Crime&Stuff

Our very special guest, sister Liz, joins us to discuss some unsolved Oregon campsite cases, including the 1974 murders of the Cowden family, as well as the 1977 attack, by pickup truck and hatchet, on two young women at Cline Falls. She also gives the NNW treatment to the Discovery Plus documentary “Relentless.” Rebecca also NNW’s the Liane Moriarty book “Truly Madly Guilty.” Updates include Luc Tieman’s latest court appearances (Episode 7 and multiple updates), as well as discussion of Liz and Maureen’s trip to some New Hampshire sites of previous episodes that provided some insight to the Louise Chaput murder and Maura Murray’s disappearance. Enjoy!

Dawn Leighton loved her dogs, her new house, and was kind and friendly – a loving sister, daughter and friend. Unfortunately she was also another Maine victim of a senseless murder by a man who thought he was entitled to her. We also do an update on Illinois’ new law that prohibits cops from lying to people under the age of 18 during an interrogation. And Maureen NNWs the heck out of a couple of Audible true crime podcasts.

Laura Howard had gone through a messy divorce in her home state of Massachusetts, and thought Florida would be a great place to make a new start. Once in Fort Myers, she became known for her big heart, kindness and generosity. But people will always take advantage, won’t they? On May 3, 2013, police found her dead in her bathtub, and her lodger, Simon Storm, was nowhere to be found. Eight years later, police are still looking for Simon, who’s actually Robert Kuehn, a Florida “chamelon con man” with a history of preying on women. And, in our NNW rating, Rebecca discusses Tana French’s novel “In the Woods,” audio book version.

We’re taking a break for a few weeks, but we want to make sure you have something to entertain you while we’re not around, so we have recommendations for our current top podcasts, TV shows and books. And we also give the NNW treatment to the Netflix doc Sophie. Enjoy!

Frank Sandford was just another baseball-playing kid from a big rural Maine family until the spirit hit him when he was 16. Before Jonestown, before Scientology, Sandford’s self-styled religion gained followers across the globe, as well as at his massive compound in Durham, Maine. Many ultimately followed him right to their graves. Rebecca also updates the honey-bee murder, Maureen has some rants and she also gives the NNW treatment to the Netflix miniseries “Harlan Coben’s The Stranger.”

When Gerald Goodale was convicted of killing Geraldine Finn in 1989 in Waterville, Maine, there was something else hanging over his head. Finally, in 2021, it came back to bite him. Also, we give the HBO series “Mare of Easttown” the NNW treatment!

The brutal attack by a stranger that Sherry York suffered one night in a Portland, Maine, parking lot was compounded by the narrative that followed: her attacker was a family man and firefighter, the story went. She was a sex worker and drug user. But what was the real story? Rebecca also updates the Angel Torres disappearance.

We celebrate 100 episodes by counting down our favorite songs about crime. What, you were expecting a party? Well, you’ve got one!

Every murderer makes mistakes, and it only takes a couple to mess the whole thing up. Inventor Todd Howley thought he was pretty smart, but he made more than a couple when he killed Paul Maasland, a nice guy whose biggest mistake was trusting Howley with his money. Also, a special dual NNW rating of the Netlfix docuseries “This is a Robbery.” Enjoy!

When a friend asked Charlie Howard why he didn’t protect himself from harassment by acting “a little less gay,” he said told the friend he wasn’t going to be a participant in his own oppression. A few days later, three teenage boys threw Howard, 23, to his death off a Bangor, Maine, bridge. The 1984 killing of a man, just because he was gay, still resonates today. Also, a Maine mini on the death of Rhonda Pattelena, a domestic violence attack that happened in front of dozens of witnesses on York Beach, Maine; updates on Ghislaine Maxwell, and, wait for it… the never-going-away Episode 29, Wicked Bad Chemistry.

Sarah Everard was walking home from a friend’s house in south London on the night of March 3. She never got there. What happened next reopened wounds festering in the UK, and around the world, since the Yorkshire Ripper case more than 40 years before. And it once again raises the question, when is male violence against women going to become a men problem instead of a women problem? Also, Maureen talks about the latest Acadia National Park fatal hiking trip and Rebecca gives an update on Maine wife-killer Noah Gaston, as well as an NNW rating to the HBO docuseries “Murder in Middle Beach”

For years, Shaun Harrison, a minister and youth counselor was the go-to guy for the Boston press when they needed quotes on gang violence, youth with guns and more. That is, until, he was arrested for shooting a teenager. Maureen also does an NNW rating for the Netflix doc “Made you Look.”

Johnetta Carr was 16 and going places, but the Louisville, Kentucky, police department had other plans for her. Looking to hang a murder charge on someone, they picked her and her friends, and through a series of false statements, doctored reports, intimidation and more, they “made their case.” Now, 15 years and a wrongful conviction later, she’s beginning to find some justice. UPDATES: Maureen updates the Alaska murder charges against Steven Downs (Episode 67), and Rebecca updates the rape charges against Ivan Keith (Episode 92). REVIEWS: Rebecca also gives an NNW rating to the Netflix series “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel,” and we revisit “The Lady and the Dale.”

When Sonny Grotton returned to his Belfast, Maine, home on a cold Friday night in December after working all week in Rhode Island, someone shot him dead in his dooryard. His crime would go unsolved for 17 years, until someone spoke. Three were arrested, only one was found guilty. Rebecca and Maureen also discuss the falacious origins of “Stockholm Syndrome,” the podcasts “Dead Eyes” and “Bed of Lies,” and Maureen gives an NNW rating to the HBO docuseries “The Lady and the Dale.” Fun!

Kathy Frost was lonely and looking for someone to share her life with when she answered the classified ad from a man looking for a longterm relationship. Things happened fast, but it turns out the relationship wasn’t that long-term after all… And she wasn’t the first wife of Dennis Larson to meet an “accidental death.” Also, Rebecca NNW rates the podcast Bed of Lies; and the sisters talk about the HBO doc Baby God. Lots of fun to be had!

Two totally different men in different decades think they can escape Massachusetts rape charges by taking off for Maine. Maybe it takes one decade, or maybe it takes three, but they’re gonna get ya. Also, Maureen NNW rates the podcast “Dead Eyes.”

After seven years DNA from a man who tried to assault a 10-year-old girl matches that found on Jodi Parrack. And it’s not Ray McCann’s, who police have been after for seven years. So that’s the end of it, right? Wrong. Pard 2 of this troubling story. Also, an update on Episode 77 that looks at the police raid on Anjanette Young, and our millionth update to Episode 29, the Boston drug lab scandal. To top it off, a due NNW rating of Netflix’s four-part series “The Ripper.”  

Police said only a monster could have killed 11-year-old Jodi Parrack, and they were going to find him. In a relentless investigation that spanned seven years, they kept telling the public the tips were piling up, the DNA would reveal the killer, new technology was going to make happen. But when they made an arrest, it wasn’t because of tips, DNA or new technology, but a very very old method… Also, Rebecca gives an NNW rating to the audio version of “Dear Child.”

Paul Dwyer, of Paris, Maine, was 18 when he was found asleep in a car with Maine plates that didn’t belong to him, in Arlington, N.J., on an October day in 1937. Dwyer wasn’t alone in the car — there were also the murdered bodies of Dr. James Littlefield and his wife, Lydia. What followed was a twisted tale that took decades to resolve. Maureen also does her NNW rating on the HBO Max documentary “The Mystery of DB Cooper.” Happy fourth anniversary of this show! We appreciate all the listeners who’ve stuck with us for this long, as well as the new ones who’ve found us along the way.

The sordid tale of sex, lies, arson, toplessness and more in central Maine continues with the trial. We also update Maura Murray (Episode 8) and the NNW rating is a duo stab at the doc “An American Murder: The Family Next Door.”

When a topless coffee shop — yup, exactly what it sounds like — opened in Vassalboro, Maine, in February 2009, it caused international titters. But four months later, when it burned down, things got serious. We also update Martha Moxley (Episode 17), Breonna Taylor (Episode 77), Ghislaine Maxwell (Episode 78), and, of course, the Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal (Episode 29). Rebecca also rates the documentary “Class Action Park.”

Helen Jewett was smart, attractive, savvy and ambitious. Unfortunately, it was the 1830s and, born Dorcas Doyon and raised as an orphan servant girl in Augusta, Maine, she didn’t have a lot of options. And the lack of options all came crashing down when she was murdered in her bed in New York City in 1836. While it happened nearly two centuries ago, as the story plays out, it could’ve easily been yesterday. We also have the latest on the Breonna Taylor case, including what the grand jury heard. And Maureen goes off the NNW charts on a documentary that… just didn’t live up to her standards.

We’ve wicked had it with people looking at some accomplished white guy and saying “a guy like that wouldn’t kill his wife (or family).” No, this isn’t about Jeffrey MacDonald, though Mo does give an impassioned defense of Joe McGinnis and “Fatal Vision,” and then, yes, we look at another case where a guy “who couldn’t have done something like that,” roared right through a lot of red flags, and another beautiful and loving woman is dead. We have another quick Breonna Taylor update (Episode 77), and we also update the Aela Mansmann “school bullying” case (Episode 71). In our NNW ratings, Rebecca takes on “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” the documentary (though she hasn’t finished watching it…)

It’s easy to blame the internet for teenager Bianca Devins’ murder in Utica, N.Y. in 2019. After all, like most kids her age, she was all over it — on social media, on gaming sites. Meeting people, many of them predatory. But what it really comes down to is good old-fashioned toxic masculinity, misogyny and people around her and her killer not seeing the huge red flags hitting them in the face. We also update Episode 77 with the Breonna Taylor settlement, and Mo takes on the documentary “Outcry” in our NNW ratings.

On December 19, 1959, the Walker family — dad Cliff, mom Christine, 4-year-old Jimmy and 2-year-old Debbie — were found murdered in their remote Osprey, Florida, house. Some 61 years later, no one has been charged. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some very interesting suspects… Also, we update the Breonna Taylor case (Episode 77) and Rebecca does an NNW rated of the book she read for her Episode 82 topic. Taking away a point…

Mark Hoffman seemed like a nice guy, and as a collector of, and dealer in, historic documents, particularly those relating to the LDS church, he really had a knack for finding just the right pieces. Then the bombings started… We also look at domestic violence stats and myths in a Maine-ish mini, and Mo shreds, um reviews, “Blood Runs Cold.”

That’s right, listeners! Time for one of our classic summer update episodes. We catch you up on the Yoga Twins, our Episode 1 stars, all the way through Ghislaine Maxwell, with lots in between including some impassioned rants, as always. And check out our new logo!

Susan Taraskiewicz was working at her dream job, one she had to fight to get, as ramp crew supervisor at Boston’s Logan Airport. But there were other people who weren’t so happy about it. Then one night, she left to get sandwiches for the crew and never came back. Her beaten and stabbed body was found the next morning in the trunk of her car. That was 1992 and now, 28 years later, her killer still hasn’t been brought to justice. And in our Negative Nellies reviews, Rebecca takes on “I Know This Much is True,” and Maureen tries to grapple with why she’s hate-reading a mystery series.

When Steven Fortin attacked Maine State Trooper Vicki Gardner on a lonely stretch of Interstate 95, he couldn’t have known that it would lead him being convicted for the murder of Melissa Padilla, in New Jersey. Also, the new “Unsolved Mysteries.” How does it stack up to the old one? We give it the NNW rating treatment.

Maybe the world is shocked that socialite predator fugitive Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire, but we’re not. Not even a little bit. The Granite State has a long history of real-life fugitives heading thinking they can hide there. So while the world says, “Why New Hampshire?” we say, “How coul dit not have been?” We also update Noah Gaston’s prison sentence and have the latest on Breonna Taylor. And Rebecca reviews a show that Maureen would rather stick white-hot pokers through her eyes than watch. Fun!

From Breonna Taylor to Atatiana Jefferson to Eleanor Bumpurs and more, the number of Black women killed by police is mind-blowing, particularly those killed in their own homes. It’s all for no good reason. We try to at least take a look at the tip of the iceburg and shine a ittle light on it. Our Negative Nellie Reviews this epiosde continue the conversation, about race, white privilege and what really happens when the police burst into someone’s home, with the documentaries “The Rachel Divide,” and “Peace Officer.”

It was the 1950s, Norman Horton was gay, couldn’t tell anyone, he lived in small-town upstate New York, wasn’t doing well his first year at college and his father wouldn’t get off his back. So there was only one thing he could do about it… Also, we update the case of Nancy Crampton Brophy (Episode 55, you remember, she wrote a blog post about how to murder your husband, and a few years later, her husband ends up murdered). The Negative Nellies Watching review “Trial by Media” and “Obsessed With Abducted in Plain Sight.”

Louise Chaput planned to spend a November long weekend hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. She’d barely gotten out of her car when she was dead, brutally murdered in the woods off a lonely trail. Nearly two decades later, the crime is still unsolved. We also update Jans Soering (belatedly), from Episode 48; Dan Gellers, from Episode 41; and the Negative Nellies rate “How to Fix a Drug Scandal,” which was also the topic of our most. updated. episode. ever. Episode 29 (wicked bad chemistry!)

No one in their Maine town was very fond of Jack, but they liked his wife, Jackie, who owned a popular waterfront restaurant in the beautiful coastal town. Then Jack was killed. And Jackie did it… We also give a brief update to the case of Nancy Crampton Brophy [Episode 55] and inflict our NNW rating on the book “If You Tell,”

Our special guest Dr. Elizabeth Milliken (aka sister Liz) explores one of Oregon’s enduring unsolved crimes. Sourcing and other information will be available at crimeandstuffonline.com as of Feb. 4.

On Nov. 28, 1942, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston killed 492 people. Those deaths were preventable. You’d think people would learn, right? But flash forward to Warwick, R.I., February 2003…

For our third anniversary episode we dip into the Maine well and come up with … well, you can probably guess. Can you believe it’s been three years?  

Shele Danishefsky was fed up with her unemployed (except for those professional backgammon tournaments), abusive husband. Unfortunately, two days before she was going to make sure he didn’t get access to her $5 million in assets in their divorce, she had an accident in the bathtub… Funny how many women with bad husbands that happens to.

It could probably only happen in Maine: a couple beekeepers, a couple lobstermen, a family feud, a $6,000 load of honey, and someone ends up dead. Was Leon Kelley’s murder in self defense? We discuss.

It’s a little scary, isn’t it, how many guys would’ve gotten way with how many murders if DNA testing hadn’t come along. Roy Melanson is one of them. Also, on our Negative Nellies Watching ratings, we take a big step back and say “Whoa, we were wrong!” I know!

Updates, we have updates. Wondering about Todd Koehlhepp, Ayla, murders on the Appalachian Trail, Maine’s domestic violence murders, bad bad Uber drivers, little Frankie the dog, the romance writer turned murder suspect, and more? We’ve got it all for you right here.

Constance Fisher, a young Waterville, Maine, mother, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after she killed her three children in 1954. Eventually she was well enough to go home to her husband, Carl, where they started a new family…

Helen Bailey was a successful author, but suffering from the sudden death of her husband. Then Ian Stewart came along, and thing started looking up. Until Helen, and her little dog Boris, disappeared…

In Part II of our loosely related celebrity slaying series, we look at the life and death of Bonny Lee Bakley, whose final of her many marriages, to actor Robert Blake, turned out to be the one that killed her.  

Our latest episode is Part 1 of a two-part look at two loosely connected celebrity homicides. In this one, we discuss the shooting death of Dag Drollet by Christian Brando, Marlon Brando’s son. It’s a sad story of celebrity privilege, some really bad handling of mental health issues and more. Sorry we’re so late with this by the way — the good news is it’s mostly because we’re trying out new software that makes us sound better. Or rather, the sound quality is better. We’re not altering our voices. We want to thank our Patreon supporters who have helped us make the leap from free software to something more professional. Enjoy.

Janet Baxter was killed on a cold November night in Maine in 1976 during a quick trip to the A&P to get some cold medicine. When her murder was finally solved 22 years later, the man who did it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. It turns out Baxter was just one of five people he was convicted of or suspected of killing. Serial killer? Family annihilator? Or just a hot-head? We discuss.  

Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of American Atheists, pissed a lot of people off. And when she, her son John and her grandaughter Robin disappeared from San Antonio, Texas, in 1995, no one made a big effort to find them. When small-time crook Danny Frye vanished around the same time, no one bothered to look for him, either. Maybe someone should’ve.  

John Ackroyd (Oregonlive.com photo) Our special Oregon correspondent, our sister Liz, joins us once again, this time to talk about Oregon serial killer John Ackroyd, who fatally stalked Route 20 for decades. The topic is inspired by The Oregonian’s comprehensive coverage of the case, The Ghosts of Highway 20.  

When Stephanie Ginn Gebo was found dead on her bedroom floor by her 13-year-old daughter in June 2015, her former boyfriend Robert Burton was already in the Maine woods, where he stayed, eluding police for 68 days.[Photo is Robert Burton caught on surveillance camera in July 2015 during his 68 days on the run, courtesy of Maine State Police]

F-sake Rudolph, you freak, get the f@#%ing nose away from me. In our annual holiday tradition, we’re merging our podcasts Groovy Tube and Crime & Stuff, this year in an interactive Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-watching extravaganza. Ok, it’s not an extravaganza, but break out the DVD and watch with us anyway.