This is not a well-written article and is in a style that is almost impossible to scan. tl;dr: 1. Richard, the perpetual fuck-up and fame whore. 2. The balloo

This is not a well-written article and is in a style that is almost impossible to scan. tl;dr: 1. Richard, the perpetual fuck-up and fame whore. 2. The balloon-boy saga. 3. The balloon-boy aftermath, and legal consequences. 4. Richard whines that his felony conviction prevented him from striking it rich on Shark Tank and tries to turn his kids into a heavy metal version of Hanson. Fails, of course. 5. Later, the author gets access to the wife's case file through her lawyer and finds contemporaneous notes she wrote detailing the planning of the balloon-boy hoax. 6. When confronted with this evidence, Richard needs a few days to process. 7. When Richard finally contacts back, the wife all of a sudden breaks down and confesses the notes were a lie made after the fact to protect the family - Richard is simultaneously shocked at the betrayal and urging her to speak up so the reporter can hear her. 8. Reporter concludes Richard is still full of shit and coaxed the wife into claiming the notes aren't valid.