WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:42.240 Okay people, listen up. Here we go. This is Nature's 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.179 Secret Service, the podcast that puts you in 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.340 the room with the men and women of wildlife law 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:49.340 enforcement. I'm your host, Ed Newcomer, and 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.700 this is the last bonus episode, Bridging Between 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:57.320 Seasons 2 and 3. Season 3, Wolves, premieres 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.359 on June 2nd. I hope you'll tune in and tell all 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.450 your friends about it. For this bonus episode, 00:01:03.490 --> 00:01:06.569 I decided I should just tell you about one of 00:01:06.569 --> 00:01:09.989 my adventures as a special agent It's not a particularly 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:12.829 big case In fact, it didn't even result in criminal 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:15.510 charges or any kind of referral to the US Attorney's 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:18.670 office and wasn't even my investigation But I 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:20.609 was along for the ride and I think it's a great 00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:27.409 story in 2005 I was working in the Los Angeles 00:01:27.409 --> 00:01:29.329 Field Office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service 00:01:29.329 --> 00:01:33.290 and we had a fully staffed special agent group. 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:35.390 We had about, at that time, I think we had about 00:01:35.390 --> 00:01:37.650 eight special agents working out of the LA field 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:40.349 office. So we were busy and all those agents 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:45.409 were really kicking ass. I had been sent up to 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:48.569 Monterey, California to work on an investigation 00:01:48.569 --> 00:01:52.269 related to the illegal killing of some sea otters. 00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:54.469 There had been a rash of sea otter shootings 00:01:54.469 --> 00:01:56.530 in Monterey Bay. So I went up there for a few 00:01:56.530 --> 00:02:01.549 days to do some interviews and scout around and 00:02:01.549 --> 00:02:06.010 start an investigation. While I was in Monterey, 00:02:06.129 --> 00:02:08.629 I got a phone call from a special agent named 00:02:08.629 --> 00:02:10.889 Neil Mendelson who was one of my colleagues in 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:14.710 the Los Angeles field office. Neil was a fantastic 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:17.349 agent. He was one of these guys that was always 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:19.550 working on something good. We used to call him 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:21.830 his nickname at the office was Felony Fred because 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:25.949 he made so many felony wildlife cases. He was 00:02:25.949 --> 00:02:27.889 actually younger than me but he was the first 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:31.490 agent I met On the very first day I reported 00:02:31.490 --> 00:02:34.469 for duty at the LA field office and we became 00:02:34.469 --> 00:02:37.490 quick friends Although he was younger than me. 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:39.889 He was already an experienced agent by the time 00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:44.530 Ike reported for duty and You know, I was kind 00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:47.550 of in awe of him. He had a great reputation he 00:02:47.550 --> 00:02:50.430 worked on great cases and you know, he was one 00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:53.810 of these guys who Was really fun to work with 00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:55.770 because not only was he really professional and 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:58.960 really good at his job But he always knew exactly 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.240 the right thing to say to make everybody laugh. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.900 So we might all be, you know, real busy on a 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:08.419 high stress assignment, like executing a search 00:03:08.419 --> 00:03:10.479 warrant or something like that. And at the end 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:11.860 of the day, when everybody was pretty stressed 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.159 out, Neil would crack exactly the correct joke 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.280 at exactly the correct time and everybody would 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.879 relax and laugh. He could also be pretty high 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.919 strung when he was working on an affidavit for 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.060 a search warrant. I knew to pretty much stay 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:27.759 clear of his office. I might stop in to ask if 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:29.280 he needed anything, but other than that, I was 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.180 going to leave him alone. Anyway, I'm in Monterey 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:35.659 working on this sea otter investigation and I 00:03:35.659 --> 00:03:37.960 get a phone call from Neil Mendelson and Neil 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:40.159 says, hey, Ed, I got something going on up in 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.659 Santa Barbara County on your way back from Monterey. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.659 Do you want to meet me? I need some help. So 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:49.340 I said, yeah, what do you got going on? What 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:51.479 time do you need to see me? All of those things. 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:55.840 Well, as it turns out, Neil was about to conduct 00:03:56.060 --> 00:03:59.599 an inspection of the Neverland Ranch in Santa 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.000 Barbara County. Now that may sound familiar to 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.539 you because that is where Michael Jackson used 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.840 to live. He lived on a property, a huge property 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.219 in Santa Barbara County called the Neverland 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:16.860 Ranch. Turned out Neil had received or our office 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:18.860 had received a complaint. I don't remember who 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.300 the complaint was from but it was basically that 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.360 the endangered species held on Neverland Ranch. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.300 were being mistreated. Now, if you don't remember 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:31.980 Neverland Ranch, like I said, big property, Michael 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:34.399 Jackson's house was on that property, but he 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.959 had a private zoo and he had a lot of endangered 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.079 animals in that zoo. I didn't even know what 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.540 he had, but one of the animals everybody knew 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:48.660 he had was a chimpanzee, Bubbles, because Bubbles 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:54.719 used to appear with him in media events. But 00:04:54.719 --> 00:04:57.620 Neil, our office had received a complaint that 00:04:57.620 --> 00:04:59.660 some of the endangered species at the zoo were 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:03.519 being mistreated. So potentially that could be 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:05.600 a violation of the endangered species at criminal 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.560 provisions because it could be essentially take 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:10.819 of endangered species. So Michael Jackson and 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:13.860 his ranch and his zoo, Neverland Ranch Zoo, had 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:18.860 a permit to have these animals for educational 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:22.740 purposes in display. So we had a right to go 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:26.420 up there and inspect but you know Neil didn't 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:28.480 know quite what we were gonna find so we thought 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.399 well we better have a couple vehicles and at 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.500 least two agents not that it was dangerous but 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:34.060 just you don't know what you're gonna encounter 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:38.519 so I am up in Monterey which is about five and 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.300 a half hour drive from Los Angeles so I head 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:44.079 back on the day we're scheduled to meet I meet 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.319 Neil at the gate to Neverland Ranch in Santa 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.600 Barbara County and there's a security guard there 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:54.370 Neil goes and Neil had already said he's coming 00:05:54.370 --> 00:05:56.410 to do the inspection so they they knew we were 00:05:56.410 --> 00:06:01.870 coming and Neil identifies himself to the security 00:06:01.870 --> 00:06:04.110 guard I identify myself we show him our credentials 00:06:04.110 --> 00:06:06.550 and immediately the security guard presents us 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.050 with a non -disclosure agreement that we're supposed 00:06:09.050 --> 00:06:11.449 to sign we can't get on the property unless we 00:06:11.449 --> 00:06:14.490 sign the agreement Well, I'm still pretty new 00:06:14.490 --> 00:06:16.389 agent I wasn't quite sure exactly how to handle 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:17.829 these things but Neil knew what he was doing 00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:21.029 so he flat -out said no, we're not signing that 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:25.029 document and The security guard kind of got flustered. 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:27.029 He didn't know what to do, right? He's not supposed 00:06:27.029 --> 00:06:30.649 to let us on yet. We are federal agents there 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:34.310 to do an inspection This zoo has a permit to 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:39.129 have these animals part of that permit Part of 00:06:39.129 --> 00:06:41.589 that agreeing to or having the permit requires 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:44.610 you to submit to inspections when requested by 00:06:44.610 --> 00:06:47.189 the US Fish and Wildlife Service. So we didn't 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:49.949 need a warrant. We could come on and to do an 00:06:49.949 --> 00:06:51.509 inspection and we'd given them notice we were 00:06:51.509 --> 00:06:53.069 coming. So it wasn't like it was a surprise. 00:06:54.189 --> 00:06:55.949 So we went back and forth. The security guard 00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:59.209 called his supervisor. Basically, they held firm. 00:06:59.850 --> 00:07:02.149 You aren't coming on unless you sign the agreement. 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:05.430 So in the end, Neil and I signed the agreement 00:07:05.430 --> 00:07:08.220 because we knew it had absolutely no legal legal 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:12.240 effect We would be allowed to talk about anything 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:18.759 we saw on that on that ranch so We go on and 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:21.079 I follow Neil and we're driving on this long 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:24.660 winding road through this kind of oak Hill rolling 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:27.819 green hills with oak trees and we finally come 00:07:27.819 --> 00:07:30.660 over the hill and down into this little valley 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:35.480 is this huge mansion and We immediately recognized 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:38.449 it as The Neverland Ranch Michael Jackson's home 00:07:38.449 --> 00:07:41.189 And we were you know, both of us of course are 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:44.069 watching for Michael Jackson Didn't see any movement 00:07:44.069 --> 00:07:46.089 around the house. Not even any cars near the 00:07:46.089 --> 00:07:48.149 house But you know you could see the swimming 00:07:48.149 --> 00:07:51.009 pool with the statues of Peter Pan and all that 00:07:51.009 --> 00:07:52.990 stuff We're out there and there were lights on 00:07:52.990 --> 00:07:55.050 in the home, but it didn't look like anybody 00:07:55.050 --> 00:07:57.430 was moving around there Actually, we didn't think 00:07:57.430 --> 00:07:59.949 Michael Jackson was home at the time because 00:07:59.949 --> 00:08:02.910 you have to remember this 2005 this was very 00:08:02.910 --> 00:08:06.889 shortly after he had been charged with Child 00:08:06.889 --> 00:08:09.449 molestation and had been acquitted after a pretty 00:08:09.449 --> 00:08:12.610 lengthy high -profile pretty traumatic trial 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:16.189 for him So after that trial he really soured 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:19.629 on his home there at Neverland Ranch and he pretty 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:22.370 much left and I don't know where he was live 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:25.329 in Las Vegas or wherever, you know, he went to 00:08:25.329 --> 00:08:27.990 another one of his homes and honestly, I'm not 00:08:27.990 --> 00:08:29.970 really sure he ever went back to Neverland Ranch 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:32.350 after that it was sold at some point after that 00:08:32.350 --> 00:08:36.240 and the zoo was shut down and I don't think he 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:38.840 I think I think that experience with the trial 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:41.559 really soured him on his whole life there in 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:46.860 the Santa Barbara on the ranch there so um we 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:50.240 didn't see him but beyond the house maybe I don't 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.639 know 100 yards or so further down this one track 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:58.620 you know uh paved road is uh is the zoo and you 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:00.659 could see there were amusement rides there was 00:09:00.659 --> 00:09:03.409 a ferris wheel a merry -go -round different types 00:09:03.409 --> 00:09:08.009 of rides and then stretching off down the valley 00:09:08.009 --> 00:09:11.429 were walkways, buildings, exhibits. This place 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:14.570 was a real zoo, but the weirdest thing about 00:09:14.570 --> 00:09:18.649 it was really once we got there, we told the 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:20.610 security guard who had led us or we had followed 00:09:20.610 --> 00:09:22.970 the security guard up there. We told him, Hey, 00:09:23.090 --> 00:09:25.169 we're going to go do an inspection. We don't 00:09:25.169 --> 00:09:29.470 want you around basically. So He you know, he 00:09:29.470 --> 00:09:31.350 hung around at his car I guess we didn't see 00:09:31.350 --> 00:09:33.750 him after that Neil and I went through this entire 00:09:33.750 --> 00:09:36.990 zoo looking at every single exhibit every single 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:39.750 animal and pretty much documenting what kind 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:42.690 of condition they were in and You know making 00:09:42.690 --> 00:09:45.070 notes of questions we might have for the for 00:09:45.070 --> 00:09:47.070 anybody the keepers people who were involved 00:09:47.070 --> 00:09:51.850 in animal care and It was the surreal experience 00:09:51.850 --> 00:09:54.809 because it was later in the afternoon. So it's 00:09:54.809 --> 00:09:57.539 kind of getting a little dark ish or the sun 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:00.340 was kind of concealed behind the trees and the 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:04.200 hills and it was totally empty, right? It was 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:07.419 almost like a post -apocalyptic walk through 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:10.200 a zoo where all people had vanished from the 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:12.379 earth and here you are in this zoo with the animals 00:10:12.379 --> 00:10:14.960 are still there, but nobody's there. I think 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.220 we did see like one maintenance worker at some 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:20.600 point on our inspection, but otherwise nothing. 00:10:20.940 --> 00:10:23.759 This is such a surreal experience, very quiet, 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:26.399 right? Except for the noise of animals. But we 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.740 went through the zoo and I it was astonishing. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:32.480 There were two live tigers. So two endangered 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.559 species i'm Not sure what I think they were indo 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.320 chinese tigers, but they kind of the common tiger 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:43.240 two live adult tigers there was a live african 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:49.679 elephant adult sub -adult and a giraffe an orangutan 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:53.820 And then there was an entire reptile room You 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:57.620 know a large alligator, lots of snakes and reptiles, 00:10:57.639 --> 00:10:59.600 which Neil was really interested in. I am not 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.019 into reptiles. I did not care for that part of 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:06.000 it. But it was just fascinating to see how many 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.679 highly protected animals were present in the 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:12.019 zoo. We did not see Bubbles, the chimp. I don't 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:14.159 think Bubbles, I think Bubbles was gone by that 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.320 time. I don't know what happened to Bubbles. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:18.940 I think he's moved to another facility or something. 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.480 But also interesting, the animals were in pretty 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.889 good shape. We didn't see any that appeared to 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:28.429 be too stressed out. Actually, none were stressed 00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:32.190 out. Some of the enclosures were pretty small. 00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:34.549 Like the elephant was in a pretty small indoor 00:11:34.549 --> 00:11:36.450 enclosure, but it did have an outdoor enclosure 00:11:36.450 --> 00:11:39.649 it could go to during the day. Giraffes were 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:42.450 in a pretty small enclosure, but they, you know, 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:45.090 they appeared in good physical condition. They 00:11:45.090 --> 00:11:47.169 weren't pacing. They weren't doing any behaviors 00:11:47.169 --> 00:11:49.309 that looked like they were under any kind of 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:52.350 mental stress or anything like that. The tigers 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:54.629 were pretty chilled out. I think they would have 00:11:54.629 --> 00:11:56.529 eaten us and killed us if they could they gave 00:11:56.529 --> 00:12:00.049 us some pretty hard looks But yeah, again, they 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:02.330 weren't pacing and they their fur was in good 00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:05.929 condition They had good body weight and body 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:09.230 condition And in the end, you know, I think neil 00:12:09.230 --> 00:12:11.610 did interview the animal caretakers after that 00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:13.529 at some point He didn't do it that day. I don't 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:15.710 know why they weren't there with us during the 00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:18.190 inspection seems like they would have wanted 00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:21.820 to have been and should have been but You know, 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:26.759 we never we never verified any legitimate care 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:28.980 issues related to the endangered species held 00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:31.519 on the Neverland Ranch, which was kind of reassuring. 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:36.879 But it was truly a bizarre experience to be a 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.559 special agent, you know, armed going on Michael 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:44.000 Jackson's Neverland Ranch to inspect his zoo 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.460 and the animals he kept there right after, especially 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:51.580 right after he had been charged with child molestation 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:57.519 and acquitted after a jury trial. So all I remember 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.980 of that experience is we took pretty cool pictures. 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:02.980 I'll post some of those on the website if you're 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:04.820 interested. Go over to the website, take a look. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:08.659 And I had a great time with Neil. Neil always 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:10.759 had a very positive attitude about the work that 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.639 he did. He always did a professional job and 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:17.440 he was a great agent to work with. That's the 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.730 story. That's the story of the Neverland Ranch 00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:23.649 Michael Jackson and his endangered species and 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:26.330 the unsubstantiated complaint that he was mistreating 00:13:26.330 --> 00:13:32.230 them Okay, a short bonus episode for today Listen 00:13:32.230 --> 00:13:35.450 season three is looking good. I am very very 00:13:35.450 --> 00:13:38.129 happy with the guest list We're gonna have about 00:13:38.129 --> 00:13:41.470 16 episodes for you for season three and that's 00:13:41.470 --> 00:13:45.669 a little reward for the delay I Got a little 00:13:45.669 --> 00:13:48.490 sick in february came down with a bad chest cold 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:50.389 that turned into pneumonia So that kind of shut 00:13:50.389 --> 00:13:52.629 down my interview schedule for a while and we 00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:54.950 got a little behind but we're back on track now 00:13:54.950 --> 00:13:58.950 Season's done in the can and premieres june 2nd. 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:00.730 Don't forget to tune in tell your friends and 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:03.750 family and as always Thanks for being a listener. 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:07.789 We'll see you next time Nature's secret service 00:14:07.789 --> 00:14:10.320 is written and produced by me ed newcomer and 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.539 is co -produced by the DHTV team here at California 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:16.279 State University Dominguez Hills. Follow us on 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:19.460 social media and connect with us online at naturessecretservice 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:20.100 .com.