In September 1985, two Muncie, Indiana, teenagers were shot and killed in their car while parked in the popular Westside Park. The murders stunned Muncie families because the victims were well-liked students at Muncie Northside High School. Kimberly Dowell and Ethan Dixon were found late at night by the police officer who was clearing out the park at closing time. Their car was still running, with one window down and the other shattered by gunfire.Join us at the quiet end for The Westside Park Murders. From the very beginning, investigators were inundated with possible suspects, from family members to serial killers. Suggested motives ranged from a random killing, to a family dispute, to a drug deal gone wrong. Although many leads have been investigated over the years, this remains a cold case and an enduring mystery.SourcesMuncie crime: 150 years of murders, mysteries, Star Press, by Douglas Walker, 3/20/2015Probe Centers on Two Cars, Muncie Star, by Diana Newlin, 10/03/1985Sketch of suspect by an uncredited police department sketch artist, Muncie Evening Press, 10/07/1985Star Press articles, by Keith Roysdon & Douglas Walker, 2010-2015The Westside Park Murders: Muncie’s Most Notorious Cold Case, by Keith Roysdon & Douglas Walker, 2021The Westside Park Murders: Muncie’s Most Notorious Cold Case, Virtual Talk with Keith Roysdon, Muncie Public Library, Interview by Sara McKinley, Local History & Genealogy Supervisor, 3/25/2021
When a car bomb kills Daphne Caruana Galizia on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta, the hunt for her killers exposes secrets with consequences that go far beyond its shores. In the aftermath of her death an international team of journalists comes together to continue her work. Along the way they start to uncover clues that might lead to her killers. From Wondery, comes a new story about power, corruption and one woman’s fight for the truth. Hosted by investigative reporter Stephen Grey.Listen to Who Killed Daphne? wondery.fm/TCB_Daphne
Sandra Renee Cantu vanished from her Tracy, California, mobile home park in March of 2009, just weeks after her 8th birthday. It was a Friday afternoon. Sandra left home at around 4 p.m. to play at a friend’s house. She was expected home for dinner, but her mother called the police and reported her missing at 7:53 p.m. Police did not find Sandra that day, but they did locate surveillance camera footage showing the little girl skipping happily toward her home before something caught her eye and she walked off screen. Join us at the quiet end for The Abduction of Sandra Cantu. The FBI became involved in the search for Sandra early on. Their Behavioral Analysis Unit’s profile for Sandra’s abductor pointed to an adult male between 25 and 45 years old, who knew Sandra, lived in the trailer park, and had a history with sexual assault or child pornography. But the profile was based on statistics alone. With no crime scene, investigators had to rely on Sandra’s family and neighbors for clues. And there was one neighbor who caught their attention, a neighbor who did not fit the profile, but who would soon become the primary suspect in Sandra’s disappearance.Sources"Inside Story: Clues to Why Melissa Huckaby Murdered an 8-year-old Girl," People Magazine, by Howard Brewer, 6/27/2010. Ret. 6/12/2022.KTLA News Archives 2009-2010Searching for Sandra by Stacy Dittrich"Sunday School Teacher Charged with Kidnapping, Murder" Los Angeles Times, by Vives, Ruben, & Rong-Gong II. Ret. 6/5/2022"Woman, 28, Jailed in Sandra Cantu Slaying," San Francisco Chronicle, by Kevin Fagan. Ret. 6/8/2022."Woman Accused of Raping, Killing Sandra Cantu May Have Drugged Other Girl and a Man," NYDailyNews.com, 5/22/2009. Ret. 6/8/2022.
On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a volatile relationship with Christian Brando, the troubled son of movie star Marlon Brando.Not since the O.J. Simpson case had the eyes of the nation been so fixated on a homicide. The search for Bonny’s killer took detectives on an eleven-month odyssey across the country and through Hollywood's underbelly of hustlers, drug addicts, and would-be hitmen. It would be the most expensive murder investigation in LAPD history to date.This is the story of Robert and Bonny’s toxic relationship, her shocking murder, and his chaotic trial. Did actor Robert Blake kill his wife? Or was the murder someone else's vendetta?From Wondery, and the team behind the hit series Hollywood & Crime (The Dating Game Killer, The Wonder...
In the spring of 1995, 27-year-old Lynn Turner came into the hospital emergency room in Marietta, Georgia, to have a bump on her head looked at. When her husband Glenn heard where she was going, he came along. Glenn had been suffering from stomach pains with vomiting, severe headaches, nosebleeds, and dizziness for days. Lynn didn’t seem especially concerned about her husband, who she said had a stomach bug. When Glenn was seen by a doctor, he was diagnosed with dehydration and admitted for IV fluids. He was just 31-years old and was expected to perk up quickly. But, by the next afternoon, Glenn Turner was dead.The county medical examiner concluded that Glenn had died of a cardiac arrythmia. Soon after his funeral, his wife Lynn collected about $200,000 in insurance proceeds and death benefits. Then she moved in with her lover, firefighter Randy Thompson. Six years later, Randy died after suffering from a flu-like illness. His death, too, was attributed to cardiac disease.Join us at the quiet end for Widowed by Choice. After Randy Thompson’s death, family and friends became suspicious and spoke with police investigators. Lynn’s history of deception, infidelity, and greed led to further inquiries into both Glenn and Randy’s deaths, finally exposing Lynn Turner as a seductive and cold-blooded killer who put money above the lives of two men she was supposed to love.SourcesBlack Widow by Marion CollinsThe Black Widow Killer by Alanna Nash, RD.com, 5/23/2016Forensic Files, Cold-Hearted, 2007Marietta Daily Journal Archives 2006-2012Snapped: Lynn Turner S6, E6Turner v. State, Supreme Court of Georgia, 2/26/2007Vixen’s Elixir, Final Witness, 7/18/2012
Introducing the true crime podcast Persona: The French Deception— the story of Gilbert Chikli, one of the greatest con artists of all time. What does it feel like to pick up the phone and scam someone out of $50 million? Host and award-winning journalist, Evan Ratliff, investigates how Chikli successfully duped some of the world’s most powerful people into handing over their fortunes. He explores how Chikli evaded the law for years and became a Robin Hood-like hero. More than just a tale of criminal genius, this is a show about the moment we’re living in right now — the golden age of scammers — and the power of seduction. But what happens when the fantasy we’ve been lured into finally crumbles away? For all that and more, follow “Persona: The French Deception” wherever you get your podcasts. Or you can listen early on Amazon Music or early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app:wondery.fm/TCBrew_Persona
1998 was a shocking and disturbing year for the residents of Port Angeles, Washington. First, a three-day old infant died at the hands of beloved pediatrician Dr. Eugene Turner. Then, the wife of ER physician Bruce Rowen was found hacked to death inside of her car. But were these two deaths connected?Join us at the quiet end for A Very Bad Year in Port Angeles. Dr. Eugene Turner was considered saint-like by Port Angeles families. He had delivered at least one-third of the babies born at the Olympic Peninsula Hospital over the past 30-years. He donated to Habitat for Humanity, cut wood for disadvantaged families, and could even be seen picking up trash on the side of Highway 101. Dr. Bruce Rowen was a respected emergency medicine physician with a nice home and a young family. So, what happened in 1998 to turn these two formerly irreproachable men into murder suspects?
No one really knows what happens between two people in a marriage. But after events in the home of couple Mary and Matthew Winkler led to a deadly shooting, everyone had an opinion. Mary and Matthew had married young. Matthew was a preacher for the Church of Christ in a small town in Tennessee. Depending on who you’re talking to, Matthew was either a devoted family man or an abusive deviant and Mary was either a long-suffering victim or a repressed and vindictive wife.Join us at the quiet end for The Wife of a Preacherman. In 2006, Mary Winkler became involved in a financial scam. She wrote bad checks and opened a separate bank account almost certainly without Matthew’s knowledge. Then, just days before Matthew would learn about her banking escapades, he was on their bedroom floor, bleeding to death, while Mary took their three children and left town in the family van. This should be an interesting discussion today because Dick and I have some different takes on what happened and if the punishment fit the crime. SourcesDid Preacher's Wife Get Away with Murder? Mike Celizic, 8/16/2007Feminism and the Disposable Male, Karen Straughan, https://youtu.be/vp8tToFv-bAOprah Interview with Mary Winkler, cnn.com. 9/12/2007, retrieved 4/28/2022 on YouTubeSlain Preacher's Wife Denies Pulling Trigger, CNN.com, 4/19/2007Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder by Ann RuleSnapped: Mary Winkler, S6 E1The Pastor's Wife by Diane FanningThe Preacher's Wife, Dateline NBC, S19 E8
When Jeanne Dominico woke up on the morning of August 6, 2003, she didn’t expect to die that day. She was a hard-working divorced mom of two teenagers, so every day was busy. After working one of her three jobs, Jeanne would go home to fix dinner and clean up the house for her son, Charlie, and her daughter, Nicole. Nothing was more important to Jeanne than her children.For the past three years or so, 43-year-old Jeanne had been in a loving relationship with a co-worker named Chris McGowen. He got along well with Jeanne’s children and they planned a future together as a family. But in the months leading up to August 6, Jeanne had been having trouble with 14-year-old Charlie, who was hanging with a rough crowd, and 16-year-old Nicole, who had become obsessed with a new boyfriend.Join us at the quiet end for First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder. It was Chris McGowen who called the police after finding Jeanne unresponsive in her home. Interviews with Chris and Jeanne’s ex-husband wer...
On a chilly January morning in 2002, 12-year-old Ashley Pond disappeared on her way to her school bus stop in Oregon City, Oregon. Two months after Ashley disappeared, Miranda Gaddis, age 13, also vanished while on her way to the same bus stop. Miranda and Ashley were good friends and they lived in the same apartment complex. They were both friends with Mallori Weaver too, the daughter of local man Ward Weaver III.Join us at the quiet end for On the Way to the Bus Stop. After Miranda’s disappearance, the FBI put together a task force to search for both girls. While some were holding out hope that they had run away and would soon return, law enforcement and family members alike soon believed that the girls had been abducted. Ashley’s mom believed that Ward Weaver was responsible. And she had good reason to believe that. Just five months before her disappearance, Ashley had accused Weaver of molesting her. While the two girls were missing, he dug a hole in his yard and covered it with cement. And, as public opinion and law enforcement turned toward him as the primary suspect, Weaver made plans to move out of state. But it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought it would be to escape his demons and his crimes.