IN THIS EPISODE: Every TRUE CRIME family needs a leader. The Halls had JOHN HALL, a veritable MASTER CRIMINAL. When Donna's mom PHYLLIS hooked up with John Hall, The Halls went from being petty criminals to the criminal big time. John Hall would plunge Donna's family into two of Philadelphia's most notorious UNSOLVED MURDERS. But, first, John would change Phyllis from being just a really terrible mom into a flat out criminal one. Or, as the newspapers called her "The HOME ALONE MOM From Buck's County".

SHOW NOTES

Before my brother Herb met John Hall in prison and introduced him to my mom who, in turn, quickly became infatuated with him, the Hall family were lower tier petty criminals, always in and out of trouble. But, John Hall turned my mom from merely a terrible mother into a criminal one.

You have to remember - in my family, child neglect and child abuse were normalized. Abandonment happened on a regular basis. So, when Phyllis chose to live with John in the city (his legal issues made it better for him there), and my younger sister ended up living alone in the suburbs for six months, the rest of us kids (some were young adults by then) didn't see it as unusual.

To his absolute credit, my brother Herb reported this abandonment to the authorities. But, the reality at the time was, he didn't do it because of my sister. He did it to get back at John Hall - his former prison buddy who'd become his rival for my mom's attention.

Phyllis and John knowing Herb had done this would cause them to declare war on Herb. That's a mother declaring war on her son because he did the right thing (albeit for the wrong reason). That was how it rolled at the Halls.

Our lower tier crime family was moving up in the world!

Donna Hall

The Hall Closet is written by Donna Hall and A L Katz. Costard & Touchstone Productions produced it. Donna Hall and A L Katz are the executive producers.

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

The Hall Closet is not intended for sensitive audiences. Domestic and sexual abuse, violence, child endangerment, adultery, explicit language.

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