Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
This Woman Bought an Island And It Killed Her Husband - The Jane Gaskin story
Fri, 07 Feb 2025
This is the story of Jayne Gaskin and her partner Phil, and how they bought a small island off the coast of Nicaragua
Chapter 1: What dramatic event happens on the boat?
So it's late night and this boat is in the water near the shore. And this family on the boat is being held captive by a bunch of masked goons with pew-pews. And they're scared, really scared. Now the dad, just thinking on his feet, he spots a gas can. And just when the moment is right, bam, he grabs it and he rips the cap off. And he douches one of the goons with gasoline.
Chapter 2: Who is Jane and what does she decide to do?
And he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a matchbook and he lights a match. And two of the goons go up in flames. So why is this family being held captive? Well, it all starts with this former Playboy model, Jane. And Jane is now a housewife. She lives in England. But honestly, she's miserable there. So one day she gets online and she comes across this website where you can buy an island.
And on the site, she finds this little private island for sale for only one hundred and seventy thousand pounds or about two hundred thousand US dollars. Now the island, it's small, it's off the coast of Nicaragua, hours away from everything. You have to take like two boats to get there. But whatever, Jane is still like, I want to buy this island. And so she does.
Chapter 3: What challenges does Jane face after buying the island?
She takes the money her family has in savings and she buys it. And so soon enough, Jane and her romantic partner, Phil, and her three kids, they all move across the world to this new tropical paradise. Now the island itself, like it's cool, but it only has one shack on it. No running water, no electricity, of course. But this family doesn't care.
Chapter 4: How does the family plan to develop their island?
They are going to rough it because Jane and Phil have come up with this whole plan to turn this place into a scuba diving resort. Sounds great. So bam, they get right to work building their dream. And Phil starts by hiring some local workers to help with construction. And they end up hiring this local dude, Teodoro. Now Teodoro, he's gonna run the construction crew.
Chapter 5: What complications arise with Teodoro?
He's an ex-guerrilla fighter, he's kind of a badass, and the whole family just loves him. In fact, the family loves him so much that eventually Jane starts smashing with him. Now I assume Phil has no idea this is going on. He's too busy hiring the rest of the crew. Now to make it worse, Teodoro, I guess Jane just isn't enough for him.
Because then he starts smashing with one of the cooks Phil hired. And then somehow Jane learns that Teodoro is smashing with the cook and she gets jealous and fires him. And she also bans him from the island. And Teodoro's pissed. Like he leaves and then he comes back a little later and he's demanding his job back and Jane is like, hell no. It's a whole mess.
And I honestly don't know if Phil is mad about the affair. There's no record of his reaction, but I assume he's mad. But Jane, her problems are just beginning. Because local indigenous people are not happy about the family being on the island. They feel like it should be public land. And then local environmentalists, they get mad too because of all the construction work.
Chapter 6: What local conflicts occur regarding the island?
And then one day a bunch of boats approach the island and protesters carrying machetes, they storm the whole place. It is wild. But Jane, she isn't budging. I mean, this is her island. And she is invested, and nothing is going to convince her to leave. Until... One night, the whole family is asleep in the shack. And then suddenly, pew, the generator cuts off.
Chapter 7: What happens when protesters approach the island?
And the family is in complete darkness. And then, boom, the door busts open. And a group of masked goons enter the shack, and they got pew-pews. And the goons, they force the family out. And they start marching them on the beach toward their boat. And they make the family get on it. And they start it up, and they drive away.
And on this ride, they start demanding a million dollars, which neither Jane nor Phil have. I mean, they sunk all their savings into buying this island. But strangely enough, one of the goons, when he talks, his voice sounds familiar. And the family recognizes it. It's Teodoro. But all of them are too afraid to call it out. Like they don't want to get shot.
But Phil, he knows if he doesn't do something soon, this isn't going to end well for them. So he looks around for something to use as a weapon and he spots a gas can and he waits. And when the moment is right, bam, he grabs it and he rips the cap off and he douches one of the dudes with gasoline and he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a matchbook and he lights a match.
And the whole boat goes up in flames, including two of the goons. And Phil yells at his family to jump off the boat, and swoosh, they all do it. And Phil is the last to jump, and his arm also catches fire, but he jumps overboard to put it out. And the whole family makes their way to the shore, and they sprint into the trees. And bang, bang, gunshots follow them as they run away.
And finally, they find a place to hide in some bushes. But one of the goons, he's following them. And he wades through the trees looking around. And suddenly, he finds Phil there, hiding. And the goon looks right at him. And he points his pew-pew at him. And he pulls the trigger. Click, click. He's out of ammo.
And so Phil and the family, they panic and they get up and they run further into the trees. And when they're tired and they can't run anymore, they hide in a nearby swamp and they wait there for hours until morning. And that's when they spot a passing fishing boat and the fisherman gives them a ride to the hospital. Now the family, they report all of this to the local police.
And about a week later, Teodoro and the goons, they get arrested. And police question them, and pretty quickly, a judge lets them go without charge. And the whole thing is declared an employment dispute. I read that the system there is pretty corrupt, so. But meanwhile, back on the island, the family is traumatized and miserable. And they are just ready to leave this place and go back to England.
But Jane, this is her dream. She doesn't want to leave. And at her insistence, they all stay and they all suffer. But pretty quickly, Phil develops a life-threatening respiratory infection, and his health rapidly starts to decline. So he and the kids, they beg Jane to leave the island, but she still refuses.
And eventually, Phil's health gets really bad, and that is when he finally convinces her to let the island go. And they leave, and they move over to Bluefields, Nicaragua to be closer to medical services. But unfortunately, about a month later, due to the respiratory infection, Phil has a massive asthma attack and he doesn't survive.
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