Natural Selection: Scott v. Wild Bill

Journalist Nick Foster, whose book “The Jolly Roger Social Club” is the ultimate account of William Dathan Holbert’s reign of terror in Bocas del Toro, Panama. 

In this exclusive interview, Foster speaks openly about how he discovered this story, and how he hopes his reporting helps to honor the memories of Holbert’s victims. 

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our host Candice DeLong joined “Natural Selection: Scott Versus Wild Bill” producers, Lisa Ammerman and Chris Goldberg, as well as Scott McAda himself for a fascinating and very candid panel discussion at this year’s CrimeCon in Nashville. 

This was the first time Scott McAda ever spoke publicly about what happened to him and exactly how he was able to survive Wild Bill. 

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott McAda’s frantic effort to save himself from decades in a Panamanian prison – based solely on the accusations of avowed serial killer William “Wild Bill” Holbert – seems like a success.

Scott stumbles on a piece of evidence that should finally vindicate him in his exhausting struggle with Wild Bill. Is Scott finally going to be exonerated? Will Scott’s version of this saga finally be believed, or will the con man turned serial killer have the last word?

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wealthy retiree Scott McAda is feeling desperate after his courtroom showdown with serial killer William “Wild Bill” Holbert goes horribly awry. In Scott’s mind, he has only two options left: petition for a rare second courtroom faceoff, or flee Panama for the States with his wife aboard their boat.

Both options are extremely risky and neither definitively proves his innocence. Can Scott finally win a legal round in his epic battle with Wild Bill? Is it too late for Scott to find the one bit of irrefutable evidence that can give him back his life? 

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stakes are high for Scott McAda as he faces off against William “Wild Bill” Holbert in a Panamanian courtroom. The wealthy retiree is confident that his meticulous preparation will bring him justice and reveal he is telling the truth, not the avowed murderer in shackles sitting across the table.

But, once again, Scott underestimates his nemesis – as the serial killer lobs a new accusation at him. The latest claim from Wild Bill leaves Scott reeling, with his entire defense seemingly shattered, Scott fears he is out of options in the quest to clear his name. Scott remains under country arrest in Panama, but his big boat is quite capable of getting the McAda's back to the States, should they choose to flee.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the body of another victim lays in a shallow grave in Bocas del Toro, serial killers William “Wild Bill” Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese flee Panama. A manhunt crisscrosses Central America, lasting weeks while the expat community in Bocas reels from the news that their friendly neighborhood barkeep was actually a cold-blooded murderer.

Despite a Hollywood movie-like capture that lands him behind bars, Wild Bill remains confident he can outsmart the Panamanian legal system. In part, Bill’s plan involves forcing Scott McAda, the affable retiree who took pleasure in publicly trolling him, into a face-off in court. For Scott, the prospect of decades in a Panamanian prison now hinges on Wild Bill’s testimony – the words of a certified psychopath.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not long after American fugitive William “Wild Bill” Holbert lands in Central America, he sets up shop as a “psychiatrist” catering to fellow expats, a ruse which helps him progress from con man to serial killer.

As a fake therapist he hones two useful skills – building trust and feigning empathy – that he uses to his advantage while targeting people for their homes. When Wild Bill befriends a lonely, recent divorcée at his dockside bar in Bocas del Toro, he realizes too late that he gravely miscalculates his victim.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One Spring evening in 2010, Scott McAda is waiting on the docks of Bocas del Toro, Panama for a friend to whisk him across the lagoon when along comes a boat with one occupant - William “Wild Bill” Holbert.

Wild Bill insists on taking Scott to his destination, leaving the two men alone in the remote, open waters. Scott has no clue that months earlier a fellow expat found himself in a similar scenario and was never heard from again.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William “Wild Bill” Holbert and his companion Laura Michelle Reese fled Costa Rica for Panama and are now running a dockside bar close to their new home called The Jolly Roger Social Club.

The hangout is popular with expats, like wealthy American retiree Scott McAda, who grow accustomed to Wild Bill slinging drinks in a Viking helmet and telling outrageous stories. What no one realizes is that Wild Bill is methodically gathering information on his party-loving patrons, details that he will use to great effect as he and Laura amp up their life of crime.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American fugitives and prolific con artists William “Wild Bill” Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese murder a man in Costa Rica, steal his suitcase full of money and dispose of his body in the yard of their rental home. Then the killers escape over the border into Panama to find their next mark.

When they come upon a family selling their property in the tropical paradise of Bocas del Toro, Bill shoots dead the father, mother and son – and moves into their home. No one seems to notice the family is missing because Bocas is an expat community where people tend to come and go.

It is also a place where backstories are rarely questioned, but wealthy retiree Scott McAda does not follow that unwritten code of conduct. He asks questions of Wild Bill, never once thinking it could lead to the years-long, legal nightmare that Scott cannot seem to shake.

For more:

For ad sales inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices