes*
Gina: *She chuckles* Percival actually had the temerity to try and bribe Cody into spilling Marahute's location. He was all, "I'll split the money with you, 50/50".
Jessa: *Rolls her eyes* Oh my gosh. I doubt he was actually planning on splitting the poach money with Cody.
Gina: Indeed. Cody probably knew that too, cuz he still refuses to crack when given that offer. Instead he was all, "screw you, I won't tell. The rangers will get you."
Jessa: *She chuckles* Round for Cody there. *She claps* It's amazing how resilient this kid was at that age.
Gina: I know. Meanwhile, a lot of adult kidnapping victims we've covered were a mess when they were in this same kind of situation.
Jessa: Never underestimate how resilient children can be in the face of danger.
*Beat*
Gina: In response to Cody refusing to cough up Marahute's location, Percival had a hissy fit. He kicked over a cauldron that was full of boiling hot water. Then he went back over to Cody and slapped him across the face, calling him an "insolent brat" in process. Projecting much, Percival?
Jessa: *She chuckles at her sister* He then grabbed Cody by the hands again, this time dragging him into a room that was further underground.
Gina: This particular room is actually where Percival kept the animals he hunted and captured. It was in here that Percival threw Cody into an empty cage to "give him a night to think it over" as punishment for not spilling the beans.
Jessa: Ugh, again with treating the kid like he's an animal as opposed to a human being with thoughts and feelings. First, he throws him in the cage on his half-track, and now he's literally imprisoning him with the animals he hunts. It's almost like he sees humans and animals as no different from each other, both are just things for him to exploit and step all over.
Gina: You hit it right on the nail there. To a sociopath like Percival, everyone might as well be just cattle for them to use.
Jessa: Ugh, disgusting. And poor Cody, once again being locked in a cage that was probably unhygienic and smelly. I can imagine the cage probably stunk of animal urine and feces.
Gina: Yeah, it's doubtful that Percival ever let those animals out to use the bathroom, so they probably just did their business in their cages.
Jessa: He probably didn't clean the cages either.
Gina: Yeah. To think about a young child being kept in those kinds of conditions just turns my stomach.
Jessa: I know. *She cringes*
*Beat*
Gina: While we're talking about what Percival was doing with Cody, you're probably wondering what his mother was doing while her son was being held hostage.
Jessa: As you'd expect, Rachel was very concerned when Cody didn't come back home. Ordinarily, his little animal rescue trips didn't take very long. Usually, they only took about 5-10 minutes to get done. On this day, Cody had not come back for hours, almost a whole day in fact.
Gina: Rachel's mommy senses were tingling when she couldn't even see Cody out the kitchen window.
Jessa: Oh gosh. As a mother, I can only imagine the severe panic that woman was going through.
Gina: Yeah, poor Rachel. Indeed, she was in hysterics. She did what any concerned mother does if their little baby goes missing, she contacted the rangers.
Jessa: When the rangers learned that the son of their fallen colleague was missing, they jumped on the case to find him. Given that he was missing out in dangerous terrain, they had to hurry to find him because every second and hour counts.
Gina: As we've stated in previous missing person cases, the first 24 hours after someone goes missing are crucial. The longer the person remains missing, the less likely they are to be alive except by some miracle, like in the cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.
Jessa: Right, and the same principle mattered here when young Cody vanished.
Gina: Within no time, missing posters of Cody were up, with news even getting to the urban areas.
Jessa: Cody's face was plastered nearly everywhere. Everyone was hoping for the safe return of this little boy.
Gina: The rangers searched everywhere they could around the Outback, going by the few clues that Rachel had given them.
Jessa: During their search, the rangers would come across a devastating discovery. Remember when Percival threw Cody's backpack into Croc Falls? Well, the rangers came across the tattered remains of the backpack near the falls.
Gina: From that little discovery, the rangers came to the conclusion that Cody had fallen into Croc Falls and was eaten. Just like how Percival planned earlier.
Jessa: Aw man, I can only imagine what they were thinking when they came across that sight.
Gina: Yeah, and imagine what they had to tell Rachel afterwards.
Jessa: Oh man... *She shakes her head* The head ranger went back to Rachel with the grisly discovery. He gave her the ripped up backpack. According to the chief, when he handed her Cody's backpack, she took it and cradled it in her arms. Then she just cried and cried. *She shakes her head again*
Gina: Poor Rachel. First, she became a widow, and now she thinks her son is dead.
Jessa: I know. It's the worst thing to lose two loved ones back-to-back like that. *She bows her head* This really tugs at my mommy heartstrings.
Gina: Awww, Jess. *Gina gently touches Jessa's hand*
Jessa: No mother should have to experience what Rachel was experiencing.
Gina: Agreed.
*The sisters are silent for a moment as they reflect on Rachel's grief*
Jessa: Something that's got me bugged about this is I feel like the rangers just gave up too easily.
Gina: Why do say that?
Jessa: Well, aside from finding the backpack, there really wasn't any evidence that Cody was dead. I mean, they found his backpack all torn up in the waters, but there wasn't any other evidence that suggests anyone was eaten by the crocodiles. If Cody had truly been eaten by the crocodiles, wouldn't there have been signs of a struggle, like torn pieces of flesh or blood spattered on the rocks? Maybe even bones? From what the rangers described, none of those things were recovered at Croc Falls.
Gina: Yeah, you might be on to something there, Jess. If someone were to have fallen into Croc Falls and got ate by the crocodiles, there would definitely be more than just a torn backpack left behind. There would be signs of a struggle, such as blood and bones.
Jessa: Yeah, so the fact that those weren't found but the rangers came to the conclusion that Cody was killed by the crocodiles just annoys me a little. It makes me question their competency in that moment.
Gina: It's a strange thing they did there.
Jessa: Way too strange. *She sighs and shakes her head*
*Beat*
Gina: Thankfully, we know that Cody is very much alive. He's just being held hostage.
Jessa: Everyone else, however, didn't know that. When the news that Cody's tattered backpack was found in Croc Falls, the community was pretty upset. They too came to the conclusion that he was dead. A vigil was even held in Cody's memory on the streets of places like Sydney, Brisbane and Wagga Wagga, Cody's original home.
Gina: That's incredible how a community comes together for a child they didn't even know.
Jessa: Yeah. People generally don't like it whenever a child's life is cut so short.
Gina: That's true. Gotta love that solidarity.
*Beat*
Jessa: Meanwhile, back in Percival's lair, Cody was trying his best to get himself out of the cage he was locked in. In fact, he had managed to find this hook that was sitting in his cage and he tied it to a piece of wood near the cage.
Gina: With this hook, he was able to knock the keys that were dangling near the door. Then he grabbed the keys and pulled them over toward him.
Jessa: Nice! Pretty convenient how that hook was found in his cage like that.
Gina: Yep. Obviously, Percival never anticipated ever putting a human in those cages who could use the makeshift tools around them, hence why the hook evidently ended up staying inside that cage for so long.
Jessa: True that. Thanks to that tool, he was able to get free from the cage, cuz once he got his hands on the keys, he unlocked the cage door. But unfortunately, Cody wasn't about to make a smooth escape out of there. Right then, Joanna, Percival's lizard, came slithering into the room.
Gina: Uh oh. That can't be good.
Jessa: Yeah, and it wasn't. Cuz Joanna then chased Cody around the room attempting to scare him back into the cage. However, he didn't run back to the cage, he just did what he could to dodge Joanna. But in the process, all this ruckus just alerted Percival to what was going on down there.
Gina: As usual, Percival was very upset that Cody had gotten out of his cage. He was all, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't like it here".
Jessa: Psst. Well considering Cody is there against his will, of course he didn't like it there.
*The sisters laugh*
Gina: Next comes a really surprising turn of events, Percival turns Cody loose from his captivity.
Jessa: Yeah, we know. You're thinking, "He's letting him go? But why would he do that since he needed Cody for Marahute's location?" Well, let's just say that Percival had yet another evil plan up his sleeve.
Gina: Percival took Cody by the collar and tossed him out of the hideaway, once again very aggressively, telling him to get lost. Then he told Cody that Marahute was dead, that a hunter had shot her.
Jessa: However, this wasn't true. Marahute wasn't dead; she was alive and well.
Gina: He told Cody this because he knew that the boy would get worried about Marahute's babies being without their mother, and then would run straight to the nest to make sure they were ok. Percival, meanwhile, would then follow Cody as he ran back to Marahute's nest, allowing him to figure out her location.
Jessa: How incredibly manipulative is that.
Gina: It's very manipulative, but it worked though. Once Cody heard that his new friend was allegedly dead, he was very upset. Like Percival anticipated, Cody did run toward Marahute's nest to see to her eggs. Likewise, Percival got in his half-track and quietly followed the unsuspecting boy back to the nest.
Jessa: Poor Cody. Imagine how crushed he probably was to hear that the eagle he had worked hard to save and protect is now dead.
Gina: Yeah, it's heartbreaking to think about how upset he was. In fact, when he got to the nest, Marahute wasn't there, which appeared to confirm what Percival had told him.
Jessa: Oh man. I can just imagine Cody showing up to the nest and just breaking down at his friend no longer being there and worrying about what will happen to her babies.
Gina: Cody said that he was indeed broken-hearted about Marahute. However, he didn't cry when he got back to the nest, but he did sit there near the eggs and mourned for a while.
Jessa: Awww.
Gina: Yeah, it's sad to think about an 8-year-old child experiencing such profound grief like that.
Jessa: Yeah. No child needs to be experiencing such intense emotions like that. But I'm glad to see that the kid had such a kind heart though.
*Gina nods*
*Beat*
Gina: To protect Marahute's eggs from potential predators, Cody hid them underneath a layer of the nest's straw and grass.
Jessa: Smart move.
Gina: Yeah, this shows how much he's determined to keep those eggs safe in the absence of their mother.
Jessa: Awww.
Gina: For extra good measures, Cody even put out rocks as decoys for the predators.
Jessa: Nice! I swear, this kid is a freaking genius.
Gina: Must be due to all the homeschooling.
*Jessa chuckles*
Jessa: After he did that, Cody got the biggest shock of his life. Marahute showed up and came flying back to the nest right after Cody hid her eggs.
Gina: Oh my. I can just imagine the look of shock and joy that Cody had when he saw that Marahute was still alive.
Jessa: Yeah. Cody even said that he went from feeling like his heart was ripped out to feeling like he was cloud nine when he saw Marahute flying toward her nest. Not only was his friend alive and well, but her eggs were gonna be safe.
Gina: Unfortunately, Cody also realized that things were about to get worse as well. He looked up the side of the cliff where Marahute's nest was perched and he saw to his horror that Percival was standing at the top, realizing that he had followed him to the nest. That's when he realized that this was all part of a trap.
Jessa: Right then, Cody tried to warn Marahute not to come any closer, telling her to turn back. However, she didn't really understand the danger she was in; she was too set on returning back to her babies.
Gina: Meanwhile, Percival has this big snare trap that bags whatever you fire at. Because Marahute failed to heed Cody's warnings, she wound up getting bagged by that contraption.
Jessa: Percival was just jumping for joy when he bagged his prize. *She rolls her eyes*
Gina: Cody, however, was not about to let Percival take Marahute, not after just finding out that she was never dead. So, in a very incredible act of bravery, Cody jumped onto the bag Marahute was secured in despite it being a literal leap of faith he was taking, being high up on the edge of a cliff. Thankfully, he managed to get on the bag and he began to cut through the ropes binding the bag.
Jessa: I swear, this kid is Steve Irwin before Steve Irwin.
Gina: *She chuckles* Yeah, he and Steve Irwin would probably be great friends.
Jessa: Percival, naturally, was irritated that Cody was attempting to interfere with his poaching, cuz he's basically a bratty child in an adult's skin.
Gina: That's a pretty spot on description of Percival. I never thought of it that way. I mean, he's constantly having hissy fits and lashing out when he doesn't get his way, just like bratty kid.
Jessa: Yeah. Considering he grew up in a home where he got his own way all the time due to bullying his mother into submission, he's naturally going to act like a brat when he's not getting what he wants.
Gina: Such disgraceful behavior coming from a grown man.
Jessa: Yeah, totally.
Gina: Percival attempted to knock Cody off of the bag trap by violently shaking the machine. However, he was too caught in the ropes to be able to fall off. Thank God for that, cuz he would've fallen to his death and without Marahute to save him that time.
Jessa: Ooh. I hate to think of what would've happened had he not been all tied up in those ropes.
Gina: Yeah, me too.
Jessa: Rather than being dropped to his death, Cody ended up dropped into the cage on Percival's half-track along with Marahute.
Gina: Now that Percival had Marahute in his clutches, he wanted to make sure a bird like her "stayed rare". So, this is when Percival decided to let Joanna eat Marahute's eggs.
Jessa: Remember that Cody hid them underneath the nest so predators couldn't get at them, so he knows full well that Joanna is not going to succeed in eating them. However, he couldn't let Percival or Joanna know that, so he very convincingly faked like he was all worried and concerned about the eggs being eaten to disguise the fact that they were hidden and replaced with decoys.
Gina: Smart thinking.
Jessa: Yeah. Neither of them suspected a thing.
Gina: Now that Percival had what he wanted, he took off in his half-track with his hunt secured.
Jessa: However, since Cody was still there, that meant Percival still "one loose end to tie up". Unfortunately, that meant Percival intended to get rid of Cody once and for all.
Gina: *She glares and shakes her head* Percival's plan to get rid of Cody involved hooking him up to a crane and lowering him down into Croc Falls to be devoured by the crocodiles.
Jessa: Ugh. Oh my gosh. He's literally trying to MURDER an 8-year-old child! Just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower, he does, and it's one of the most heartless ways I can imagine.
Gina: It wouldn't be the first time he killed a child though. Remember that he killed his unborn baby back in the 60s when he beat his wife.
Jessa: Can we not talk about that again? It was horrible enough hearing about that the first time.
Gina: Sorry...
Jessa: It's ok, Gina. You're right though, this wouldn't be the first time he's killed a child, I just didn't think he'd ever try it again in such a depraved way.
Gina: Percival McLeach is the kind of guy who just keeps getting worse as the story goes on.
Jessa: *She grits her teeth* Poor Cody though. As he was dangling from the crane, he was beside himself. He wasn't begging for his life, but inwardly he was panicking because he wasn't sure what he was going to do to get out of this situation.
Gina: I don't blame him for feeling panicked. I mean, being dangled over hungry crocodiles is such a horrible situation to be put in.
Jessa: Yeah. Being eaten alive is one of our primal fears, so just imagine how scary this is for an 8-year-old child to experience.
Gina: *She nods* Percival, meanwhile, was getting a kick out of this. He even sang the Crawdad Song as he was fiddling with the crane controls.
Jessa: *She grimaces* He really is the worst.
Gina: He is. He makes Ted Bundy look like an angel.
*Jessa laughs*
Jessa: In the midst of Percival's taunts, the crane actually de-activated all of the sudden. It turns out that a razorback somehow got inside of Percival's half-track and had knocked the key out of the ignition.
Gina: How ironic is it that one of his favorite game animals ended up fumbling with his plan.
Jessa: Yeah, it's absolutely delicious how that worked out. *She smirks*
Gina: Despite the crane breaking down, Cody was not out of the woods, unfortunately.
Jessa: Percival still had his handy dandy gun with him. With it, he could just shoot the rope that was holding Cody.
Gina: Scumbag.
Jessa: Yep.
Gina: However, while Percival was shooting at Cody's rope, Joanna ended up jumping on him because she had been in pursuit of another mouse that had been running around, and it ended up crawling on Percival.
Jessa: In the process, Percival and Joanna tumbled into the water. However, Percival managed to avoid being jumped on by the crocodiles because he was able to fight them off.
Gina: Meanwhile, Cody also unfortunately ended up falling into the water. Percival had shot at his rope enough to where it was breakable.
Jessa: Because he was tied up, it was hard for him to swim his way back to the surface, but he managed to do it by kicking his feet hard enough to propel himself back up to the surface.
Gina: Because the crocodiles were busy attacking Percival, they left Cody alone, which gave him time to try and save himself from the waterfall ahead of him. Again, because he's tied up, this was difficult.
Jessa: Ultimately, Cody ended up going over the waterfall despite his attempts to get his rope hooked onto something. However, something truly miraculous happened.
Gina: As Cody was falling down the waterfall, Marahute came swooping in once again and caught him on her back.
Jessa: Awww, that sweet eagle always has Cody's back.
Gina: Yeah, she does.
Jessa: How did Marahute even get to Cody on time, you might ask. After all, she was locked in the cage on Percival's half-track. Well, it turned out that she had smacked against the cage's door hard enough to make it fly open and break out.
Gina: And when she realized that Cody was in danger, she raced to catch him from falling down the waterfall.
Jessa: One of the perks of one of your homies being an eagle twice the size of a St. Bernard dog.
*Beat*
Gina: As for Percival, he too ended up going over the waterfall after cockily boasting about "whooping the crocodiles".
Jessa: However, he was able to survive this by curling up into a ball as he was falling down.
Gina: That might sound a little unrealistic, but actual survivalists have stated that the best way to survive falling off a waterfall is by curling yourself up into a ball as a way to cushion your fall and lessen whatever damage your body might take. That's just what Percival did to survive, though he probably wishes he never did that because of what happens to him next. However, we'll get to what happened to him later.
Jessa: After Cody was saved by Marahute, he was able to get himself safely home now that Percival was off his butt. Oh boy, the reunion he had with his mother was so emotional.
Gina: I bet it was. I mean, the woman thought her son became crocodile food, and yet here he is showing up alive and well.
Jessa: According to Cody, he came running up to his house calling out to his mom. Initially, Rachel thought the sound of Cody's voice was only her imagination born out of grief. However, once she saw Cody out the window, she felt like she was seeing a ghost. But once she was outside and saw that it really was Cody, her heart just swelled with joy.
Gina: Awww.
Jessa: Yeah. Rachel hugged and cried on Cody for the longest time, so relieved that her baby boy was never dead.
Gina: I bet she probably also got mad at him for scaring her, like how our own mother used to do to us when we got ourselves into trouble.
Jessa: Oh, she did. She didn't yell or anything, but Cody did describe her as being very firm with him.
Gina: That's fair.
Jessa: Yeah. It helped that Cody explained what happened to him, though he feels like he probably sounded crazy to his mom. Cuz let's face it, everything that's happened to him sounds more nuts than a thriller movie.
*Beat*
Gina: Since we mentioned that Percival survived going over the waterfall at Croc Falls, you're probably wondering what happened to him. Did he get caught? Well, the answer to that is a firm yes.
Jessa: After surviving the waterfall, Percival wandered for days around the Outback before he was finally caught by the rangers and arrested for all of his poaching charges.
Gina: 2 days after his arrest, however, the rangers found out about his kidnapping of Cody when Rachel told them that Cody was still alive and about her son's encounter with the man.
Jessa: Oh my gosh, were the rangers in for a shock when they found out Cody was alive.
Gina: Well, yeah. They had found his backpack all tore up in crocodile-infested waters and thought that meant he was a goner.
Jessa: Hopefully, they felt stupid for jumping to that conclusion so soon. Like I mentioned earlier, they didn't find any true signs of a struggle, only circumstantial evidence.
*Gina nods*
*Beat*
Gina: Once the rangers were informed that Cody was alive and well, they decided to bring him in for questioning so they could get the full story on what exactly happened. Oh man, they were in for a roller coaster of a story from him.
Jessa: Young Cody came to the rangers, and he told them his story to the best of his abilities. With this new information, the rangers then went and raided Percival's hideaway, where they found various animals still locked up in the room where Cody had been imprisoned. They even found the knives still lodged in the map, which helped to back up Cody's claim about how Percival had thrown knives at him while his hands were bound.
Gina: Between all of this, the rangers were able to charge Percival with counts of poaching, kidnapping, child abuse, and attempted murder.
Jessa: The following year in 1991, Percival was put on trial before a grand jury in Sydney. Cody even came to the trial to testify against Percival. Even though he was a child, he was considerably mature for his age, so he was considered competent enough to testify in court.
Gina: That had to be hard for Cody to have to look his kidnapper and almost murderer in the eye again.
Jessa: Yeah. Looking at the person who did all that to him probably brought back a lot of trauma.
Gina: It always is traumatizing having to look your abductor and would-be murderer in the eye, cuz of all of the memories that come flooding back into your mind. However, Cody managed to give a pretty moving testimony. The whole time though, Percival just sat his butt in that courtroom and stared the boy down.
Jessa: Ooh, that's pretty intense.
Gina: Yeah, but luckily, he couldn't do anything to Cody at this point. Some people though expected Percival to lash out in the courtroom given how violent the man is, but he strangely kept quiet the whole time Cody was giving his testimony.
Jessa: I guess he thought he could try fooling people into thinking that everything against him was just all lies, and so keeping a cool head was a good way to make people think he was completely innocent. After all, lashing out at a child in the middle of a courtroom would only make things look worse for him.
Gina: That's highly plausible. We've seen that happen in previous cases where the offender really wants the jury to think they're innocent. Of course, it never actually works for them cuz the evidence against them is too strong to ignore.
Jessa: *Rolls her eyes* Manipulators, every one of them.
*Gina nods and tucks some of her hair behind her shoulder*
Gina: Meanwhile, Percival did what all cocky, manipulative criminals do, he represented himself.
Jessa: When he did that, oh boy did he really try and convince the jury that he did nothing wrong. That this was all an elaborate hoax and the product of a child's wild imagination.
Gina: *Rolls her eyes* Oh my gosh. Who does he think he's trying to fool? I mean, with all of the evidence that's stacked against him, did he really think he was going to convince anyone that he was innocent?
Jessa: Like I said, he's just being manipulative once again. And luckily, no one bought any of Percival's claims. If anything, he came off to the jury as insincere and entitled.
Gina: That's a relief, and also hilarious that he was described as being entitled. That's the perfect description for someone like him who is obviously guilty but refuses to take accountability for his actions.
Jessa: Agreed, Gin.
Gina: Because none of Percival's claims were bought by the jury, they ultimately found him guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jessa: He even had "never to be released" written on his sentencing papers. Which really goes to show just how dangerous he's considered.
Gina: *She nods* Percival McLeach was sent to the Tamworth Correctional Complex in New South Wales.
Jessa: He remains there to this day at 89 years old. Because his crime involved a young child, he's not very popular with his fellow inmates. Just like with his previous crime in South Carolina.
Gina: He's gotten into quite a few confrontations with the other inmates over what he did to Cody. And because of that, he's mostly kept in isolation.
Jessa: Thank God that he's in a position where he can no longer hurt anyone else, human or animal.
Gina: Yeah. No more of his manipulation games, wife-beating, poaching, bullying, or any of the other crap that he's done over the years.
Jessa: Yeah. He finally has been held accountable after so many years of getting away with awful crap.
Gina: And even better is that Cody escaped from him and now has an incredible survival story for the world to hear.
Jessa: After these events, Cody was able to rebuild his life. Of course, he struggled with his mental health following this. Of course, he would. If you were kidnapped by a psychopath and nearly fed to crocodiles, you'd be struggling with your mental health too.
Gina: Up until Cody was about 16 years old, he had recurring nightmares about Percival and Croc Falls. Poor kid. *She shakes her head*
Jessa: Thankfully, Cody was able to get counseling for his issues. I'm glad for him that he was able to do that.
Gina: Yeah. As of today, Cody is 42 years old and he's thriving. In fact, he's done quite a lot in the years since his encounter with Percival McLeach.
Jessa: He's followed in his dad's footsteps and became a ranger as well as a conservationist. A perfect job for him given his personality and his interests.
Gina: He's also even gone the way of Elizabeth Smart and became a victims' advocate because of what happened to him.
Jessa: He's helped out countless victims of crime. He's even written a book about his experience.
Gina: *She holds up a hardcover book* The book is titled Outback Outlaw: How I Survived Percival McLeach. Let's just say that this book is a real page turner.
Jessa: All of the information that we have on Cody's situation is directly from this book. The way the guy describes everything is so engaging and immersive, oh my gosh.
*Gina flips open the front cover of the book*
Gina: *Reading the first page* Thank you, Bernard and Bianca. I wonder who those people are.
Jessa: *She shrugs* I dunno, sis. Maybe they're a couple of friends of his.
Gina: Possibly.
*Beat*
Jessa: And that concludes the disturbing and wild case of Percival McLeach and Cody Fullerton. Good night was it a roller coaster.
Gina: Yeah. Of all of the crazy case we've discussed on here, this one was definitely unhinged, but it was intriguing, nonetheless.
Jessa: Oh totally. Real life is truly stranger than fiction sometimes, and this was one of those times.
Gina: *She nods* Percival McLeach though, he really is the worst.
Jessa: Oh, very much so. He's just the definition of evil. Thank God that he's locked up forever; that gives me peace of mind.
Gina: I agree. It's just like the case of the Golden State Killer, where a creep does whatever he wants for years and then finally gets nabbed and locked up for the rest of his life. It's terrifying to think about, but great to know that he won't be bothering anyone anymore.
Jessa: Oh yeah. And thankfully, we got to tell a survivor's story this time around. We need one of those every now and again to lift our spirits.
Gina: Yeah, really helps to keep things hopeful for this world.
*Jessa nods*
Jessa: That is all from us. We hope you enjoyed this crazy episode of our podcast. Thank you to Mooncat for sponsoring us on this, really helps keep this podcast afloat.
Gina: As always, let us know what you think of this case. We'd love to hear from you on this. Thank you all and have a good rest of your week.
Jessa: We highly recommend that you go out and buy Cody's book Outback Outlaw. It's a very good true crime book that you won't regret reading.
Gina: Yeah. It also helps to support Cody as well. He definitely deserves our support.
*Gina and Jessa each wave as the lights above them start to darken*
Jessa: Bye!
Gina: Bye!
*The studio lights fully darken as the podcast theme plays in the background, thus concluding the podcast*