Just The Tip-Sters: True Crime Podcast

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Welcome to 2023! Season 6 and I thought 'why not start off with something that will get you lots of hate mail?' I am hoping believers and non-believers can listen to this episode with an open mind. No religion, no politics. Just the discussion of the crucifixion of Jesus from a forensic standpoint. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Linda Bennett was a resident of Columbus, Ohio. She ended up in a field in Owen County, Kentucky where she was unidentified for 34 years. Othram Labs in Houston, TX gave her back her name. Now we need to find who killed her. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Patrick Mullins story is told beautifully on Unsolved Mysteries if you are a more visual person. A much loved high school librarian married for almost 30 years to his wife, also a librarian and they shared two sons and a quiet, happy life. What happened the day Patrick wanted to get in a little fishing? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old boy think they are in love and another 17 year old boy gets murdered in a particularly awful way, how is love even invoked? Its not. Its a lie. Randal Mercier was a kid. A kid who had a big heart and helped his mother care for his dying sister. He returned home to fall into a monsters trap. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Getting a flyer under your windshield beseeching you to join a group, I.E. cult, is icky. Having a polygamist child molester hold you hostage making "fashion" in his sweat shop is something else. EP 245 of SE5 tells the story of Tony Alamo and his wife Susan. Two awful people who should never have met. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The third in a series of interviews with Nicole DeLaMora, the survivor of a car to car shooting serial killer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We asked for your opinion Tip-Sters on why women are the main consumers to true crime. And boy did you deliver! Thank you for your beautifully soul baring answers some of which we talk about in this episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In part 2 of the interview with Nicole DeLamora hear how she not only survived being shot by a serial killer but thrived in her life. Her survival and recovery are nothing short of a miracle. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It all started with Joshua sent Melissa a meme. And a discussion ensued. Why do YOU think women consume true crime? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Its a rare opportunity to get to speak to the survivor of a serial killer. Nicole Delamora foiled the plans of The Sylmar Serial Killer by surviving. She has not just survived-she has thrived and will continue to do so. Listen to her story here in part one of our interview. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Jarret Kobek wrote a book. He actually wrote TWO books on the Zodiac. And his explosive new information is profiled in the October 2022 issue of Los Angeles Magazine in an article by Aaron Gell. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Have you heard of Juliet Hulme? Probably not. But you may have heard of Anne Perry, true crime fiction writer who was born Juliet Hulme and changed her name to Anne Perry after helping her best friend kill her mother. And we are proud to be in a partnership with Manscaped! Hear Joshua's review and if you have a man in your life who could use some 'scaping, use JUSTTHETIP for 20% off and free worldwide shipping! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Serial killer Henry Louis Wallace killed 11 women from 1990-1994 in the Charlotte, NC area. He was questioned after the first woman was murdered. The victim's family members believe if someone, anyone had put together the connections surrounding him, many if not all of the remaining victims could still be alive. Was it racial bias that kept their murders from being solved or connected until 11 women had been killed? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deputy Jonathan Aujay, K-9 handler for the LA Sheriffs Department was a no non-sense guy. But when he never returned from a run in the Antelope Valley area of LA County he left behind many more questions, theories and conspiracies than anyone could have imagined. What happened to Jonathan Aujay? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Hello Beloveds. Just a short message to explain the delays. We will be back on track SOON. Like NOW. Thank you for your patience. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Tip-Sters have an opportunity to help with this episode. The Attorney General of Texas is asking for our help. 42 years after her parents were murdered and left in a forest in Texas after moving there from Florida, Baby Holly has been found living in Oklahoma. She was adopted after being left at a fire station and thanks to genetic genealogy her family was located and she knows who her biological parents were. Their story is layered and there are definitely people who know what happened and maybe even who is responsible for the murder of her parents. If you have any information about the murders of Harold Dean Clouse and Tina Gail Clouse in late 1980 or early 1981 please contact the Texas Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at [email protected] or at (512) 936-0742 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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The Long Island Serial Killer has preyed on victims for too many decades. Someone probably knows something they may not think is important. IF you know, suspect, think, intuit ANYTHING, please let the task force know. www.gilgonews.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Melissa Lucio's death penalty conviction has been given a stay of execution pending a lower court review. We aren't done yet, though. There are ways we can all help at the end of this episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Update on the Will Cierzan case from 2017 and the indictment of his nephew Daniel Cierzan for his murder. Will's case has been previously covered in Episodes #4, 120, 164 and other murdertizer updates. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Over the course of these first three-and-a-half seasons of this podcast, Melissa has been presented with a wide array of missing persons cases from Tip-Sters from around the world. Melissa has followed up, done her research, and presented many of them as episodes. The inspiration for “Just The Tip-Sters” itself was inspired by Melissa’s deep devotion to solving the 2017 disappearance of Will Cierzan – an ongoing mission that could be culminating soon with the trial of Will’s nephew Daniel. But hovering over every such case are questions – about the nature of the case itself – and how to actually help when help is needed. What makes one missing persons case more compelling or worthy of attention than another? How can one tell if a reported vanishing is evidence of wrongdoing or someone walking away from their life or a hoax? And if one is motivated to help the family and friends of a missing person, how does one do so without getting in the way or actually hindering the investigation? And what, in fact, are one’s motivations to help in the first place? In this episode Melissa touches on all of the above by focusing on three recent missing persons cases – two of which are now closed (with the missing persons in question now known to be alive and well) and one of which is still open (with the missing person still missing and actively being sought)… Dane Elkins, a 23-time world champion professional racquetball player, disappeared in mid-December 2020 after visiting friends in Northern California. His brand-new car – with four flat tires and his wallet and cell phone inside – was found abandoned near a rural exit off Interstate 5 between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. All indications are that the then-21 year-old had become delusional and paranoid for reasons that are still unclear. His family believes he has gone “off the grid” and is slowly working his way up to Oregon – and is seeking help from anyone who thinks they’ve spotted him. John Stivers is the owner of an RV campground and marina in Jamestown, California in tiny Tuolumne County. On August 2, 2021 Stivers left his wife and daughter to run some errands and did not return. His van was found abandoned on a nearby road. Local residents, friends and family rushed to social media to find him – and started a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $20,000 to help the family conduct the search. On September 4, 2021, just over one month since his disappearance, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement that Stivers was located; that he has been removed from the missing person database; that foul play was not indicated; and that all other information will remain confidential. As word has spread, outrage by some of the volunteers who helped search for him has grown – many believing that the entire case was a fraud, and that they are owed payback for the time they devoted in the search. Others – Melissa being one – believe that sometimes people just walk away from their lives – for whatever reason – and that if one volunteers to help find someone before anything else is known, that should be the end of the discussion – that volunteering means letting go of pride or any sense of being “owed.” Ron Brown, a 62 year-old resident of the small mountain community of Sierra Madre in Southern California, is a part-time golf instructor and longtime server at a well-known high end restaurant in next-door Pasadena. He went missing on August 9, 2021 after his car was found – engine running – in the parking lot of a Pasadena fast-food restaurant. Melissa relates her personal investment in getting involved in the search for Brown – the frustration of a day in the field – and the joy she felt when she learned, just after arriving home from the field trip, that Brown had been found alive and well. All three of these cases demonstrate the varying but equally important considerations that must be taken when getting involved in missing persons cases. Melissa doesn’t hold back on her opinions – and she also offers kudos to those who are helping find the missing – and some helpful hints from her own experience on how to be prepared when going into the field to help search. During her search for Ron Brown, Melissa discovered the AWARE Foundation – a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit made up completely of volunteers dedicated to locating those who have gone missing, wherever their help is needed. AWARE can be contacted by phone at (540) 357-5135. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode Melissa tackles the complex moral, ethical and practical aspects of sentencing reform – in particular the parole of those who have committed heinous murders – and the answers aren’t easy to come by. The focus begins with the murder of three innocent workers in Northern Kentucky in January 1980, when then 24 year-old Paul Kordenbrock and his accomplice Michael Kruse entered a Western Auto store in the town of Florence, stole a cache of firearms, then Kordenbrock shot Stanley Allen and store owner William Thompson in their heads while they laid on the floor. Allen died and Allen survived. Just 15 hours prior, in neighboring Kenton County, Kordenbrock (who was also accompanied by Kruse) shot and killed two service station workers, Rick Allen Jones and Timothy Mains. While the fate of Kruse is foggy, Kordenbrock - the trigger man in both crimes – was sentenced to death in the Western Auto murder – then later had that sentence reduced to life in prison after he admitted to the service station killings. Today at age 66, Kordenbrock claims to be a changed man, having found religion and new meaning in his life – and is working as a “prison advocate” for death row inmates and the elimination of capital punishment. Whether this “new persona” is really just a ploy to get released or not, no one can ever know…which brings Melissa to discuss the August 27, 2021 ruling of a California parole board to recommend parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of New York Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. At age 77, after 53 years in a correctional facility, Sirhan convinced the board that he is fully repentant and that he will never again be the man he was in his youth. What makes the Sirhan parole recommendation so interesting is that two of the late senator’s nine surviving children, Robert, Jr. and Douglas, actively petitioned for the release of their father’s killer, expressing not only forgiveness – but love – toward the assassin. The murders committed by Kordenbrock and Sirhan, and the subsequent handling of their sentences, sparks some fascinating reflections from Melissa (and Producer Mark) in this week’s compelling episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning of May 13, 2013, 33 year-old Bardstown Kentucky police officer Jason Ellis, just weeks away from his seventh anniversary on the job, was heading home after a late night of arrests and subsequent paperwork. Ellis took Exit 34 off the Bluegrass Parkway, headed for his home in nearby Bloomfield, when he encountered tree limbs blocking the exit ramp. He turned his car to block the ramp to prevent other drivers from hitting the debris, and suddenly, with an armful of the limbs in his arms, he was shot four times – in the side, neck, arm and head – with what authorities later determined to be 12-gauge shotgun rounds. He died at the scene. Ellis was probably the most beloved officer in the Bardstown PD – he left behind a wife and two young sons. Primarily assigned to the K-9 unit, Ellis’ K-9 partner – a German Shepard named Figo – was not with him as he drove home that night. It was a photograph of Figo putting his paw on his partner’s casket at Jason Ellis’ funeral that captured the attention of the nation and the world. But neither Ellis’ family or Figo (who died in 2017) – or anyone – has yet to see justice. For the snipers who clearly staged this assassination have never been caught. Join Melissa as she goes through all the facts and theories surrounding this mysterious unsolved killing – including rumors and suspicions that Ellis’ murder was connected to five other murders in the Bardstown area in the years before and after his death – including an alleged connection to something called the “Cornbread Mafia” – we kid you not. Listen and find out if you might be able to provide a clue that leads to the answer in this tragic murder. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode brings the first of what will be two updates on the ever-growingly infamous Randy Sellers case out of Kenton County Kentucky. It was at the County Fair in 1980 when 17 year-old Randy Sellers, after some rowdy behavior, was ostensibly driven home by Kenton County Police, who claimed they dropped Sellers off close to his home – only to have him go missing…forever. Melissa and the podcast have developed a keen interest in this case , and Melissa’s saga with the case, involving everything from misinformation, a possibly corrupt police agency and even a phone call with the FBI. If you haven’t been following along, listen to Episodes 69, 121 and 151 (in order). You’ll be drawn in too. One of the most fascinating characters Melissa has met in her investigation of the Sellers case is the owner of a farm that was once part of a larger farm where rumors have had it for years that Randy Sellers’ body is buried. That concerned citizen – who we’re calling “Jeremy” in this episode, has spent innumerable hours and a lot of his own money searching for the facts – and has found more information than 41 years’ worth of investigators. Jeremy recently introduced Melissa to Fred Scroggins, a retired Kentucky State Police detective who’s spent more than 20 years – both on and off the job – trying to solve the Sellers disappearance. Jeremy and Detective Scrogins were going to do a joint interview for this episode – but as you’ll hear, Fred Scroggins had an unexpected medical issue (wait until you hear about THAT), but is recovering and will join Melissa for Part 2 of this update very soon. For now, take a listen as Melissa and Jeremy go over what’s known, what’s not known, and what the likeliest scenario is surrounding the vanishing of Randy Sellers. PLUS – Melissa has a few choice words for police who hand off personal information without asking first. A most enjoyable episode, if we do say so ourselves! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the morning of December 1, 1994, Melissa Witt (her friends and family called her “Missy”) had a small tiff with her mom over money. The 19 year-old college student, who was studying to become a dental hygienist at a local college, was out of cash, and she wouldn’t get paid at her part-time job until the next day. When she asked her mom for a loan, mom – in a lesson to her daughter about money management – told her no. And young Missy was not happy. She left to start her day in a huff. When Missy got home later in the day, she found a conciliatory note from her mom – with an invitation to meet at a local bowling alley later in the evening – where mom would buy dinner. And Melissa Witt drove to the bowling alley. But she never made it out of the parking lot. From there the details get skimpy. All we know for certain is that Melissa Witt’s keys were found in the parking lot, as were two pools of blood in two parking spaces, with a blood trail leading from one parking space to the other. And that her decomposing body was found a month later, 60 miles away from the bowling alley – strangled to death by a murderer who has, as of now, some 27 years later, never been identified. That’s where this episode’s guest comes in – and a very special person she is. LaDonna Humphrey is a dedicated wife and mother of seven children (five of whom are adopted). She is Executive Director of Oasis of Northwest Arkansas, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and a safe space for women in recovery and their kids. And those two things right there would be more than enough to handle for anyone. But not for LaDonna. Back in 2015, while searching for a case to be the focus of a documentary on missing women, LaDonna came across Melissa Witt’s story – and solving the mystery of the young woman’s murder became more than an interest – it became a mission. The documentary – “Uneven Ground: The Melissa Witt Story” (which LaDonna is Executive Producing) – is nearing completion and will be making the rounds on the film festival circuit this coming year. LaDonna has created a website and a Facebook page dedicated to the Witt investigation. And she has written a book about the case, “The Girl I Never Knew,” which will publish in the spring of 2022. Join host Melissa Morgan for an intensive, and intense, interview with LaDonna Humphrey – we guarantee that you will be moved and inspired. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.