Wed, April 02, 2025

FEELS LIKE BILLY CHERMIRMIR WAS THE BIGGEST COWARD

How do you come from Africa, become a health care worker in the US and then resort to killing over 20 elderly women for their jewelry? People Magazine dubbed Billy Chermirmir's tactics from The 'Serial Killers Playbook." He got away with so much for so long preying on the most vulnerable population: Elderly women. But he messed up and left ONE victim alive. Hear the story here...

Sat, March 22, 2025

FEELS LIKE K9 MOZART IS AN EARTH ANGEL

Sgt Christian's K9 partner Mozart has been the literal hero of many cases. He is a specially trained KP officer who can sniff out specific odors emitted from digital and electronic items, SIM cards, flash drives, hard drives, smart phones, smart watches, lap tops, iPads, GPS trackers, and more. Sgt Christian and Mozart work together to find evidence on pedophiles, crimes against children and more that are often stored on offenders digital storage. Who knew? Not me. Hear their story here and I bet you will fall in love as fast as I did. If you work with an agency who needs this (and what agency doesn't?) OR if you would like to know more about the program or how to become a handlers, PLEASE Feel free to contact Sgt. Drew Christian #3305, Special Federal Deputy Marshal, United States Secret Service Task Force, Digitial Forensic Examiner/Electronic Storage Detection K9 Handler/Boone County Sheriff's Electronic Crimes Unit 859-334-2175 dchristian@boonecountyky.org

Tue, March 11, 2025

FEELS LIKE JAMES "JIMMY" TIDWELL RAN INTO THE WORST GUY: ISRAEL KEYES

When hard working, loyal, salt of the Earth guy like Jimmy Tidwell goes missing in February of 2012 after finishing his regular shift at work, no one can imagine what could've happened. After friends and family members were suspected but no evidence of involvement was found, some questions might be closer to being answered. While random abductions and murders are relatively rare, Jimmy could have crossed paths with the devil - Israel Keyes. A late 2024 discovery in an area close to where Jimmy was last seen could have been used in his disappearance and likely murder. Could Jimmy be another victim of Israel Keyes? If you have any information on the disappearance of Jimmy Tidwell from Mount Enterprise Texas, please contact the Rusk County Sheriff's Department at 903-657-3581 or anonymously at the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 903-657-TIPS (8477)  

Thu, March 06, 2025

FEELS LIKE JUDY SMITH WAS A LONG WAY FROM HOME

April of 1997 finds accomplished, loving wife and mother Judy Smith accompanying her attorney husband Jeffrey Smith from their home in Boston to Philadelphia for a health care industry legal conference. April 10th was going to be sight seeing day for Judy while Jeffrey was attending the conference. She left the upscale hotel where the conference was being held in the morning and never returned that day or any other. Almost 6 months to the day that Judy left Philadelphia hunters found her body 600 miles away in. Pisgah National Park Forest in North Carolina, an area that Judy or anyone who knew her had no known connection. She was found wearing clothing that was not familiar to her family and her wedding ring, cash and and unfamiliar pair of designer sunglasses were found in a shallow grave where she had been placed under a tree. Judy was stabbed in the back several times until the blade reached her spine. Who could have down this to Judy and why? More questions than answers. IF you know anything about what happened to Judy Smith, her disappearance from Philadelphia and her murder in North Carolina, please contact the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office at 828-250-6670

Thu, February 27, 2025

FEELS LIKE INDIANA WANTS HIM-FOR 22 YEARS: THE MURDER OF ROBIN BAXTER

A small town in South Eastern Indiana, New Albany has gone through some very interesting changes. An area where more wealthy residents lived in large brick homes over looking the Ohio River when it was settled, it was always in the shadow of the larger metropolis of Louisville Kentucky just across a bridge. It had fallen on hard times and lost some of its lustre but has recently found a renaissance and has become a hip area with gentrified homes and highly touted gastro pubs. In 1990 New Albany was in flux but no one would ever imagine a lovely young bride, Robin Baxter would end up floating in the Ohio River four days after she was reported missing. Why did it take 22 years and two generations of detectives to solve her case? Hear Robin's story here.   Magic Mind keeps me on the best path. If you think you might need a little help along the way go to magicmind.com  and in the promo code area use TIPSIS20 for 20% off.

Wed, February 19, 2025

FEELS LIKE TAMMY LYNN LEPPERT HAD A BRIGHT FUTURE

With newspaper headlines like "Brevard's Answer to Shirley Temple," and "Cocoa Beach Girl Star of Tomorrow," you would think Florida native Tammy Lynn Leppert had the world on a string. Performing since she was two years old, Tammy Lynn's career in entertainment was a family affair. Her mother Linda was an actor's agent and owned a talent agency, her older sister would help with costumes and makeup and even her younger brother would watch her performances and applaud. Tammy Lynn had roles in "Little Darlings," and was sought after for voice over work as well as modeling, being on the cover of Cover Girl Magazine. Everyone thought she was on her way with a small role in "Scarface," shooting in Miami, not that far from her home. But she left a few days into the shoot, returned home and went though several months of anxiety, panic and becoming an introvert. She asked a friend whom she dated in the past to come and get her for a drive. Keith Roberts did pick her up on July 6, 1983 and states that Tammy Lynn got out of his car around 5 miles from her home. She has never been heard from or seen again. Where is Tammy Lynn Leppert and what happened? If you have any information about what happened to Tammy Lynn Leppert PLEASE contact the Cocoa Beach PD at 321-868-3251 MAGIC MIND for your Mental Wealth! magicmind.com Promo Code TIPSIS20 FOR 20% OFF    

Tue, February 11, 2025

FEELS LIKE AT LEAST 2 PEOPLE HAVE HELPED SOLVE THEIR OWN MURDERS: MELANIE URIBE AND TERESITA BASA

Whether you believe in messages from beyond or not, these two cases are compelling to consider. Two women who were never psychics or mediums in their lives were for some reason given information that helped solve two other women's murders. However the information came to them I am grateful. Listen to Melanie and Teresita's stories here.      Magic Mind is a wonderful tool in your tool belt for 2025! magicmind.com  CODE: TIPSIS20 for 20%off the 24 HR bundle! Edward Kent-Attorney at Law- Family Law and Estate Planning Southern CA 661-362-0800 edkentlaw@att.net

Fri, January 31, 2025

FEELS LIKE SOMEONE(S) KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO ERICA THOMPSON AND BRIAN SANDERSON

Beloved mother, sister, friend, co-worker doesn't show up for work on September 26, 2019. She is seen on an ATM camera on September 25th at 4:30PM making a deposit after work near her home. She was a contentious Controller at a large company in Chicago and would always notify her employer if she were not coming in to work. Brian Sanderson was a native of Vermont. He left home and did not keep in contact with family. Remains were found of a male between 40-60 on November 30, 2003. It look most of two decades to determine those remains of a male who had died from multiple stab wounds was Brian A Sanderson, 54 at tbe time of his death. Our beloved friends from Othram Labs, Drs David and Kristin Mittelman found the answer Brian's identity. Now law enforcement are asking for the publics help. If you know anything about what happened to Erica Thompson please contact the Brookfield IL PD at 708-485-8131 or FBI's VICAP 800-634-4097 If you know anything about what could have happened to Brian Sanderson please contact Knoxville PD Major Crimes Unit at 865- 215-4010 Magicmind.com  Use Promo Code: TIPSISJAN for 45% OFF!!!!

Wed, January 22, 2025

FEELS LIKE ARELIE GARCIA AND KAYELEIGH GAMMILL NEED OUR HELP

When two beautiful young women from Salinas, CA go missing within a few months of each other in 2022 their cases could appear to be related. The same detectives from the Salinas PD are investigating both cases. Kayeleigh was found a few weeks after she went missing. Arelie is still out there. The detectives are not completely dismissing a connection but for now it doesn't appear they went missing for the same reason. IF you know anything about either of these two young girls please contact the Salinas PD 831-758-7393,  Monterey County Sheriff's Office - Detective Arras Wilson 831-759-7203 Sources: Dateline: Missing in America, KION-Channel 46, KSBW, Monterey Weekly MAGIC MIND PROMO CODE: TIPSISJAN for a spectacular 45% off!!! New year! New YOU!!!! wwww.magicmind.com/TIPSISJAN or the anonymous Tip-Line 831-775-4222

Sun, January 12, 2025

FEELS LIKE JERRY ANNAN WAS AMBUSHED

WHO would want to harm a beloved husband, father, son, and community activist who gave so much of him self to the military and veteran organizations? A man who performed any fun raising concert to support the troops? Jerry Annan was a Southern California musician and Karaoke host who was treasured by everyone he met. And he never met a stranger. November 20, 1993 was like many other days with Jerry hosting Karaoke at the Hideaway Club in Lakewood, CA. After the club closed Jerry was loading his equipment into his pickup truck with a camper shell over the truck bed. The female bartender even helped him take some of the equipment to his vehicle. An ear witness heard some arguing on the street before a shot. 4 white or light skinned Hispanic men shot Jerry for his equipment using two of their own vehicles while 2 of the perpetrators drove away in Jerry's truck. It was abandoned in Long Beach the following day. All of this including his life for some sound equipment?!?!?! If you know anything about what happened to Jerry Annan please contact Detective Shaun McCarthy at the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500

Thu, December 19, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE DID NOT EARN TERRY MCCOY'S TRUST

Terry McCoy decided he no longer wanted to live alone after some health issues made him feel more vulnerable. No one had any idea he would not make it until the day he was going to move in with his best friend of 4 decades. Who would want to harm a man who was kind and quiet, friendly to everyone and helped out his family to the best of his ability? One person for sure. Was it a family member? Was it the Pastor that Terry had testified against in court? Or was it a random stranger? Hear Terry's story here. Anyone who has information about what happened to Terry McCoy is encouraged to call the BCA tip line at 1-877-996-6222 or email bca.coldcase@state.mn.us   Check out magicmind.com  use the Promo Code: TIPSIS20 for 20% off and Free Shipping!

Fri, December 13, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE WILLIAM LESTER SUFF HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH TOO MUCH FOR TOO LONG

Whether he is known as the Lake Elsinore Killer or The Riverside Prostitute Killer, William Lester Suff skated under the radar for too long. How does a man who was convicted in Texas for beating to death his own two month old daughter get a job with Riverside County. Suff was given the job to put together the furniture for the office of the task fors and the LA County Sheriff is asking for anyones help who may know of a missing woman who may have been misidentified as a Jane Doe in Riverside or LA County. She could be another victim of Suff. Please contact the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or the Riverside County Sheriffs office at 951-955-2400

Tue, November 19, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE MICHAEL KELLY DESERVES JUSTICE

18 year old Michael Kelly is walking home with a friend. On the precipice of his adult life beginning Michael is figuring things out. A dark sedan puills along side him and rolls the window down asking the question "Do you bang?" Michael answers honestly "No." and then shots fing out. Micheal dives for cover but is shot what will turn out to be fatally. Micheal was a beautiful soul who deserves so much more than this. IF you know ANYTHING about who did this to Michael no matter HOW small you think it is Please call Det. Eloy Navarro at (818) 374-9550. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers  at (800) 222-8477.   *Visit Magic Mind for the Elixir you did not know you needed! Promo Code: TIPSIS20 for 20% Off and Free Shipping! magicmind.com  

Wed, November 13, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE THE TRUTH ABOUT JIM IS HARD TO HEAR

Was Northern CA resident Jim Mordecai the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murderer from the 1970's? Many members of his family think so. A documentary series streaming on MAX came out earlier this year produced and presented by members of Jim's family and has gotten some people thinking and finding more stories that may or may not be linked...If you know anything about the Hitchhiker Murders or Jim Moredcai's involvement please contact the Santa Rosa Police Department at 707-543-3600.   www.magicmind.com   Use the Promo Code: TIPSIS20 for 20% off and Free Delivery! https://medium.com/@josephnbest/the-santa-rosa-hitchhiker-murders-the-truth-about-santa-rosa-5b07d71b5777

Tue, October 29, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE MELISSA "MISSY TAYLOR" ELLISON KNEW HER KILLER

A beautiful young wife and mother celebrates her last Christmas in 1987 without knowing it will be the last. Her 13 month old daughter is home with her, she talks to her mother on the phone, says she has a headache and will turn in soon. Several hours later, a roommate hears her daughter crying and gets up to find that Missy has been beaten to death in her own bedroom with very few clues left behind. And the clues that are there were mishandled with the entire investigation being botched from the beginning. Project Cold Case of Jacksonville, Florida has done GREAT work and research with Missy's case.   If YOU know anything about what happened to Missy Taylor Ellison in December of 1987 PLEASE contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a $3,000 reward, call First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.   www.projectcoldcase.org   GIve yourself your own Magic back with a subscription to Magic Mind Mental Performance Elixir www.magicmind.com Use the Promo Code TIPSIS20 for 20% off and free shipping!

Tue, October 22, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE MICHELLE VANEK IS BEING FOUND

What happened when a fit, young mother of four kids, a marathon runner no less, goes on her first 14 thousand foot peak hike with a very experienced friend? We may never know for sure but we are closer than ever to finding out. Michelle was exhausted and out of water. She told her friend she was going to stop and wait for him to go on and get her on his way back down. 400 yards away from the peak she rested on a rock insisting her companion go on and finish the hike, his 39th out of 53 of Colorados 14K feet peaks. He spent a few minutes at the top confirmed by time stamped pictures and other witnesses. When he heads back down, Michelle is gone. Recently, a team of all female search and rescue hikers have found more items of Michelles. Here the story here. Go to Magic Mind Dot Com to get the most fabulous drink elixir, the energy we all need for the day! PROMO CODE: TIPSIS20 for 20% off and FREE Shipping! www.magicmind.com

Sun, October 20, 2024

MURDERTIZER SOUNDS LIKE DEBBIE KNOWS DOGS

Tip-Ster Debbie is starting her own podcast in 2025. She knows dogs. Boy does she know dogs. Listen when it comes out and find out what you might think you know and what you might need to learn. 

Fri, October 11, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE EDWARD SURRATT IS THE WORST OF THE WORST

Edward Surratt was born into an upper income family and had all of the advantages so many others did not. After his entrepreneur father passes away he takes over the successful company and goes bankrupt within two years. He wanders around and finally settles on long haul trucking as a career. He has been indicted on or confessed to up to 20 murders between 1977 and 1978 but it is suspected he is responsible for many more. His trucking career gave him the transportation to go town to town, break into private homes, kill the men immediately and terrorize, torture and eventually murder the women. Some he left in their homes. Some he took to secluded areas and buried them. Two women he has confessed to murdering he assures detectives they are "unrecoverable.' Thank God this monster has spent and will spend the rest of his miserable life in prison. This is the LAST of the series on truck driving serial killers. For the AMAZING MAGIC MIND www.magicmind.com PROMO CODE:TIPSIS20 for 20% off and free delivery!

Wed, October 02, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE BRUCE MENDENHALL LEFT A TRAIL OF BLOOD

Married family man Bruce Mendenhall eventually fell into the long haul trucking industry. Unsuspecting women had no idea the plain looking monster would take their lives in such awful ways. His eventual capture and arrest by Pat Postiglione, Wunderkind Homicide and Cold Case detective from the Nashville PD is more interesting than the terrible things he did to women while trying to blame innocent men. Hear the tenacity of a team who was not going to let him continue on their watch

Wed, September 18, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE KEITH JESPERSON DIDN'T KNOW WHAT A HAPPY FACE WAS

Being bullied as young person by school mates is never going to be enough of a reason to kill 8 women. Convicted of three murders Keith Jesperson is suspected of killing at least 5 more women. Thinking about tying victims to the back of your semi truck with a chain and dragging them behind you to scrape off their faces and finger prints as evidence is a level of evil thats hard to imagine. This is some of the stories of the Happy Face Killer.

Thu, September 12, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ROBERT BEN RHOADS GIVES TRUCKERS THE WORST NAME

Finally arrested in 1990 after an Arizona state trooper approached Robert Ben Rhoads 18 wheel truck on the side of the highway, the Trooper Mike Miller had no idea he was stopping one of the worst serial killers of the 20th Century. With a mobile torture and murder chamber that he also used to make a living, Rhoads was able to traverse the country appearing to be one of the hard working drivers who supply us with all that we need. His route was different. He may have been arrested for three murders but he is suspected in the deaths of upwards of 50 women.

S7 E337 · Thu, September 12, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ROBERT BEN RHOADS GIVES TRUCKERS THE WORST NAME

Finally arrested in 1990 after an Arizona state trooper approached Robert Ben Rhoads 18 wheel truck on the side of the highway, the Trooper Mike Miller had no idea he was stopping one of the worst serial killers of the 20th Century. With a mobile torture and murder chamber that he also used to make a living, Rhoads was able to traverse the country appearing to be one of the hard working drivers who supply us with all that we need. His route was different. He may have been arrested for three murders but he is suspected in the deaths of upwards of 50 women.

Fri, September 06, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE FRANK FIGLIUZZI HAS THE NUMBER OF SERIAL KILLER TRUCKERS

A task force was formed in the mid 2000's to study highway deaths due to murder. It was found like quite a few of the deaths were murders and that they had signatures that could have related them. Most long haul truckers are hard working, conscientious humans who keep us in food, clothing and so many other things our society would grind to halt without. But a small number of bad people have used this career as a way to hide their terrible deeds. The Highway Serial Killer initiative has been profiled in a new book: Long Haul-Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by former Asst Director of Counterintelligence for the FBI. Hear another part of this multi-part series on the murders on our highways.

Fri, August 30, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE WARREN ALEXANDER DID NOT GET CAUGHT SOON ENOUGH

Warren Alexander grew up in Southern California and who knows when he started his actual killing spree but he left three victim that we know of for now. These victims were linked to him via DNA all of these years later. But he had many years as a long distance truck driver to be the monster that he is. He may be old now and it may be justice delayed but he was extridited to California from prison on the East Coast for committing another murder. Law enforcement is asking for help. We all know they could be so many more victims in his cross country wake.  If you know of any victims who may be unidentified in your area, who were found murdered and left on the side of the road, please contact The Ventura County District Attorney at 805-654-2380.   Our Sponsor: Magic Mind go to magicmind.com and use the promo code: TIPSTERS20 for 20% and free shipping on your first order.

Thu, August 22, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE DAISY ZICK FOUGHT LIKE HELL

When a tough,vibrant wife  and mother is attacked  in her own home and she  fights like she  has never  before and still she  loses the battle everyone  wants to know  who could  have done  this to her.

Sun, August 18, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE DR. HAING S. NGOR'S LIFE WAS SO FULL AND TOO SHORT

When you are born in Cambodia and work hard to get through medical school to be an OB/GYN you cannot imagine the horrors of a despotic dictator taking over your country and putting all intellectuals in work or prison camps. Haing Ngor pretended to be a cab driver to stay alive and had to stand by and not reveal his medical skill just to stay alive. In the face of torture and loss of most of his family he stayed alive and made it to a Red Cross outpost by crawling through thorns and eating scorpions to stay alive. Dr. Ngor could not have imagined he would one day be holding the cinematic worlds most prized possession in his hand: the Oscar for his exemplary work in the film "The Killing Fields," which is based on the life of a journalist/guide who helped American journalists get out alive. And turns out to be Dr. Ngor's story too. 

Thu, August 08, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE LORI LYNN'S MURDER IS SOLVED...

When a vibrant 60 year old very active retiree goes to pick up her mother for an appointment and is never seen alive again by her loved ones we are thankful for security cameras on her mothers property. But they do not show everything. Or do they? Lori's daughter is a vocal force of nature and advocate for her mothers case which is still listed as an open homicide. We need to change that. People know. If they can get past their fear Lori's family may have some semblance of justice. IF YOU know anything about Lori's case PLEASE contact The Liberty Township Police at (330) 539-9830 And I urger you to look at her family and friends website as this has the most complete information as well as maps and videos of the day Lori was murdered.  www.whokilledlorilynn.com  

Thu, August 01, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE DAVID CLEMISHAW AND DONNA MCCRACKEN WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN

David Clemishaw, 28 and Donna McCracken 22, of Ashville, NC were hard working, fun loving dreamers who were in love with each other and their lives. What happened on the way to the "Unto These Hills" Festival over the Fourth of July weekend in 1978? After Donna's mother reported her and David missing their bodies were found in a drainage ditch on July 11th in Greenville, SC. David's car was found abandoned, stuck in sand next to a creek with the windows open and a lot of rain had come through. It was vandalized and the battery had been removed. There are some intriguing clues left behind, like the type of ligatures used to bind them as well as blindfold and gag them. A unique type of shirt was torn and used for these purposes. Someone or someones DEFINITELY knows something and even all of these years later there has to be someone remaining who has said something or wants/needs to say something. Even with the challenge of time investigators are still looking for answers and hope to educate the community and keep the word out there on this case. IF you or anyone you know has information on the murders of David Clemishaw and Donna McCracken in 1978 PLEASE contact Lt Ryan Flood or Deputy Jeremey Holt from the Greenville County Sheriff's Department at 864-23-CRIME 

Wed, July 24, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE MURDERS DON'T OFTEN REOFFEND BUT NEED TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE: ED KEMPER FOR INSTANCE

Edmund Kemper needs to be denied parole forever. And thank goodness he was again recently. He is a uniquely terrible offender. Research shows the number of reoffenders in the violent crime area was surprisingly low. Join the conversation here.

Wed, July 17, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE NO ONE NEEDS FRIENDS LIKE THIS: JIMMY HOFFA DISAPPEARS

When Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa headed to a "meeting" in July of 1975 with two leaders of the local underworld he had no idea the betrayal he probably encountered. While this is the 49th year of his disappearance the most likely scenario is that his best friend ended his life in some misguided decision of loyalty. Frank Sheeran's death bed confession in his biography "I Hear You Paint Houses," was startling and is the mostly likely scenario. The biography was the source material for Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman." Hear the story in this weeks episode.

Thu, July 11, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE THREE MEN EVAPORATED FROM FLANNAN ISLE

1900 Scotland saw three responsible, hard working men hand picked for their strength and explempory records as the caretakers of the Flannan Isle lighthouse. It was a very important stop between many ports but definitely between the east coast of the US and Scotland. When a ships captain sounded the horn, flashed a lantern and attempted to locate the caretakers when the lighthouse had gone dark, he found an eerie scene. The story of three lost souls here. 

Thu, June 27, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE LACHLAN JONES' DEATH WAS A TRAGEDY EITHER WAY

Did 3 year old Lachlan Jones die at the hands of others in January of 2019 or was it a tragic accident? Coroners (multiple) have ruled it an accident but others including Paul Jones, Lachlan's father disagrees. 

Thu, June 20, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE RUSSELL WILLIAMS IS THE DEFINITION OF "MONSTER"

Bonus · Mon, June 17, 2024

BIRTHDAY MESSAGE

Tue, June 11, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE BRANSON PERRY WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN

April 11, 2001, 20 year old Branson Perry disappeared from his back yard - literally. Skidmore, MO has a strange history with disappearances and the most bizarre murders, some solved and one famous one that was witnessed by most of the small town and yet... no one "saw' a thing. Branson's case was not like that at all. A sweet, young man goes missing and is never heard from again? Even though both of Branson's parents have passed away there are many friends and loved ones who will not give up until Branson is home. As recently as two weeks ago with resources from the FBI the sheriffs department conducted a search on an area that had been searched in 2009 because of community tips If you have any information on what happened to Branson Perry please contact the Nodaway County Sheriff's Department at 660-582-7451

Mon, June 03, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE WE ARE CLOSER TO ANSWERS BUT NEED MORE HELP: BILL AND PEGGY STEPHENSON

In what world would two kind, generous, loving 74 year olds be murdered in their home in particularly brutal ways? What on Earth could be the motive for something so atrocious? On 5/29/2011 Bill and Peggy Stephenson were taken from their family and all of the good works they did together in their lifetime. We know that more than one person knows. And the Boone County Sheriff's Department is still looking for help with those answers. IF you know ANYTHING about this barbaric crime please contact The BCSD at (859) 334-8496 or email: Stephensontip@boonecountyky.org   Consider giving yourself the gift of calm, even keeled magic in your day with www.magicmind.com Promo Code: tipsters20  

Wed, May 22, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE MORGAN HARRINGTON AND HANNAH GRAHAM WOULD NOT LET JESSE MATTHEW RUN

There are stories of famous people working on behalf of victims who were fans or friends. But James Hetfield and Metallica went after the predator of Morgan Harrington and other women, with their teeth bared. Morgan and Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia student went missing and their cases were linked by the horror of Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr.  Morgan, Hannah, Metallica and a Tip-Ster from Texas helped Law Enforcement find and arrest this monster who should have never been allowed on the street after numerous assaults in the past. Hear their stories here.

Wed, May 15, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ROBERT EUGENE BRASHERS DID EVERYONE A FAVOR

Wed, May 08, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE LIARS EVENTUALLY GET CAUGHT: JUSTICE DELAYED FOR SHEILA AND KATE LYON

Wed, May 01, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE JOANN MATOUK MAY HAVE SLIPPED...OR DID SHE?

January of 2010 JoAnn Matouk Romain had a lot on her mind. She was going through a divorce, there were family squabbles and hard feelings. She stopped by her church, St. Clare for a short prayer service which was hoped would bring her peace. Her SUV was found in the church parking lot with the keys in it, her purse and ID were there but JoAnn was gone. There was one set of foot prints found leading from the church parking lot across the street and stopping at Lake Clare. The lake feeds into The Detroit River and JoAnn's body was recovered there 70 days after she disappeared, cause of death "dry drowning." What happened that night to JoAnn?   IF you have any information on JoAnn's case please contact the Grosse Pointe Farms PD at 313-885-2100

Wed, April 24, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE THE BOHEMIAN GROVE IS THE WEIRDEST SUMMER CAMP EVER

Wed, April 17, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ROBERT ZARINSKY REALLY WAS THE WORST

Thu, April 11, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE CARRIE CULBERSON THOUGHT SHE COULD LOVE EVEN HIM

When we are young we sometimes believe our love can change or save someone. That very rarely happens. This is one of the more heart breaking cases I have heard. The most dangerous time for victims of domestic violence are when they make a decision to leave the abuser. It feels like this is what may have happened. The layers of this case with the strange interacations of multiple murders is just one part of the heart break. Hear Carrie's story here. Host-Melissa Morgan Co-Host - Joshua Bevan Editor - Matthew Kelly

Thu, April 04, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE 5 SWEET MEN GOT LOST AND TROUBLE FOUND THEM: THE YUBA CITY 5

Wed, March 27, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE BRYAN NISENFELD HAD A COMPLICATED YOUNG LIFE

Did a young man walk into the ocean because he was having some difficulties in his life? Did someone else have a hand in his disappearance? Finding only a small part of him is devastating to his family. And there have to be better answers out there for them. Bryan's story is so layered. Hear it this weeks episode. 

Fri, March 22, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE DEBORAH POE DID NOT WALK AWAY

When a beautiful, ambitious young woman  disappears from her overnight second full time job its not because she walked away from her life. She had everything to live for and many people who loved her so much they would take turns coming into the Circle K where she worked overnights just to make sure she was alright. Hear Debbie's story. IF you know anything about Debbie's disappearance please contact the Orlando PD at 321-235-5300

Thu, March 14, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE TAYLOR KRAMER IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

I always thought In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was kind of a heavy metal joke. I had no idea that Iron Butterfly were so influential in the rock world and so many artists credit them with giving them inspiration. I also had no idea that Taylor Kramer, the bassist was a high school drop out who went on to be an engineer for the Departmet of Defense and was an originator of facial recognition technology (IN THE 1990's!) to help find missing children and adults. Hear his very twisty story here. 

Wed, March 06, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE THE BUFFALO WAS CAUGHT- OSCAR ACOSTA AND HUNTER THOMPSON

Wed, February 28, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE JUSTICE DELAYED FOR IRENE GARZA

Tue, February 20, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT: ALABAMA BOTCHED EXECUTIONS

I do not have the answer. I feel like those much smarter than me do not either. But botched executions should not happen. Using nitrogen hypoxia might be more humane than a botched lethal injection but how do we know? One thing I do know is that the listeners to this podcast are some of the most brilliant and compassionate souls. I am open to hearing your thoughts, pro or con.

Wed, February 14, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE BIGFOOT IS NOT TO BLAME: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THERESA BIER, AMBER AIAZ AND MELISSA FU

Wed, February 07, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE THE 1989 GRANT COUNTY JOHN DOE RAN INTO THE WRONG PEOPLE

Wed, January 31, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE SHE FOUND HIM: HOW PHILLIPA FOUND RICHARD III

Can one woman who is determined to find the Lost King actually achieve this?!?! You bet she can. Phillipa Langley did have some help. Some. But she is a force of nature and she alone set in motion a group, a village of researchers, anthropologists, genetic genealogists, experts in many fields to dig up a parking lot and lo and behold, 500 hundred years later, Richard WAS there. The film "The Lost King," is her story. AND Richard's story. 

Tue, January 23, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ADA BETH KAPLAN SURVIVED A LOT BUT NOT THIS

Wed, January 17, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE TODD MATTHEWS REALLY DID CHANGE THE WORLD - REPLAY OF EP 126

Tue, January 09, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE ROBERTA "BOBBIE" MILLER AND SPORT DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS

54 year old Roberta "Bobbie" Miller  of Gilford, NH was trying to settle into her new home with her dog Sport. She had only been in her house for a few days after a contentious divorce that took over 3 years to settle. Strange circumstances happened in her realm, like the lake house her husband got in the divorce burned to the ground a few days before she and her dog Sport were murdered inside her new home. Hear her story. If you or anyone you might know has ANY idea who did this please contact the New Hampshire State Police. They are asking for our help. The Headquarters number is (603) 223-4381

Wed, January 03, 2024

SOUNDS LIKE GWENN MARIE STORY AND CYNTHIA (CINDY) JANE ANDERSON DESERVE ANSWERS

ANYONE with information about Gwenn Marie Story, or the two males she traveled to Las Vegas with is urged to contact the Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com . You can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555, or online at www.crimestoppersofnv.com . (The sketch done by Carl Kopelman shows the shirt and jewelry worn by Gwenn.) ANYONE with information on the disappearance of Cynthia Jane Anderson please contact Toledo Police Department at (419) 245-3340.

Wed, December 27, 2023

TASTES LIKE HUGO SELENSKI HAS ODD GARDENING TENDENCIES

Most High School predictions aren't precursors for how our lives will go. But the students of Sioux City High School voting Hugo Selenski "Most Likely to be in Detention For Life," seems pretty accurate. A career criminal who escaped a maximum security area of a prison, stole large amounts from mulitple other criminals and had several bodies buried in his backyard, it looks like he will not be outside of prison walls for the foreseeable future if ever. One of the bodies in his yard is still unidentified but we know that several agencies are working on this now and hopefully the last person found will be known soon. 

Thu, December 21, 2023

TASTES LIKE EPISODE 300 WITH UPDATES ON TOM STARKEL AND HERSCHEL CHANDLER

S6 E299 · Fri, December 15, 2023

TASTES LIKE WHY WAS PATRICK WEBER KILLED?

Patrick Weber, very loved son, father, husband, friend was killed while transporting cannabis in Northern California. Was it a botched robbery? Was it a road rage incident? Was it a contract killing? We know MORE THAN ONE PERSON KNOWS. If YOU know anything about what happened in February of 2019 on Highway 20 in Northern CA please contact the CHP Ukiah Dispatch at 707-467-4000.

Wed, December 06, 2023

TASTES LIKE WHY ON EARTH HAS IT BEEN 25 YEARS AND SUZANNE JOVIN'S CASE IS STILL UNSOLVED?

Many podcasts and documentaries have been created around Suzanne's case. Its almost unbelievable that her case is STILL UNSOLVED 25 years later. Her story isn't unusual but it is unique. Murdered in an odd way on a street in an upscale neighborhood surrounding Yale University where she was a senior. How does something like this remain open? IF you know anything please contact the Connecticut Attorney General at 866-623-8058 or jovin.case.ct.gov

Wed, November 29, 2023

TASTES LIKE THE GUSTAFSON FAMILY WAS ANNIHILATED BY DANIEL LAPLANTE

Who thinks they will come home from work and take their shoes off to relax only to find a teenage nightmare living in your walls who rapes and kills you (a pregnant mother) and kills your two children for your husband to find when he comes home? I know Priscillia Gustafson never expected this.

Tue, November 21, 2023

TASTES LIKE JOSEPH GATTO WAS NOT FINISHED

Joseph Anthony Gatto, a 78-year-old was shot and killed Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 in his home in the Silver Lake are of Los Angeles. A visionary, an artist, a teacher who was beloved by thousands of students, other artists and collectors of his many mediums, who would want or feel they would have to shoot Joe in the gut and watch him bleed out?!? IF you know anything no matter HOW small you think it might be please contact the LAPD Homicide Special Section, Robbery-Homicide Division at (213) 486-6890 or Los Angeles Police Dept.’s 24-hour toll-free hotline at (877) LAPD 247 (877-527-3247). Those who would like to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. To send text tips, text the word TIPLA, a space and then the message to CRIMES (274637). Or even us at the Tip-Ster Hotline at 832-847-7837.

Tue, November 14, 2023

TASTES LIKE THIS JANE DOE WAS LOVED AND DELPHI TRIAL UPDATE

Found in 2018 buried in a very shallow grave wrapped in cloth with a rose on her chest, someone loved this woman. Perhaps they were afraid to call police since she was found with drugs in her system. Or maybe they could not afford a funeral. But for sure she was loved. SOMEONE has to know this woman. SOMEONE must recognize her clothing, her jewelry, the new 3-D model of her features. Its a joint effort with the Hamilton County Coroner, the BCI of Ohio, Cincinnati Police and other agencies trying to identify her.  The second part of the episode is the odd updates on the Delphi IN trial of accused murderer Richard Allen.

Wed, November 08, 2023

TASTES LIKE BAD SANTA CAME TO TOWN

Adolph Laudenberg picked up some useful skills as a young man. He could whittle and helped support his family making well respected and in demand walking sticks. He also obsessed over his two step sons spouses and confessed to both of them his 'Four Sins,' earning him the nickname The Santa Strangler. Hear this monster's story in this weeks episode. 

Tue, October 31, 2023

TASTES LIKE IS NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S CASE REALLY CLOSED?

Even though there was a "confession" proffered by an inveterate liar, Joran Van Der Sloot, I am not sure I will ever believe him. He has told so many lies about what happened that night. This explanation seems like it could be what happened but I will never trust him. If it brings some peace to her parents and loved ones I guess that is the best we can ask for. But its never going to be enough. 

Thu, October 26, 2023

TASTES LIKE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO WHITNEY COPLEY

Beautiful Whitney Copley was 24 when she did not return from staying overnight with some 'friends.' Telling her sister she would return the next day and then going missing for 14 months before her body was found was not what was supposed to happen. What DID happen to this lovely young mother of two and why won't someone come forward with something...anything? If you know anything about what happened to Whitney in Russellville Kentucky please contact the Kentucky State Police Post 15 at 270-384-4769 or KSP HQ at 502-782-1800. 

Tue, October 17, 2023

TASTES LIKE TREVOR BALDWIN HAS A GREAT TEAM BUT STILL NEEDS OUR HELP

September 2014, Chesapeake VA PD responded to a single car accident. It took a minute to figure out that 20 year old Trevor Baldwin had not run up onto the curb and hit a tree. He had been shot and the car rolled to its inevitable stop. The City of Chesapeake has a website with ALL cold cases listed. They do it right when it comes to asking for the publics help. Trevor's parents Melinda and Dan work tirelessly to find out who did this to their wonderful son and why. If YOU have any information on Trevor's case there is a $10,000.00 reward PLEASE contact the tip line at 1-888-562-5887, thats 1-888-LOCK U UP...OR at P3TIPS on the mobile app. 

Wed, October 11, 2023

TASTES LIKE DIA ABRAMS HAD 99 PROBLEMS BUT DISAPPEARING ON HER OWN WAS NOT ONE

Sun, October 08, 2023

MURDERTIZER - CHAD O'MELIA NEEDS OUR HELP

Chad O'Melia was murdered by Bryn Spejcher that is not in dispute. What is definitely in dispute is the reason why Ventura County DA Erik Nasarenko lowered the original charge of murder filed by former DA Greg Totten. Lowering the charge to involuntary manslaughter and having Spejcher plead not guilty is the latest insult.  Her jury trial begins October 23rd, 2023. Chad's family is asking anyone who would like to get involved to email or call DA Nasarenko at 805-654-2501 or erik.nasarenko@ventura.org You do NOT have to be a resident of Ventura County or even California. 

Tue, October 03, 2023

TASTES LIKE LESLEY SPARROW WAS TREATED LIKE REFUSE

A British ex-pat moves to the US with a husband in the military. Their marriage ends but she pulls herself up by her boot straps and becomes a very ambitious and successful HR exectuive at a well respected company. Lesley Sparrow was a 35 year old woman living in Louisville, Kentucky who works hard and plays hard. Why does she end up in the trunk of her own car, shot in the head 6 time, beaten with a tire iron up to 15 times, eventually buried in a Potters Field in Northern Kentucky?  Her actual killer MAY be deceased. But we all know SOMEONE else knows what happened and why. IF you have any information on the 1979 homicide of Lesley Sparrow please contact the Boone County Sheriff's Office at 859-334-2175.

Tue, September 26, 2023

TASTES LIKE PERMON GILBERT WAS AT THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME

Perm (shortened version of his name) Gilbert was the go-to guy when you had a GE appliance that was giving you trouble. He was employed full time during the week with Sears/GE to repair appliances through their repair service. But the weekends were his to take on side jobs. He was well liked and well   known. So why in the spring of 1982 would someone break his nose, shoot him twice and leave his unclothed body in a ditch in rural Ohio? Hear his story here.  This case was covered twice on Unsolved Mysteries. Once the original telling of the story and later as an update. IF you know ANYTHING about this case and I KNOW there are still people around who do, P L E A S E contact Detective Michael Robinson of the Clermont County Sheriff's office at 513-732-7500. 

Tue, September 19, 2023

TASTES LIKE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY ROULETTE: THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF SHIRLEY CARTER

June 15, 2015, Jason Carter reported finding his mother deceased from two gun shot wounds to the back, lying on her own kitchen floor. His father Bill Carter is sure Jason killed his own mother. Here is her story and their legal infighting afterwards. IF you have any information on Shirley's case and we know that there are people who know, PLEASE contact the Marion County Sheriff's Office at 641-828-2220

Tue, September 12, 2023

TASTES LIKE ITS TIME FOR SOME UPDATES

Herschel Chandler, Jenny Sue Iles and The BTK monster all had updates this week. 

Tue, September 05, 2023

TASTES LIKE CATHY SPOSITO WAS NOT BRYAN BENNETT'S ONLY VICTIM

Its hard to imagine a high school junior kills a woman who is on a hike while camping with her boyfriend. Bryan Bennett was 16 years old when he killed so very brutally, Cathy Sposito, a 23 year old college student. Thumb Butte Trail in Yavapai County, AZ would never be the same. And Bennett did not stop there. He was linked posthumously through DNA to 3 other brutal sexual assaults. The Yavapai Sheriff's Office does not think his monsterous acts ended there. If you were assaulted by Bryan Bennett or know someone who may have been please contact the Yavapai Sheriff's Office at 928-771-3260

Tue, August 29, 2023

TASTES LIKE HERSCHEL CHANDLER WILL NOT BE SWEPT UNDER THE RUG

May of 1984 in a small town in Indiana at a prestigous college in Southern Indiana a night security guard was beaten to death in the Business Adminstration building around 4:30 AM. Was it just an interrupted robbery? Herschel's story deservers more than this open ending and his legacy is more than an unsolved homicide. If you have any information on Herschel's case, if you attended Hanover College  at the time, if you know anyone who did or heard anything you think might be too small to matter, it is not. Please call or email Michael Nossett, General Counsel for Eric Holcomb the present governer of Indiana: 317-232-4567 or email mnossett@gov.in.gov

Wed, August 23, 2023

TASTES LIKE PAMELA BUCKLEY AND JAMES FREUND GOT THEIR NAMES BACK. NOW WHO KILLED THEM AND WHY?

Tue, August 15, 2023

TASTES LIKE MICKEY AND TRUDY THOMPSON WERE TOGETHER THROUGH IT ALL

Mickey Thompson met his soul mate in High School and that was it for him. Trudy was the definition of a partner to Mickey. He was the dare devil/race car entreprenuer and she was right beside him as he created an empire. He owned many patents on safety features he and his team had invented for all kinds of vehicles. He was tough but fair but if you proved yourself and got into the inner sanctum you were in forever. Until business partner Michael Goodwin violated every trust you could put into another person. This is Mickey and Trudy's story. 

Tue, August 08, 2023

TASTES LIKE JENNY SUE ILES IS STILL WAITING

When 7 year old Jenny Sue lles walked down her street to a friends house and never returned the city of Covington, Kentucky was turned upside down trying to locate her. Ten days later she was discovered on the second story of an abandoned house by someone collection alluminum. A suspect was arrested, indicted and convicted but that was overturned a short two years later. Jenny's case should not remained unsolved. If you know anything about this 1989 abduction, rape and murder of a 7 year old girl please contact the Covington PD 859-292-2222 Co-Host Joshua Bevan Editing Wizardry- Matthew Kelly/Geekscape Bullshittery- Melissa Morgan

Tue, August 01, 2023

TASTES LIKE LINDA PETERSON'S KILLERS ARE KNOWN

Linda Peterson struggled like we all do. A difficult upbringing led her to quelling her pain with substance abuse. But she pulled herself out of that life for her grandchildren who lit up her world. She not only kept clean she would volunteer to help others going through the same struggles. She would even go to rehab when she was clean as a refresher in case she felt like she might falter. Someone with this will to live and help others should not have disappeared over $400 dollars. More than one person knows Linda's whereabouts. If you know ANYTHING at all about where Linda might be or those involved with her disappearance: The Baker County Major Crime Team has offered a $2,500 reward, and Crime Stoppers of Oregon added the same amount for a total of $5,000, for information that leads to an arrest in connection with Linda Peterson's disappearance. Anyone with information can contact the Baker City Police Department at 541-524-2014.

Tue, July 25, 2023

TASTES LIKE BOB ROSS SPOKE SOFTLY AND CARRIED A BIG BRUSH

If you, your parents or grandparents ever saw a soft-voiced, gentle man with the strangest afro ever teaching the world how to paint 'Happy Little Trees,' on the PBS show "The Joy of Painting," you know Bob Ross. The OG unintended inventor of AMSR (auto sensory meridian response) with his voice like a 'Liquid Tranquilizer,' he was a fascinating man for sure. But I can tell you with utmost certainty he was not a serial killer who painted areas where he had buried his victims. Between the TV show, teaching many painting workshops (with lots of witnesses) and a full platter of romantic entanglements he would not have had the time. There IS a crime element to his much too short and remarkable life, though. You can hear part of his story here in this episode. 

Tue, July 18, 2023

TASTES LIKE TIMMOTHY PITZEN'S FAMILY MISSES HIM

In 2011 Amy Pitzen took her 6 year old son out of kindergarten saying there was a family emergency. She left town with Timmothy and took him to his favorite zoo, an amusement park and finally a resort hotel. She left notes saying Timmothy was with people who loved him and his father and the rest of his family would never find him. She then ended her own life in the hotel bathtub. Timmothy has not been seen or heard from again even though someone claimed to be him in 2019. Where is Timmothy Pitzen? 

Wed, July 12, 2023

TASTES LIKE BLANCHE WRIGHT ROSE LIKE A PHOENIX

Wed, June 21, 2023

TASTES LIKE VINCE CHAMP IS NOT JUST A COMIC BUT A DANGEROUS PREDATOR

Tue, June 13, 2023

TASTES LIKE CARRIE GASKINS KNEW WHO KILLED HER

Carrie Gaskins daughter comes home from school to the worst scene imaginable: her 30 year old mother has been murdered in their home. There was no sign of a forced entry and detectives think she absolutely knew who killed her. If you have any information on this 1992 homicide from Clermont County, Ohio please call the investigations department of the Clermont County Sheriff's Dept at (513) 732-7545

Tue, June 06, 2023

TASTES LIKE THE GATE IS STILL OPEN: HOWARD UNRUH'S WALK OF DEATH

I tend to think of mass shootings as something more current but what is largely considered America's first mass shooting was in 1949 even before University of Texas. There was such clear, complete and unvarnished coverage of this terrible event. One journalist won the Pulitzer Prize for News Reporting on this case. Howard Unruh took 13 lives and yet he lived 60 more years after the terror he brought to Camden, New Jersey. There are some heros in the story. Try to remember that. 

Tue, May 30, 2023

TASTES LIKE GAIL RUSSELL KNEW WHO TOOK HER

When one person in a troubled relationship disappears and the story told by the remaining partner sounds a bit implausible you hopoe SOMEONE knows more and feels comfortable letting it out by now. Help Gail's sons, Joey and Brian know what happened to their mother. If you know anything about this case please call the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 727-847-5878m or the Crime Stoppers Number at 800-873 TIPS. 

Tue, May 23, 2023

TASTES LIKE CHRISTIAN LONGO WANTS TO BE MIKE FINKEL

What happens when you are a highly esteemed NYT Magazine writer who is caught up in a self-made scandal and a family annihilator is living in Mexico under your name? True Story: Memoir, Murder, Mea Culpea is Mike Finkel's story woven into Christian Longo's nightmarish violence. Finkel's book came out in 2005 and a movie made from the book came out in 2015. Its a fascinating story and you can hear it on this weeks episode. 

Tue, May 16, 2023

TASTES LIKE BARBARA HOWE TALKED TO HER KILLER

You live 87 years being the best person you canbe. You have a long and enduring marriage, you build a home with 3 daughters. After losing your husband of many decades you move to a retirement village where the employees are vetted and are part of the team to protect and help care for you. Or are they? Barbara Howe did not go down easily and according to her killer she "talked" to him after she died. Daniel French was convicted of her homicide and requested a lobotomy to erase what he did and Barbara's visits from his mind. Listen to Barbara's story. 

Wed, May 10, 2023

TASTES LIKE RUTH BELLE WAYMIRE KNEW HER KILLER

When a young woman goes missing and no one seems to be connected enough to report this and then a torso ends up in a river in Spokane Washington she is named Millie Doe in a heartbreaking but beautiful event. Hear how it takes over 4 decades to get enough information to give Ruth her name back. But who killed her? The Spokane PD has a very strong suspect but they can use more information. If you lived in Spokane, knew Ruth or her second husband (Trampus) David Lee Vaughn AKA David Vaughn, AKA David Lee, went to Rogers High School in the late 70's or early 80's, or have any information even if you think its small and inconsequential, PLEASE contact Sgt. Zac Storment, Spokane PD at their Crime Check Number-(509)-456-2233.

Tue, May 02, 2023

TASTES LIKE DANIEL CRESPO WAS A DIFFICULT MAYOR

Wed, April 26, 2023

TASTES LIKE STEPHANIE QUEZADA KNEW HER KILLER

No one should be missing and their family not have answers. No one should be murdered after a sexual assault and saying it would be reported. Who exactly killed Stephanie Quezada? There are two really good suspects. Some additional info is needed. If you know anything ANYTHING at all about the Stephanie Quezada murder or any of the people mentioned in the podcast PLEASE contact the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500

Tue, April 18, 2023

TASTES LIKE 70 YEARS HASN'T CHANGED MUCH THE MURDERS OF DIDDIE COOPER AND CASSANDRA JONES

Tue, April 11, 2023

TASTES LIKE SANDRA ROSAS WAS A TRUE EARTH ANGEL

Tue, April 04, 2023

TASTES LIKE KATELYN MARKHAM/SCOTTY MORRIS UPDATES

When a beautiful soul goes missing and then is presumed deceased its something a family never recovers from. When the missing persons husband is a famous musician and on tour when his wife goes missing its a difficult situation. When its found out she went missing at the hands of a family member that she tried so many times to help get on their feet, it feels like a betrayal that should never, ever happen. Sandra Rosas was the center of a large family and group of friends who felt like family. Her husband Cesar Rosas, lead guitarist of Los Lobos and the Rosas family are going forward but their family unit has changed forever. 

Fri, March 24, 2023

TASTES LIKE LISA KOPANAKIS WAS TARGETED

S6 E265 · Fri, March 24, 2023

TASTES LIKE LISA KOPANAKIS WAS TARGETED

Thu, March 16, 2023

TASTES LIKE JUSTICE FOR CAROL SUE KLABER...FINALLY

How do detectives investigating a 46 year old homicide end up solving a 43 year old kidnapping and rape? This episode shows the lengths some cold case detectives will go to and how their efforts finally pay off. 

Thu, March 09, 2023

TASTES LIKE THERE IS NOT MUCH OF A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE DELPHI AND STEPHENSON MURDERS

Thu, March 02, 2023

TASTES LIKE KATELYN MARKHAM DESERVES BETTER THAN THIS

Fairfield Ohio doesn't seem like a place where an ambitious, beautiful, hard working young college student would disappear from her home only to have her remains found almost two years later across state lines in Indiana. A recenet update in her case has a lot of us wondering...what do John and Jon know? If you have any information about what happened to Katelyn Markham Please call the Fairfield PD at (513) 829-8201 Or the Butler PD at (260) 868-2171

Thu, February 23, 2023

TASTES LIKE WHERE IN THE WORLD IS TOM STARKEL? WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS...

A sweet boy from the Antelope Valley, CA disappeared after a "friend" came up with a very sketchy story about what happened. If YOU know anything about what happened to Tom Starkel or what Craig Moore may have had to do with any of this, please call LASD Missing Persons Detective Tamara 323-890-5500

Wed, February 15, 2023

TASTES LIKE UPDATES ON THE IDAHO 4, VENTURA DOUBLE HOMICIDE AND LAUREL JEAN MITCHELL

DNA indicts three men in 40 year old investigations and the profiling of the murdered of the Idaho 4.

Tue, February 07, 2023

TASTES LIKE JESSICA KALISH WAS THE FIRST VICTIM OF CAROL ANNE BURGER

Bonus · Tue, January 31, 2023

TASTES LIKE GINA TOVAR'S CASE NEEDS SOME ATTENTION

1997 is a long time ago but it seems like a minute to Gina Tovar's sister Michelle. She is looking for help and hopefully we can give her some. If you were in Midland Texas in the mid to late 90's, If you knew Gina or anyone who knew her, the smallest detail that you think might mean nothing could mean something. Please call the San Antonio PD at 210-207-7781

S6 E257 · Tue, January 31, 2023

TASTES LIKE GINA TOVAR'S CASE NEEDS SOME ATTENTION

Short murdertizer episode on Gina Tovar's much too long ignored case. 1997 is a long time ago but to Gina's sister Michelle it still feels like yesterday. If you were in Midland Texas, maybe know someone from Midland Texas, listen to Gina's story because it is too long unsolved.

Fri, January 27, 2023

TASTES LIKE GUNS, ALEC BALDWIN AND TAKING CARE OF OUR MENTAL HEALTH

A differnet kind of episode this week. A discussion on how caring for ourselves is really taking care of the world. National Suicide and Crisis Hotline 800-273-8255 or 988 on your mobile device.

Fri, January 20, 2023

TASTES LIKE THE MILLS-HALL MURDERS ARE OLDE AND NEW

Wed, January 11, 2023

TASTES LIKE DO WE NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING? THE IDAHO 4

Wed, January 04, 2023

TASTES LIKE THE BETRAYAL OF JESUS

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. 

Wed, December 28, 2022

FEELS LIKE LINDA BENNETT GOT HER NAME BACK: OWEN COUNTY JANE DOE

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.

Tue, December 20, 2022

FEELS LIKE WHEN BERNIE MET MARJORIE IT WAS A TEXAS SIZED MESS

Thu, December 15, 2022

FEELS LIKE THE OG MACHINE GUN KELLY WAS MORE AUTHENTIC

Thu, December 08, 2022

FEELS LIKE TIM MILLER WILL NEVER GIVE UP FOR LAURA MILLER

Tue, November 29, 2022

FEELS LIKE PATRICK MULLINS DIDN'T JUST GO FISHING

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? 

Thu, November 17, 2022

FEELS LIKE MEAGHAN RICE SHOULD STILL BE IN PRISON

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. 

Wed, November 09, 2022

FEELS LIKE TONY ALAMO WAS A DENIM COVERED MONSTER

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. 

Thu, November 03, 2022

JTT FEELS LIKE NICOLE WINS

The third in a series of interviews with Nicole DeLaMora, the survivor of a car to car shooting serial killer.

Wed, October 26, 2022

SMACKDOWN 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

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.

Thu, October 20, 2022

FEELS LIKE NICOLE IS A TRUE PHOENIX

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.               

Bonus · Sat, October 15, 2022

FEELS LIKE MELISSA VS JOSHUA SMACKDOWN ON WHY WOMEN LOVE TRUE CRIME

It all started with Joshua sent Melissa a meme. And a discussion ensued. Why do YOU think women consume true crime? 

Tue, October 11, 2022

SURVIVOR OF THE SYLMAR SERIAL KILLER-NICOLE DELAMORA

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.

Tue, October 04, 2022

JTT FEELS LIKE JERRY STREGE IS OUT THERE

Wed, September 28, 2022

SE 5 EP 238 FEELS LIKE THE ZODIAC IS SPEAKING

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.

Wed, September 21, 2022

SE 5 EP 237 FEELS LIKE BRITTANY STYKES IS TALKING AND NO ONE IS LISTENING

Mon, September 12, 2022

SE 5 EP 236 FEELS LIKE ANNE PERRY WRITES FROM PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

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!

Tue, September 06, 2022

SE 5 EP 235 FEELS LIKE HENRY LOUIS WALLACE COULD'VE BEEN STOPPED

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?

Tue, August 30, 2022

WHERE IN THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL IS JONATHAN AUJAY?

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? 

Thu, August 25, 2022

SE 5 EP 233

Bonus · Sat, August 20, 2022

I'm Here, I'm Weird, Get Used to It

Hello Beloveds. Just a short message to explain the delays. We will be back on track SOON. Like  NOW. Thank you for your patience. 

Wed, August 03, 2022

SE 5 EP 232

Tue, July 26, 2022

SE5 EP231 Feels Like Moriah Wilson Was Betrayed By (Allegedly) Kaitlin Armstrong

Thu, July 14, 2022

SE5 EP229 FEELS LIKE CONNIE CONVERSE STARTED A MUSICAL FIRE

Wed, July 06, 2022

SE 5 EP228 FEELS LIKE KENNY TUTTLE HAS AN EARTH ANGEL

Tue, June 28, 2022

EP227

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 coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov or at (512) 936-0742

Tue, June 21, 2022

#226 JUST THE TIP-STERS Will Cierzan's Day in Court

Wed, June 08, 2022

SE5 EP225

Wed, June 01, 2022

SE 5 EP 224

Tue, May 24, 2022

SE5 EP223 FEELS LIKE WE CAN HELP NAIL LISK

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

Wed, May 18, 2022

SE 5 EP 222

Tue, May 10, 2022

EP 221 AL GREEN AND THE GRITS MURDERTIZER

Wed, May 04, 2022

EP 220 Shanessa Chappie Deserved So Much Better

Tue, April 26, 2022

EP 219

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. 

Wed, April 20, 2022

218 FEELS LIKE CRISTA HELM KEPT A DIARY

Wed, April 13, 2022

217 Will Cierzan Update Murdertizer

Thu, April 07, 2022

216. LAKE WACO PART TWO

Sat, April 02, 2022

215 Murdertizer-Terry Brisk Case Update

Wed, March 23, 2022

EP 214 Season 5 Feels Like Lake Waco is Cold

Fri, March 18, 2022

213. Feels Like Like a Peter Chadwick Update-Murdertizer

Tue, March 01, 2022

Feels Like Rebekah Barsotti Should Have Come Back From the River

Bonus · Tue, February 08, 2022

WILL CEIRZAN UPDATE MURDERTIZER

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. 

Tue, January 18, 2022

Melissa's Apology

Wed, December 08, 2021

209 Kim Simon Still Needs Justice

Tue, September 07, 2021

208. Looks Like It's Good To Volunteer - The Missing Persons Cases Of Dane Elkins, John Stivers And Ron Brown

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

Tue, August 31, 2021

207. Looks Like A Murderous Conundrum - Paul Kordenbrock, Sirhan Sirhan And The Puzzle Of Sentencing Reform

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.

Tue, August 24, 2021

206. Looks Like An Execution At Exit 34 - The Unsolved Killing Of Officer Jason Ellis

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.

Tue, August 17, 2021

205. Looks Like Facts Over Rumors - Randy Sellers Update With Special Guest Concerned Citizen "Jeremy"

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!

Tue, August 10, 2021

204. Looks Like Melissa Witt Has A Champion - With Special Guest LaDonna Humphrey

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.

Tue, August 03, 2021

203. Looks Like Sorrento Jane Doe Is Still Trying To Find Her Way Home

December 7, 1991 was the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor – but while America was busy commemorating that momentous date in history, another day that should live in infamy was unfolding in the woods of the town of Sorrento in Lake County, Florida.  It was there that a hiker discovered the brutally beaten body of a woman who has become known as the “Sorrento Jane Doe,” who had been tortured, raped, beaten and strangled to death.  Many – many – lucky breaks eventually helped law enforcement find and convict the serial rapist responsible for the crime – including a DNA hit at a time when DNA technology was at its infancy and there were only 10,000 DNA samples in Florida’s criminal DNA database.  By an incredible stroke of luck, Joseph Rolle’s DNA was in that database, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Strangely, that life sentence was not for the murder of Sorrento Jane Doe.  Rather, Rolle was convicted solely on the charge of sexual battery.  He has denied murdering the victim and to this day denies knowing her identity.  So Sorrento Jane Doe remains anonymous – unknown – and buried in an obscure cemetery in the Ocala National Forest, waiting for someone to identify her.  The good news?  Forensic artist Carl Koppelman – whose almost psychic reconstructions of unidentified murder victims have helped solve so many John and Jane Doe mysteries – recreated a picture of Sorrento Jane Doe that should make it possible for anyone who knew her to identify her.  The sad news?  As of mid 2021 – nearly 30 years after her death – no one has claimed her.  This despite the fact that her autopsy revealed she likely had at least one child – and possibly two.  In this episode, Melissa relates not only the story of this awful murder, but implores Tip-Sters everywhere to search their memories and their hearts – Do you recognize her?  Do you know anyone who lived in, or was visiting, Lake County Florida in December 1991 who might recognize her?  Put on your thinking caps and listen in.

Tue, July 27, 2021

202. Looks Like You Can't Alibi Stupid - Judy Moilanen's Idiotic Murder

November 29, 1992 was the very last day of Hunting Season in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where 35 year-old Judy Moilanen, her husband Bruce and young daughter Elise were visiting Judy’s parents in the small town of Ontonagon, right on the banks of Lake Superior.  Seeing it was the last day of the season to do so, Bruce, along with a larger hunting party, headed out looking for deer to hunt. Judy decided to walk the five dogs currently in the house – her four Springer spaniels and her parents’ one.  Once the hunting party reassembled and got back to the house, Judy was nowhere to be found. When Judy’s parents’ dog returned without Judy and her four dogs, concern grew.  As the afternoon grew late, the friends broke into small groups to go look for Judy – and her mother, Mary Ann, and a friend soon discovered the four missing dogs at the edge of the woods – and quickly thereafter, Judy’s body, shot once in what appeared to be a hunting accident. A bullet had passed right through her somewhere into the surrounding ground that law enforcement could not initially locate – but even with the missing bullet, the initial assumption was that a terrible accident had occurred.  But some things about the incident seemed out of place – and while the initial consensus was that Judy was accidentally shot by a deer hunter because she was not wearing appropriately colored clothing to alert hunters of her presence, a very attentive coroner and some inquisitive, unstoppable Sheriff’s detectives saw some big inconsistencies – not the least of which was the fact that the wooded area was too close to residential houses for hunters to be present.  And then forensic evidence – the most important of which was found by a civilian who became obsessed with finding the missing bulletand who eventually located it in the most unusual way – started pointing directly at Bruce Moilanen.  And it was Bruce himself, with a series of some of the most boneheaded moves in the history of murder suspects, who seemed to insist upon pointing the finger at himself. He almost immediately began pursuing local women with tactics as clumsy as they were preposterous. And when he finally confessed, his reasons were both hilariously stupid – and mind-numbingly, tragically horrid.  Join Melissa as she uncovers some of the lesser known facts of this often-recounted case – and marvel at the callousness and outright bumbling, unthinking arrogance that so needlessly ended a life and orphaned a little girl – all for nothing.

Tue, July 20, 2021

201. Looks Like A Ghost On Video - Leah Rowlands And Her Killer Who No One Knows

One unseasonably cool (as opposed to freezing) late winter morning on March 10, 1997, at a small  travel stop gas station and convenience store right off Interstate 80 in Cozad, a tiny farming community in the heart of Nebraska, a late model Pontiac Grand Am pulled into the parking lot and up to the pumps.  Inside the store, 41 year-old Leah Rowlands was behind the counter on her very first day in her new role as manager – her hard work and happy attitude had earned her that position after just a few months.  The divorced mother of two was finally getting her life back in order after a tough breakup with a new town, a new boyfriend and a future that appeared nothing but bright.  Back at the gas pumps, a large man wearing a hoodie under a leather jacket, sweat pants rolled up to his knees and wearing no shoes got out of the Pontiac, filled the tank and headed into the store.  Once inside he grabbed a canned soft drink out of the cooler, opened it and started drinking from it while he waited for a mother and her young son to complete their transaction at the counter and leave.  He then went up to Leah at the counter, told her to empty the cash register and get down on the floor.  Once she was face down on the floor, he calmly pulled a 9mm semiautomatic handgun from his right pocket, reached over the counter and calmly shot Leah Rowlands to death.  After just three minutes after walking into the store, the killer nonchalantly walked out, carrying his soda, a pack of cigarettes and $150 in cash.  He got back into the Grand Am and drove off.  Never to be seen again.  Right up to this moment, no one knows who the big man in the hoodie is.  There has never been an arrest.  And here’s the truly weird and truly awful – and awfully amazing – thing about all of this:  The convenience store was completely wired with surveillance cameras.  The entire event was caught on videotape, from several angles.  The killer stared straight into one of the cameras as he waited for the store to clear out.  His unshielded face – while mildly blurry – is clearly visible on the footage from behind the counter, where the murder is recorded in horrifying detail.  And no one – no one – has ever identified him.  A California license plate on the rear of the Grand Am is illegible.  And even though authorities have searched the for that car, it’s never been found.  The calmness of the killer’s demeanor – his seeming complete lack of concern that his face, his body features, his clothing were being recorded – makes the entire episode not just tragic – but haunting…to Leah’s family and loved ones and especially to law enforcement.  Every available agency, from local police to state authorities to the FBI, continues to work on this case – but until that one person who recognizes her killer comes forward, the case is at a standstill.  Take a chilling ride with Melissa back to that Nebraska morning 24 years ago and imagine that you or someone you know can be the one link to bring ju

Tue, July 13, 2021

200. Looks Like Sherri Rasmussen Won The Fight - The Capture Of Stephanie Lazarus

On February 24, 1986, John Ruetten came home from work to the condominium in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles that he shared with his bride of three months, Sherri Rasmussen.  What he found inside the condo changed his life forever – and it also changed a lot of people’s perception of the Los Angeles Police Department.  On the living room floor, still wearing the robe and underwear she had worn to bed the previous night, was the body of Sherri – her face beaten beyond all recognition, and the three bullets that finally ended her life.  Little did John know then that it would take 23 years and a determined, unafraid LAPD detective to both solve the murder and expose a rotten corner of the department’s inner culture.  It turns out that for several years Sherri Rasmussen had been stalked and terrorized by one of LAPD’s young superstars – then still a uniformed officer named Stephanie Lazarus.  Lazarus had been friends with Ruetten when they first met in college and the two had been occasional sexual partners for a while after school ended.  Problem was, Stephanie Lazarus was crazy in love with John and thought he belonged to her – and John had no such feelings for Stephanie.  Instead, John fell in love with Sherri Rasmussen.  And when Stephanie learned that John and Sherri were engaged, Stephanie lost it – and began stalking and threatening Sherri at home and at work.  Unfortunately, Sherri and John never reported these events to the police – the only people who knew other than themselves were Sherri’s parents.  So it was only natural for Sherri’s father, Nels, reported the stalking incidents and that his strong feeling was that Stephanie Lazarus had to be a prime suspect.  To which the police promptly ignored any suggestion that Lazarus could have anything to do with the murder.  And refused to even explore the possibility even when all other suspects were cleared.  And this went on for over two decades, until a couple of reform-oriented new police Chiefs for LAPD, over the period of several years, a mysterious (and still unknown) whistle blower and a dedicated detective who would not cover up any misdoings finally put all the pieces together and finally put Stephanie on trial – and eventually behind bars for 20-to-Life. Join Melissa on her 200th episode as she retells this sad but enlightening story of jealous homicide, possible police cover-up and, ultimately, the strength of the family of a murder victim who would not sit down or shut up, but kept Sherri Rasmussen’s flame burning brightly.

Tue, July 06, 2021

199. Looks Like An Abandonment - Will Justice Ever Serve Christina Carnes?

When 18 year-old Christina Carnes and her 20 year-old Vernon Cade went out on January 20, 1994 for a night of fun with friends, neither of them could possibly have known what would befall them just a few hours later.  Arriving at a gathering in their hometown of Fairfield Ohio that night, they were paged by a friend who needed a ride, and left the party early so they could respond.  Later that night, a call to authorities reported an apparently overheated car parked in a parking lot in front of what was then a children’s day care center on Mack Road in Fairfield.  When police arrived, they found a horror scene.  It was Christina Carnes’ car – and Christina was slumped on the driver’s side of the front seat - dead, shot in the back of the head by someone who had been in the back seat.  Vernon had been shot in the face – still alive.  Vernon was rushed to the hospital and eventually saved.  He is still alive today, but with permanent brain injuries that to this day prevent him from remembering anything that happened that night.  It’s been 27 years since Christina’s mother Gail buried her daughter – and no arrest has been made in this awful case.  Law enforcement insists that all leads have been followed – and all have led to dead ends.  And as you might expect, the police in Fairfield have issued statements begging for anyone to come forward with any new lead.  Which is a little weird.  Because it appears the Fairfield Police Department doesn’t seem to want to accept help all that much.  In this episode, Melissa not only details the tragic details of Christina’s murder, but her frustrations in getting the police to talk to the press or the large social media platform available to spread the word.  Also included in this episode is an update on recent events in the Terry Brisk murder investigation previously covered in Episode 118 – a preview of an upcoming interview with Morrison County, MN Sheriff Shawn Larsen, coming up later this month.

Tue, June 29, 2021

198. Looks Like Yoga Didn't Do It - The Botched Dana Jones Investigation

If you look up the March 3, 2014 death of 50 year-old interior designer Dana Jones in the official records of the Long Beach, California Police Department, you’ll see that the case is considered closed, and Jones’ death listed as accidental – a contention backed up by the coroner.  According to Dana Jones’ husband, Cain Finn “Huck” Jones, he took the dog out for a walk on the morning of March 3, and when he returned from the walk he discovered Dana, crumpled on the floor from an injury to the back of the head after slipping during a headstand while practicing yoga.  Dana was rushed to the hospital in a coma but never regained consciousness before passing away.  The problem is, Huck’s story seemed a bit out of whack to Dana’s friends and family – particularly Dana’s sister, Lisa – who has remained Dana’s champion and advocate for justice ever since.  For one thing, Dana was an experienced yoga practitioner who knew what she was doing.  And even a miscue during a headstand should never have caused the severity of the wound to the back of Dana’s head – or any wound in the location it was positioned.  Moreover, Dana’s husband Huck had filled the house with cameras (for security, he claimed, although there were plenty of Dana’s friends who believed Huck had them installed to keep an eye on her).  And the room where the “accident” took place was one of the very few rooms without a camera.  Plus there were inconsistencies with the timeline, the placemen and many questions about trouble within Dana and Huck’s marriage.  Devotees of the True Crime genre know what happens next:  Homicide detectives go first to the people closest to the victim – in this case, Huck – and hammer down on every single possibility that he may be the primary suspect.  Long hours of questioning.  A search warrant that focuses on every speck of dust in the house.  And never clear the husband until every single lead has been run down.  Except.  Well…  A detective showed up all right.  A detective with a drinking problem and an attitude of not wanting to do the necessary work.  A detective who decided within a few short hours that Huck was completely innocent simply because the presence of cameras would have prevented him from even trying.  Wait.  What?  The subsequent “investigation” was light on detail and Dana’s death was ruled accidental in relatively short order.  That’s when Lisa Jones, Dana’s sister, took charge.  In the seven years since Dana’s death, Lisa has taken on one of the most detailed investigations of any murder anyone has ever seen.  She has been unrelenting in forcing law enforcement, the press and anyone else who will listen to pay attention.  Her 2019 memoir, “ Blunt Force Yoga ,” makes a compelling argument for reopening the investigation into Dana’s death.  As Melissa points out in this episode, there is no statu

Tue, June 22, 2021

197. Looks Like A Real Life Lenny Briscoe - Law And Disorder With Special Guest Vic Ferrari

This week we take another small diversion from murder and mayhem and enter the lighter side of the world of law enforcement with retired New York City detective Vic Ferrari – who makes his second visit to “JTT” – this time to talk about his new book, NYPD: Law and Disorder – Ferrari’s latest batch of true, hilarious stories from his days on the Force.  Listen in as Vic regales Melissa with some of the more colorful misadventures as a New York cop – including rookie mistakes, hijinks involving his colleagues at the station house and what challenges he’s faced with in turning his experiences into the written word.  

Tue, June 15, 2021

196. Looks Like A Crooked Blue Line - The Muzzled Murder Of Catherine Braley

On January 15, 1988 in a semi-residential pocket in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, 25 year-old Catherine Braley – just recently relocated to Southern California from Iowa – was walking home from her job at a local specialty retail outlet when she decided to drop in to a local bar called The Hunter.  There she encountered three L.A. County Sheriff’s detectives – off-duty and out of their jurisdiction (this was LAPD territory) after attending a memorial service for a fallen colleague nearby.  After several hours of what all witnesses agreed was heavy drinking, Catherine and the three detectives departed the bar at around 11 pm.  Employees at the bar who peered through the windows at the foursome saw Catherine sitting in puddle in the parking lot, laughing.  Soon thereafter, the witnesses saw two of the detectives leave, leaving Catherine alone with one man – Detective Robert Mallen of the LA County Sheriff’s Department.  That was the last time anyone saw Catherine Braley alive.  Her battered body was found the next morning in the parking lot of an apartment complex just blocks from The Hunter.  Her head had apparently been crushed with a hammer and/or a cement block found next to the body.  Detective Mallen, who had left town with his wife for a camping trip in Arizona that very same morning Catherine’s body was found, was tracked down by LAPD investigators at the campground – and Mallen’s story was yes, he had met Catherine at The Hunter and yes. he had left with her in his car, where they had consensual sex, and that mid-way through a second round of intercourse, she broke it off, got out of the car and said she would walk home.    Despite this rather incredulous tale, and problems with the timeline provided, case went cold – quickly – and remains unsolved to this day.  A lawsuit brought by Catherine’s family resulted in a hung jury.  And there appears to be no interest in the law enforcement community to attempt to solve the case.  Worst of all is the fact that the LAPD detective most qualified to investigate Catherine’s murder –  the one brave cop with the guts to have solved a 20 year-old murder committed by a fellow officer (and thereby violating the silent “blue code” that holds that cops don’t rat on cops) was handed Catherine’s case and had it taken away from him just as he was starting to investigate.  Join Melissa as she asks the tough questions – could it be that the LAPD is preventing the investigation of Catherine Braley’s murder to save the skin of a law enforcement colleague?  Is the “blue wall” stifling justice?

Tue, June 08, 2021

195. Looks Like An Organized Massacre - The Slaughter Of Cyle VanKomen And Kevin Nelson

By all accounts Cyle VanKomen was more than just a good kid.  He was the kind of young man that drew others to him.  Kind, friendly and generous to a fault, the 24 year-old lived with his older brother and several other young men in what was known as a “party house” in a quiet neighborhood in South Ogden Utah.  Neither Cyle, his brother nor anyone else in the house had any known enemies or connection to any criminal activity.  He and his roommates lived simply – none of them were wealthy or had much in the way of valuable belonging – least of all Cyle.  So it defies belief that on the night of December 9, 2016 – when Cyle’s brother and another roommate left the house to buy some snacks to take with them to go bowling – that one of the most bizarre home invasions ever committed took place – leaving Cyle and his neighbor Kevin Nelson dead and a third remaining victim critically wounded.  And it all happened in the span of ten minutes – the time it took for Cyle’s brother and his friend to walk to the store and back  But it all gets weirder and worse.  And that’s because the other murder victim – next door neighbor Kevin Nelson – who just happened to be the wrong place at the wrong time – had security cameras installed on the side of his house.  And those cameras caught and recorded – for more than an hour before the assault – three masked, armed men surrounding the perimeter of the VanKomen house…peering in windows…jumping fences…running what looked like paramilitary drills.  Ski masks cover their faces, but the body images of all three attackers – including one very tall man – are clearly visible in the video footage.  So why hasn’t this case been solved?  With Kevin Nelson’s security camera video now available for public viewing, is it really possible that no one can identify even one of the perpetrators of this horrific crime?  Listen as Melissa details the known facts of this tragically unsolved case, and wonders aloud why some law enforcement agencies that continually ask the public for help don’t actually seem to want it even when it’s offered up on a silver platter…

Tue, June 01, 2021

194. Looks Like Ten Years Is Too Long - Stephenson Murders Update With Special Guest Det. Coy Cox

Ten years is a long time no matter how you look at it.  But for the Stephenson family of Northern Kentucky, ten years is just simply too long.  Because that’s how long it’s been since their family patriarch and matriarch Bill and Peggy Stephenson were murdered – brutally – in their Florence Kentucky townhome on Memorial Day weekend in 2011.  And the devoted minister and his wife – both beloved members of the community known for their kindness and generosity – were killed in a most unusual – evil way.  The killer (or killers) murdered the Stephensons late at night – and took their time.  They not only completely re-arranged the murder scene – they staged the bodies in different rooms of the condo – and staged the rest of the home as well, leaving seeming clues everywhere that to this day no one has deciphered.  Melissa covered this devastating unsolved double murder in Episode 147 of Just The Tip-Sters , when she interviewed lead case detective Coy Cox of the Boone County Kentucky Sheriff’s Department.  Det. Cox has been on this case since Day 1, and he, his partner and the entire department have never converted it to “cold” status.  It is, and always will be until the murders are solved, an active investigation.  Since Episode 147 aired last year, some important tips have come in to Det. Cox’s team.  Melissa thought it might be a good idea to have him back to provide an update on the Stephenson murder investigation and to continue to encourage anyone who might even provide a sliver of a clue to speak up.  Join Melissa as she gets that update, and also asks Det. Cox some questions she and many of our listeners have asked about the case.  And take the time to really listen to a man whose life is the very definition of a great police officer – smart, savvy, dedicated – and caring about his job and his duty to bring justice to these victims and their family.  If you know ANYTHING or ANYONE that might help solve this case – even if you think it’s not important – contact Det. Cox and his team via email at stephensontip@boonecountyky.org or call (859) 334-8496d or toll-free at (844) 210-1111.

Tue, May 25, 2021

193. Looks Like A Long Walk To The Store - The Evil That Stole Avery "Peaches" Shorts

For the second time this month we feature the troubling, tragic, SAD murder of a young girl during the Christmas holiday season a long time ago.  This one is incredibly tragic because it’s pretty clear who the killer is and he was never arrested.  On December 26, 1980 six year-old Avery "Peaches" Shorts left her home in Knoxville, Tennessee with 58 cents in her pocket, bundled up by her mother Hazel, who asked her youngest daughter to walk to the local store to buy her a bottle of Coke.  It was a fifteen-minute round trip.  Little Peaches never returned.  When 50 minutes had passed with no sign of her daughter, Hazel called the police – and immediately – before the night was through – dozens of law enforcement personnel were searching for Peaches.  And in the coming months the number of police and private citizens searching for her grew into the hundreds.  No success.  It wasn’t until 13 months later, in January 1982, that the body of Peaches Shorts was found – by hunters on an old farm buried under a cattle chute.  Her neck had been broken.  A wire was wrapped around her neck.  Her body was mostly decomposed, but her hair remained – still in pigtails with the ribbons Hazel had placed in it before she left the house still in a bow.  She still wore her jacket, buttoned to the top, just as it was when the little girl left to buy her mom a soft drink.  No evidence of sexual assault was present.   Peaches had simply been brutally strangled – with no evident motive.  No motive, that is, other than pure anger and spite.  And the police had a perfect suspect to fill that bill – a longtime drifter and con man named Mitchell Reed.  Seems Reed, who was more than twice the age of Hazel, had been dating Peaches’ mom (along with at least two other local women), and had been nagging Hazel to let him move in with Hazel and her three kids.  Hazel didn’t want that, and had continually put Reed off.  On the day of Peaches’ disappearance, Reed had yet again visited Hazel and had yet again pressured her to let him moved in – and once again Hazel had told Reed she’d “think about it.”  That did not sit well with Reed, who left in a rage.  A witness saw Reed in the local store where Peaches was buying her mom’s Coke.  Reed later denied ever seeing her there.  And through all the questioning, all the investigations – no matter what the police did to break him, Mitchell Reed never did – he simply lit another cigarette and flashed a smile.  And there has never been enough evidence to arrest him or conclusively peg him as the murderer.  Could someone be so cold and selfish as to brutally kill a beautiful young girl for no reason other than revenge at her mother for refusing his selfish request?  Join Melissa as she tells this horrific tale of justice denied, possibly forever, and the toll it’s taken on the family and the law enforcement personnel who, even to this day, can’t – and won’t – let it go.  If you think you may be able to help provide conclusive evidence of Mi

Tue, May 18, 2021

192. Looks Like All Angels Go To Heaven - Judith Barsi's Sad Farewell

Ten year-old Judith Barsi was a bona fide, in-demand child actor in the 1980s.  Between her fifth and tenth birthdays she appeared in 72 commercials and dozens of television movies and series.  And her acting abilities and professional demeanor, even at such a young age, made it clear to everyone who worked with her that young Judith was destined for even greater things as she grew up.  Sadly, Judith’s life ended not even one month past her tenth birthday.  And the circumstances were nothing short of tragic.  The only child of Maria and Joseph – immigrant parents who came to the United States from Hungary – Judith’s talents were noticed by Maria early on.  Joseph, who worked as a plumbing contractor, never encouraged Judith’s career the way Maria did, even though by 1988 it had been Judith’s income that had enabled the family to purchase – for cash – a lovely home in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles.  And by that time Joseph’s non-support had turned dark.  He was now drinking heavily, and had begun verbally and emotionally abusing Maria and Judith.  The more successful Judith became, it seemed, the more twisted and verbally violent her father became.  It all ended on July 25, 1988 when Joseph became one of a tragically long line of family annihilators – shooting young Judith in the head as she slept, then Maria as she rushed in to see what was going on.  He then lit the house on fire, walked into the garage, where he shot and killed himself.  And all of that is awful enough – but what really fueled Melissa’s ire about this case is what happened 29 years after Joseph Barsi’s murder/suicide rampage: A 2017 article in, of all places, a home design magazine.  Listen in as Melissa details the short lives and crushing deaths of two beautiful souls – a mother and daughter who did not deserve their fate – and the strange era in which we live that somehow diminishes everything to the level of kitsch.

Tue, May 11, 2021

191. Looks Like Murder Without A Motive - The Illogical Tragedy Of Bonnie Neighbors

The holiday season was in full bloom in the small North Carolina town of Benson on Thursday December 14, 1972 when 33 year old Bonnie Neighbors was planning to pick up her oldest son Ken from school, taking her three-month old baby boy Glenn along with her.  A witness even saw Bonnie’s car leave her driveway that afternoon – although, strangely, she seemed to be driving erratically and at a high rate of speed – and in the opposite direction of Ken’s school.  When Bonnie’s husband (Ken, Senior) got a call from young Ken’s school telling him that no one had come to pick up the young Ken, and when it was later discovered that both Bonnie and baby Glen were missing – and that Bonnie had obviously packed diapers and baby formula – and that her favorite green pantsuit was missing from the closet – an intense search began that got the entire community involved. v First found was Bonnie’s station wagon – parked near her home – virtually untouched.  Then, three days after she and the baby disappeared, Bonnie’s body was found lying on a cot inside the concrete walls of an abandoned migrant labor camp in nearby Meadow Township . She had suffered a severe blow to the back of the head and had been shot twice, through her coat and her pantsuit.  She was fully-clothed and there was no evidence of sexual assault.  There was no blood anywhere, indicating that she had been killed elsewhere and then moved.  Next to Bonnie’s body, crying and cold, was baby Glen.  Nearby were several dirty diapers, leading investigators to believe that Bonnie had been alive and taking care of her baby for at least a short while before she was murdered.  Glen was rushed to the hospital, where he fully recovered.  A single bullet casing and a number of cigarette butts were on the floor near a bench next to the cot. That was the extent of evidence of the existence of a perpetrator – and all that police had to work with.  Until 2019 – when the absolutely heroic foresight of the investigating officers 47 years earlier who had preserved those cigarette butts and bullet casing long before DNA testing was even dreamed of – yielded enough of the perpetrator’s DNA to finally arrest one Larry Scott , a drifter with a small-time police record who was 18 years old at the time of Bonnie Neighbors’ disappearance and who was living in Bradenton Florida.  After initially fighting extradition, Scott finally agreed and was indicted back in North Carolina in May 2019.  But here’s where the story gets odd – and where Tip-Sters everywhere can dig in and help out:  After the 2019 arraignment, Melissa has not been able to find out what happened to Scott – she hasn’t found evidence of a trial – or of Scott’s death – or hi

Tue, May 04, 2021

190. Looks Like Injustice In San Antonio - The Obvious Unsolved Murder Of Monika Rizzo

This week Melissa brings forth another unnerving “unsolved” murder – this one from May of 1997 - that really isn’t unsolved at all; a case where the search for justice has been unrelenting for nearly a quarter of a century.  And despite the fact that the culprit is alive and in plain sight of God and everybody – no arrests have ever been made.   The victim – then 44 year-old Monika Luise Rizzo (nee McKinney) – had by all accounts grown up happy, well-adjusted and well-taken care of by her adoptive parents, dad Bill McKinney and mom (also named) Monika McKinney.  Because Bill was a career US Army officer, the family moved around a lot when Monika was young.  But no matter where she lived, Monika Luise was always known to be enterprising, hard-working and honest to a fault.  And Monika Luise maintained those traits for the remainder of her life, even though that life was never easy after she met Leonard “Lenny” Rizzo on a Honolulu beach in 1970 when she was just 17 and a senior in high school.  A beach bum, motorcycle enthusiast and overall ne’er-do-well, Lenny convinced Monika Luise to marry him as soon as she turned 18, which is exactly what happened – over the strong objections of the McKinneys and the strong warnings of others familiar with Lenny and his family.  And for 26 years, they stayed married.  Had two kids – both boys.  All seemed reasonably well…except that Lenny never really could hold down a job, drank, used drugs, belonged to a motorcycle gang and even ended up in jail on a narcotics charge for a couple of years.  Through all of it, Monika Luise held down the fort, earned the family income and was always known as the most reliable employee wherever she worked.  Throughout the marriage, there were signs that domestic violence may have been occurring – a black eye here, a burn or severe scratch there – but no one ever did anything, and Monika Luise never implicated Lenny in any of her injuries.  But by Christmastime 1996 and moving into early 1997, the signs were getting unmistakable.  Now living in San Antonio Texas, near her parents’ home where Bill McKinney had retired, Monika Luise had become one of the highest-regarded employees at the Texas Dept. of Human Resources – but trouble was obviously afoot.  Between January and May 1997, she began to show signs of distraction and lack of personal care – and she lost so much weight that by some accounts she was down to 85 pounds by May 5…when, in the middle of the work day, Lenny Rizzo made an urgent call to Monika Luise at the office.  And after she took that call, her coworkers saw her get up from her desk and – leaving all of her personal belongings behind – walk out of the room, never to be seen by them again.  To this day no one knows what that conversation was about.  But what is known is that completely shredded bone shards and skin and human body fluids found in Lenny Rizzo’s back yard were proven by DNA testing to be that of Moniika Luise McKinney Rizzo.  And Lenny?  Oh, he

Tue, April 27, 2021

189. Looks Like It Wasn't Xenu - The Murders Of Penelope Edwards And Troy Dunn

Penelope Edwards had all but put her life back together in March 2012.  After years of struggling with addiction and psychological problems – so bad that she had turned temporary custody of her two children over to her sister Gloria – Penelope was now sober, working  through therapy, had her children back and even had a new boyfriend – Troy Dunn.  By all accounts, Penelope, Troy and the two kids were living a happy life in Prescott Valley Arizona.  But on March 16, 2012, evil visited that happy home – when Kenneth Thompson, the husband of Penelope’s sister Gloria – after driving 25 miles from his home in Missouri, took a hatchet to both Penelope and Troy in an attempt to “rescue” Penelope’s children from what Thompson believed to be a dangerous environment.  Dangerous how?  Well. It seems that Penelope not only had herself in therapy – her daughter was also seeing a therapist  and her young son, who had been suffering with a severe psychological disorder, was under both therapeutic and medical treatment.  And all of that was working – and contributing to the healing and happiness in the Edwardsd/Dunn household.  Um.  Again: Dangerous how?  Turns out it was dangerous solely in the mind of Ken Thompson – who decided on his own that because the niece and nephew of his wife were being exposed to psychiatry and psychotherapy, they were being, effectively, brainwashed and damaged.  Because that was Thompson’s interpretation of his religion’s belief.  And his religion was The Church of Scientology.  Fortunately, both of Penelope’s kids were away from the house when Ken Thompson made his deadly visit, but her murder, and that of Troy Dunn – who had vowed to raise Penelope’s children as his own, changed those kids’ lives forever.  Join Melissa as she traverses this difficult case of an evil man fraudulently using his religion as a defense against the horrible act he himself committed – and an examination of Melissa’s own experience as a friend of a Scientologist and the question of religious freedom versus religious advocacy.

Tue, April 20, 2021

188. Looks Like It's Good To Be Kind - Vaccines, Nasty Notes And The Unkind Murders Of Gail Moody And Lori Arrowood

This time around we have what a 1980s television marketing whiz would call a “Very Special Episode” of the podcast.  And that’s because what is normally the intro is actually half the show – and there’s an important reason why. It’s because Melissa has had some things she’s been wanting to say for a while about kindness – being nice – and those things came to the fore this past week in the form of vaccine side effects and a particularly icky email she received from a clearly unhappy person.  So in addition to the usual than-yous (and a dynamite discussion on one of America’s longest-operating travel-stop businesses), during the first half of this episode Melissa holds forth on an important fact of life – that kindness is the fuel of any well-lived life.  And how much the kindness of you Tip-Sters means to her and Producer Mark.            The second half – this week’s case – is about the tragedy of three friends – two of whom were murdered only because they happened to be friends with the third.  Gail Moody and Lori Arrowood were both raped, strangled to death and tossed into the woods, three years apart, in two separate but nearby towns in Souhern Georgia.  Gail’s body has never been found.  But three years later, when Lori was murdered, her body was found.  And it didn’t take long for law enforcement to focus on, and arrest, a former corrections officer named Ken Lumpkin, who confessed, was convicted of Lori’s murder and sentenced to Life Without Parole.  And during the Lori Arrowood murder investigation, an unexpected connection to Gail Moody’s death was revealed.  Turns out that Ken Lumpkin had a wife – Shelly.   And Shelly had been friends with both Gail and Lori.  And unknown to Shelly, her friendship with the two women cost them their lives – at the hands of a man she never imagined to be a killer.  Get ready for a fast-paced, engrossing and downright stirring visit with Melissa as she not only shares some of her most dearly-held thoughts – but relates the ultimate story of a very bad man being very Not Nice.

Tue, April 13, 2021

187. Looks Like An Ambush At The ATM - Matthew Chase's Final Deposit

Matthew Chase was just like a lot of young artists who move to Los Angeles to seek out their creative development and success.  Back in 1988, then 22 year-old Matthew and his friends, brother-and-sister Steve and Teresa Dahl, were living together after all moving from their childhood homes near Medford Oregon.  And – again, like so many other young transplants to Southern California, Matthew, Steve and Teresa moved into one of the grittier parts of Los Angeles, in the heart of the big city, not fully aware of just how “gritty” gritty really meant.  As in:  At the time, Los Angeles was plagued by one of the worst gang wars ever to hit an American city.  And the area where Matthew Chase and his companions lived was one of that gang war’s hot spots.  It was nowhere to be out after dark.  And yet, as often happens, Matthew and the Dahl siblings’ youthful sense of invincibility left them largely unaware of the risks all around them.  So it was unsurprising that on June 8, 1988, at 11:45 pm, Matthew decided to deposit his paycheck at a local bank ATM.  Matthew was going to walk to the bank, but Teresa Dahl lent Matthew her car to run the errand – and to pick up some cat food on the way back.  Matt took the car keys, taking with him only his paycheck and his ATM card – leaving his wallet, with his driver’s license in it, behind.  After all, it was just a quick trip.  Right?  Except that was the last time Teresa or Steve Dahl or any of Matthew’s other friends ever saw him alive again.  And this is truly a story about the love of friends.  Because it was Matthew’s friends – with pretty much no help from the authorities – that finally brought their friend’s case to its uneasy conclusion.  As it happens, in 1988 the Los Angeles Police Department was buried under a wave that not only included the impossible task of battling the gangs – but also experiencing its first growing pangs of moving away from a nearly century-long history of abuse, racism and overall corruption.  Public attention was finally exposing the LAPD’s bad secrets to the light of day, but in 1988 many of those bad elements remained.  And one of those bad elements was the LAPD Rampart Division’s total disinterest in the disappearance of a young artist living in a “bad” part of town – one detective in particular, whose brazen, arrogant and homophobic ignorance prevented a missing person’s report to be filed.  It was only after more than a week following Matthew’s disappearance that Teresa Dahl was forced to file a report alleging that Matthew stole her car – which she knew he didn’t do – that finally got LAPD to do anything.  Shortly thereafter, Teresa’s abandoned car was found near the bank0 where Matthew had been headed.  Through the efforts of Matthew’s friends (not the LAPD), it was discovered that Matthew had attempted to make several large withdrawals at multiple ATMs the night of his disappearance.  One of those ATMs had a camera that caught extremely fuzzy footage of – it is believe

Tue, April 06, 2021

186. Looks Like A Minute And A Half Is A Lifetime - The Erasing Of Mikelle Biggs

January 2, 1999 was an average day in sleepy suburban Mesa Arizona when, as dusk was falling, 11 year-old Mikelle Biggs and her sister Kimber thought they heard the sound of an ice cream truck coming up the street as they were playing outside their house.  Mikelle ran into the house and convinced her mother – who was just starting dinner, to give her some quarters so she and Kimber could buy a treat.  Racing back outside, Mikelle borrowed Kimber’s brand new pink bicycle – which Kimber had just gotten for Christmas only 8 days prior.  Seeing her sister riding up the street on her bike, Kimber decided to go back into the house to get a jacket.  It took her all of 90 seconds to return to the front yard where she would run to catch up with Mikelle.  But instead of seeing her sister riding farther up the street, what Kimber saw instead was her empty bike, lying on its side in the middle of the street, pointed back in the direction of their house – the front wheel still spinning.  In 90 seconds – Mikelle Biggs went from a bright, beautiful young girl riding to catch an ice cream truck in the fading winter light – to a memory.  She has never been seen again.  While there is a likely culprit who has been identified – now in prison for a different, horrific crime - he has never been charged and has denied having anything to do with Mikelle’s disappearance.  In this moving episode, Melissa describes the police investigation, the family’s exhausting quest for answers, the haunting image of that gleaming new pink bicycle lying still, its front wheel still turning from the impetus of Mikelle’s force – and how all these years later, those 90 seconds live forever in the heart and soul of a little sister who wonders – what if she had not gone to get that jacket?

Tue, March 30, 2021

185. Looks Like A Nightmare On Light Street - Jessica Rae Sacco And The Killer Juggalos

In March 2012, the quiet town of Urbana Ohio (about 50 miles west of Columbus) was rocked to its core when a local murder became national news – not just because of the horrendous nature of the crime, but the affiliation of the perpetrators with a loose-knit “family” whose insistence on loyalty turned twisted beyond belief.  The victim, 21 year-old Jessica Rae Sacco , was found by her landlord, dead in the bathtub of the Urbana duplex she shared with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Matthew Puccio .  Jessica had been suffocated to death, her body partially dismembered and left behind in the bathtub.  And it was the partial dismemberment of the body – and the story behind it – that made this case so horrifying – both in its cruelty and its evil, unforgivable, incomprehensible stupidity.  Jessica had fallen in with Puccio, who she met online and was four years her senior, shortly after the young woman – who was bipolar and on medication – had moved in to the duplex on Light Street in Urbana.  Puccio moved in, convinced Jessica to go off her meds, and quickly invited his friends Andrew and Kandis Forney to live with them in the small duplex.  Jessica and the Forneys did not get along from the beginning – and, now off her medication, life became miserable for Jessica.  She and Puccio fought often, and on that fateful March day in 2012, after another fight (the background of which is disputed), Puccio first stabbed, and then suffocated, Jessica.  But here’s where the story turns bizarre and into pure evil.  It turns out that Puccio, the Forneys and – hard to believe it’s true – the other couple Puccio texted for help after he’d stabbed Jessica – Sharon Cook and Christopher Wright – were all part of a minor cult who call themselves “ Juggalos ,” fans of the hip hop/metal band Insane Clown Posse .  The Juggalo culture, while mostly harmless, projects an ominous and foreboding front – and its secretive, loyalty-based sense of “family” has produced more than its share of criminal activity over the years.  In the case of what happened to Jessica Sacco, that loyalty went beyond mere criminality and over the cliff into unimaginable depravity.  Suffice it to say that the five friends hung out together for FIVE HOURS with Jessica wounded by a stab wound before Puccio finally suffocated her – and then the parts of Jessica’s body that weren’t found in her bathtub were scattered by Puccio and his Juggalo brethren in various locations for reasons that, given the fact that they left most of the body to be found in the duplex, make sense only to the deranged.  Join Melissa as she goes over the deta

Tue, March 23, 2021

184. Looks Like A Bad Meeting At The High School Auditorium - The Very Solvable Murder Of Jay Smith

Sometimes it’s so crystal clear that a crime was committed, who did the crime, why the crime was committed and where to go find the bad guy – it’ll drive you nuts.  And that is pretty much the story of the disappearance of 23 year-old Austin “Jay” Smith exactly 28 years ago on March 23, 1993. when he left his home in the suburbs of Southern California's San Gabriel Valley and never returned.  It’s enough to make a sane person go mad.  Dig it:  We know Jay went to an appointment that evening, meeting a former employer who was renting audio-video equipment at a local high school – despite the fact that said former employer was furious with Jay for reporting him to the school for pocketing rental money for himself.  We know that when he didn’t return at the expected time, Jay’s girlfriend drove to the auditorium where she saw Jay’s truck and the former employer’s camper parked, and that when she banged on the auditorium door, the disheveled former employer opened briefly, only to slam the door in the girlfriend’s face.  We know that shortly thereafter, when the girlfriend drove back around to the auditorium, Jay’s truck was gone but the former employer’s camper was still there – and that Jay’s truck was found the next day just a few blocks from the auditorium – and that a witness states he gave the former employer a ride back to the auditorium late on the night of the 23rd when he saw him walking near where Jay’s truck was found – and that a barrel large enough to hold someone of Jay’s size was found to be missing the day after Jay’s disappearance…  …oh – and then there’s the fact that after initially being interviewed by the police, the former employer left town for TWO WEEKS without letting anyone know where he went.  In his camper.  Which had plenty of room to carry a barrel.  And 28 years later, the former employer has never been arrested.  See – Jay’s body has never been found.  And until recently, the Los Angeles County DA’s office simply didn’t prosecute “no body” cases.  That has changed – and for the past 8 years a dedicated detective named Richard Lopez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau has been doggedly pursuing answers – looking for that one shred of evidence or witness to put Jay Smith’s case over the top so he can make the arrest so many have been expecting for so long.  Listen in as Melissa relates this agonizingly simple-yet-impossibly-difficult story – and urges anyone who knows anything about what happened to Jay to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Tue, March 16, 2021

183. Looks Like Murder By The Side Of The Road - Finding Justice For Veronica Estrada - With Special Guest Ken Lewis

This week we focus on a murder from December 1993 that occurred literally less than a five-minute drive from the Homestead Studios – although long before Melissa and Producer Mark moved there.  The victim was a beautiful and accomplished 29 year-old martial arts instructor and black belt named Veronica Estrada, who left the studio where she was an instructor and, having had an argument with her boyfriend, decided to walk home instead of having him pick her up.  The next morning, after no one had heard from Veronica, the owner of the studio, Ken Lewis, and another instructor at the studio named Stuart Milburn, began walking the street that Veronica would have traveled, and eventually, Lewis spotted the young woman’s body off the side of the road and had Milburn run to a business across the street to call police.  Both Lewis and the police suspected strange things about Stuart Milburn from the very beginning – but wait – we’ll let  the man who was there tell you the story himself – because Ken Lewis is Melissa’s guest this week!  Take a listen as Ken tells Melissa about the early days of the case, the arrest and prosecution of Stuart Milburn – and how, after two mistrials that have resulted in Stuart Milburn’ s continued freedom to this day -  even the trial judge told prosecutors that Milburn is probably guilty, they shouldn’t bring a third trial unless better evidence emerges.  That’s where YOU come in, Tip-Sters.  After listening to Ken Lewis’ firsthand account of the events surrounding Veronica Estrada’s murder, maybe something will spark in YOUR memory that could help solve the case.  If that happens,  please call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.  

Tue, March 09, 2021

182. Looks Like Terry Meador Lost His Way - With Special Guest Detective Matt Wharton

This week Melissa’s special guest is the engaging (and really nice guy) Detective Matt Wharton from the Sweetwater County Wyoming Sheriff’s Office .  It’s definitely Big Country in Wyoming, and Sweetwater County is big indeed – the 8th largest county by land in the United States – with miles and miles of rugged beauty – and winters that are not advisable to take on alone unless you know what you’re doing and know your bearings.  And even then, you can get lost…which is exactly what appears to have happened to 74 year-old Terry Meador one cold day in October 2018, when he went looking for a place to hunt but never returned.  His pickup truck, abandoned and stuck in a rut, was found on an access road several days after his disappearance.  But as of today, no one knows what actually happened to Terry Meador, or where he (or his remains) might be found.  Melissa and Detective Wharton cover all the bases in this detailed interview, including a couple of side-tracks that may or may not mean anything at all…but might just trigger someone’s memory.  If you can help Detective Wharton solve this mystery and bring some peace to the friends and family of Terry Meador, give him a call at (307) 922-5345.

Thu, March 04, 2021

181. MURDERTIZER - Looks Like An Unassuming Interview - Melissa Chats With Dave Kimball

Hey Tip-Sters!  Surprise!!!  We have a special between-regular-episodes MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder)!  Last week Melissa appeared as a guest on a terrific podcast – the Don’t Assume Podcast hosted by Dave Kimball – a truly interesting and interesting guy who hosts people from all over the country from a wide array of professions and backgrounds and challenges his listeners to not assume they know what they think they know about those backgrounds and professions.  Naturally, who better for Dave to discuss true crime podcasts with than our own Melissa?  Enjoy this wonderful chat where you’ll have a chance to hear Melissa as the interviewee rather than the interviewer – and learn a few things you may not know about her!  Thanks to Dave Kimball – we highly recommend you check out the Don’t Assume Podcast for yourself!

Tue, March 02, 2021

180. Looks Like Chaos In Putnam County - Who Actually Murdered Josette Wright And Robin Murphy?

This week’s episode involves a twisted web of convictions (perhaps wrongful), acquittals (also possibly wrongful), the murder of a young woman and the disappearance and probable murder of a second young woman – all wrapped around two potentially really bad guys and one no-doubt-about-it nasty scumbag.  The story unfolds in tony Putnam County, an affluent New York City suburb north of Manhattan in southern upstate New York, where in October 1994 12 year-old Josette Wright disappeared.  Just over 13 months later, Josette’s remains were discovered.  Two young men – Anthony DiPippo and Andrew Krivak – were charged and, in 1997, convicted of Josette’s murder – in separate trials.  DiPippo has always maintained his innocence. Krivak confessed.  Seems simple.  Except…well, a couple of things.  It turns out that Krivak has claimed, almost from the moment he accepted his sentence, that his confession was coerced, and there’s evidence to indicate the investigator who questioned Krivak used tactics that may have led to a false confession.  And Anthony DiPippo?  Well.  He has been granted three separate trials – convicted the first two times and finally acquitted in the third.  So how can two men convicted of the same crime have been dealt such different outcomes?  It all revolves around our certified scumbag in this matter – one Howard Gombert, who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl in Connecticut in 2000 – and who is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of 17 year-old Robin Murphy in April of 1995.  Women’s underwear with Robin’s DNA on it was found in a trunk of what can only be described as “trophies” in the home of Gombert’s girlfriend – but with Robin’s body having never turned up, prosecutors have been unable to arrest Gombert for her murder.  And then there’s this:  there are ties between Robin Murphy, Josette Wright and Howard Gombert that make Gombert a more than reasonable suspect in both cases.  Add to all of this the fact that Anthony DiPippo’s original trial attorney had also represented…wait for it…Howard Gombert!  Join Melissa as she unravels the tangled facts and seeks to get to the bottom of who killed whom – and if you know anything about either case, please call the Putnam County New York Sheriff’s Office at (845) 225-4300.

Tue, February 23, 2021

179. Looks Like A Vanishing On A Rainy Night - Asha Degree's Mysterious Walk-Away

On the night before Valentine’s Day 2000 (which, like this year, was also part of a three-day Presidents Day weekend), a beautiful 9 year-old girl named Asha Degree and her ten year-old brother O’Bryant went to bed in their Shelby North Carolina home.  Sometime around 2:30 am, O’Bryant heard his sister go to the bathroom and return to bed – but when he was awakened in the morning by his frantic mother, he found out what the rest of the nation was about to learn – young Asha had disappeared.  And what made the whole thing baffling is that every indication was that Asha had left of her own free will.  There were no signs of a break-in nor anything else that would indicate anyone took her from the home.  Her backpack and some clothes were missing, indicating she had planned to leave.  Even more baffling was the fact that it was heavily raining the night/early morning when Asha disappeared.  A witness claimed to have seen her walking in the downpour, but when offered a ride she ran into nearby woods.  Would a nine year-old child really strike out on her own on a cold and rainy early morning?  If so, where was she going?  Did she plan on meeting someone?  If so, who…and where…and…why?  And why has Asha Degree never been found?  Or her remains – after all these years?  Melissa delves into the nooks and crannies of this disturbing unsolved disappearance – and as always – encourages anyone who knows anything about what happened to young Asha Degree on Presidents Day Weekend 2000, please call the FBI’s Charlotte North Carolina field office at (704) 672-6100.  

Tue, February 16, 2021

178. Looks Like Unrelated But The Same - Louise Paciarello And The Ladies Of Brownsville

Sometimes when researching a case, Melissa discovers threads that lead her in multiple directions.  Every once in a while one of those threads leads to a clue in the case she’s investigating.  But other times, they lead to cases clearly unrelated – but eerily similar – to the matter at hand.  This week’s episode brings together two such cases.  The cold case Melissa started researching involves the mysterious – actually downright strange – 2007 death of 78 year-old Louise Paciarello , a retired nurse’s aide who was a beloved neighbor and friend in her Yonkers, New York building and surrounding neighborhood.  Tiny, frail and lovely, Louise by all accounts had no enemies.  Yet for some time before her apartment was set fire by someone who had first strangled her, she had told friends some very troubling – and weird – stories.  She showed several friends a note, written on a napkin, from someone who wrote they’d been in the apartment while she slept – and even though she wouldn’t say who the note was from, expressed terrible concern that the writer knew where she kept her money.  She also claimed, just days prior to her murder, that she’d heard someone jiggling the doorknob of her newly re-keyed front door.  Spooky business – and no one has been arrested, whole thing got Melissa to wondering – who would do this to an elderly lady? How does one earn the trust of someone like Louise Paciarello?  And that bit of wondering led Melissa 28 miles south of Yonkers to the Brooklyn New York neighborhood of Brownsville , where just last month (January 2021) the arrest of one Kevin Gavin was announced by the NYPD . Gavin has been charged in the murder of Juanita (“Jenny”) Caballero on January 15, 2021 – but subsequently confessed to two other murders, in 2015 and 2019.  All three victims were female, all elderly and all residents of the same New York City Housing Authority apartment building.  Turns out Gavin did odd jobs for all three of his victims – which is why they likely trusted him enough to let him into their apartments.  He claims he killed all three women because of disputes over money.  But that doesn’t seem reasonable when one considers that each of Gavin’s victims were murdered in very different ways – all of which speak “serial killer” more than they do “where’s my money?”  Listen in as Melissa puzzles over these two places in such close proximity, focuses on the similarities of how four innocent elderly women were murdered and ponders the nature of those wh

Tue, February 09, 2021

177. Looks Like THEY Are Hiding Something - Uncovering Tamara Tigard

One day in March 1980, a member of the U.S. Army (her rank still not clear) named Tamara Tigard , who was living (or was she stationed?) in Las Vegas , went for a walk.  And then vanished.  One month later, 1,200 miles away near the small town of Jones, Oklahoma – on Tamara’s 21st birthday, as it happens – the unclothed body of a young woman was found in a shallow grave on the banks of the North Canadian River .  The body had been covered with “wet” lime, which, intentionally or not, had acted to preserve the body to a remarkable degree.  Even so, authorities could not identify the body – and no reported missing persons reports matched the dead woman’s description, so “The Lime Lady,” as she came to be known, was buried in an unmarked grave there in Central Oklahoma, leaving law enforcement with a mystery that would last for the next four decades.  Almost exactly four decades, as it turns out.  Because in 2020, through the unending determination of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office , in particular Captain Bob Green, familial DNA technology through assistance of The DNA Doe Project finally identified the “Lime Lady” as none other than Tamara Tigard,  who had disappeared 40 years before in Las Vegas.  But with that mystery solved, an entire universe of new questions arose.  How did this young soldier get from Las Vegas to Oklahoma?  Was she dead or alive when she arrived in Oklahoma?  Obvious suspects (such as Tamara’s ex-husband, who had a long rap sheet, have been vetted with no success.  There’s also the conundrum of Tamara’s manner of death – forensics experts have determined that she was not only shot with a .45 caliber handgun – she died with her clothes on – her shooter was actually walking toward, or charging, her as he (or she) was shooting.  So why was she buried with no clothes?  And just what was a member of the Army doing living in Las Vegas, when  no army base is located there?  And how come the Army continued to show Tamara as being on active duty even after she disappeared, never reporting her as AWOL or otherwise discharged?  And how about that “Tamara Tigard” living in Ohio who evidently stole Tamara’s identity – has that ever been looked into?  These are all mystifying questions that Melissa explores in this episode – and even though the crime happened 40 years ago, those questions even today leave the mind to wander from the mostly plausible to the possibly conspiratorial.   And of course, as is usually the case – even all these decades later, there must be someone still alive who knows the true story behind Tamara Tig

Tue, February 02, 2021

176. Looks Like A Spinoff Into Tragedy - The Senseless Murder Of Barbara Colby

This week’s sad and (like most unsolved cases) totally frustrating case was discovered when Producer Mark read a bio of Academy Award and Emmy-winning actress Cloris Leachman upon her recent passing.   In the article, a fascinating side note about the show “ Phyllis ,” a spinoff of the “ Mary Tyler Moore Show ” (which starred Leachman as the title character) mentioned that the spinoff lasted only two seasons, and part of the reason it didn’t continue was because of the deaths of three of its cast members, one of which, Barbara Colby , was murdered after only three episodes of the show had been filmed.  Naturally, this piqued Melissa’s interest – and so she delved into the case, and discovered that Colby and a fellow actor were not only gunned down for what appears to be no particular reason one July night in 1975 in Venice California – but that the case is still unsolved to this day.  Colby – only three weeks past her 36th birthday at the time of her death – had already worked her way into a solid career in television with a reputation as a versatile and creative actor, gaining guest-starring roles in such series as “ Columbo ,” “ The Odd Couple ” and “ Medical Center .”  Colby’s big break came when she was cast as “Sherry,” a savvy “lady of the night” sharing a jail cell with the hilariously naïve Mary Richards in a now-classic episode of the “Mary Tyler Moore” show.  Reaction was so positive that she was invited back the following season to reprise her role .  Those performances resulted in Moore’s production company handing Colby the role of Julie, Phyllis’ boss on the “Phyllis” sitcom.  But after only three episodes were in the can, Colby and her companion James Kiernan were walking to their car after teaching an acting class when they were suddenly approached by still-unidentified assailants who shot them both, fleeing the scene having stolen nothing and without any explanation of any kind.  Colby was killed at the scene; Kiernan lived long enough to describe the incident to police, but died that same night.  Listen in as Melissa describes the tragedy and some of the weird facts lurking in the background – and maybe, if you hear something that strikes a chord – you, dear Tip-Ster, can help solve this truly tragic and senseless crime.  If you thi

Tue, January 26, 2021

175. Looks Like A Puzzle Waiting For Its Missing Piece - The Otha Young Jr. Mystery - With Special Guest Virginia Braden

On October 10 1996, a 65 year-old retired eyeglass maker named Otha Young, Jr. , who had been admitted to a hospital in his hometown of Louisville Kentucky for a medical episode related to his Alzheimer’s - against the advice of the attending physicians and staff – checked himself out of the hospital, got in his car and headed north on Interstate 75 .  Along the way he was stopped by law enforcement and issued a traffic citation, and because he was driving without a license, the car was left on the side of the road and Young checked in to a Best Western hotel near the Northern Kentucky town of Florence later that day.  And that was the last documented evidence of Otha Young’s existence.  He disappeared without a trace.  His car was found very quickly by his daughter the next day – where it had been abandoned in an emergency lane along the highway.  But no Otha Young.  And no evidence of any kind as to what happened to him – it didn’t take long for the case to go cold.  Then eight years later, in November 2004, skeletal remains, clothing, a hotel key card and some other non-identifying personal items were found by city workers cleaning a storm drain about 30 feet from the highway.  It took the better part of a year before some excellent police work determined that the remains belonged to Otha Young Jr. – and that he had been murdered.  The case has been in active investigation mode ever since, with some fascinating clues emerging along the way – but it’s still more of a mystery than it is anywhere near close to solved.  Enter Virginia Braden , a Kentucky-based private investigator who has taken an interest in several cold cases over the years and has made it her mission to bring some comfort to families and loved ones of missing persons and unsolved murder victims.  Of all her cases, Braden has made the Otha Young Jr. murder investigation her greatest cause.  And there are some fascinating facts that have emerged along the way – as she describes it, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle, and there are scattered pieces just waiting for their companion pieces to be found, to fill in and solve it.  Join Melissa for her fascinating discussion with fascinating Virginia Braden – Melissa’s special guest this week – whose personal story is as compelling as any of the cases she follows.  In addition to her work as a P.I., she is also the author of multiple books, including “Life is Hard…Here’s Some Help,” whic

Tue, January 19, 2021

174. Looks Like Murder Made For Hollywood - Mabel Monohan And Barbara Graham

This week Melissa jumps into the Tip-Ster Wayback machine and journeys to the rough-and tumble era of 1950s Los Angeles , where corruption ran rampant, the mob still held sway, mean jamokes with ill intent lurked in the shadows –and where Hollywood influenced everything from clothing to language to the very news being home-delivered every day.  And right near the outset of that turbulent era – on March 9, 1953 – one of the decade’s most sensationalized murders took place on a quiet street in a tidy bungalow in suburban Burbank .  There, in the shadow of the recently relocated Warner Bros and Walt Disney film studios, a former Vaudeville and Tent Show diva – 69 year-old widow Mabel Monohan – was brutally beaten and left for dead by a gang of five robbers who believed she was hiding a large stash of money in a safe, neither of which existed.  Beaten and bloody, bound with a pillow case over her head, Mrs. Monohan died of her injuries – her body not found until two days after the botched robbery.  After a couple of confessions (and after the burglars killed one of their own who squealed to the cops) – three of the five were eventually put to death in California’s gas chamber .  Simple enough, right?  Well no, not at all.  That’s because one of the three capital murder defendants was a woman – a beautiful 29 year-old, thrice-married sex worker and heroin addict named Barbara Graham , who, with four male co-conspirators, plotted to steal $100,000 they believed Mrs. Monohan kept in a safe, as a favor to her gambler ex-son-in-law.  So Graham and her four cohorts made a plan to invade the home, tie up Mrs. Monohan, crack the safe, take the money and run.  It was Graham, posing as a young woman asking for help, who convinced Mrs. Monohan to open the door to the house.  The plan – obviously – went awry very quickly.  Mrs. Monohan was pistol-whipped and, when the would-be thieves fled after they realized no money was to be found, she was left on the floor, still bound, suffering from mortal wounds.  By the time arrests were made, the local press had successfully turned the allegations against Barbara Graham into an international cause celebre, making the beautiful young woman’s story into a plea for leniency and an end to the death penalty.  After Graham and the two other conspirators were executed, Hollywood picked up Graham’s story and turned it into a motion picture that won its star, Susan Hayward , an Oscar for Best Actress.  Join Melissa as she covers the full gamut of this timeless case of murder, sex, sexism and the relevance of the death penalty – especially against women – and how those i

Tue, January 12, 2021

173. Looks Like Unreliable Statements - The Disappearance Of Erica Baker

Melissa opens Season 4 with a vexing case out of Soutwest Ohio – the town of Kettering , where on February 7, 1999, nine year-old Erica Baker took her aunt’s dog for a walk and never returned.  The dog, with leash still attached, was found just an hour after Erica left the house.  And this disappearance is not just frustrating and sad (as all cold or missing person cases are).  It is also weird.  Because even though someone was arrested and convicted of being involved in young Erica’s death, it really…wasn’t…solved.  It seems that witness accounts indicated that Erica may have been struck by a van near the recreation center where the dog was found.  A crack addict by the name of Christian John Gabriel who with two others had been fleeing in a van after stealing from the local Meijer store, eventually confessed that he may have hit a girl while driving the van and that he and his accomplices buried the body at a local state park.  But then he changed the story – claiming one of the others – on Jan Marie Franks (now deceased) – was actually driving the van.  Today he claims that all of his confessions were untrue and that he wasn’t involved at all in Erica’s disappearance.  Police have spent innumerable hours and dollars looking for Erica’s remains based on Gabriel’s various confessions, but have never found anything.  Eventually Gabriel and his cohorts were convicted of the Meijer robbery – and Gabriel was convicted in 2005 of gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.  Gabriel served six years in prison and has been free since 2011.  And through all of this, no one has actually been convicted of killing Erica Baker – and neither she, her remains nor any sign of her whatsoever has emerged.  If you know anything that may lead to the truth about what happened to her – or where her remains might be found, please call the Kettering Police Department at (937) 296-2555.

Tue, January 05, 2021

172. SPECIAL: Smells Like An Incognito Interview

As a between-season special, we thought we’d pass along this delightful interview with Melissa from last week when she visited the YouTube Live channel for The Incognito Society and its host, Elizabeth.  In the interview, Melissa shares a lot about herself, her podcast, the relationship between podcasts and law enforcement, as well as a number of cases, including the vexing Delphi Murders out of Indiana, where Elizabeth and her channel are based, and upon which The Incognito Society and its followers focus much of their time searching for clues.  We want to thank Elizabeth for allowing us to share this interview with our Tip-Sters, and we invite all of you to take a look and a listen to The Incognito Society’s YouTube channel.  Melissa will be back next week with the Season 4 premiere of “JTT.”  Until then, we hope your new year is off to a great start!  Remember, if you have a tip of any kind that can help solve a crime or any mystery whatsoever,  you can call Melissa on the TIP-STER HOTLINE at (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837) or send an email to jttipsters@gmail.com.

Tue, December 29, 2020

171. Smells Like 18 Years Is Too Long To Wait - The Wideman Family Murders

Melissa wraps up Season 3 of the podcast with the tale of an horrific “family annihilator” mass murder from 2002 and the mysterious 18 year delay it took to bring a suspect to justice...mysterious because, right from the very beginning, all signs pointed – with big bright shiny, glowing arrows – to Jason Michael Walker , who was finally arrested on December 2, 2020 after nearly two decades following the murders in question.  And those murders were as grotesque and incomprehensible as they come.  On March 22, 2002, at approximately 3 a.m. local time, authorities were called to a burning house in the tiny town of Rebecca, Georgia .  Inside the rubble of the decimated structure, firefighters discovered the bodies of the Wideman family - Tommy John Wideman, Tommy’s wife Deborah, the couple’s 20 year-old daughter Melissa – and the 8-1/2 month-old fetus Melissa had been carrying – which had been cut out of Melissa’s womb and placed by the family’s dead bodies.  Tommy Joe, Deborah and Melissa were all determined to have been killed prior to the ignition of the fire.  For the next 18 years the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) , together with local authorities, worked to no avail to solve the grizzly multiple homicide.  Then suddenly, in late 2020 a grand jury was convened to present evidence against Jason Walker, including recent eyewitness testimony from someone who saw someone fleeing from the burning house – and the fact that Walker, who had been known to date young Melissa Wideman, had been confirmed through DNA testing to be the father of the fetus found at the scene.  The grand jury – at long last – handed down indictments on December 1, and Walker was arrested shortly thereafter.  How does a case like this go so long without being solved?  That is the troubling question asked by Melissa in this compelling episode.  THANK YOU TIP-STERS for supporting Just The Tip-Sters!  It’s amazing to realize we’ve now completed three full seasons – and we owe YOU everything!  Melissa’s taking a brief one-week break between seasons – and the podcast will return on Tuesday January 12, 2021 with a brand new season of more fascinating cases, enlightening guests and YOUR TIPS (oh and of course more cowbell)!  In the meantime, Happy New Year to one and all!  Remember, if you have a tip of any kind that can help solve a crime or any mystery whatsoever,  you can call Melissa on the TIP-STER HOTLINE at (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837) or send an email to jttipsters@gmail.com   Please consider SUBSCRIBING to Just The Tip-Sters over at Apple Podcasts, then RATE and give us that five-star REVIEW! You can also listen and sub

Tue, December 22, 2020

170. Smells Like Flim Flam Namaste - Buddhafield And The Attraction Of Cults

On this special episode, Melissa explores the phenomenon of outlier religious or alternative followings – otherwise known as cults.  At the center of this fascinating discussion, Melissa focuses on the still-operating community known as  Buddhafield – currently situated in Hawaii.  The cult is the subject of the 2016 documentary “ Holy Hell ,” which was made by former cult member Will Allen, with footage taken mostly from his years as the Buddahfield’s official documentarian.  Started in the 1980s by an out-of-work actor named Jaime Gomez (who soon thereafter changed his name to “Michel, Andreas, The Teacher or Reyji”) as a sort of hybrid of Eastern and Western new age philosophies, Buddhafield attracted kindred souls in the often-vacuous and lonely landscape of West Hollywood.  Gomez’ followers tended to be young and beautiful – encouraged to wear as little clothing as possible (the leader himself was known for years to wear nothing but a speedo) and to remain celibate.  Which, it turns out, is a difficult thing to hold onto if you’re half-naked, young and beautiful and surrounded by nothing but other half-naked young and beautiful people.  So ridiculous was the hypocrisy that cult members began to refer Buddhafield as “Bootiefield.”  But there were darker aspects to life within the cult – as his cult grew, Gomez gradually began to consider himself God incarnate.  His followers became servants – opening every door, carrying chairs on their backs so he could sit whenever he pleased.  But even darker were the allegations from former members of emotional and sexual abuse by “The Teacher,” allegations which were consistently denied by Gomez and remaining cult members alike.  In the meantime, the lighthearted, freewheeling spirit that had attracted so many to him began to drain from the cult leader as he became more of a shadow of a person and only a shell of a man.  As she discusses the incredibly compelling history of Buddhafield, its move from California to Texas and then finally to Hawaii (where it still exists as a much smaller, but still devoted, cult), Melissa explores her own relationships with current and former members of alternative spiritual compulsions (i.e. cults) as well as age-old questions as to what attracts (almost always) educated, intelligent and creative people to the prison of cult life.

Tue, December 15, 2020

169. Smells Like A Lifting Fog - The Cheryll Spegal Case With Special Guest Beth Rowland

On October 19, 1971, ten year-old Cheryll Spegall was last seen running to catch the bus to school near her home in Highland Heights, Kentucky.  No one saw her after that.  No one, that is, except her murderer.  Whoever that person is (or was), he has never been caught.  Not yet, that is.  Cheryll’s lifeless body was found nearly two weeks later, buried under a pile of rocks in a remote area in neighboring Pendleton County, by a milk truck driver who just happened to pull over at that particular spot on the way to his last stop.  While Cheryll’s family and friends have never stopped searching for Cheryll’s killer all these years later, it has really been over the past three years that the case has taken on a new life – a spark that has ignited a fire of interest by law enforcement as well as a wide range of people who never knew the young girl – many who weren’t even born yet when the murder occurred.  The catalyst for this sudden and dramatic interest in a 49 year-old unsolved homicide?  One person – namely, Melissa’s guest on this episode.  Her name is Beth Rowland, one of the most dedicated and whip-smart amateur sleuths we’ve ever met.  A music teacher by day, Beth’s interest was ignited years ago when, on a date with her then-boyfriend (now husband), she learned of a mysterious “man on the porch,” an older gentleman who liked to watch passersby from his front stoop that the locals all told themselves to stay away from because rumor had it that he had “killed a girl” back in ’71.  Fast forward to three years ago, when at a family dinner, Beth’s curiosity about the case compelled her to ask her mother-in-law, who lived near the Spegal family home at the time, what she knew about it.  The answers only increased Beth’s interest, and soon she started a blog, “ Gone in the Fog ,” which now has nearly fifty chapters, both in text and in audio, about her personal journey and her investigation into the murder – and how in the process she has compiled as much or more investigative data as the police themselves.  Take a listen to Melissa’s fascinating hour-plus interview with Beth Rowland and prepare to want to get involved yourself!  If you have any information about the disappearance and murder of Cheryll Spegal, please call the Kentucky State Police Post 6 at (859) 428-1212.

Tue, December 08, 2020

168. Smells Like A Complicated Partnership - DNA, Science And Justice

Ever since the mid-1980s, when Sir Alec Jeffreys first developed “genetic fingerprinting” which soon came to be known of DNA profiling , forensic science has not only become more important in crime-solving than in the previous several hundred years combined, its potential for making it almost impossible to commit a crime in the first place seems to grow exponentially with each passing day.  To be able to decode the secrets of DNA – which exists in the cells of virtually all living organisms and is for all practical purposes unique to each, and then break down that information into a practical form that can be used to definitively mark one individual over anyone else with certainties, the odds against which run into numbers that exceed the world population many times over, still seems like a miracle.  Even more miraculous has been the latest extrapolation of DNA profiling, forensic genealogy , which can take even trace samples of human DNA and, utilizing DNA data from public websites (most notably GEDMatch ) designed to link branches of family trees for ancestry research, to find previously unidentified perpetrators and victims of crimes.  In this episode Melissa discusses the remarkable successes of forensic genealogy and struggles with the privacy issues companies like GEDMatch, Ancestry.com and 23andMe are facing – and the balance society is still trying to find between its desire to bring criminals to justice and simultaneously protect the rights of the individual.

Tue, December 01, 2020

167. Smells Like A Hunting Trip Into Oblivion - The Ed Nichols Case With Special Guest Detective Coy Cox

Murderers are evil – and yes they’re evil because they take the lives of innocents – but also because of the lives and futures they affect for those left behind.  Sometimes the murder itself is so disturbing or maddening that it’s easy to forget that the friends and colleagues – and particularly family –  who are left to pick up the pieces of a murdered or disappeared loved on are often victimized  themselves.  Broken marriages, depression – even suicide – can all rear their heads in the residue of a killer’s actions.  Especially when you don’t know where the victim is – and you can’t prove who it was who did the killing.  But sometimes the loved ones of the victim overcome the temptation to give up and simply decide to find answers – whether they’re helped by the police or not.  Such is the story of the three living sisters of one Edward (“Eddie”) Nichols of Gallatin County, Kentucky, who went hunting with a friend (or should we say “friend”?) on December 3, 1974 at a place called Shady Nook Bottoms in neighboring Boone County – and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.  Since that time – for 46 years now – Eddie’s family has refused to give up the search to bring him home.  And to their credit, the Boone County authorities, after initially dropping the ball, have not let go of the case either.  On this episode, Melissa interviews returning guest Detective Coy Cox of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, who currently leads the Nichols investigation, to go over the known facts of the case and to suss out some possible answers to this most perplexing disappearance – and the persistence of three loving sisters who won’t let their brother’s memory fade for even a moment.  

Tue, November 24, 2020

166. Smells Like Crystal Rogers And Will Cierzan Updates

This Thanksgiving week Melissa updates a couple of unsolved missing person cases – one we’ve not yet covered but which has been covered extensively and one we’ve covered extensively and almost no one else has…and as with all unsolved cases, it’s a mixed bag.  The first update has to do with the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers , the then 35 year-old mother of five from Bardstown Kentucky who went missing during the Independence Day holiday.  The last person to see Crystal was her live-in boyfriend, Brooks Houck, who claims that Crystal was playing video games on her phone when he went to bed on the evening of July 2, 2015, only to find Crystal and her car gone the next morning.  Two days later, Crystal’s Chevrolet was found with a flat tire, abandoned off the side of the Bluegrass Parkway – its keys in the ignition and her purse and phone left behind.  The case has been analyzed in detail by several podcasts, most notably the serial Bardstown .  In this episode of JUST THE TIP-STERS, Melissa updates the Rogers case and the recent news stories regarding remains found in July 2020 near where Crystal’s car was found, and the FBI investigation into those remains.  The other update concerns the case that most significantly caused Melissa to start this podcast – the 2017 disappearance of Will Cierzan here in Melissa’s current home town of Santa Clarita, California.  Melissa has covered the case and its progress in Episodes 4 , 64 , 120 and 149 .  Will’s wife Linda Cierzan came home from work on the evening of January 26, 2017 to find the chicken Will had made for dinner out of the oven; his car keys, cell phone and wallet on the kitchen counter – and Will gone.  In a case so frustrating as to be unbelievable, the police investigation took more than three-and-a-half years to arrest the only obvious suspect in the case, Will’s nephew Daniel.   Daniel had admitted to being at his uncle’s house early in the day to watch a golf tournament on TV, but claimed to have left for home by 1:30 pm (a claim backed by Daniel’s dad – Will’s brother Chuck Cierzan.  Father and son were both proven to be lying when a neighbor’s

Tue, November 17, 2020

165. Smells Like An Exorcism Of Logic - Paul Bateson, Addison Verrill And The Six Unknowns

You wanna hear a really creepy ghost story?  Well…actually…a really creepy satanic possession story…or something? Try this on for size: Guy gets really good at his job.  So good that he’s given a cameo doing his job in one of the biggest horror movies of the century.  A movie whose set became legendary for weird accidents, injuries, fires – even deaths! – during its making…and a few years later, same guy gets arrested for knocking his gay hook-up over the head with a frying pan and then stabbing him to death…and to top it off, same guy seems to be pretty much the person who killed at least six other unidentified men, dismembering them, then packing them into garbage bags that get thrown into the Hudson River. Not very believable.  Except that it’s a true story. It’s the story of Paul Bateson , the alcoholic radiological technologist whose delicate, caring manner in performing the cerebral angiography procedure on children at New York University Medical Center caught the eye of film director William Friedkin , who cast Bateson as the technologist performing the procedure on the character of young Regan MacNeil, the possessed girl at the center of Friedkin’s film adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s “ The Exorcist .” Seems like quite the feather in Mr. Bateson’s cap – something to build a highly successful career on.  Right? Unfortunately, no. Troubled from youth and battling alcoholism his entire life, Bateson fell deeply into his addiction in the years following the release of the movie, and ended up losing is job at NYUMC. Now working odd jobs and trying to find a way to get back to working in radiology, Bateson fell off the wagon again in 1977 and, in one weird, wild night, he met, hung out with, drank with, went home with, and then murdered renowned Variety film journalist Addison Verrill in Verrill’s New York City Apartment. The circumstances around Bateson’s capture and arrest are fascinating, and Melissa recounts the twists and turns in that case – including Bateson’s release on Parole and his subsequent fade-away into obscurity, where even though someone using his name and Social Security Number was certified as deceased in 2018, it can’t be proven to be the same person.  Weird.  But wait, there’s more – a lot more.  You see, it turns out that during the 1970s prior to Bateson’s arrest, there had been a string of murders of young men in New York – six altogether – each of whom had been murdered and mutilated, their cut-up bodies placed in garbage bags

Tue, November 10, 2020

164. Smells Like A Vanishing On Route 19 - Diane Augat's Long Walk To Nowhere

Diane Louise Augat did not have an easy life.  Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her early 30s, she lost her marriage and custody of her children as she was forcibly institutionalized 32 times between 1990 and 1998.  Living the best life she could, protected and watched over by family who cared for her, Diane was living with her sister in Odessa , a tiny town located in Pasco County, just north of Tampa, Florida when, on April 10, 1998, the sister left the house briefly and returned to find Diane gone.  At least one witness reported seeing Diane wandering on U.S. Highway 19 the following day, April 11.  On April 13, Diane’s mother received a telephone call from Diane in which it sounded like her daughter was in a struggle for the phone and pleading for help – and then quickly hanging up.  Then, two days after that, on April 15, a stranger on her way home along Route 19 spotted what looked like a dismembered finger on the side of the road – and fingerprinting confirmed it had belonged to Diane.  But no blood.  No other body part.  Nothing but the tip of a finger.  Then things get really weird.  Two weeks after the disappearance, a bag containing some of Diane’s neatly-folded clothing was discovered in an outdoor freezer behind a convenience store where Diane’s sister worked.  But wait.  Get this:  TWO YEARS LATER,  a local newspaper ran a story on the continuing search for Diane – and the VERY NEXT DAY after that article was published, Diane’s brother walked into a completely random convenience store in Pasco County and there, on the counter next to the lottery tickets, with zero explanation, sat a plastic bag with the name “Diane” written on it – and inside the bag were a container of black eyeliner, a bottle of Taboo perfume, a tube of bright pink lipstick, and a tube of generic toothpaste – all things Diane’s mother said she would have been carrying.  Are you the person who can unravel this wild mystery and provide the clue that will finally lead to the truth about what happened to Diane Augat?  If so, send an email to jhatcher@pascosheriff.org or call the Pasco County Sheriff’s office at (800) 854-2862, ext. 7723.

Tue, November 03, 2020

163. Smells Like Ingenious Genealogy - With Special Guest David Mittelman

There is absolutely no doubt that a new era in crime-solving was introduced with the bombshell announcement in the spring of 2018 that the four decades-long search for the infamous and evil Golden State Killer had been solved utilizing publicly available DNA data and applying the science of genetic genealogy .  In the two-and-a-half years since Joseph James DeAngelo was brought to justice, more than 120 cases have been solved using genetic genealogy techniques and committed, hard-working law enforcement professionals.  Oh.  And scientists.  Let’s not forget the scientists.  People like Paul Holes (a biochemist who became a police investigator to solve crime) or Barbara Rae-Venter , a genealogist and attorney who – in retirement – became one of the leading experts in the field of genetic genealogy…and then there are the new pioneers – those scientists who are now taking crime-busting through the use of DNA to previously inconceivable new levels.  One of those new pioneers is David Mittelman , the CEO of Othram Labs , which is based in suburban Houston, Texas.  Mittelman and his team at Othram are breakthrough experts in the science of genomics , and they have created the first non-government, private lab designed specifically for the recovery and analysis of human DNA from even some of the most partial, degraded or contaminated specimens.  Othram works solely with law enforcement – and in its short history has already solved a raft of some very difficult cold cases, including at least one that is more than one hundred years old .  Most recently, the rapist/killer of five year-old Siobhan McGuinness 46 years ago in Missoula Montana was identified using Othram’s technology.  As Dr. Mittelman explains in this episode’s fascinating interview with Melissa, the technology available today can digitize – and therefore preserve forever – even the most degraded (and otherwise degrading) DNA data.  Combine that fact with the application of genetic genealogy, and there is virtually no limit to the possibilities of solving crime.  If an offender leaves any sort of DNA evidence behind, it is now more likely than ever before that he

Tue, October 27, 2020

162. Smells Like: Who Would Do This To Big Tom Biedenharn?

This episode takes us back to the Tri-State area (the Cincinnati Metro Area), where Episode 147 took us in an overview of the Bill and Peggy Stephenson murder investigation out of Kenton County Kentucky.  The Stephensons were murdered in their townhome on a quiet suburban street over Memorial Day weekend in 2011 under strange circumstances.  Across the other side of the Ohio River, to the northwest and about half an hour’s drive from the Stephenson residence, sits Hidden Valley Indiana , where in 2018, 73 year-old Tom Biedenharn (known to friends and neighbors as “Big Tom” because of his imposing physical size at 6-feet-7-inches and his oversized, smiling, gregarious personality) was living in happy, active retirement.  A former basketball star in his high school and college playing days, Big Tom was spending his golden years in service to his community.  Ever on the move, Tom not only his money donating to help those in need – even more impressively, he spent hours and hours of his time volunteering, and counseling ex-convicts and other forgotten souls through life coaching and personal interaction.  By all accounts, Tom Biedenharn was beloved.  Which is what makes what happened on Memorial Day weekend 2018 – exactly seven years after the Stephenson murders – so puzzling.  After speaking with a family member on the morning of the Saturday before Memorial Day, Tom was not heard from again.  But this was not unusual, as he was often out of contact due to his busy schedule – and he had another place in the country where he and his girlfriend often got away.  The neighbor next door had voluntarily closed Tom’s open garage door on that Saturday, seeing it had been open and figuring Tom had left without closing it.  But when Memorial Day itself came around with no sign of Tom, the neighbor called a family member to report his concern.  And when the family member arrived, it was noted that the door from the garage to the house was completely locked – something Tom never did – making it impossible to get inside without breaking in.  Then when the family member walked around and looked through the back sliding glass door, Tom could be seen, lying on his back, on the floor inside the home.  Since Tom had recently undergone minor surgery, the family member assumed Tom had passed out and needed medical attention – and called 911.  But when the door from the garage was finally broken down, it became clear that Tom was no longer alive.  Evidence soon indicated that he had been murdered, and that more than one perso

Tue, October 20, 2020

161. Smells Like Multiple Updates - Tanqueray And Scott Peterson

This week’s episode updates two podcasts from the first season of JTT – Episode 16, which focused on the weird death of Vicki Morgan, who had been a sort of paid mistress to Alfred Bloomingdale and (sometimes) his high powered friends – and Episode 19, which told the tale of Grade A Asshole Scott Peterson – who may or may not have murdered his wife Laci and the couple’s unborn son back in 2002.  The Vicki Morgan case took a fascinating turn over the course of this year when photographer, writer and blogger Brandon Stanton began filling the pages of his Humans of New York blog with stories of one Stephanie Johnson, who in her younger days as a burlesque dancer in New York was known simply as Tanqueray .  Stanton’s publication of Tanqueray’s stories have made her a social media star at 76 – and her fans have raised over $2.5 million dollars through crowd sourcing to make sure her rent and medical bills will never be a worry,  But it’s those stories – and those stories of stories – that brings Tanqueray to the Vicki Morgan murder.  Let’s just say that the rumors of Alfred Bloomingdale’s powerful friends being given “access” to Vicki have just gotten a lot more credibility – turns out Vicki and Tanqueray were good friends back in the day – and what Melissa’s found out about one of those powerful men is…well…you’ll just have to listen…  Scott Peterson’s case, on the other hand, is filled with about as much subtlety as a knock on the door with a bulldozer.  A total douchebag, Mr. Peterson behaved so badly in the aftermath of Laci’s disappearance, a lot of people (including Melissa) think he’d have been convicted if a video had surfaced showing someone else killing Laci.  Yeah, the jury hated him and just assumed he was guilty.  And probably, he was – but looking at this almost 100% circumstantial case, it’s hard to say with a straight face that he was convicted on anything.  In August of this year, the California Supreme Court vacated Peterson’s death sentence – and now, just this past week, that same High Court ordered a re-examination of Peterson’s conviction itself – signaling the possibility of a new trial and possible acquittal.  Like.  Wow.  Melissa takes a look at some of the reasons this may have happened – including the shocking revelation that one of the jurors at Peterson’s trial may not have been the most upstanding citizen.

Tue, October 13, 2020

160. Smells Like The Eyes Of A Hurricane - How Katrina Found Dana

This week’s episode is the third in a row wherein Melissa looks at a case revolving around a state of emergency – the first two are still technically unsolved – this one is solved but every bit as fascinating.  Dana Marie Surette Pastori, who was known as "Polly" to her friends and to her customers at the Bourbon Street restaurant in New Orleans where she last worked in 2002, had lived a turbulent life.   Divorced from her first husband and estranged from her two daughters by the courts after she had taken them to Puerto Rico to spare them from poor treatment at the hands of the girls’ new stepmother, Dana was also not particularly connected to her own parents.   Dana had recently taken up with a delivery driver at the restaurant, one John Henry Morgan – and the two were living together in New Orleans in 2002 – the last time anyone was sure they’d seen her.  Because she was heard from so rarely by her parents, it hadn’t seemed strange to Dana’s father – a police officer in nearby South Carolina – that his daughter hadn’t been in contact with him at all for three years when – in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Big Easy with a vengeance.  At that point, Dana’s dad figured he’d better check in with his daughter to make sure she and John Morgan – whom he presumed Dana still lived with – were okay.  What turned up was a mystery.  Dad found Morgan – but Morgan said that when he and Dana had received their Katrina relief checks from FEMA, Dana had taken off for Europe.  And at first, this seemed entirely plausible.  Dana, you see, was constantly on the move – restless and always itching to live somewhere new.  She routinely told friends that she longed to move to Europe to become a writer.  So her dad, at first, figured that Morgan’s story made sense.  But after a while, his law enforcement instincts compelled him to check a little further.  When he learned that Dana hadn’t filled a prescription for her medical condition since 2002 – and that she hadn’t worked at the restaurant since that time either, suspicions grew.  But there was nothing he could point to that could garner an arrest of anyone.  That’s when John Morgan’s former landlord got involved.  And a cheap, old fiberboard trunk that Morgan had been moving with him for years was opened.  And the horrific truth of what happened to Dana “Polly” Pastori was finally revealed.  Listen in as Melissa digs in to the details of a tragic story of a scattered life turned into a life ended far too soon by one of the most callous (and callously stupid) murderers to ever slime his way through the streets of New Orleans – and the pain and loss experienced by her youngest daughter, who never had a chance to really know her mom – left only with a raft of journals Dana had written during her short life that can never be enough to fill the void of a lost childhood.

Tue, October 06, 2020

159. Smells Like A Staged Disappearance - No Justice For Michele Harris

Last week’s episode concerning the disappearance of Sneha Philip right on the cusp of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11/2001 got Melissa to thinking about other cases revolving around major national emergency events.  And so this week’s episode is about someone else whose disappearance – this one occurring just the day after 9/11 – is still a mystery and whose killer has never been convicted – although the authorities thought for sure they had identified that person…and arrested him…and tried him…FOUR TIMES…  Michele Harris was splitting with her husband, Calvin (“Cal”) Harris , and the split was not going well.  Both living together in separate wings of the Harris estate in rural upstate New York pending a drawn out finalization of their divorce, things had gotten nasty between Michele and Cal by the time the summer of 2001 had rolled around.  The main issue appeared to be money – how much of a settlement would Michele accept from her multimillionaire soon-to-be-ex husband?  If you asked Cal, he’d say way too much.  If you asked Michele, she’d say all she wanted was an appraisal of all of Cal’s holdings so that she could walk away with a fair amount.  Turns out the issue never had to be resolved.  That’s because the morning after the WTC attacks, Michele was nowhere to be found anywhere in the house.  Cal, who had to leave for work, called the babysitter to come over to take care of the kids until Michele got home.  It’s when the babysitter showed up that things got strange.  Driving into the property, she saw Michele’s minivan parked at th end of the long driveway, keys still in the ignition.  It was when the police showed up to investigate that Cal Harris began to engage in a series of behaviors that led the authorities to make him the prime suspect.  Which got him arrested.  Which resulted in one tossed indictment, three mistrials and finally an acquittal – fourteen years after Michele’s disappearance.  The problem with Cal, you see – setting aside the question of whether he was responsible for Michele’s ultimate fate or not – is that he can’t seem to stop himself from being a giant jerk.  He never seemed concerned about Michele; sold her stuff just weeks after she disappeared, took up with an old flame not long after that and just generally acted like a dee eye see kay, if y’know what we’re saying.  So was Cal Harris righteously accused of Michele Harris’ murder?  Or is he an innocent man wrongfully brought to trial simply because

Tue, September 29, 2020

158. Smells Like A Phantom At Ground Zero - The Evaporation Of Sneha Philip

The recent anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 was once again a moment to pause and reflect on the awful events of that day, and the heroism of so many people from all walks of life who helped remind us all of the humanity we all share.  So many souls were lost that day – the official count is nearly 3,000 – and even after all this time there are so many missing who have never been physically identified – only presumed – as victims of the attack.  In this episode, Melissa tells the story of one of those presumed, but never proven, to have died as a result of the 9/11 attacks – and the mystery and intrigue that still surrounds her disappearance.  Sneha Anne Philip was a physician, living with her husband Ron Lieberman (also a practicing physician) in lower Manhattan just a few blocks away from what came to be known on Ground Zero.  On the day before the attacks – Monday September 10, 2001 – Ron left for work and left Sneha – who had the day off – at the apartment, where she planned to contact her mother in India for a chat and then run errands around town.  That was the last Ron saw of her.  Sneha was later seen that day – September 10 – caught on security video shopping at a clothing and home goods store.  Credit card records later revealed she bought a set of sheets, three pairs of shoes and some lingerie.  None of those items have ever turned up.  The mystery deepens when the details of Sneha’s personal life (both known and supposed) become clearer.  Was she killed sometime on the 10th?  Did she spend the night somewhere unknown with an unknown friend or lover?  Did she witness the attack on the WTC on her way home on the morning of the 11th and run to help people and lose her life doing so?  Here’s a case so filled with questions that you, our beloved Tip-Sters, may well feel compelled to do some research on your own.  You won’t soon forget this story – and you will definitely be hooked on the mystery.

Fri, September 25, 2020

157. MURDERTIZER - Smells Like Tenacity Wins Again - Carla Jan Walker Update

Earlier this year, in Episode 130 , Melissa retold the story of a terrible and terribly unsolved murder out of Fort Worth Texas – the tragic 1974 abduction and killing oif 17 year-old Carla Jan Walker.  Carla and her boyfriend had just attended the Valentine’s dance at Carla’s high school and were doing what young lovers do in the front seat of the boyfriend’s car, in the parking lot of a local bowling alley that was popular with teenagers.  Suddenly, the passenger side door opened and an unidentified man grabbed Carla and pistol-whipped her boyfriend into unconsciousness.  The last words he heard Carla say before he passed out were “go get daddy!”  Just three days later, Carla’s body was found in a culvert close to nearby Lake Benbrook.  She had been violently sexually assaulted and strangled.  For more than 46 years, the case remained unsolved – there were guesses and solid leads, but all of them fell apart.  All that ended this week when a total stranger to Carla’s life – a 77 year-old churchgoer with a spotless record, a family and a secret he was able to keep until he was finally nabbed by DNA technology and an immensely dedicated team of law enforcement professionals who, through several groups of detectives through nearly five decades, never gave up and finally caught their man.

Tue, September 22, 2020

156. Smells Like 1881 In 1981 - Ken Rex McElroy And The Vengeance Of A Small Town

If you’ve never experienced small town life, it’ll be almost impossible to comprehend the now-infamous tale of tiny Skidmore Missouri and the day nearly forty years ago that forever changed it.  That day – July 10, 1981 – was the day 47 year-old Ken Rex McElroy was gunned down in cold blood, in a hail of gunfire, in broad daylight while sitting in his truck alongside his wife, on Skidmore’s Main Street, with several dozen of its citizens surrounding the truck.  And yet, almost four decades after the fact, not a soul has admitted to seeing what happened.  How does this happen?  How does an entire town close ranks and keep a secret of such an unbelievably deadly act for so long?  The truth hides in the cracks of a story so wild it begs credulity.  It is a story of the sort of raw brutality and menace usually only found in cheap novels and overly broad morality plays.  It turns out that Bad Guys who are Bad Guys just for the sake of being Bad Guys do exist in this world.  And maybe the worst of the worst was the victim in this story – Ken Rex McElroy himself.  “Town Bully” is the name usually tagged on McElroy – but he was so much more than that.  An amazing force of dark nature, his subsistence – in fact, his entire existence - consisted of appropriation of that which he did not own,  rape, intimidation, destruction of property and the use of a shotgun against people he decided, at his whim, were his enemies.  Those enemies included not just the law, but parents of the 12 year-old girl he declared belonged to him, when those parents objected to his announced plans to marry their daughter.  Or the owner of the local general store, whose wife had asked the simple question “have you paid for that?” when she saw one of McElroy’s children with a piece of candy from the candy counter.  Add to all of this the complete absence of any police, and a County Sheriff’s office that was so intimidated by McElroy it completely abandoned the town of Skidmore to an ever-present sense of dread, waiting for the bully’s next outrage.  Join Melissa as she recounts McElroy’s life and the years and the days leading up to that incredible moment on an otherwise peaceful summer day on Main Street, when an entire community seems to have decided to revert to 19th Century wild-west justice and end the dread of its own volition – and the ramifications of that decision on the soul of Skidmore that will last forever.  You can learn more about the McElroy case in two excellent books Melissa refers to in this episode: In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean (which was also made into a

Tue, September 15, 2020

155. Smells Like Tragic Attraction - The Scorecard Killer Part Two

What makes a prolific serial killer like Randy Kraft – who authorities say brutalized, sexually assaulted and mutilated at least 61 (and almost certainly more unknown) young men in Southern California, Oregon and Michigan in the 1970s and early 1908s – prolific?  How is it possible for such a large number of victims to fall prey to someone who is inarguably a monster?  The answer appears to be that the best monsters know how to transform their image so that they appear as the exact opposite – as genuine, good people.  And that is a terrifying thing to realize.  In this, the second of two parts focusing on Kraft – the so-called “Scorecard Killer” because he had a list of nicknames of all of this victims – Melissa takes a closer look not just at the trial and interminably delayed prosecution in this horrific case, but  at the question that most of us ask after serial killers are discovered: How could so many get tricked into Randy Kraft’s trap?  In the stories of the only two survivors known to experience the darker side of Kraft and survive, Melissa presents us with a chilling reality: The most accomplished sociopathic killers make their victims want to go along with them, and don’t have a clue as to the monster’s real intent until it’s far too late.  If you have any information that you think might help law enforcement identify any unidentified victims of Randy Kraft, you can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 267-4800.

Tue, September 08, 2020

154. Smells Like Randy Kraft Is Evil Incarnate - The Scorecard Killer Part One

For more than a dozen years, from the early 1970s through the early 1980s, Randy Kraft , a callous and truly sinister serial killer, terrorized young men and boys throughout Soutern California.  His crimes, which included several in other states as well, were some of the most horrific and brutal ever seen by law enforcement.  Kraft was convicted of 16 murders – which involved everything from torture, sodomy, emasculation and other unspeakable acts – and is suspected of killing as many as 67 in total.  A book found in the trunk of his car on the night he was arrested included “code” names of 61 suspected victims – all having something to do with where and how he found or killed them.  Police have, since the time Kraft was arrested, tied 45 of those names (including the 16 he was convicted of killing) to victims whose mutilated bodies were found thrown on freeway offramps, parking lots and even in the middle of the road over his long run of evil.  That sinister book of code names has led to Kraft being dubbed “The Scorecard Killer.”  In the first of a somber two part series about Kraft, Melissa discusses each and every one of the victims he was convicted of killing, describes all of the “code” names on Kraft’s deplorable “scorecard” and finally focuses in on the 16 names in that book who remain unnamed and unclaimed – and will always remain that way unless someone out there recognizes a clue and offers help – because to this day, Kraft (who has remained on California’s Death Row since his conviction in 1989) denies having killed anyone and refuses to talk.  Listen – and say a prayer for the victims and their loved ones – but above all, listen for clues in any of Kraft’s bizarre code names that might provide help to law enforcement.  If you have any information at all that you think might help, you can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 267-4800.  NOTE: There are a variety of Southern California freeway names (as opposed to route numbers) mentioned in this episode.  If you are interested in mapping them, you can find information on all of the mentioned freeways at Wikipedia’s page on SoCal freeways here .

Tue, September 01, 2020

153. Smells Like A Possible Serial Victim - The 1978 Long Beach John Doe

It’s the big Tuesday after the Big Thursday of last week, when our gal got her first taste of TV fame in her home town of Cincinnati – and it’s time to get back to the business at hand with a brand new episode...In June of 1978 the body of a young man – aged 15 to 19 years old – was discovered face down on a back street/alley/parking lot in Long Beach, California.  He was well dressed.  His body appeared to be healthy – there were no drugs found in his system.  There were no signs of sexual assault.  He had been strangled to death.  There was nothing on his person to identify him other than a stamp on his wrist that indicated he had been to a bar or a club or a sporting event – or some other venue where he had paid for admission.  While the crime scene was very near a popular gay bar, it was impossible to determine whether the stamp came from that establishment or somewhere else.  Who could this young man – a child, really - this “Long Beach John Doe” - be?  He was clearly well-taken care of; someone somewhere must have missed him.  But no one has ever sought or claimed him.  It is these cases that haunt and vex and form the reason Melissa started this podcast – to shed light on the forgotten deceased – to find their loved ones – to bring them home – and to seek justice for their untimely end.  And therein begins the quest to determine if Long Beach John Doe could have been the victim of one of the country’s most evil serial killers – Long Beach native Randy Kraft (also known as the “Scorecard Killer,” the “Southern California Strangler” and the “Freeway Killer”).  Kraft was convicted in 1989 of the rape and murder of 16 young boys and men between 1972 and 1983 – and is suspected of the murders of up to 53 others.  Melissa will be focusing on Kraft and his horrific exploits starting with our next episode - and be prepared - it's disturbing stuff.  Kraft was known for keeping a private “scorecard” of his victims – giving each of them nicknames.  One of the nicknames in his book – the only one that could not be verified – is “Parking Lot.”  Could that be the young man found in 1978?  Kraft isn’t talking.  But in this episode Melissa is pleading for Tip-Sters to review the case, look at this young man’s face and search their memory banks – could he be someone you remember going missing all those years ago? If so, PLEASE call the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office at (323) 343-0512 or the Long Beach California Police Department at (562) 570-5703.   *****     *****  And a REMINDER: If you have not yet listened to Episod

Tue, August 25, 2020

152. Smells Like The Pathology Of Pathology - With Special Guests Drs. Nicole Croom And Jordan Taylor

Even though Nicole Croom (originally from Stockton California) and Jordan Taylor (originally from Waterbury Connecticut) grew up 3,000 miles apart from each other, both of the two young women found themselves fascinated with pathology – specifically forensic pathology – you know: the science of cutting into dead bodies to see what’s what.  As it happens both Nicole and Jordan found themselves first year pathology residents at the University of California at San Francisco – where, at a mixer held for all pathology interns, they discovered they had even more in common than just their love of forensic pathology and became fast friends.  Both huge fans of true crime podcasts, Nicole and Jordan began to become frustrated with the lack of scientific knowledge imparted – particularly with regard to their chosen field - during all those stories of murder and mayhem.  Nicole began to (at first) joke with Jordan that they should start a podcast to focus on the stories of forensic pathology imbedded in some of true crime’s most fascinating cases.  And then…suddenly…a website was built…recording equipment was acquired and…voila!  Dead Men Do Tell Tales – starring Drs. Nicole Croom and Jordan Taylor – was born!  Now more than a year after starting their podcast, Nicole and Jordan have developed a loyal following of medical professionals and a lot of folks who just love learning about the human body (including Melissa Morgan!) in a straightforward, intelligent and completely accessible format.  Jordan and Nicole join Melissa on this episode from San Francisco to talk about their podcast, their lives and the devotion to, and love of, their  work.  A terrific, immersive conversation with two incredible, smart, fun and important scientists.   If you have a show idea or just a question for the Dead Men Do Tell Tales podcast, you can send an email to Jordan and Nicole at TheDeadTellTales@gmail.com

Tue, August 18, 2020

151. Smells Like The Truth Is Out There - Randy Sellers Update

40 years ago this past weekend, on August 16, 1980, 17 year-old Randy Sellers went to the Kenton County, Kentucky Fair to meet with friends and hang out.  Sometime during the evening, he had too much to drink, got into a fight, took a swing at one of the policemen who responded to the scene and was eventually taken away in a squad car.  He has not been seen or heard from since.  In early 2019, on Episode 69 of Just The Tip-Sters, Melissa interviewed the detective then assigned to the case.  Then earlier this year on Episode 121 , Melissa revealed the wild series of events that occurred after she visited Kenton County to poke around the case in the autumn of 2019.  Suffice it to say that if you haven't listened to those past episodes, now is the time.  In this episode, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Randy's disappearance, Melissa recaps the case, focusing on the story told by admitted serial killer Donald Leroy Evans , who led law enforcement on a protracted and needless wild goose chase claiming he was the killer - the more likely scenario of what really happened that night at the County Fair, and reinforcing the fact that this case is completely solvable - right now - and that if anyone knows anything about the disappearance of Randy Sellers, the Kentucky State Police want to hear from you - and you can call them at (859) 428-1212.

Tue, August 11, 2020

150. Smells Like A Warning Sign - Animal Cruelty, John Thompson And The Krystal Scott Case

57 years ago psychiatrist J.M. Macdonald   wrote a paper published in The American Journal of Psychiatry entitled "The Threat to Kill," in which he proposed that there is a link between three childhood behaviors - persistent bed-wetting past the age of 5, an obsession with fire and fire-starting, and cruelty to animals - and violent behavior, most notably homicidal and sexually predatory behavior.  This formula for criminal behavior has come to be known as The Macdonald Triad, and while the theory is still debated by criminologists and criminal psychologists to this day, statistics over time have tended to bear out its worth.   This is particularly true of the characteristic of animal cruelty.  Time and again studies have shown a distinct tie between those who torture and/or kill animals and behaviors of sexual deviancy, serial murder and - as discussed in this episode - terrorism.  One of the leaders in the charge to convince law enforcement to take seriously the extensive data on animal cruelty as it pertains to criminal acts against humans has been John Thompson , currently the e Executive Director of the National Animal Care & Control Association. Melissa shares this incredible man's story - how a police professional who never thought of animal abuse as anything other than an "animal control" issue came to realize how the treatment of animals could help predict future behavior through his own relationship with a beloved dog he fell in love with completely by accident.   Melissa then shifts to a recent story out of Kokomo Indiana, where 19 year-old Krystal Scott, who is alleged to have tortured and killed numerous dogs, cats and reptiles and posted her deeds on social media, was caught because of the diligent work of some crafty Internet crime fighters some 1,800 miles away in Boise Idaho.  Listen in for a compelling discussion on the importance of stopping and apprehending animal abusers early - and how "citizen sleuths" can work as a community to aid law enforcement in making that possible.

Sat, August 08, 2020

149. MURDERTIZER - Smells Like Progress - Will Cierzan Update

One of the very reasons this podcast got started nearly three years ago was that Melissa became involved with her local community in searching for a man who seemingly disappeared into thin air back in 2017.  As far as Linda Cierzan knew, her husband, Will Cierzan was at home making dinner on the evening of January 26, 2017.  But when she entered the house upon returning from work, a chicken was sitting out of the oven,  Will’s personal belongings (including his wallet and keys) were out in the open and Will was nowhere to be found.  Melissa covered this case in Episodes 4 , 64 and 120 – the first, second and third anniversaries of Will’s disappearance.  As covered in those episodes, while the search for Will himself is frustrating, the frustration that comes from the fact that the people who are responsible for his disappearance were still free was even more frustrating.  Well some of that frustration has now been dissipated.  On this MURDERTIZER, Melissa breaks the happy news that law enforcement has finally made an arrest – one that has been anticipated for a long time.  There’s still a way to go – and another potential perpetrator still uncharged – but progress seems to be the word of the day in this incredibly sad story.

Tue, August 04, 2020

148. Smells Like Rotten Excusers And True Crime Abusers

On this episode Melissa gets real about a couple of true crime-related issues - one about those delightful folks who use (far too) easy racism as a way to excuse or further their awful or simply stupid deeds - and the other involving the very nature of the True Crime genre itself.  We start off with a silly story from a detective contact Melissa converses with from time to time - involving a car, a gun, an alleged carjacking, a bullet hole in a...er...um...very personal part of the male anatomy - and a "victim" who isn't really a victim at all.  We follow that up with the story of one Hannah Potts, a 23 year-old woman living in rural Gibson County, Indiana - who, with a couple of idiot friends, perpetrated a hoax abduction in which Ms. Potts herself was the "victim," terrifying her family, friends and loved ones, and tying up law enforcement resources for days - all in the cause, evidently, of writing a novel.  Right.  And what do these two stories have in common?  A simple, sad and unfortunately tried-and-true scapegoat - the fictional African-American male with a gun.  Melissa reflects on the evil of this worn out trope - and unleashes on those who continue to use it.  Then - Melissa tackles one of the most nagging criticisms arising out of the popularity of True Crime - is the genre taking advantage of the suffering of victims in the service of entertainment?  Does any actual good comes from it?  Well.  Melissa answers the question with an unequivocal YES - and explains why.  A fascinating and compelling discussion.

Tue, July 28, 2020

147. Smells Like A Gruesome Puzzle - The Stephenson Murders - With Special Guest Detective Coy Cox

Just across the Ohio River and a few miles south of downtown Cincinnati lies the quiet suburban community of Florence, Kentucky.  It was there, in an average condominium on a quiet residential street in the community of Oakbrook , on Memorial Day weekend, when Bill and Peggy Stephenson were brutally murdered in the early morning hours of May 29, 2011.  And they were murdered for reasons - and by people - no one has yet been able to determine.  Unsolved murders are, unfortunately, not a rarity - but it isn't often that an unsolved case is simultaneously so disturbing and so puzzling as are the Stephenson murders.  Both 74 years old when they were killed, Bill and Peggy were beloved members of the community.  Members of their local Baptist church, Peggy was the church's organist; Bill ran a ministry at a local truck stop for truckers who couldn't be home for Sunday services, and performed charitable work in his home of Boone County as other parts of Eastern Kentucky.  Who would have killed such a well-respected, elderly couple is mystery enough.  But the strangeness of this case runs far deeper.  The Stephensons' bodies were staged at the scene after their deaths.  And the perpetrator - or perpetrators - placed odd items from the condominium both on and around the bodies but also in every room of the dwelling.  Detective Coy Cox of the Boone County Sheriff's Department - Melissa's guest this episode - was on the scene on the day of the murders and has been investigating the case ever since.  A fiercely determined law enforcement professional from the git-go, Detective Cox has taken the Stephenson case to heart and has dedicated himself to solving their brutal murders.  And here's the thing:  Detective Cox believes this case is solvable - he is certain that there is just one small grain of evidence - one tiny piece of the puzzle - that someone, somewhere knows that could finally bring justice to whomever committed these heinous crimes.  You can contact Det. Cox directly by phone at (859) 334--8496 - or send a tip via email to stephensontip@boonecountyky.org - and of course you can always leave a message for Melissa on the TIP-STER HOTLINE at (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837) or send Melissa an email at jttipsters@gmail.com

Tue, July 21, 2020

146. Smells Like Adventure In Grand Theft Auto - With Special Guest Vic Ferrari

Sometimes the life of a cop can be filled with danger and even terror.  Sometimes with grief none but those wearing Blue can even begin to comprehend.  But a police officer's day is also filled with a never-ending parade of examples of the weirdness and wonder of the human species - and oftentimes those examples can be amazing in their complexity and/or rife with outrageous (and sometimes gruesome) hilarity.  So goes the second career of retired 20-year NYPD veteran Vic Ferrari , who has spent his post-police life writing books about his life in law enforcement - such tomes as "Through the Looking Glass: Stories from Inside America's Largest Police Department" or (Melissa's favorite title) "Dickheads & Debauchery and Other Ingenious Ways to Die" have made Ferrari one of the most entertaining American crime writers.  In his latest book, "Grand Theft Auto: The NYPD's Auto Crime Division," Ferrari ventures into some of the most colorful, strange and downright wild stories from his years chasing after car thieves - those who work by themselves and those who work in groups using some incredibly complex schemes.  In a midsummer break from murder (serial, mass, solved and unsolved), Melissa sits down for a conversational joy ride with Vic, who talks about the new book and just generally reminisces about his days on the Force.  Enjoy!

Tue, July 14, 2020

145. Smells Like Mass Murder Times Two - The Limb Collector (Baton Rouge Serial Killers - Part Four)

In this episode, the last of a four-part series on what came to be known as the "Baton Rouge Serial Killers," we meet Sean Vincent Gillis - the "other" of the two evil men who rained terror upon women in South Louisiana in the late 90s and early 2000s.  The "original" killer, whom Melissa dubbed "The Key Collector" (because of his penchant for keeping victims' keychains as souvenirs) was Derrick Todd Lee , whose murders, arrest, conviction and death while awaiting execution were chronicled in the first three parts of the series.  Gillis was arrested for the rape, murder and mutilation of three women in the Baton Rouge area in 2004, a full year after Lee was finally brought down.  But Gillis, unlike Lee, once he knew his goose was cooked, became a complete chatterbox, and with little or no coercion by law enforcement, immediately admitted to five - five! - additional murders of five additional female victims over the previous decade.  Gillis' crimes were in many ways even more gruesome than Lee's, as Gillis tended to keep body parts of his  victims - whom he dismembered in his house- in the freezer (hence Melissa's dubbing Gillis "The Limb Collector") - all while his girlfriend - unbelievably - remained clueless until the night he was arrested.  Give a listen as Melissa retells Gillis' awful story - how he was nearly set free when the police inadvertently violated his Fifth Amendment rights - and how Gillis actually kept a file on Derrick Lee, his horrific namesake, so he could compare notes.  Shivers...

Tue, July 07, 2020

144. Smells Like Somebody Should Have Listened - The Key Collector Part Three - With Special Guest Chief David McDavid

When you're a veteran cop in a small town, with a deep knowledge of your community and the bad guys in it - and you're smart and everyone knows it...well...you'd think that when a serial killer is loose in your backyard and your years of experience with, and detailed documentation about, one bad guy in particular points as clearly to that bad guy as being said serial killer - you'd think the eggheads and profilers and federal law enforcement hoo-hahs in charge of the case would pay attention to your evidence and perhaps look into that bad guy to maybe, you know, prevent new murders from happening.  Think again.  David McDavid is one  of those folks in law enforcement you want to be around when trouble starts.  A veteran plainclothesman, detective and now Chief of Police in the small Baton Rouge suburb of Zachary Louisiana, Chief McDavid noticed a pattern of behavior in the murders committed by  the notorious Baton Rouge Serial Killer, who terrorized South Louisiana from as early as 1992 to 2003, and a miscreant peeping Tom he'd come across for many years - one Derrick Todd Lee.  McDavid long considered Lee a prime suspect in the killings, but because Lee was African-American and profilers (on the slimmest of evidence) had decided that the killer was white, no one listened.  Until a solid sketch provided by a survivor of one of the attacks finally set the investigation in motion to arrest Lee.  In this episode, Melissa interviews Chief McDavid about his experience with Derrick Todd Lee and the Baton Rouge Serial Killer investigation - and it's a fascinating and even educational look into the precise and steady workings of a humble, dedicated police professional who never cared who got the credit - but who simply wanted a very dangerous, very evil man off the street.

Tue, June 30, 2020

143. Smells Like This Goes Way Back - The Key Collector (Baton Rouge Serial Killer) Part Two

The string of murders that eventually led to the realization that a serial killer was on the loose in Baton Rouge Louisiana began  on when the body of 41 year-old Gina Wilson Green was found murdered in her home near the LSU campus on September 24, 2001.  But by the time Derrick Todd Lee was finally unveiled as the terror known as the "Baton Rouge Serial Killer," it became clear that his trail of rape, torture and murder almost certainly began much earlier - perhaps a decade beforehand.  In Part Two of her exploration of this most fascinating serial killer, Melissa details the discovery of each of Lee's victims, going backward and forward in time to reveal a maddening series of misunderstandings and misreadings of the killer's basic identity until DNA technology -  Lee's sole survivor and her son - and an outside-the-box-thinking Chief of Police in a nearby town finally spun a web around him and brought him down.  Equally fascinating is how the varied methods of murder used by Lee confounded behavioral scientists for years - for the simple reason that he was simply just too stupid to try to fool the behavioral scientists!  Truly instructive and truly chilling.

Tue, June 23, 2020

142. Smells Like A Predator In Baton Rouge - The Key Collector Part One

Beginning in 1993 and continuing for a full decade thereafter, dark haired women were being murdered in and around the river town of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The means and methods of the murders were not consistent, leaving law enforcement baffled as to who their unknown suspect might be.  It turns out that the man the cops were looking for was one Derek Todd Lee, who the press came to call the Baton Rouge Serial Killer.  A lifelong jailbird with a rap sheet as long as the Mississippi River and - it turned out - a history of behavior in committing his crimes that should have tipped off law enforcement long before it finally did, Lee had the habit of stealing his victims' car keys - which is why some (including us) prefer to refer to him as "The Key Collector."  As if his crimes weren't bad enough, a lax judicial system and statutes of limitation that just don't make sense made it possible for Lee to continue his killing spree when he should have been in prison.  But the weirdest part of this story is the presence of a SECOND serial killer working Lee's territory at the same exact time.  But more on that later.  For now, listen in as Melissa covers the main points of  Derek Lee's evil killing spree - and sets up Part Two, where the story gets more detailed, more complex - and a lot more strange.

Sun, June 21, 2020

141. MURDERTIZER - Smells Like A Mid-June Roundup

Sometimes there's just too much to talk about at the top of a podcast without getting in the way of the episode's main subject matter.  And so far this June, there are three separate cases that Melissa would have mentioned at the top of JUST THE TIP-STERS if they had happened at different times - but they all converged at once!  All three are cases that Melissa isn't planning on doing an episode on - not just yet anyway - two of them are new and one of them is a well-known existing case with stirring new developments.  So instead of trying to jam them all in at the top of next week's podcast, Melissa decided to covert them all in a special first-weekend-of-the-summer MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder)!  So enjoy your Sunday stroll, Tip-Ster - and get caught up on some very interesting cases in the news!

Tue, June 16, 2020

140. Smells Like A Forty Year Waiting Game - How Never Giving Up Solved Carolyn Rose's Murder

Carolyn Rose was a driven, successful real estate agent working in suburban Pensacola Florida when one day, after she didn't return from a mid-day home showing, her colleagues drove over to the empty house to find her car still parked in the driveway.  Inside the empty, brand new home they found Carolyn's crumpled nude body, hands bound - and dead.  She had been raped before being strangled.  The 47 year-old Rose had left no notes behind indicating who she was to meet at the showing, which had obviously been a setup by the murderer.  After chasing down and eliminating their one and only solid lead, police had nowhere to go.  But here's where solid police work and determination prove once again to be the key in solving hard cases, especially ones like this.  It turns out that even in 1978, the Escambia County Florida Sheriff's Homicide Squad collected every single piece of evidence at the crime scene and preserved it with intensive care.  And then, every single year - every year - on the anniversary of Carolyn's killing, the detectives re-tested whatever they could from that preserved crime-scene until...at the beginning of June 2020 - 42 years after the murder - DNA testing of that preserved evidence finally got a hit - and the murder was solved.  Take a peek with Melissa at a very old crime solved with very new technology by some very dedicated law enforcement heroes - and share the tragic unfairness of a legal system that released Carolyn's murderer 18 years early from a previous conviction, just in time to give him the opportunity to commit his heinous offense.

Tue, June 09, 2020

139. Smells Like A Lousy Day For A Break-In - The Unfortunate Fate Of Shane Snellman

When Tracy Trudgett got the news in late 2018, she passed out. Tracy hadn't seen her brother Shane Snellman, since she visited him in prison nearly a decade before. Tracy and Shane had been separated from their father when they were just children - raised in a convent and then foster parents  when the New South Wales authorities refused to let dad have the kids back due to his single parent status. Shane had not had an easy life - falling in with the wrong crowd and resorting to breaking and entering and other petty crimes, he had been released from prison in mid-2012 and then, after just a few months, seemingly fell off the face of the earth. But then Bruce Roberts died. Roberts was, according to his neighbors in the Sydney suburb of Greenwich - an oddball - a bit of a hermit and, it turned out, a rabid hoarder - as bad or worse as the kind of hoarder you see on those reality shows about hoarders.   When Roberts stopped being seen in his neighborhood in 2017, police entered the home to find him dead on the floor from what the coroner determined was a heart attack. The home was filled with so much clutter and dust and filth, it was shuttered and eventually turned over to Roberts' relatives, who took  well into 2018 to settle his estate. It was only then, more than a year after his death - once the family sent crews in to clean the house and prepare it for sale - did the full extent of Bruce Roberts'...er...eccentricities…come fully into the light - and the police to come knocking on Tracy Trudgett's door with the sad - and downright weird - news of her brother Shane Snellman's demise. Join Melissa as she relates the details of one hoarder's six-year secret, and the unlucky fellow who decided to break in and rob the wrong house.

Tue, June 02, 2020

138. Smells Like Dirty Rotten Solvable - The Assassination Of Edward Berber

So hold on just a minute.  Let's get this straight:  Guy was murdered in his home.  All the doors were locked. No broken or open windows.  All the locks had been recently changed except the French doors in the bedroom.  The only person known to have a second key for those French doors is guy's soon-to-be ex-wife, whose new live-in boyfriend hates guy's guts and - in more than one written email and more than one recorded voice mail message - has threatened to kill him.  And 15 years later, there have been no arrests.  Waitwut?  So goes the story of Edward Berber, a solid working dude living in Hacienda Heights, an L.A. bedroom community, just trying to better his life, take care of his kids and maybe even get back together with his wife. - and whose 27 year-old life was cut short in a way that SEEMS pretty cut and dried.  But as we've learned, Tip-Sters, the fact is that sometimes "cut and dried" is more like "gnawed and moldy" when it comes to solving a murder.  And when the initial investigators drop the ball on a case like this, it can take years to correct the screw-up.  The good news is that the homicide detectives with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department now working Edward Berber's cold and disturbing assassination from 2005 are hot on the tail of closing this case - but they need your help.  Listen in as Melissa is joined on the phone by Detectives Rob Martindale, Bill Cotter and Gina Eguia, who go over the details, explain the problems with, and propose solutions to bringing the perpetrator of this awful crime to justice, whomever that may be.

Tue, May 26, 2020

137. Smells Like We're Coming For Ya, A**holes - The Murder Accountability Project And How YOU Can Help

Since 1980, more than a quarter of a million unsolved homicides have occurred in the United States - which is more than all U.S. military deaths since the end of WWII.  And here's the maddening truth about those unsolved cases - there is no centralized agency in the United States dedicated to keeping track of cold or inadequately investigated murders.  Unbelievably, the statistics we read about murders in America are only estimates.  Projections.  This is because local police and sheriff's departments only provide data that they want to provide - there is no federal standard for such reporting, and no single place to hold the data even if such a standard existed.  Enter Thomas Hargrove, the retired reporter-turned-justice warrior,who in 2015 founded the Murder Accountability Project ("MAP"), a nonprofit organization dedicated to tracking and accounting for unsolved U.S. homicides. Gathering data provided by multiple federal, state and local governments, MAP publishes it all, enabling anyone - even YOU - to investigate patterns in unsolved murders, figure out how often your local law enforcement agencies clear homicides - and look at individual cases reported to the FBI or obtained by MAP through Freedom of Information Acts.  Listen in as Melissa tells Hargrove's story, describes the frustration he has experienced when law enforcement pays no attention to his research - including one serial killer he identified after seven women were killed in Indiana - and police didn't pay attention until the murderer was caught after taking seven additional victims.  But mostly, take note of how YOU can use the data MAP collects to do your own research and perhaps find patterns in your own community that could lead law enforcement to seek out the bad guys.

Tue, May 19, 2020

136. Smells Like A Flat Out Cover-Up - The Non-Suicide Of LaVena Johnson

In one of the most rage-inducing cases she's covered so far, Melissa investigates the outrageous circumstances surrounding the official suicide of U.S. Army PFC LaVena Johnson while stationed at the Balad Air Base in Iraq in July 2005, just eight days shy of here 20th birthday.  And we put the emphasis on "official" because the "official" position of the Army is...well..."suspect" is the kindest word we can think of.  It took LaVena's family a lot of time, effort and connections to even see photos of the scene where the military insists the beautiful native Missourian set her hand on fire, bit herself on the shoulder, bashed in her own face in so hard that an eyeball came loose, poured lye into her own genitals, then shot herself with a rifle - with her toe - while she was wearing her fully-tied shoes.  No way, says the Army, that she could have been beaten, raped, mutilated and then shot by one or more brutal killers.  And oh, the multiple additional "suicides" of female soldiers at Balad in recent years is just a coincidence.  No, really.  Share the outrage as Melissa describes the awful facts of this case and the absolutely heroic and unrelenting search for the truth by LaVena's family - particularly her father, who will not give up until the real story of his daughter's death is revealed.

Tue, May 12, 2020

135. Smells Like Dead In The Water - The Death Of Abdi Sharif - With Special Guest Stephanie Kinney

18 year- old Abdi Sharif lived with his family in Des Moines, Iowa.  He and his sister both worked at a local Target store to help support the struggling household.  By all accounts a happy, friendly kid, Abdi intended to spend some time with his friends on a snowy night at the mall where the Target Store is located on a snowy January 17, 2020.  He was last seen walking on a road near the mall, and then - nothing.  Nothing for  three-and-a-half months, until Saturday May 2, when Abdi Sharif's remains were found near the north bank of the Des Moines River, some four miles away from where he was last seen.  Melissa is joined on the phone this episode by Private Investigator Stephanie Kinney, who was brought into the case by Abdi's family when it became clear that police were treating the case, more or less, as an instance of someone simply walking away from his life - this despite the fact that Abdi was happy, showed no signs of depression, desperation or even frustration, and had never indicated to anyone that he intended to do anything like abandon his family.  A tireless seeker of facts and truth, Stephanie spent every spare hour of her time searching for Abdi - and now that his body has been found, she intends to work just as hard to seek the truth about his death - and make sure law enforcement doesn't push the case aside as a suicide or accidental death.  If you have information on the death of Abdi Sharif, you can contact the Des Moines Police Department at (515) 223-1400 or Stephanie Kinney at C.R.O.W.N. Investigation Services at (563) 206-4778.

Tue, May 05, 2020

134. Smells Like A Slow Road Out Of Chico - The Disappearance Of Bryce Laspisa

Bryce Laspisa was having problems.  What sort of problems, he wouldn't say.  But at the end of August 2013 it was pretty clear to his friends - and his girlfriend - up in the far-Northern California town of Chico, where Bryce was attending a local community college, that something was not right.  The young redhead had started giving some of his prized possessions away.  He told his mother - who lived 500 miles away in Southern California, that he had some big problems that he needed to talk to her about...but he wouldn't go any farther than that.  So his mom  told Bryce to get in his SUV and drive home so they could figure out how to solve Bryce's problems.  Hence begins one of the strangest, most disturbing road drip ever documented - and it was, in fact, documented - right up until the part of the story where Bryce Laspisa's traile disappeared into the warm early morning California air.  Join Melissa as she traces the bizarre trek of a confused and likely deeply disturbed young man on a deeply disturbing rod trip into oblivion - where his actions can't be explained but only guessed at and where his journey ends with a crash off a cliff and a trail back to a truck stop - and then - nothing.

Tue, April 28, 2020

133. Smells Like A Grandmother's Wish - Uncovering Crystal Marler's Killer

In October 1998 15 year-old Crystal Marler disappeared from her home in McCreary County Kentucky after being out with friends and - evidence suggests - briefly returning to the house. Where she went, and with whom, remains a mystery.  As too often happens when a teenager vanishes, the authorities did not take Crystal's disappearance as anything much more than a case of a runaway.  That perception only got stronger when no trace of the young woman could be found...until eleven years later,when Crystal's remains were found by local hunters, and the autopsy revealed that she had been brutally bludgeoned and then shot.  And yet, though the case is still classified as an unsolved homicide, Crystal's extended family appears to have done far more investigative work than the police - and no suspect has ever been arrested.  Leading the charge on behalf of Crystal's family is her grandmother, Lorella Wood.  Now 85 years old and afraid she'll never know the truth about her granddaughter's killer(s), Lorella is hoping that someone - anyone - who knows the truth - or even a part of the truth - will step forward.  Lorella joins Melissa by telephone to talk about her beloved Crystal, the rumors surrounding who may have been responsible for her death, and the pain of not seeing the monsters who took her granddaughter brought to justice.

Tue, April 21, 2020

132. Smells Like Dedication - The Jeffrey Lynn Combs Case And The Mission Of CUE - With Special Guest Jerry Sigmon

This time around we focus not just on another missing persons case where we KNOW that SOMEONE knows something that could close it - but also a look into an amazing organization working hard to solve that case and dozens of others around the United States.  The case: 41 year-old Jeffrey Combs from Wilkesboro North Carolina, a sweet and caring fellow who, after a hard-knocks youth filled with tragedy, death, jail time and even partial paralysis, had begun to pull his life together in October 2008.  By then, Jeff was living back in Wilkesboro with his mother Lucy.  After befriending a homeless couple - after opening his mom's home to that couple - and after that couple was ejected for bad behavior, Jeff found unwanted trouble.  His moped - which he needed to get around - was stolen, and when he was sure he'd found it down at the homeless encampment where his former friends lived, by all appearances he headed there to retrieve it - and was never seen again.  There is near certainty as to who the (now deceased) killers of Jeff Combs were - but no one  who could help prove it has stepped forward.  And so Jeff's mom Lucy has been left for the past 11-plus years in limbo,  not knowing where her son is.  And that brings us to the heroes of that amazing organization - it's called The CUE Center for Missing Persons - CUE stands for "Community United Effort."  Lucy Combs  turned to this national group of volunteers for help, and the angels of CUE have been by her side ever since - and will stay by her side until Jeff's case is solved.  Joining Melissa on the phone is Jerry Sigmon, CUE's  Western North Carolina State Director, the CUE volunteer who has been with Lucy Combs f rom the moment she turned to the organization.  Jerry discusses not just the Combs case but the mission and operation of CUE - a true blessing to families of the missing - as well as the tragedy in his own life that drew him to become a CUE volunteer.  If  you know anything about the Jeffrey Lynn Combs case, PLEASE contact the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office at (336) 903-7600.  If you'd like more information on the CUE Center for Missing Persons, visit their website at http://www.ncmissingpersons.org  

Tue, April 14, 2020

131. Smells Like A Bouquet Of Miracles - Jennifer Morey And The Will To Survive

25 year-old Jennifer Morey had just moved into her Houston,Texas-area apartment - her very first - on April 14, 1995.  She went out to dinner with friends to celebrate her move-in, then had a  friend drive her home, where she went to bed in her brand-new place...and then around 4 am on April 15, Jennifer was awakened to the terrifying realization that she was being straddled by a stranger with a knife to her throat - and who was about to rape her.  As she struggled and screamed, she was horrified to hear this complete stranger call her by name - "calm down Jennifer - stop screaming Jennifer" - and when she wouldn't, he slashed her throat.  Then he threw her into the bathroom and left her there to bleed out.  But  Jennifer Morey is a survivor.  And she was determined to live.  And so she did, with the aid of a small set of what can only be described as miracles.  And she is alive today after experiencing one of the most horrific events any woman could ever imagine.  Listen in as Melissa retells Jennifer's story, details the identity of the godawful human trash who attacked her - as well as those miracles that surrounded her that frightening morning.

Tue, April 07, 2020

130. Smells Like A Nightmare At The Valentine Dance - The Abduction Of Carla Walker

It was sometime after midnight in February 1974, not long after the Valentine's Day Dance at Western Hills High School had ended in the Fort Worth suburb of Benbrook, Texas.  17 year-old Carla Walker and her boyfriend, high school football star Rodney McCoy, were in the front seat of Rodney's mom's 1969 LTD doing what teenage couples in love tend to do in cars on a Saturday night.  Suddenly,the passenger side front door flung open, Rodney was repeatedly pistol-whipped and Carla, who was dragged out from underneath him,told the man - or was it men? - to stop hitting her boyfriend - that she would go with him/them.  "Go get Daddy" were the last words Rodney heard Carla shout as she was taken away - and just before he passed out.  Just three days later, Carla's body was found in a culvert in a remote area near Benbrook Lake.  She had been tortured, raped and strangled to death.  Rodney, who had bruises and cuts from his attack, could barely describe the assailant(s).  To this day, Rodney can't say for certain who beat him and abducted Carla.  The case became the most-reported case in Texas in 1974 and is still one of the most sensational unsolved murder mysteries in the state's history.  Listen in as Melissa goes over all the known facts of the case - including a blockbuster letter received by police just days after Carla's body was discovered which was just released by the authorities last year - and the far-too-coincidental min-life story of one William "Ted" Willhoit - a nasty character who may just be at the heart of solving this case once and for all if but for just one crucial tip from someone who knows something they're unwilling - or too afraid - to tell.

Tue, March 31, 2020

129. Smells Like A Little Boy Lost - The Mystery of Dennis Doe

In 1999, the remains of a young boy, probably no older than five or six, were found in a cemetery in DeKalb County Georgia - just outside of Atlanta.  The remains were compelling - and heartbreaking.  The boy had obviously been well taken car of - obviously loved.  The attire was impeccable - his clothing was new, clean and not inexpensive.  He had clearly been dressed by a caring parent - probably his mother.  His boots were a special type found only in the Atlanta area at the time.  So one would think the police had a lot to go on.  But no.  Not only has it been impossible over the past nearly 21 years to determine the identity of this beautiful child - named "Dennis Doe" by the police because they could not be so cold as to identify him as simply another John Doe - there was absolutely no evidence within the remains to indicate how he died.  Was he murdered and left at the cemetery by the killer?  Did he get sick and die suddenly, leaving his parents panicked?  Had he been kidnapped?  No one knows.  Because - unbelievably - with the exception of a couple of leads that have led police into complete dead-ends,no one has come forward to even suggest who Dennis Doe really is.  Listen in as Melissa details the evidence that exists, the strange and frustrating tips that have gone nowhere - and the hope that exists in the simple knowledge that someone - somewhere - knows who this boy is and has the key that will unlock his story.  If you know anything about this case, or even think you might, we urge you to call the DeKalb County Coroner's Office at (404) 244-2600.

Tue, March 24, 2020

128. Smells Like More Than Just The Dogs Got Rescued - With Special Guest Jon Grobman

Here's a major change of pace to bring a little springtime to your soul in this weird winter of our discontent - a stirring story of human redemption through the beauty of giving to, and caring for, other living beings -  which, in turn, redeems and restores  the lives of humans who find in themselves in the most dire of circumstances.  Jon Grobman, in his own estimation, was not a good person in 2005 when he was sentenced to six separate 25 years-to-life terms plus 40 years in prison (that's a total of 190 years-to-life if you're counting), all for repeat non-violent offenses.  Faced at a still-young age with the inevitability of dying in prison, Jon looked at the totality of what his life had been up to that point and decided that no matter what, he was going to spend the rest of his life in service to others.  This decision eventually led him on a path that brought him to Alex Tonner, a passionate advocate of canine rescue - and with the support of prison authorities, helped Jon start a prison program to save and train dogs for adoption.  Starting slowly, Paws for Life K9 Rescue grew into an amazing program.  Today, Paws for Life operates in three maximum security prisons in California, training dozens of dogs for home adodption as well as for adoption by law enforcement agenciesd, disabled veterans and as service animals for those in need.  The program gives meaning and hope to some of the most hopelessly situated inmates - many of whom are "lifers" whose lives have been rescued by working with dogs whose lives they, the prisoners, are changing changing with love and caring.  An amazing gift to the humans and the dogs alike.  In 2018, as a result of his work with Paws for Life, Jon became the very first life-sentenced inmate in California to receive a Recall of Commitment from  the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  Since his release, his commitment to Paws for Life remains strong - as Director of Programs for the organization, he's found his mission in life - he continues to work with the prisoners to train, care for, and work with Alex Tonner and her team to make sure that each animal finds a loving, "forever" home.  When Melissa and Producer Mark lost their two beloved dogs in 2019, they wondered if they'd ever find another canine companion - and then, almost by accident, they came across an adoption fair hosted by Paws for Life at a local pet store, where they met Jon, Alex...and their newly-adopted one year-old Belgian Malinois rescue, Siren Marie, whose puppy energy drives them nuts but whose beauty and love makes them so grateful that they found her - and that Jon Grobman and Paws for Life K9 Rescue were there to save her for them.  Listen in as Melissa spends some quality time with Jon to hear his story and discuss the broader issues of the importance of making decisions  to improve our lives, sentencing reform and just being our best possible selves.

Tue, March 17, 2020

127. Smells Like Murder Before Home Room - Who Killed Hal Arthur?

Hal Arthur was pretty much what anybody would want from a high school teacher.  One of the most respected and beloved instructors at Grant High School in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, Mr. Arthur was a real hero - something every teacher should strive for.  A true advocate and helper of his students, Hal Arthur gave his own time and resources to make sure all kids in his charge had every opportunity to succeed.  He even set up a travel agency to make it easier to take his Jewish (and non-Jewish) students on educational trips to the Holy Land.  But just shy of his 61st birthday, on March 24, 1989, Mr. Arthur was getting ready to go to work in the dark at 6:00 am - when he was shot four times outside his car, killed instantly by an assassin whom to this day the police say they can't be sure of.  Oh, but they have an idea.  And the primary - almost certain - culprit is one of the nastiest characters anyone ever dreamed of running across.  Just 16 years old when Hal Arthur was executed, he went on to become one of the most awful organized crime figures at a very young age.  Oh, he finally got nabbed for that activity, but to date no one has pinned the gruesome murder of a truly lovely and important soul - Hal Arthur - on this monster - or anyone else.  Listen in as Melissa retells the tragic, heartbreaking tale and asks - does someone out there know what actually happened - and if so, isn't now the time to come forward?

Tue, March 10, 2020

126. Smells Like Sending Barbara Ann Home - With Special Guest Todd Matthews

You may recall, dear Tip-Ster, way back in Episode 8, when Melissa recalled the tragic-yet-amazing story of "Tent Girl," a young woman whose body was  found wrapped in a canvas designed to wrap circus tents, on the side of a road near Georgetown Kentucky in May 1968.  Tent Girl's story is remarkable for two reasons.  The first remarkable fact is that after a couple of years of trying everything that could be tried to learn Tent Girl's identity to no avail, the tiny town of Georgetown essentially adopted her as its own - even paying for her burial and a stunningly beautiful headstone at the local cemetery.  But the most stunning part of Tent Girl's story is how her true identity - Barbara Ann Hackman - was finally revealed by a complete stranger living in a completely different state.  The man who had discovered the young woman's body, it turns out, had moved his family  from Georgetown Kentucky - to Tennessee - kand there his daughter, Lori, found a high school sweetheart - a young 17 year-old boy named Todd Matthews.  When Lori's dad retold his story about finding Tent Girl's body and the subsequent search for her identity back in Kentucky, young Todd - at 17! - decided there and then that he would make it his mission to uncover the woman's name and return her to her family, wherever they were.  Over the course of the years, Todd and Lori got married and raised a family.  Todd got a job at a local plant that manufactures auto parts.  And every night, day off - every waking hour - Todd carried out his mission to find out who the tragically-murdered victim was and where she came from.  In the process, Todd essentially helped invent the modern-day independent Internet sleuth.  At first using the telephone and the U.S. Mail, then gradually using the early rudimentary tool of the Worldwide Web before most of us even knew it existed, he began working with law enforcement on not just the Tent Girl case, but many other missing person and unidentified body cases.  He was a key player in the founding of the Doe Network and NamUs, two online resources that today help hundreds of law enforcement agencies and families identify missing or unidentified loved ones.  Oh - and yes - nearly 30 years after beginning his quest, Todd's hard work paid off - and Barbara Ann Hackman was Tent Girl no more.  Todd Matthews, in short, is a hero.  And Todd Matthews is Melissa's guest on this week's episode.  Listen in as a  true legend in the world of Internet sleuthing, still married to Lori and now a grandfather but still as passionate as ever - retells his story in a fascinating discussion about how one person can change the world by simply deciding to become dedicated.

Tue, March 03, 2020

125. Smells Like Evil Comes To A Small Town - A Requiem For Taylor And Skyla

On a warm summer Oklahoma day in 2008, two best friends - 13 year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 11 year-old Skyla Whitaker - went for a walk along a desolate dirt road near Taylor's home in the small town of Weleetka, on their way to a local creek, where they were going to hunt for pebbles and shells.  When they didn't return after darkness fell, Taylor's grandfather went looking for the girls - and came upon a scene no grandparent, parent or decent human being - ever should see.  The girls had been shot in the head and chest a total of 13 times with two different guns, their bodies left along the side of the dirt road.  Evidence later indicated that at least one of them had been sexually violated.  Despite the best efforts of law enforcement, the case went cold with absolutely no clues as to the identity of the monster who took the lives of these two beautiful girls...until three years later - in 2011 - when the monster revealed himself by killing Ashley Taylor - his fiancee - and setting her corpse ablaze on a relative's property.  But it was how the monster - then 25 year-old Kevin Sweat - revealed his crimes that sent a chill down the spines of everyone involved in the case.  Listen as Melissa  details the madness of Sweat's behavior and ponders the very nature of evil itself - are some people just born evil - or is there something somewhere - in an evildoer's past or biology that sets evil loose amid an otherwise sane world?

Tue, February 25, 2020

124. Smells Like Injustice In Fort Collins - The Peggy Hettrick Murder - With Special Guest Scott Howard

In the cold early morning hours of February 11, 1987, 37 year-old Peggy Hettrick left the Prime Minister nightclub in Fort Collins, Colorado, heading across the street to an open field, toward her ex-boyfriend's apartment on the other side of the field, where she hoped to get some shelter until she could get back into her own apartment, for which she had lost her key.  As the sun rose a few hours later, a passing bicycle rider saw what looked to be almost a posed mannequin lying in the field - but when he noticed blood running into the street, he called the police.  And what police found was as horrific as it was bizarre: Peggy Hettrick had been murdered and sexually mutilated in an unthinkably grotesque manner.  The cops quickjly latched on to their prime suspect - a 15 year-old high school sophomore named Tim Masters who lived in a house overlooking the field, who was also known to have seen (and ignored as a fake) Hettrick's body that morning - and had a number of dark, teenage-boy illustrations in his personal notebooks that convinced investigators that he must have committed the murder.  Yet it took 10 more years - after Masters had honorably served in the Navy - for prosecutors to finally decide they had enough circumstantial evidence to arrest him.  And it was on that circumstantial evidence that he was convicted and sent to prison...until 2008, when he was released and eventually exonerated after a mound of evidence pointing to a much more logical suspect - the existence of whom was hidden from Masters' defense team - came to light.  Masters finally received his justice when he received a multi-million dollar settlement from the government, but years of his life were taken from him that he will never get back.  What makes this particular case so compelling for Melissa is that the comedy team of Scott Howard and Russ Smith, who called themselves "Elroy Bondo," was playing the Prime Minister nightclub on the night of the murder; were probably the last people to see Peggy Hettrick alive...and Melissa knows Scott Howard from her days as a comedy club manager...and Scott was actually the Tip-Ster who told Melissa about the duo's experience...AND Scott Howard was cool enough to call in to tell Melissa about it as she went over the case!  Join in on the re-telling of this disturbing case of myopic investigation and injuistice with Melissa and Scott - and hear what it's like to realize you may have been witnessed the final moments of the life of a murder victim.

Tue, February 18, 2020

123. Smells Like The U.S. Marshals Got Peter Chadwick

Melissa was lucky enough to be in beautiful Laguna Beach, California a couple of weeks ago,when a longtime friend of the show - "Detective Joe," a law enforcement officer who spent some serious time on loan to the U.S. Marshals, was able to drop by for a chat.  And what a chat it is!  You see,Detective Joe was attached to the U.S. Marshals unit that tracked down and finally caught suspected serial killer (and the world's lousiest alibi storyteller) Peter Chadwick,who spent nearly five years on the run after skipping bail in 2015.  The Chadwick case has been covered a couple of times on "Just The Tip-Sters," once while the cops were still looking for the fugitive millionaire and again when he was apprehended in a small town in Mexico late last year.  In his interview with Melissa, Detective Joe talks about the details of how the Marshals methodically tracked Chadwick, the movie-esque meeting with Chadwick's father at a plush Montecito estate and the nuts and bolts of how an international manhunt operates.  (Special thanks to Greg Krueger at Peacock Plantation for technical assistance on this episode.)

Tue, February 11, 2020

122. Smells Like There Must Be Someone Missing Valentine Sally

On Valentine's Day 1982, eleven miles west of the traveler-stopover town of Williams Arizona, the body of a beautiful young woman was discovered in a ditch on the side of Interstate 40.  She was impeccably dressed, had not been sexually assaulted, but had - according to the coroner - been suffocated somehow.  What baffled police - and baffles them to this day - is why no one ever claimed her.  Over the years the authorities believed 15 different reported missing girls and young women might have been the body that came to be called "Valentine Sally," who to this day is buried in Williams - believe it or not - with the headstone showing the name of one of the 15 proven to NOT be her.  There is some evidence that she could have been the victim of convicted serial killer Royal Russell Long, but he never admitted to it and died in jail before any real attempt could be made to find out what he knew.  It seems clear that Valentine Sally came from a good home; that she hadn't been away for long; and that it would make sense that someone - somewhere - would know who she is and be looking for her.  Maybe that someone is YOU, beloved Tip-Ster...We wrap up this installment with a recap of a visit Melissa and Producer Mark made to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Headquarters - quite the fascinating experience - and quite humbling meeting men and women so dedicated to protecting and serving.

Tue, February 04, 2020

121. Smells Like B.S. In The Hog Pen - Randy Sellers, Melissa And The FBI

In 2019 Melissa covered the 1980 missing person case of 17 year-old Randy Sellers, who disappeared after attending the Kenton County (Kentucky) Fair, becoming drunk and disorderly and after taking a swing at one of the Sheriff's Deputies sent to deal with him.  He was last seen in the company of four officers, who claimed to have dropped him off a mile from his home so he could avoid getting in trouble with his parents.  Uh huh.  Well.  Let's just say that Randy Sellers never made it home.  Or anywhere else.  Since the original "Just The Tip-Sters" episode on this case, Melissa had the opportunity in the early autumn of 2019 to visit Northern Kentucky (where it just so happens she grew up) and visit the area where the Sellers disappearance occurred.  But it was when she returned home from that trip that things got dicey.  Fast.  A message from a Tip-Ster back in Kentucky began a string of events leading to a phone call that shook Melissa - and her perception of a case already shrouded in more shade than light - to her core.  And led her straight to the FBI - where her story actually made the intake officer on duty gasp out loud.  You read that right - Melissa made the FBI gasp.  And now you will gasp too.  Oh yes, yes you will.  The road that leads to the truth about what actually happened to Randy Sellers and whoever did to him what was done to him may never be fully revealed - but when you hear Melissa's story, you most probably won't be wondering what acreage that road runs through.

Tue, January 28, 2020

120. Smells Like Six Minutes And Gone - The Will Cierzan Case Three Years Later

This is the case that inspired Melissa to start this very podcast.  As she has since the first January of "Just The Tip-Sters," Melissa recaps and updates the "shouldn't-be-a" cold case of Will Cierzan, a regular guy living a simple life with the love of his life in the Southern California suburb of Santa Clarita - whose wife came home from work one early evening in January 2017 to find dinner sitting on the counter, Will's wallet and keys out in the open - and her husband - gone.  Disappeared.  Seemingly without a trace.  Over the next days and months, as his wife Linda and his loved ones fought to keep public attention and law enforcement dedicated to finding him, Will's "disappearance," it quickly became clear, was no disappearance at all - that something sinister happened at the Cierzan home between 5:06 and 5:12 p.m. - six minutes caught on camera that said so much but proved so little  And the two people who were most likely involved almost immediately lawyered up and laid low.  They have yet to be arrested.  But the saddest part of it all is who those people are - family.  Listen in as Melissa details all of the facts known so far, and highlights the most recent efforts of those who have dedicated themselves to bringing solace to a grieving wife and a multitude of friends, loved ones and co-workers whose life this sweet, kind man brought into the world.

Tue, January 21, 2020

119. Smells Like An Impossible Suicide - Who Really Killed Diane Sherman Young?

In 1988 Diane Sherman Young was a 22 year-old working mother living in rural Indiana.  Diane was married to Scott Young,  whose brother -Mike - was actually married to Susan, one of Diane's sisters.  Diane worked in a local convenience store and seemed by all appearances to be leading a normal, everyday life.  Then, suddenly, everyday became a horror story.  On May 21, 1988 a local man driving his truck on a farm road between the towns of Hebron and Kouts,  Indiana saw a car completely engulfed in flames - on farm land leased to Mike and Scott Young's family.  By the time firefighters put out the blaze, all that was left inside the car were the almost completely incinerated remains of Diane Young - her purse found neatly sitting up 48 feet away for authorities to find - and a melted .22 Ruger on the floor.  Oh, and an empty gasoline can was sitting outside the vehicle, its handle melted off.  For reasons still unfathomable, the authorities originally declared Diane's death a suicide.  Wait.  What?  Now nearly 32 years later,the story of how a few (but certainly not all) family members pressed for, and got, a coroner's inquiry to investigate the matter, and how the facts surrounding the entire affair reveal a surreal and twisted tale of deceit, romantic and familial betrayal, sex (in various and sundry forms), greed and paranoia, leading to only more confusion - and the ultimate conclusion - as is so often the case - that someone knows the truth about Diane's death.  And the truth is just barely beneath the surface.

Tue, January 14, 2020

118. Smells Like The Hunter Became The Hunted - The Mysterious Shooting Of Terry Brisk

Terry Brisk was your average Minnesota family man and sportsman - not a big game hunter, but someone who did enjoy deer hunting during Deer Season - and who doesn't like a hot bowl of venison stew on a chilly autumn evening?  So when Terry took off early from work in November of 2016 to spend a couple of hours on his family's 100-acre property hunting for dinner, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.  And when Terry's 16 year-old son John came home from school and found out his dad was taking advantage of the season, it wasnt unusual for John to head out to meet Terry and join the hunt.  But unusual is exactly what happened.  John eventually found his dad - shot dead in the woods, his Winchester hunting rifle nowhere to be found - and not to be found for months.  At first it was thought to be a self-inflicted wound - but law enforcement - after a full year of saying virtually nothing on the case - now insists that it was flat-out murder,and that the killer was someone known to Terry.  But who?  And why?  And for Heaven's sake - how?  Melissa explores a raft of possibilities - and seeks help from all of you, dear Tip-Sters, on coming up with suggestions on how this baffling mystery might be solved.

Tue, January 07, 2020

117. Smells Like A Farce - The Bigoted Conviction Of Joe Bryan

Season 3 open with the story of Joe Bryan, a high school principal who lived with the love of his life - his wife Mickey, an elementary school teacher - in (seemingly) idyllic Clifton Texas.  The Bryans were known not only as pillars of their community, but truly good people who cared about their young charges and even spent their own money to buy clothing and lunches for those most in need.  Everyone in town knew them to be God-fearing and deeply in love with each other.  And then the unthinkable happened.  Over and over again.  It started in 1985 when Mickey was shot to death in the master bedroom of the Bryant home while Joe was away on a business trip 120 miles away.  It got worse when Joe became a suspect in Mickey's murder and was arrested.  And it got unbearably awful when the reasoning was revealed for the Texas Rangers' and other law enforcement officials' suspicions - reasoning beyond belief even in the mid-1980s.  Join Melissa as she unfolds this sad and anger-inducing tale of a murder conviction based on completely flimsy circumstantial evidence and a whole lot of bigoted assumptions.

Tue, December 31, 2019

116. MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like Static - Dan Rather, REM And...Kenneth

Say what you will about Dan Rather - the famed newsman and former anchor of the CBS Evening News has had an ... interesting ... time of it over the years.  There was that time that viewers of the broadcast in the Eastern and Central time zones saw a black screen instead of Rather because he'd walked out in a huff over a tennis match digging into his time.  Then there was the time a cab driver in Chicago decided he didn't like where Rather wanted to be driven, locked the taxi doors and drove frantically around the city for an extended period of time, with Rather hollering for help out of the cab's window.  But nothing, of course, compares to the day in 1986 when a then-unknown assailant and an accomplice accosted and beat up Rather as he walked home in Manhattan, yelling "What's the frequency, Kenneth?!"  A lot of people  thought the whole thing was a figment of the anchorman's imagination.  No one really knows what happened in Michael Stipe's imagination, but the incident triggered a free-form string of lyrics that Stipe's band, REM, backed with a beat and a melody - and it became a Top 40 smash hit.  Go figure.  But as Melissa describes in this Murdertizer (an appetizer of murder), Rather really was accosted just the way he claimed, and the way the identity of the assailant was discovered is chilling (we don't put "Murder" in "Murdertizer" for nothin', kiddo).

Tue, December 24, 2019

115. Sounds Like Too Many Coincidences - The Flat Tire Murders

In 1975 a series of murders of young women in Dade and Broward Counties in South Florida baffled police.  They were dubbed the "Flat Tire Murders" because evidence strongly suggested that tires on the victims' cars were deflated as they shopped or were otherwise away from their vehicles - and then "assisted" by the killer when they returned.  But wait just a second.  Officially, the still-unsolved Flat Tire Murder investigation names five - 5 - victims of the killing spree.  But as Melissa discusses in this fascinating episode, there were at least five additional women killed under similar circumstances, all in the same South Florida area during the same period - and there are indications that this same serial madman may have been responsible for up to 30 additional murders.  And to make it all even that much more mind-bending, there's more than just a hint of a suggestion that one or more of the slayings could very well have been the work of a certain truly devious - and infamous - evil-doer.

Tue, December 17, 2019

114. Sounds Like Terror In The Castro - The Doodler Murders

In 1974 and 1975 five white gay men were savagely stabbed to death by a young African American man who attracted his victims by sketching their likenesses in the bars and cafes of San Francisco's Castro District, eventually luring them away to their doom.  He has never been identified, let alone arrested.  So how do we know so much about this killer and his modus operandi?  We know because three additional victims of the so-called "Doodler" survived to tell their stories - and each of them described that same scenario.  All three of those victims also provided similar descriptions of their attacker  And, tragically, all three insisted on full anonymity - all refused to be named or to step forward into the public light or press charges even if their would-be murderer were ever arrested.  And the reason for that is heartbreaking - and (in today's world) almost impossible to comprehend.  In this fascinating and heartfelt account of "The Doodler" and his serial murders, Melissa also explores San Francisco at a turning point in its history, the hidden heartbreak of being forced to live one's life in closeted fear and shame, and the Castro District businessman-turned-politician who understood that pain, exposed it and ultimately gave his life so that gay men and women everywhere would never be forced into it again.

Tue, December 10, 2019

113. Sounds Like Bafflement On The Beltway - The Freeway Phantom Murders

In 1970 and 1971, the bodies of six girls and young women were tossed onto the side of various freeways in the Washington DC metropolitan area.  Most had been sexually assaulted and then strangled - none were over the age of 18.  Like so many serial killers, the so-called "Freeway Phantom" not only tortured his victims before slaying them - he also taunted police, and worst of all, the families of his victims with phone calls - some from him and some from the girls themselves before he killed them.  But it was what made this monster's atrocities so unlike most other serial murderers that made them so striking:  Most of his victims were almost always found within hours of their abduction.  And most chilling of all - after his sixth murder, they simply stopped.  He vanished.  Or did he?  Nearly fifty years later, the mystery remains - is he still alive?  Is he dead?  Did something inside his warped mind simply switch off the desire to rape and murder?  Join Melissa as she digs in to this fascinating case and asks - as she always asks - does someone out there know something that will finally solve this puzzling puzzle?

Tue, December 03, 2019

112. Sounds Like Not Much Of A Life Sentence - The Murders Of Scott William Cox

Scott Cox is a monster - the question is, how big of a monster - and can the immensity of his monstrosity be proven?  Convicted of the rape and murder of two women in 1990 and 1991, Cox - a trucker who frequented the two major interstates in and around his home town of Seattle - is the ONLY suspect in an additional 20 homicides up, down and across the I-5 and I-90 corridors, some as far north as Canada - cases that are still so active even after more than a quarter-century that law enforcement won't even release the names of all of the victims.  Why?  Because the police want to arrest Cox and put him back in prison...that's right, he's been on modified probation since 2013 on a "post prison supervised life sentence," which is a lot of words meaning he's free during the day but must sleep in prison at night.  Some life sentence, eh?  Join Melissa for a frustrating story of justice gone sideways - and another reason to always keep our eyes open and our minds aware to report any information we might have to  bring creatures like Scott Cox to the justice they deserve.

Tue, November 26, 2019

111. Sounds Like Order In The Court - Justice for Pookie And Daniel - With Special Guest Audry McDonald

When your cousin and his best friend are attacked - and your cousin is killed - and his best friend suffers permanent brain damage - by three random thugs - for no reason whatsoever - and then all three disappear into thin air - for THREE DECADES - what would you do?  Well here's what Audry McDonald did:  Audry McDonald never stopped looking, that's what.  And when as the case got colder, she became even more determined to bring justice to the murderer of her cousin Richard "Pookie" Hernandez and the monster who forever crippled Pookie's best friend, Daniel Ontiveros.  Together with a dedicated army of family, friends and some of the finest law enforcement professionals on earth, Audry found the two surviving perpetrators hiding in plain sight - one of whom had actually become a beloved volunteer boxing coach for the local police department! - and saw to it that they were brought before The Law.  But that's where the story gets even better.  Because when the prosecutors tried to hand the two monsters a sweet plea deal, Justice - True Justice - stepped in, in the form of a Justice-loving Superior Court judge who cared about the victims and their families just as much as he cared about the rights of the defendants.  And then THAT's where the story hits home - as in the Homestead Studios...but you'll have to listen to discover that particular surprise!

Tue, November 19, 2019

110. Sounds Like Fighting Fear - Saugus High School And Simon Kenton High School

In the aftermath of the horrific shooting deaths of two innocent high school students on November 14, 2019 - and the suicide of the shooter - in our home town of Santa Clarita, Melissa examines the facts known to date about this tragic incident and celebrates the hero first responders who ran toward the sound of gunshots.  And in a moving dialogue on the causes and lifelong effects of such an event on the young people at the school that day, Melissa reminisces about a tragedy that happened 39 years ago when she was a Junior at Simon Kenton High School in Northern Kentucky - also an awful even that also made national news - and which also had a permanent effect on the lives of the kids who were there.  A candid, thoughtful and moving meditation on the nature of fear, how it affects our behavior - and the importance of facing it down and moving on.

Tue, November 12, 2019

109. Sounds Like A Tough Way To Break Out Of Jail - The Multiple Lives Of Benjamin Schreiber

When you kill someone and you're sentenced to prison "for the rest of your natural life," without the possibility of parole, you're done.  Finished.  Kaput.  No more freedom for you, ever.  Right?  Right.  Except.  What does the "your natural life" mean, exactly?  Especially when we live in an age where technology can actually revive someone who has literally died for a few seconds?  And how does that phrase apply in the ostensibly cold, harsh light of legal interpretation?  Enter one Benjamin Schreiber, a nasty fellow who was convicted of a brutal murder and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail - but who is currently placing himself in the middle of a legal battle that could possibly alter how "life" sentences are doled out in the future.  Join Melissa as she unravels the facts behind this case, and Schreiber's bold legal ploy to break free of his jail cell - by dying.  More than once.  SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW "JUST THE TIP-STERS" today!  And if you like what you hear, give us a five-star review!  Plus - don't forget - if you've got a tip for Melissa, leave her a voice mail message at (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837) or send her an email at jttipsters@gmail.com

Tue, November 05, 2019

108. Sounds Like This Is Not A Fire Drill - Catching John Leonard Orr

Setting fires is bad.  Setting fires that destroy property and businesses is worse.  But setting fires so recklessly as to take innocent lives in service of some hidden, inexplicable lust for flame and heat is evil.  And the most evil among those fire-starters are those who are sworn to protect us from that very danger - those in the uniform of firefighters.  And the very worst of all is one John Leonard Orr, the former Fire Chief and Lead Arson Investigator for the Glendale California Fire Department - who during the 1980s and 1990s is believed to have set more than 2,000 (that's not a typo) fires throughout California, using his expertise as a highly-respected arson investigator as cover for his sickness.  All that was bad enough - but when one of his fires - that of a hardware store/home center in Pasadena - resulted in the deaths of four innocents (including an infant and his grandmother), his sickness turned him into a murderer.  In this episode, Melissa details the long, often frustrating road that eventually led to apprehending Orr, and the one dedicated Fire Chief in the middle of the state who suspected Orr was the culprit for years and whose determination finally paid off in the arrest of the man widely regarded as the most prolific arsonist in American history.  SUPPORT JUST THE TIP-STERS!  For as little as $2 per month you can become a patron and get some cool swag as our thanks!  Visit www.patreon.com/justthetipsters  for more information.

Tue, October 29, 2019

107. Sounds Like Anybody Coulda Dunnit - The Dumler-Wilson Murders - With Special Guest Detective Kellyanne Best

October 1969.  Nighttime in a quiet, leafy upscale suburban neighborhood in one of Cincinnati's toniest conclaves.  A young couple with two young children, and the wife's mother, all presumably asleep inside.  Except when the kids wake up the next morning and go to the neighbors to say they can't rouse mom and dad, what the neighbors find is simply horrific: The stabbed and shot bodies of Martin Dumler, age 29, his wife Patricia, age 27 and Patricia's 50 year-old mother, Mary Wilson.  Looks like the young couple may have been tortured - but impossible to be sure.  Looks like Mary just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - but that too can't be definitively confirmed.  And for the past fifty years, the Dumler-Wilson murders have confounded authorities and remained one of the Queen City's most notorious unsolved mysteries.  On this episode, Melissa is joined by Cincinnati P.D. Cold Case Unit Detective Kellyanne Best, the tenacious, current posessor of the Dumler-Wilson file, significant portions of which she has provided to Melissa and which provokes some fascinating discussion.  SOMEONE, somewhere knows something about this case - is that someone YOU?  If you think you might be able to help, call Cincinnati CrimeStoppers at (513) 352-3040 or write to Detective Best directly at kellyanne.best@cincinnati-oh.gov  - or you can always leave a voicemail message for Melissa on the TIP-STER HOTLINE at (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837)  or send Melissa an email at jttipsters@gmail.com

Tue, October 22, 2019

106. Sounds Like The Missing Toe Was The Snitch - The Murder Of Tammy Esquivel

Here's a twisted little murder story of justice delayed and (at least as of right now) justice denied for the victim - the location of whose body still hasn't been revealed by the killer.  And about that killer - dude named Will Greer (no not Grandpa Walton - this bastard has an "r" in his last name).  Greer actually drunkenly admitted - while TWO police video cameras were rolling - that he killed his beautiful young girlfriend, Tammy Esquivel in December 2006.  And yet he wasn't arrested for her murder.  Instead, he went on the run for nearly eleven years, finally being caught in southernmost Mexico in 2017 with a new family, a new job and a town full of people who thought "El Gringo" was a top-notch guy.  Thankfully, the Mexican authorities who tracked him down knew better - and they proved that he was their man in a most unique way - one only a podiatric surgeon could truly appreciate.  Join Melissa as she unravels the sad yet fascinating facts of the Tammy Esquivel case - and the lingering hope that her killer, now on the eve of trial, will finally reveal where he so cruelly disposed of her remains.

Tue, October 15, 2019

105. Sounds Like An Australian Abomination - Why Hasn't William Tyrrell Been Found?

There are mysteries.  There are baffling mysteries.  And then there are mysteries that throw an entire nation into fits of frustration and anger.  This is one of those cases.  3 year-old William Tyrrell was playing with his older sister - when his foster mother (who was watching both kids with her own mom) went into the house briefly.  When she returned, young William was gone - the grandmother had no explanation for his disappearance and William's sister did not see anything.  In the intervening years, the case has become one of Australia's most notorious and publicized missing persons cases in its history.  And every media outlet, pundit, psychic and average citizen on the street has an opinion on what happened.  In this episode, Melissa describes the madness of the Tyrrell case - the conflicting story lines, multiple suspects (one in particular horrifically wrongly accused) and the prosecution of the case's former lead investigator for reasons that are almost impossible to comprehend.

Tue, October 08, 2019

104. Sounds Like The Coldest Cold Case - The Grimes Sisters Murders

In 1956 Chicago, it wasn't unusual for a couple of young women to venture out on foot at night to see a movie at a local theater.  So when 15 year-old Barbara Grimes and her 12 year-old sister Patricia - both huge fans of Elvis Presley - asked their mom if they could walk to the local cinema to watch "Love Me Tender" for the umpteenth time on December 28, 1956, Loretta Grimes had no problem saying "yes."  Except that Loretta never saw Barbara or Patricia ever again.  After launching one of the most exhaustive missing persons investigations in Chicago history - and with pleas on radio and television from even Elvis himself - the frozen, nude bodies of both girls were found nearly a month after their disappearance.  In the months and years that followed, police received dozens of reports of sightings of the girls in the days between their disappearance and the discovery of their bodies.  Many of those reports led to actual suspects, but none of those leads panned out.  In 1974, the Chicago PD declared the case unsolvable.  But not everyone gives up so easily.  Join Melissa as she winds through the years of tragedy, confusion and frustration the Grimes family have witnessed - and the light of hope held up by a determined retired detective who wasn't even born when the Grimes Sisters disappeared.

Tue, October 01, 2019

103. Sounds Like A Real Pussycat - Lawrence Tierney Followup With Special Guest Cynthia Hawkins

Back a few episodes ago (JTT Episode 98 to be precise) Melissa covered the puzzling 1963 murder of young Hollywood actress Karyn Kupcinet.  Karyn's killer has never been identified, but her demise was surrounded in a shroud of weirdness, including a tie to the JFK assassination and a possible link to a tough guy matinee idol named Lawrence Tierney, who, Melissa was once told by a colleague of Tierney's, coulda just mighta well y'know maybe sorta was involved in the Kupcinet case...Fast forward to a few weeks later, when Melissa got a call from her friend - writer and witness Cynthia Hawkins - whose own personal story about Tierney sent a chill down Melissa's spine.  Cynthia agreed to impart her tale to Melissa in front of our Homestead Studios microphones - and on this episode you can decide for yourself if maybe...possibly...hmmmmmm...  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH AND BODY - go to www.kleanspa.com  and get 15% off your total order.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, September 24, 2019

102. Sounds Like No One Wants To Know What Happened To Matthew Weaver Jr. - With Special Guests Colleen Weaver-Ferrall and Brooke Tipton

Matthew Weaver Jr. was troubled - but really not that much more troubled than any other 21 year-old young man is troubled.  So when he went for a late night ride in the hills above Malibu California in August 2018, it seemed a perfectly natural thing for him to do, to catch his breath and settle his mind.  Except that he never returned.  His car was found perilously perched at a place called Rosas Overlook, abandoned and  otherwise untouched.  Since that day, Matthew's disappearance has been treated with a level of disinterest by law enforcement that is both disheartening and infuriating.  This is the story of Matthew's family and friends, who have never given up looking for him, and who have actually done more work and uncovered more evidence than the police.  It is also the story of how law enforcement's incredible, mysteriously vague treatment of the case can lead to serious questions the police probably don't want asked.

Tue, September 17, 2019

101. Sounds Like The Real Deadliest Catch - The Bizarre Murder Of Matt Tancevski

In August 1994 a sports fisherman cruising the Hawkesbury River in Sydney Australia got a tug on his line unlike any he'd gotten before.  Hauling what he thought was going to be a prize flathead into his boat, he instead encountered pure horror: The macabre remains of a man's body tied to a cross-like rack.  Forensic science determined that the man had been killed roughly one year prior - but that's about the only fact that could be determined.  Fast forward 25 years - a full quarter-century following the man's death - when the New South Wales State Coroner's Office suddenly declared that DNA testing had finally determined definitively that the body was that of a certain Matt (aka "Max") Tancevski, who - although a known gambler, had no underworld or other criminal connections.  Tag along with Melissa as she wonders aloud about the wide range of questions this new information has raised...who would want Tancevski dead?  If it was a simple gambling debt gone bad, would the killer have devised such a unique and complicated method for the murder?  And if it was a serial killer, why have no other bodies been found that had been killed in a similar fashion?  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Visit www.kleanspa.com  today and get 15% your total order by entering Promotional Code TIPSTERS at checkout!  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, September 10, 2019

100. Sounds Like Tragedy On The Interstate - The Carrollton Bus Crash

It's the 100th episode of "Just The Tip-Sters" - and Melissa marks the occasion with a tragic story from her home state of Kentucky - in honor of those who perished and in celebration of the positive strides, both culturally and in the law, that sprang forth after that terrible day.  On May 14, 1988, a converted school bus carrying 63 (mostly) young teenagers and four adults (including the bus driver) left the Assembly of God church in Radcliff, Kentucky to spend the day at the King's Island amusement park in Ohio.  That night, on the way home, just south of the town of Carrollton Kentucky, the bus was hit head-on by a drunk driver in a pickup truck at a high rate of speed.  The impact damaged the bus' front door (making it impossible to open) and ripped open the gas tank, igniting a fire that consumed the bus and its passengers in a matter of seconds.  In all, 24 of the teenagers and three of the adults perished.  Of the survivors, many were left with life-altering injuries.   To this day, the Carrollton Bus Crash remains the deadliest drunk driving incident in U.S. history.  Yet despite the horror of the incident, much good came of it, including the ascendance of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, new state and federal safety standards - and not one, but two incredible love stories.  Join Melissa as she recalls this emotional tale of life, death and, ultimately, hope.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Get 15% off your total order by entering Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout.  Go to www.kleanspa.com  today and prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, September 03, 2019

99. Sounds Like Two Dead Guys - Times Two

This episode Melissa details two unrelated cases involving two sets of two best friends, one case a little weird but solved , the other completely mysterious and just as completely unsolved.   In July 2019, school teachers Kenneth Anderson Jr. and Mark Anderson (no relation, believe it or not) were found dead in the swimming pool of a house they were sitting in Davenport Iowa.  Local police recently stated that a security camera caught the whole thing, and that it was just a tragic accident - but why hasn't anyone outside law enforcement seen the video?  Hmmmm?  But that mystery is nothing compared to the gruesome 2011 murders of Ryan Riddell and Mark Prasse whose gunshot bodies were discovered in the basement of Prasse's home in Central Illinois. To this date, no arrests have been made, and he cops are saying essentially the case will never be solved. But wait - what about that bizarre attempted bank heist Ryan Riddell was caught in the middle of just a few months before he was killed?  No connections there?  Hmmmm?  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY.  Enter promo code TIPSTERS at checkout and receive 15% off your total order!  Go to www.kleanspa.com  today and check out all their unique bath and body products.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Bonus · Sun, September 01, 2019

JUST THE TIP-STERS PROMO

Our promo! Dig it!

Tue, August 27, 2019

98. Sounds Like Oliver Stone On Acid - The Mysterious Murder of Karyn Kupcinet

Karyn Kupcinet was a beautiful young actress working her way up the Hollywood ladder, using her grit, tenacity (and her dad's solid connections throughout the entertainment industry) to eventually get steady work and even praise for her acting ability.  In November 1963 - just 8 days after the Kennedy assassination, Karyn was found murdered in her apartment, strangled to death by an unknown assailant - who remains unknown to this day.  But oh, are there ever guesses.  From a haunting call to police just minutes prior to JFK's demise to a disturbingly possible link between the murder and an admired journeyman Hollywood character actor, Karyn Kupcinet's murder isn't as simple as it looks at first glance.  Join Melissa as she traverses the life, times and untimely death of a young woman who might just have gotten a little too far over her head and tried to make things right only after it was too late.  SPONSORED BY KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Make sure to enter the Promotional Code "TIPSERS" at checkout to receive 15% off your total order.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, August 20, 2019

97. Sounds Like More Than Just A Survivor - Mary Vincent's Defiant Will To Live

In 1978, while hitchhiking to visit a relative, 15 year-old Mary Vincent  was abducted, then repeatedly raped and sodomized, then tortured by 51 year-old Lawrence Singleton, who then attempted to finish the teenager off by cutting both of her arms off with an ax, then kicking her into a drainage ditch.  Almost impossibly, young Mary found the will to stuff dirt into the stubs that were once her forearms, crawl out of the ravine and walk - naked and near death - THREE MILES to the nearest highway, where she was rescued by passing motorists.  Listen as Melissa takes you through the horror of Mary Vincent's ordeal, her absolute defiance in the face of death, and the awful, disturbing details of what happened to her would-be murderer. Ultimately, this is a story of great hope and - yes - beauty and love - a reminder that the human spirit is capable of miracles.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY by Jennifer Hardaway.  Make sure to enter promotional code TIPSTERS at checkout to receive 15% off your total order.  www.kleanspa.com  - Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious.

Tue, August 13, 2019

96. Sounds Like Carmina Salcido Has A Life Wish

In April 1989, Ramon Salcido, a husband and father of three girls, went on a drunken, ghastly, deadly rampage, killing seven people, including his wife, two of his daughters, his mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law and a coworker.  What he did with his three daughters was particularly evil - he  took them to a dump, slit their throats from ear-to-ear and left them to die in piles of garbage.  The sole survivor was young Carmina, the youngest of Salcido's daughters - who was just about to turn 3 years old - we repeat, THREE years old.  Somehow the toddler was able to sit herself up and bend her head forward to prevent the wound to her neck from killing her.  And then she sat there for 36 hours until rescuers found her and saved her life.  Join Melissa as she recounts the heartbreaking, harrowing and ultimately life-affirming story of Carmina, who refused to die when just a baby - and despite continued hardship throughout her life, still maintains her strength and determination to carry on.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - visit www.kleanspa.com  and enter promotional code TIPSTERS at checkout to receive 15% off your total order.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious.

Sat, August 10, 2019

95. MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like Extradition - Peter Chadwick Update

Here's a quick between-regular-episodes MURDERTIZER to abate your appetite for All Melissa, All the Time - and it's got some BIG NEWS - Peter Chadwick, the millionaire (alleged) wife killer who told cops one of the stupidest "my spouse was murdered" stories ever (allegedly) concocted and then, once arrested, got out on bail and (allegedly) skipped the country for four years - has finally been found in southeastern Mexico and extradited earlier this week.  Join Melissa as she revels in the capture of a truly (allegedly) awful dude, work herself into a righteous froth remembering how the Newport Beach police kept facts from the public - and excitedly previews an upcoming interview with a Long Beach, California detective who was a member of the task force that finally brought Chadwick back home to face justice.

Tue, August 06, 2019

94. MURDER NERD UNIVERSITY - Sounds Like Toxicology Saved Brigida McInvale - With Special Guest Dr. Jeff Lapoint

SURVIVOR MONTH on Just The Tip-Sters begins with our first edition of MURDER NERD UNIVERSITY - where Melissa focuses on the sciences and practices and interesting people - both in the past and in modern-day criminology - that contribute to the art of criminal justice.  In late 2017 Brigida Uto (who later changed her surname back to maiden name McInvale for reasons that will become obvious) got very sick for no apparent reason.  The young special needs teacher, who by all accounts had a happy life and rewarding career, a naval officer husband and a young child - was suddenly seeing her health degrade slowly, day after day, week after week.  Moving back and forth between the naval hospital and a local community hospital, doctors could not diagnose what was wrong with Brigida, as the symptoms seemed to be all over the map.  Finally, when it became too painful for Brigida to even walk, she landed in the emergency room of the community hospital on a night when the attending physician happened to also be a toxicologist - part of an elite group of toxicologists working at the hospital - and that doctor, when he examined Brigida, had a hunch...so he called his boss.  His boss was Dr. Jeff Lapoint - who, with his team, working with local police, the FBI and NCIS - proved that Brigida was poisoned with thallium - a deadly metal that her husband, Race Uto, had been shaving into her food.  Using a compound so rare that it took clearance - and some heavy questioning - from the National Security Apparatus - Dr. Lapoint and his team saved Brigida's life and helped put the diabolical husband behind bars for a very long time.  Join Melissa as she engages Dr. Lapoint in a wide ranging conversation about the case and the art of toxicology in the service of saving lives.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH AND BODY by Jennifer Hardaway - get 15% off your total order by entering Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout!  That's kleanspa.com - Prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, July 30, 2019

93. Sounds Like Trust Turned Into Tragedy - Who Did Rhianna Barreau Let In The Door?

It was October 7, 1992 in Morphett Vale, South Australia, and 12 year-old Rhianna Barreau was on a school holiday.  Rhianna, who lived with her mother and brother, wanted to buy a Christmas card for her pen pal in America (remember, this was 1992 and it took awhile for a card to get from Australia to the U.S.).  The family lived only about a mile or so away from a local shopping center, so when Rhianna asked her Mom if she could walk there to buy the card for her American friend, Mom said okay.  When Mom came home from work later that day, the television was blaring, one of Rhianna's favorite record albums was lying on the floor - and that Christmas card Rhianna had wanted to purchase was on the table.  But Rhianna was nowhere to be found.  And to this day, she's still missing.  In this episode, Melissa retells the details of Rhianna's last known whereabouts, the witnesses who saw her that day walking back home - the mysterious fact that there was no sign of forced entry into the house - the fact that none of Rhianna's personal belongings were missing - and the lingering, haunting question: Who did Rhianna open the door to that fateful afternoon?  VISIT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY by Jennifer Hardaway - Get 15% off your total order by visiting www.kleanspa.com  and entering promo code TIPSTERS at checkout.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, July 23, 2019

92. Sounds Like A Bad Boy Gone Good - Eugene Vidocq And The Invention Of Criminology

Back around the turn of the century...no not 2001....no, no, not 1901...the turn of the century before THAT, in the late 1700s and early 1800s...a young man raised in a good family in France was very busy being a very very bad boy, all over France as well as a good chunk of Europe.  His name was Eugene Francois Vidocq, and his penchant for getting into trouble with the law was matched only by his way with the ladies - he was such a rounder that he married no fewer than three times during his 82 years and was never far from romantic...er...adventure.  His criminal behavior was legendary - Vidocq was so addicted to trickery, forgery and downright slippery behavior that he often helped other criminals just because he enjoyed being devious.  He landed in jail many times, and was once even sentenced to death (which he obviously ended up avoiding...somehow...).  But sometime in his mid-thirties, something happened to Eugene Vidocq.  He decided to stop plotting and running and going to jail - and begin to use his talents AGAINST criminals.  He ended up not only becoming one of the most effective law enforcement officials in history - he pretty much invented modern criminology---his methods are the basis of everything today's law men and women utilize very single day.  Take a ride back in time to 18th- and 19th-Century France with Melissa as she weaves the remarkable tale of the criminal who became the cop - who re-shaped the very nature of police work - and whose name graces the Vidocq Society, a group of criminologists, scientists and law enforcement specialists who meet every month here in the U.S. to investigate difficult-to-solve crimes.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Get 15% your total order by entering the promo code TIPSTER at check out.  Kleanspa- prepare to smell delicious!   www.kleanspa.com

Tue, July 16, 2019

91. Savannah Spurlock Update - Sounds Like "You're Under Arrest"

Back at Season 2, Episode 28 Melissa covered the missing person case of Savannah Spurlock, a young single mother who lived near Lexington, Kentucky and who disappeared after leaving a bar with two men in January of 2019.  Her family's quick response to her disappearance and steadfastness in making sure law enforcement stayed relentless in finding out what happened has been nothing short of phenomenal. In this update of the case, Melissa reports on the recent discovery of remains and clothing in the back yard of one of the men Savannah left with the night she vanished, his arrest, and some puzzling questions - most importantly among them:  What took so long for the cops to make a bust?  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH AND BODY by Jennifer Hardaway - perfumes, rubs, moisturizers and oils, all made with naturally inspired ingredients and featuring dozens of unique, hand-crafted fragrances.  Enter Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout and receive 15% off your total order!  www.kleanspa.com  - Prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, July 09, 2019

90. Sounds Like The Last Cry Of An Honest Man - R. Budd Dwyer's Sad Farewell

The tragic 1987 public suicide of Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer is one of the most well known, horrifying and sad media events ever to occur in the United States.  A media event because Dwyer shot himself in the mouth with a .357 magnum revolver during a live, highly-publicized press conference.  Horrifying because it was a snow day and kids were home from school watching TV when it happened.  Sad - so sad - because of the details that led to Dwyer's desperate action.  In this episode Melissa details the life of a meticulously honest public servant done in by petty political revenge and a misguided sense of duty to take care of his family...and the interesting side note of a song written by someone deeply affected by it and a story of how his intentions were first misunderstood, then understood and forgiven, by another artist - one who lost his friend to a fate almost identical to Dwyer's.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH AND BODY - get 15% off your total order by visiting www.kleanspa.com  and entering the word TIPSTERS at checkout.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, July 02, 2019

89. Sounds Like LARPing Gone Bad...Or Something - The David Grubbs Murder - With Special Guest Chief Tighe O'Meara

In the dark early evening of November 20, 2011, 23 year-old David Michael Grubbs left his job at a local supermarket in Ashland Oregon, carrying some groceries, to walk home.  Just a couple of hours later, David's body was found just off a bike path that was on his route home.  The body was nearly decapitated by what police determined was a medium to large blade such as a sword or machete.  Now going on eight years since the horrific crime, law enforcement is still struggling to arrest a suspect - despite a raft of possibilities - including the fact that Ashland is home to dozens of LARPers (Live Action Role Players) who routinely use such weapons in their games.  And other than David's family, no one is more frustrated and determined to bring his killer to justice than Ashland Police Chief Tighe O'Meara, who at the time of the murder was a uniformed officer, and first on the scene.  Listen as Melissa and Chief O'Meara discuss the case,some possible motives and even a person of interest that police have not been able to question.  If you have any information on the Grubbs murder, contact the Ashland Oregon Police Department at (541) 488-2211.  SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR - KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Offering a full range of scrubs, oils, moisturizers and perfumes in dozens of unique, hand-made fragrances.  Visit kleanspa.com and get 15% off your total order by entering Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout.  Kleanspa - prepare to smell delicious!

Tue, June 25, 2019

88. Sounds Like Kin Comes First - Savannah Spurlock And Her Dedicated Family

On January 4, 2019 Savannah Spurlock, a 22 year-old mother of 4 who had given birth to twins just a month earlier, was told by her mother that she should take a break and go have some fun.  So with grandma watching the kids, Savannah did just that - she and two friends went to downtown Lexington Kentucky for a night on the town and ended up at a place called The Other Bar.  After one friend left to be ready for an early day the next morning and the second friend left after she and Savannah had an argument, Savannah stayed at The Other Bar until security cameras caught her leaving with three men.  From there the story gets weird - and not for reasons one might think.  Savannah has not been seen or heard from since the early morning hours the following morning.  But this isn't just the story of a missing young woman - it is also the story of her family, who from virtually the moment they realized Savannah was missing, did not hesitate and did not wait.  This incredible group of loved ones is fully engaged in every way - including some very unique and creative ways - to find their daughter/niece/granddaughter.  Join Melissa as she re-tells the agonizing-yet-hopeful tale of the disappearance of Savannah Spurlock - and the family that is determined to bring her home.  SPONSORED BY KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - scrubs, cleanses, perfumes and washes that inspire inner bliss and outer beauty - go to www.kleanspa.com  - enter TIPSTERS at checkout and receive 15% off your total order!

Tue, June 18, 2019

87. Sounds Like Light Shattering Darkness - Jennifer Ertman, Elizabeth Pena And The Quest For Justice

Recently a Tip-Ster from Boston - "Tip-Ster Jennifer" - brought a case to Melissa's attention that she had not been aware of - the 1993 murders in Houston Texas of 14 year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16 year-old Elizabeth Pena.  The facts of the case are among the most gruesome and disturbing Melissa has ever encountered - but more than the horror of the crimes themselves were two compelling side-stories...one is that Tip-Ster Jennifer was a friend of Jennifer Ertman at the time she was murdered...and the other is the awe-inspiring story of Jennifer Ertman's dad, Randy who, along with his wife and the family of Elizabeth Pena, waged a crusade not only to find the killers, but once they were caught, to change the laws to give victims' families higher standing in the judicial system - things we take for granted today like victim impact statements and the right for families to remain in the courtroom even when other family members are testifying.  Tip-Ster Jennifer calls in from Boston on this episode to talk about the gut-punching details of the murders - and the heroic passion of the families left behind.  SPONSORED BY KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Prepare to smell delicious!  Go to www.kleanspa.com  and get 15% off your total order by entering Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout!

Tue, June 11, 2019

86. Sounds Like A Father's Love - Finding Chase Allen Lackey - With Special Guest Craig Lackey

On the last day of June in 2017, Craig Lackey got to watch his 25 year-old son Chase compete in a ballgame in his home town of Houston, Texas.  After the game, Craig hugged his son and told him he'd had a great game - and Chase, a dazzlingly cheerful, happy young man and friend to all who knew him, told his dad he loved him.  That was the last time Craig saw his son.  The next day, Chase was seen walking his dog outside his apartment near the Houston Beltway - and then he vanished.  And no one - not Chase's family, his friends, his neighbors, and most especially not the police - have a clue what happened to him.  On this episode Melissa is joined by Craig Lackey, who discusses his dedication to finding his son and the frustration of dealing with nearly two straight years of not knowing what the police are doing - or if they're doing anything at all - to find the son he loves.  SPONSORED BY KLEANSPA BATH & BODY - Prepare to smell delicious!  Go to www.kleanspa.com  and get 15% off your total order by entering the Promo Code TIPSTERS at checkout!

Tue, June 04, 2019

85. Sounds Like The Cops Don't Trust Us - The Closed (Minded) Search For Peter Chadwick

By all appearances, Peter Chadwick is a pretty rotten human.  A millionaire British ex-pat living in an exclusive Southern California enclave with his wife and three sons, he suddenly disappears, along with his bride, one day in October 2012.  Early the next morning 911 operators some 100 miles away in San Diego get a call from Chadwick, who claims his wife had been killed the previous day, and that he'd been...well...kidnapped...or something...by the killers.  Let's just say the police didn't buy any of it, and just a few days later when his wife's body was found (under astounding circumstances), he was charged with First Degree Murder.  Flash forward two-plus years later when, out on bail and on the eve of trial, Chadwick takes a powder.  And no one has been able to find him.  Anywhere.  But it gets worse - and possibly much worse.  In this episode Melissa shares not just the frustration - but the outrage - of how the police have completely controlled the information on the case while blocking access to the general public that might allow concerned citizens help catch Peter Chadwick - and for no apparent reason other than they simply don't trust the citizens they've been sworn to serve.  Buckle up - Melissa is more than just a little worked up about this - and you will be too.

Tue, May 28, 2019

84. Sounds Like A DNA Conundrum - The GEDMatch Opt-In Policy

It's been just over a year since the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer, who was captured through an ingenious ploy by law enforcement, which registered the then-unknown killer's DNA under a dummy name on GEDMatch, a public DNA-based genealogy website.  That sample led to distant relatives of DeAngelo who had registered their DNA on GEDMatch.  From there, detectives pared down a list of those relatives until DeAngelo's DNA was confirmed to be a match with that of the murderer.  In this past year alone, at least 50 arrests in other cases around the country have resulted from law enforcement's use of this form of DNA comparison.  Recently, in a move obviously aimed at averting litigation, GEDMatch announced that henceforth no GEDMatch client's DNA can be used by law enforcement unless the client "opts-in" to such use.  This policy applies even to the more than one million clients that existed prior to the policy change.  In this episode, Melissa discusses the challenges this decision - and others likely to follow by other DNA testing sites - poses to police everywhere trying to solve murders where DNA exists but no DNA match can be found through traditional means.

Sun, May 26, 2019

83. MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like San Joaquin Strangeness - Satwant And The Abandoned Big Rig

In this special Memorial Day Weekend MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder!), Melissa takes a look at a case not even a month old.  One that is seemingly solved...or is it?  On May 15, 2019 sheriff's deputies in Merced County (in California's San Joaquin Valley) were alerted to a big rig parked on the side of a major Interstate highway.  Unlocked.  With its motor running.  With the driver's wallet and cell phone inside.  Strange?  Yes.  But wait.  The driver's body was found several days later in a canal two miles downstream from where the truck was found.  Okay, that's NOT necessarily strange.  But when Melissa starts piecing together some incredibly...er...COINCIDENTAL facts about the driver's name, she gets us all (especially Producer Mark) into the Freakout Zone.  Take 30 minutes out of your holiday weekend to freak out a little bit yourself and join Melissa on a wild ride up the I-5.

Tue, May 21, 2019

82. Sounds Like 39 Years Of Frustration - The Tynong North And Frankston Murders

This week, in a tip-of-the-cap to her growing band of Tip-Sters in Australia, Melissa focuses on one of the most agonizingly maddening murder mysteries our brethren Down Under still have no answers for - the 1980-1981 killings of six women in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne.  Known simply as the Tynong North and Frankston Murders (based on the two locations where the bodies of the victims were found and the general areas in which they lived), the six slayings were originally treated as two separate serial killer matters.  Six women - aged as young as 14 and as elderly as 75 - three in each of the two areas - fell to the killer or killers in a less-than-two-year period.  And then they simply stopped.  Was it because police had focused on the identity of someone they pegged to all six murders but just couldn't formally pin them on him - and he was disciplined enough to end his spree?  Join Melissa as she digs in to the tragedy and crazy-making details of these still-unsolved crimes - and the now-85 year-old devout Christian gentleman who may - or may not - hold the key that would unravel the entire mystery.

Tue, May 14, 2019

81. Sounds Like You're Not Getting Your Deposit Back, Sir - Helle Crafts And The Wood Chipper

Say True-Crimers, here's a couple of brain teasers for the next time you want to stump a fellow Murder Maven: What was the investigation covered in the very first episode of "Forensic Files"?  Or how about this: What was the first "no body" murder trial to result in a conviction in the State of Connecticut?  Well surprise!  The answer to both questions is the same - it's the gruesome-yet-freakishly-weird 1986 case of Helle Crafts, whose husband, Richard, was convicted of killing her in their Newtown Connecticut home, throwing her body in a brand new Westinghouse freezer purchased just for the occasion, chopping her frozen body parts into bits with a brand new Stihl chainsaw (obviously this was someone who insisted on quality brand-name products), then renting a wood chipper to shred those bits and send them flying into nearby Lake  Zoar.  Yep, you guessed it - the Cohen Brothers didn't invent the - let's call it the "Wood Chipper Paradigm" - when they wrote the screenplay for "Fargo" - Richard Crafts thought up the idea all by himself some 10 years before Steve Buscemi's leg protruded out of that famous chipper on movie screens across America.  And unlike the movie, the real-life case featured Dr. Henry Lee - one of Melissa's monument-worthy heroes.  Join her as she re-tells the truly bizarre tale of one man's epically brutal - and monumentally stupid - attempt at avoiding divorce.

Tue, May 07, 2019

80. Sounds Like A Mess In Queens - The (Possible) Murderer Of Karina Vetrano

The brutal strangulation death of Karina Vetrano in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens New York in August 2016 seemed like a slam-dunk, easy-to-solve crime at first blush.  The 30 year-old beauty had been killed while jogging in the late afternoon, her body dumped just a few yards off the running path in Spring Creek Park.  But then things got not so slam-dunk.  And fast.  Police followed empty lead after empty lead.  The touch-DNA found on the young victim's body could not be matched in any database - and the case went cold for six months.  Then, through what can only be described as a complete fluke of a train-of-thought hunch by a police officer in a completely different jurisdiction, 20 year-old Chanel Lewis was arrested after a DNA swab matched that of the DNA found on Karina's body.  Shortly thereafter, Lewis confessed to the murder in a videotaped police interview.  Seems like cops were back running toward the hoop unchallenged again, right?  Not so fast.  In the following 14 months, right up to April 2018, the road to justice in this case ran into a bizarre series of courtroom mishaps, alleged jury misconduct and a mystery letter to the defense team that makes this case - though officially now "solved," one that the locals in Queens still wonder about.  And it ain't over yet.  Join Melissa as she conveys the twists and turns of this intriguing and tragic case.

Tue, April 30, 2019

79. Sounds Like A Shroud Of Silence On Murder Mountain - With Special Guest Vikki Joseph

On June 21, 2014 Jeff Joseph - a Southern California cannabis entrepreneur who had opened a marijuana growing operation some 700 miles to the north, was on his way back to his farm when he disappeared seemingly off the face of the planet and hasn't been seen or heard from since.  Sadly, Jeff's story is just one of literally hundreds of missing persons in Humboldt County, where - as detailed in the recent documentary series "Murder Mountain," to this day a cloak of deadly secrecy encompasses the entire region. On this episode, Melissa discusses Jeff Joseph's disappearance with Jeff's sister Vikki Joseph, a brave and dedicated warrior for her brother who is relentless in demanding answers - even in the face of  terrified, closed-mouthed locals and law enforcement that seems to block the truth at every turn.

Tue, April 23, 2019

78. Sounds Like One Year Later: A Golden State Killer Update - And More!

How about an update on the prosecution of one of our most fascinating topics - the Golden State Killer?  One year after the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, Melissa has the latest on the (possibly politically-motivated) legal strategies happening in this continually mind-bending saga.  Plus: It's been a crazy week at Tip-Ster Central, with updates on three (3) (count 'em!) additional previously-covered cases hopping over the transom just in time for this week's episode --- such as the latest on the incredible (s)hero and DNA sleuth Barbara Rae-Venter...the search to find what happened to Kentucky high schooler Randy Sellers...and the further adventures of murder-for-hire slimebucket James Fayed  Plus much more (including Melissa's battle with the 23 & Me test kit!).  A fascinating hour of catch-up and insight.

Tue, April 16, 2019

77. Sounds Like A Bad Tarantino Movie - The Van Cleef And Arpels Massacre

On June 24, 1986 one of the most sensational and brutal attempted jewelry store robberies in US history took place at the storied Van Cleef and Arpels Jewelers on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.  It was there that a 22 year-old would-be thief named Steven Livaditis quickly and without much explanation at all turned himself into a cold-blooded murderer when the robbery he thought he could pull off went terribly wrong.  One of the most heart-pounding and horrifying stories ever recounted by Melissa, who shares how this case changed her in ways she never expected.

Tue, April 09, 2019

76. Sounds Like Crazy Calm Under Deadly Duress - The Courage of Jennifer Holliday

Imagine living what would be every woman's worst nightmare:  You're driving down the road with your favorite cousin in the passenger seat, not a care in the world, when suddenly a truck pulls up beside you and the guy inside fires a shotgun directly at you.  And shoots.  Blowing your elbow into shattered bone and blood.  When you pull over, that same driver tries to pull your cousin out of your car, and when she won't move, blows her head off with that same shotgun.  Imagine now that the driver hauls you away, rapes and tortures you, and then you end up in his trailer in the middle of the woods where no one can find him.  Jennifer Holliday doesn't have to imagine any of that.  Because it actually happened to her.  And she survived.  Through a combination of sheer guts, keen; raw intelligence and incredible calm under pressure, Holliday has lived to tell of her incredible ordeal - and Melissa shares it with you this episode in chilling, compelling detail.

Tue, April 02, 2019

75, MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like One Unlucky Leprechaun - David Cotton's Fatal Misadventure

A rare MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder) in our regular weekly time slot - but as this week's podcast reveals, Melissa and Producer Mark have a lot on their plate - but Melissa wanted to make sure you, dear listener, had a zesty treat until the next full episode.  And this one is straight out of the "it's so strange it MUST be true" department... in 2010 a bank robbery took place in Gallatin Tennessee that featured one David Christopher Cotton in the role of Armed Robber...with...a twist.  Suffice it to say that while this tale does not end well for Mr. Cotton or his getaway driver, Jonathan Skinner, the details of the event will likely leave you choking back a guffaw or two...or three...

Tue, March 26, 2019

74. Sounds Like A Malibu Mystery - The Mitrice Richardson Case With Special Guest Dr. Ronda Hampton

In 2009 Mitrice Richardson, a young and beautiful twentysomething taking a year off between her graduate and postgraduate studies, showed up one night far from home at a ritzy Malibu, California restaurant - behaving weirdly.  When she told the wait staff she couldn't pay the bill, the LA County Sheriff's Department was called and Richardson was hauled away to jail  What happened next is the stuff of countless mothers' nightmares.  Released from custody just after midnight, with no car, no money and no direction as to where to go next, Mitrice disappeared into the night - and into foreverville.  Her remains were found months later, but to date clues as to how she died, or whether she was murdered, continue to run dry.  Listen as Melissa is joined by clinical Psychologist Ronda Hampton, Ph.D., a mentor and friend to Mitrice, who has led a dedicated army of the young woman's friends and family in an unrelenting search for clues amid a story of - at best - some of the worst bungling ever committed by law enforcement.  Tell us: Do you think you might have a tip that will turn this case around?

Tue, March 19, 2019

73. Sounds Like A Madman's Gang of Killers - The Savage Murders Of Clarence Ray Allen

What kind of a sick monster would be so crass as to commit a burglary that he really didn't need to commit, then set out to murder anyone who not only betrayed him by telling on him, but also taking out anyone he THOUGHT MIGHT betray him...and recruiting others to do it for you?  Our boy Clarence Ray Allen, that's who.  Take a walk to the darkest side of Darkness Avenue with Melissa as she recounts the untold savagery and unexpurgated evil perpetrated by Allen and his dippy cohorts.  And while she's at it, Melissa will also demonstrate how Allen just might be tied to the Ryen family murders for which Kevin Cooper was convicted (as was covered in Episodes 10 and 11 this season).  Not for the feint of heart...

Fri, March 15, 2019

72. MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like Scary Stories Are Good For You!

Are you addicted to true crime?  Love a really scary ghost story?  Seen all the "Freddy" movies 15 times each?  Good for you!  You are NOT a freak bunky - in fact, you may be healthier than most people.  As Melissa explains in this intriguing MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder), exposing yourself to scary tales may just make you feel safer and more secure!

Tue, March 12, 2019

71. Kevin Cooper Part 2 - Sounds Like A Questionable Conviction

In part 2 of Melissa's exploration of the conviction of Kevin Cooper in the bloody slaughter of the Ryen family of Chino Hills California in 1983, your host gets into the nitty (and truly) gritty details of the positively botched investigation conducted by law enforcement at the time of the murders, and Cooper's decades-long path to having new DNA testing conducted on items that were overlooked or ignored.

Tue, March 05, 2019

70. Kevin Cooper Part 1 - Sounds Like Mass Murder And Mass Confusion

In June 1983, two separate stories met at a ranch house in Chino Hills, California.  The first story is the brutal stabbing/axing/icepicking mass murder of Doug Ryen, his wife Peggy, their daughter Jessica and Christopher Hughes, the 11 year-old best friend of the Ryans' son, Josh - Josh himself was near death, but eventually survived.  The second story is that of one Kevin Cooper. a full-time convicted burglar and part-time convicted rapist, just escaped from the California Institution for Men - also known as the Chino Hills Men's Prison.  Cooper, who had holed up in a house just a few hundred feet away from the Ryen home before (he claims) he headed for Mexico the night before the Ryen murders took place, was convicted of the slayings and sentenced to death.  Seems like an open and shut case.  Until one takes even a cursory look at how the case was handled.  In this first of two parts on Kevin Cooper and the murder conviction that has him sitting on death row today, Melissa examines Cooper's history of burglary, his various name changes and escapes, including the escape from Chino Men's Prison that led him to his fate.

Tue, February 26, 2019

69. Sounds Like Randy Sellers Hasn't Been Forgotten - With Special Guest Detective Brian Jones

When Kentucky teenager Randy Lee Sellers got into a drunken brawl at the Kenton County Fair in 1980, the police who arrived decided not to arrest the young man, and instead put him in their patrol car to take him home.  And that's the last time his friends or his loved ones ever saw or heard of him again.  The patrol officers stated that Sellers asked to be dropped off prior to getting to his house, and that they obliged.  For the past 38-plus years the mystery of his disappearance has remained headline news in Kenton County, with theories of his disappearance ranging from the simple to the complicated to conspiratorial.  But no one seems to have found the answer.  Enter Kenton County Police Detective Brian Jones - Melissa's special guest on this episode - who is now assigned to the case and is working actively on it.  Join Melissa as she and Jones discuss the disappearance, the path to finding an answer and the uniqueness of such a shocking and vexing case arising in small town America.

Tue, February 19, 2019

68. Sounds Like Psycho Greed - Dana Ewell And Joel Radovcich

Greed is bad - evil greed is worse - and psychopathic evil greed is just downright bloody awful.  And Dana Ewell and his best bud Joel Radovcich were about the greediest, psycho-nut-job evil rat bastards ever to crawl into the world.  Melissa's retelling of this gruesome 1992 multiple murder of Ewell's parents and only sibling on Easter Sunday is as chilling as it is disgusting.  As usual though, the nastiness is tempered by the heroism of two dogged Fresno County California detectives who took FIVE YEARS to finally bring the case to a close and bring Ewell and Radovcich to justice.  Find out why this was known for years as "Fresno's Crime of the Century."

Sun, February 17, 2019

67. MURDERTIZER - Sounds Like Developments Are Developin'

Melissa's first MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder!) of 2019 catches us up on some important developments in the Will Cierzan and Thomas Brown cases.  PLUS a preview of an upcoming interview with one of the world's top DNA experts - AND a report on Melissa's personal taste test on that Trader Joe's garlic dip she's heard so much about from Tip-Ster Charlotte.  Oh and so very much more!

Tue, February 12, 2019

66. Sounds Like Canadian Criminology - With Special Guest Tanya Todd

Melissa visits with true crime podcast aficionado and budding criminologist Tanya Todd, who visits the Homestead Studios all the way from Toronto, Canada to share some of her insights, theories and general worldview as she embarks on a path toward her criminology degree.  A delightful, funny, informative conversation between two lovers of the macabre, the mysterious and true crime solving.

Tue, February 05, 2019

65. Sounds Like A Panhandle Cover-Up: What Happened To Thomas Brown?

Melissa takes us through the deeply creepy disappearance of 18 year-old Thomas Brown on Thanksgiving Eve 2016, just moments after being videotaped pumping gas in the small town of Canadian, Texas.  Can it really be true that law enforcement botched this case so badly that the victim's mother had to hire a private investigation team to try to get to the truth?  Evidently so.  Because due to the hard work of that private investigator, Thomas Brown's remains were finally uncovered in January 2019.  But still absolutely nothing is known about the manner of his death.  The police insist it was suicide - but the bizarre array of evidence, the way it was collected or otherwise discovered and the erratic and baffling way the case has been handled by law enforcement raise far more questions than they do divulge answers.

Tue, January 29, 2019

64. Sounds Like Will Is Still Missing: The Continuing Search For William Cierzan

The very case that first inspired Melissa to host her own podcast - the case of the 2017 disappearance in Santa Clarita, California of Will Cierzan, beloved husband, brother and friend of just about everyone he met.  On the two-year anniversary of his vanishing, Melissa takes another look, determined to keep the case alive until Will is found.  The facts of Cierzan's disappearance (he has not been located to this day) are frustrating, angering - and above all, sad.  In this episode Melissa catches up on the developments of the case in the past 12 months, the maddening slowness of the investigation, the obvious priority shift since the lead detective in the case was assigned to a more glitzy, Hollywood-based investigation and the nagging sense that those responsible for Cierzan's disappearance (and likely demise) may never be brought to justice.  A call to all Tip-Sters to be vigilant, look for clues, keep all ears and eyes open and if you know something, TELL SOMEONE.

Tue, January 22, 2019

63. Sounds Like They're The Same (But They're Not): Jasmine Richardson and Jayme Closs

Jasmine and Jeremy and Jayme and Jake.  Two young girls and their boyfriends with cute and alliterative names.  Fun!  Right?  Um.   No.  In 2006, 12 year-old Jasmine Richardson disappeared from her home in Medicine Hat, Alberta after her parents and young brother were found brutally slain in their home.  At first, authorities believed that Jasmine was kidnapped by the killer and was being held hostage.  The truth was far more horrifying: Jasmine and her 23 year-old boyfriend Jeremy Steinke had actually committed the murders of Jasmine's family themselves - in a twisted plan to rid Jasmine of her ties to home so that she could run away with Jeremy.  It was a crime so unimaginably horrible that it set a precedent for callousness and pure evil.  So in 2018, when 13 year-old Jayme Closs of Barron Wisconsin went missing after HER parents were both brutally murdered in THEIR home, no one could blame some in law enforcement (and in the true crime blogosphere) from suspecting a replay of the Richardson case, and began looking for clues that a boyfriend was lurking somewhere in Jayme's social media background - a boyfriend that - who knows? - Jayme may have run away with after....you know...  As it turned out, though, the two cases are completely UNlike each other - this time around, the plot was solely that of one of the most coldblooded, determined yet bizarre murderers anyone could ever imagine.  Join Melissa as she delves into both cases, examines their similarities - and their truly frightening differences.

Tue, January 15, 2019

62. Sounds Like A PWOK In Feelingsville - With Special Guests Lorraine Schweikhard and Ginger Warren

It takes a lot for Melissa to go wild over a podcast - there are plenty she LIKES but only a handful that turn her into a true fan.  The "Big Feelings" Podcast with Lorraine Schweikhard and Ginger Warren shares that rare air.  And for good reason - Lorraine and Ginger are hilarious, engaging, thought provoking and a true joy to listen to.  Half chat-fest between two moms raising young children in the suburbs; half a unique exploration into the darker edges of true crime, "Big Feelings" is truly quirky and genuinely genuine - which is why Melissa fell in love.  Join Melissa, Lorraine and Ginger as they cover topics as wide ranging as the nature of psychopathy (in adults AND children!), dirty diaper cleanup miscues, weird murder - and a not-to-be-missed discussion on the ins, outs, ups, downs and, well, every-other-direction of the bidet.  We kid you not.  We'll leave it at that, except to say that 'taint a conversation to be missed!  A fun, bawdy hour-plus joy ride.

Tue, January 08, 2019

61. Sounds Like The Sky Is Falling - The Lost Souls Of JFK Junior

Season 2 opens with a case that's haunted Melissa for 2 decades - the untimely deaths of John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and Carolyn's sister Lauren.  Amid the obvious story lines of the Kennedy family's tragic history, its place in U.S. culture as the closest thing to an American royal family - and the sadness surrounding the demise of the young 38 year-old John-John, his bride and sister-in-law, Melissa asks a question buried deep beneath the facts of the case to ask a harrowing question:  Could JFK, Jr. have been a high-achieving, undiagnosed psychopath?

Tue, December 18, 2018

60. Tastes Like A Mother's Frustration - Finding Cody Turner

In the Season One Finale of JUST THE TIP-STERS, Melissa is joined on the phone by Michelle Kramer Joe - whose son - Cody Turner - disappeared without a trace in July 2015 after going out for the night and never returning to his grandparents' home in Yakima, Washington.  Michelle has spent the last three years struggling to keep Cody's name in the forefront of police and the press, both of which she believes have never given their full attention to the case due to the stigma attached to Cody's drug and alcohol abuse.  As Melissa points out in her discussion with Michelle, it DOES NOT MATTER what sort of mistakes one has made in life - NO ONE deserves to be forgotten and EVERYONE's life has meaning.  Join Melissa as she closes out 2018  with a heart- wrenching plea from a mother for clues that might lead to finding her son.  JUST THE TIP-STERS/SEASON TWO DEBUTS ON JANUARY 8, 2019.

Fri, December 14, 2018

59. MURDERTIZER - Tastes Like DNA Wins Again

Getting ready to gorge on all those holiday appetizers?  Before you start digging in to the fruitcake pops, how about a tangy-but-hearty MURDERTIZER?  Melissa fills us in on the latest in the hideous swirling vortex of awful that is Joseph James DeAngelo - the latest being a surprising DNA  test that may present more questions than it answers.  Plus a court hearing sets the stage for a long (and expensive) taxpayer-funded journey to trial...

Tue, December 11, 2018

58. Tastes Like No Bodies Business - With Special Guest Tad Dibiase

In the second episode of this month's focus on unsolved missing person cases, Melissa is joined on the phone from Washington DC by special guest TAD DIBIASE, a former federal prosecutor and author of the book "No Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing."  Dibiase has led a fascinating career, most recently focusing on how prosecutors can best find ways to bring to justice those whom law enforcement has everything to get a murder conviction EXCEPT a dead body.  A terrific conversation that unveils some of the techniques that Dibiase makes available to law enforcement all over the U.S.

Tue, December 04, 2018

57. Tastes Like A Nightmare - The Unsolved Disappearance Of Shannon Hokanson

Melissa looks at the heartbreaking, frustrating disappearance of Shannon Baldwin Hokanson, a beautiful young mother of three who disappeared in Enid Oklahoma in 2012.  One of literally tens of thousands of unsolved missing persons cases each year in the United States, Shannon's case represents one of the most haunting and nightmarish scenarios any family member or loved one can ever face - the sudden and unexplained disappearance of a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend - into the ether.  Maybe you know something that will help bring Shannon - or another missing soul - back home.  Call us if you think you may have a piece to a puzzle of an unsolved disappearance - (832) TIP-STER (832-847-7837).

Tue, November 27, 2018

56. The Grim Sleeper Part 3 - Tastes Like A Killer Cheese Pizza

In her third and final installment on Los Angeles' most prolific serial killer, Lonnie Franklin, Jr. - aka The Grim Sleeper, Melissa examines the details of the botched search for the killer over the decades, the Los Angeles Police Department's eventual recognition of the importance of catching him - and Franklin's arrest and conviction.  Most compelling is Melissa's retelling of the victim impact statements during sentencing, and the brilliant work of LAPD detectives, who paved the road to Franklin's demise through his taste buds - and a piece of partially eaten cheese pizza.

Tue, November 20, 2018

55. The Grim Sleeper Part 2 - Tastes Like More Than A Cat Nap

It's the second installment of Melissa's recounting of the awful life and times of Lonnie Franklin, Jr. - the infamous "Grim Sleeper" killer who terrorized South Central Los Angeles for three decades before finally being brought to justice.  During those years Franklin, raped, tortured and murdered at least nine young women and killed one lone male victim - for reasons that are still only speculation.  Join Melissa as she recounts the harrowing - absolutely terrifying - stories of two women who survived Franklin's assaults, and look into the abyss of the real possibility - the likelihood? - that the Grim Sleeper - so dubbed because he "slept" for over a decade at one point before resuming his killing spree - may not really have ever gone to sleep...

Mon, November 12, 2018

54. The Grim Sleeper Part 1 - Tastes Like A Monster Hidden In Plain Sight

Lonnie Franklin, Jr. was everybody's friend.  Gregarious.  Friendly to a fault/.  Had good jobs, first at the City Sanitation Department and then as a mechanic for the LAPD.  Lovely house on a corner lot.  Lovely and devoted wife.  Two kids.  Kinda guy that would give you the shirt off his back - or perform sometimes complex repairs to your car for just 20 bucks.  The epitome of a great neighbor.  Problem is, Lonnie Franklin, Jr. had a side gig that wasn't so friendly.  Turns out he was also one of the most prolific serial killers in the annals of crime.  And he was good at it - eventually becoming infamous as the elusive "Grim Sleeper" who got away with at least 26 brutal slayings of women in South Central Los Angeles.  26 that we know of, that is.  Join Melissa as she opens her case file on this devastating case with an overview of Franklin's evil career, to be followed in coming episodes with the horrifying details of the work of a monster who hid in plain sight for more than two decades before DNA and cheese from a pizza finally put him away.  PLUS - Melissa reveals disturbingly hilarious details from her past that MAY explain...er...a lot!

Mon, November 05, 2018

53. Tastes Like Dead North - With Special Guests Laura Frizzo and Jeremy Ogden

Melissa is joined via telephone by one of the most fascinating crime-fighting duos ever to bring really bad guys to justice!  Except this bad "guy" was actually a female, but just as - or even more - evil than your average serial killer. Kelly Cochran was more than just a "black widow" - she is suspected of knocking off at least 10 men, including her last husband, Jason - whom she had enlisted in helping murder the man she was cheating on Jason with - Chris Regan.  Cochran was finally  brought to justice by the cunning, determination and sheer will of an unlikely pair of law enforcement professionals three hours away from each other - Iron River, Michigan police chief Laura Frizzo and Hobart, Indiana detective Jeremy Ogden.  The Cochran case - including Frizzo and Ogden's story - is the subject of the Investigation Discovery documentary "Dead North."  It's an incredible journey - and Melissa fell in love with the documentary so much that she found Frizzo and Ogden living in Indiana and invited them for an interview on JUST THE TIP-STERS - and they said yes!  It's a fascinating, hour-plus conversation with two true original Good Guys pf law enforcement you won't soon forget.

Tue, October 30, 2018

52. Halloween Edition - Tastes Like It Was All The Dog's Idea

What ties together the still-unsolved 1981 Halloween murders of photographer Ronald Sisman and Smith College coed Elizabeth Platzman in a Greenwich Village apartment...and the murder of young, beautiful Arlis Perry in the Stanford University chapel some seven years prior to, and 3,000 miles away from, the Sisman/Platzman crime?  Well - it ain't anything...or anyONE...you'd suspect.  Join Melissa on her favorite holiday as she takes the spooky Halloween Trail linking two completely different cases through the ramblings of a single twisted (and well-known) psychopath.  Lots of tricks, no  treats from that guy.  Buckle up.  BOO!

Tue, October 23, 2018

51. Tastes Like Texas Justice Just Ain't Just

In certainly what appears to be a series of gross miscarriages of justice, in the late 1970s Texas millionaire Cullen Davis was (a) acquitted of one murder, (b) not charged in a second murder and the attempted murder of his ex-wife and two others, then (c) got a hung jury in a SECOND trial where he was charged with soliciting the murder of two other people (and acquitted in the re-trial).  ALL of this with evidence that was so compelling it would have resulted in convictions in any other place and with any other defendant.  Join Melissa as she relives this outrageous story of mad entitlement, wild jealousy and how the American justice system can be corrupted through wealth and influence.

Tue, October 16, 2018

50. Tastes Like Someone Knows What Happened To Sandra Kerby

Melissa unravels another cold case brought to us by a Tip-Ster - this one frustrating to the point of maddening.  In July 1999 in Fresno, California, teacher/wife/mother, 54 year-old Sandra Kerby went to Target to pick up a few things - and was never seen or heard from again.  In the intervening years, lots of evidence points to one suspect - but not enough of it to issue an arrest warrant.  And that is a tragedy - because Sandra Kerby, by all accounts, was one of the truly good people, and she left behind dozens of friends, family and former students who, to this day, seek answers.  Someone out there knows something about what happened to Sandra...is it you?  Now's the time to drop your tip on us!

Tue, October 09, 2018

49. Tastes Like An Innocence Project

On this special edition of JUST THE TIP-STERS, Melissa travels south into deep Orange County California, to the campus of the University of California Irvine School of Law, where she spends a fascinating just-under-an-hour with Super Ninja Justice Lawyer Annee Della Donna, a private practice attorney in Laguna Beach who started and leads Innocence Rights Orange County.  Together with a hearty band of law students from the UC Irvine Law School, Ms. Della Donna's homegrown innocence project has already worked on several impressive cases - including the case of the man she believes was wrongly convicted of the 1979 brutal murder of Joan Virginia Anderson - which, some of you Tip-Sters may remember, bore a lot of resemblance to the rapes and murders committed by the Golden State Killer (!).  Della Donna and her team have convinced the Orange County D.A. to reopen that case...and they are now hot on the trail of a cold case also familiar to Just The Tip-Ster devotees - that of Garden Grove housewife Patricia Neufeld, whose murder in 1978 also looks suspiciously like the work of our old pal EARONS/GSK.  A fascinating discussion with a remarkable champion for justice - and her personal story of her own possible...well... probable...encounter with you-know-who when she was a 17 year-old high school girl...

Tue, October 02, 2018

48. Tastes Like The Bike Path Killer Should Have Stayed In The Gym

Friendly, regular family guy Altemio Sanchez - affectionately known around his neighborhood in suburban Buffalo, NY as "Uncle Al" - couldn't have been more of your basic solid citizen.  A wife, kids, a good job at a local factory for more than two decades - all the markings of the Friend Next Door.  Until he wasn't.  Until he used his mornings off to attack, rape and murder unsuspecting women throughout  the Buffalo area.  With a string of assaults and murders stretching from 1990 to 2006 - and possibly going as far back as 1981 - Sanchez' capture and prosecution in 2007 remains one of law enforcement's most important successes.  But the road to the killer's capture was fraught with miscues and outright bungles - and Melissa takes us through all the twists and turns of the investigation, arrest and conviction.

Tue, September 25, 2018

47. Tastes Like NPR Sent A Rejection Letter - Plus Tip-Sters Two Cents

Hey!  Don't be distracted by that...er...more Podcasty sounding introduction...it was just a little something we tried...for about 30 seconds...and then realized we just ain't traditional Podcasty People!   Plus this is no time to mess around, since it's time for another TIP-STERS TWO CENTS, featuring listener emails, comments and general chit-chat.  PLUS Melissa and Producer Mark mix it up on a wide variety of topics ranging from weirdly-pronounced city and street names to mispronounced words to...yes...peeing in the back yard.  PLUS PLUS - there are scintillating updates in the seemingly bottomless trough of new stories coming out of the GSK investigation...and then Paul Holes news...and so much more!

Tue, September 18, 2018

46. Tastes Like Chef Daniel Brophy Chose The WRONG Wife

In this week's podcast, Melissa rips a story directly from the headlines in a shocking, still-developing story out of Oregon, where Chef Daniel Brophy - a professor and chef at a prestigious school for the culinary arts - was found on the floor dying from a gunshot wound in one of the institute's kitchens in June 2018.  Just three months later, Brophy's wife, Nancy - a writer of romance/mystery novels - was arrested for the murder.  But the police have convinced a judge to keep the reasons for the arrest under wraps - at least for now...

Tue, September 11, 2018

45. Tastes Like Catching An Unknown Serial Killer: The Brilliance of Barbara Rae-Venter

Who could have guessed that the trail to catching the infamous Golden State Killer led straight through the brilliant mind of a retired attorney, medical doctor and Ph.D. who took on genealogy as a hobby!  But that's exactly what happened when Det. Paul Holes recruited then 69 year-old Barbara Rae-Venter after reading about her phenomenal work two years earlier in San Bernardino.  In this episode Melissa explains in detail how Dr. Rae-Venter used her scientific and deductive skills to help Det. Holes and his team track down GSK - and also hear the story of the amazing case of "Lisa," who, abandoned as a little girl by a convicted serial killer she had thought was her father, finally found a family through the work of Dr. Rae-Venter, a dogged police detective and a whole lot of good people who volunteered to help.

Tue, September 04, 2018

44. The Golden State Killer Part 6 - Tastes Like KGSK Is On The Air!

Kicking September off with a Big Bunch of a Bang, Melissa covers some fascinating new ground in the ongoing prosecution of Joseph D'Angelo, the accused Golden State Killer.  Including a discussion of the brilliant legal move made by the Contra Costa County District Attorney to turn what could have been a legal dead end into a possible new prosecutorial avenue to get justice for more victims...a background profile of one of the unsung (hopefully soon to be loudly sung) heroes of the case - a retired attorney-turned genealogist who played perhaps the biggest role in capturing the suspect...and Melissa's take on the Sacramento County District Attorney's behavior at the recent boffo press confab (spoiler alert: it ain't pretty).

Thu, August 30, 2018

43. MURDERTIZER - Tastes Like Yoga Balls Are A Gassss...!!!

Here's a short but savory MURDERTIZER for your mid-week snack!  This time featuring a yellow Mini Cooper, a professor of anesthesiology and a big, bouncy yoga ball...oh, and of course, MURDER.  When Professor Khaw Kim-sun's wife and daughter were found dead in their family car on a Hong Kong street, there appeared to be no signs of trauma or any other reason for their mysterious passing.  What the police ended up discovering was downright inventive - but as with so many murder plots, a greater idea in theory than in execution.

Tue, August 28, 2018

42. Tastes Like That Time We Got In The Middle Of A Murder Investigation - The Tragic And Clumsy Homicide Of Pamela Fayed

...so then...there was that time when Melissa and Producer Mark were sitting down to dinner...and then...the phone rang...and then... - And what a night it was, when Producer Mark's job called him down to the scene of a murder in a building owned by the company he works for.  And guess who tagged along?  If you guessed Melissa, you get a gold "Just The Tip-Ster" star!  From that first harrowing night at the scene to the police investigation to the prosecution of the perpetrators, Melissa takes us deep into the brutal and horrifying death of Pamela Fayed, whose killers had to be the most clueless, stupid (and yes, evil) gang of murder-for-hire bunglers ever to carry out such a horrible deed.  You won't feel sorry for any of them at tale's end.

Tue, August 21, 2018

41. Tastes Like Cap'n Christina Has A Past: The Lyerla Murders

So what is a girl to do when she's kinda sorta, you know, DONE with her husband and baby and wants to spend more time with her daddy-figure lover?  Well - according to some (not us! don't look at us!), you do what Cynthia Knox (allegedly) did - pay to have the ball 'n' chain slaughtered and drown the kid yourself.  Oh.  And then when the in-laws take exception to your plan and come after you, you simply move to another state, steal a dead girl's identity and become a...wait for it...licensed yacht captain!  In a story almost impossible to fathom Melissa unravels the tale of the very unlucky Harold "Skeeter" Lyerla, who married the woman of his dreams only to meet his doom - along with that of their baby daughter - (allegedly) because she was more into older men and her dreams were - darn it! - just a lot bigger than his - and required the proceeds from a life insurance policy to make them come true.  Allegedly.

Tue, August 14, 2018

40. Tastes Like The Car Guy Did It - The Disappearance Of The Salomen Family

When Shlomo (Sol) Salomen, his wife and two children suddenly disappeared from their suburban Northridge California home in October of 1982, nothing seemed to make sense.  But as the serene picture of a happy family life was peeled away, a seamy and steamy truth started to emerge - about Sol's family life, his lifestyle and, most importantly, his business and his business associates.  When one of those associates was tried - three times - and finally acquitted of murdering the Salomens - whose bodies have never been found - the case went cold for 20 years before the former best-friend of the Salomens' daughter finally had enough and started looking deeper.  The results are fascinating and frustrating - but we just KNOW that a Tip-Ster who holds the clue that will break the case open is out there somewhere - is that Tip-Ster YOU?

Fri, August 10, 2018

39. MURDERTIZER - GSK Update And Tip-Sters Two Cents

A zesty MURDERTIZER wherein Melissa discusses the recent Oxygen Network documentary "Golden State Killer: Main Suspect," which features many new insights and interviews with friends and colleagues of accused GSK Joseph James D'Angelo.  PLUS Melissa reveals breaking news regarding two new cases from 1974 and 1975 that send a strong hint that the Golden State Killer's murderous ways started long before anyone suspected - until now.  AND Melissa checks in with listener comments and emails in another edition of TIP-STER TWO CENTS.  More murder, mystery and mail than anyone deserves in a single podcast!

Tue, August 07, 2018

38. Tastes Like CSI-Aye-Aye: The Scripted Suicides of Alan Abrahamson And Tom Hickman

Who woulda thunk it?  Two very different guys - ten years apart - used the sub-sub story line of an episode of a TV crime procedural from 2003 and (almost) successfully make it work in real life!  Or...er..death...  On this episode of JUST THE TIP-STERS Melissa takes a look into the deaths of two men - one from just weeks ago in 2018 in Florida and another from a decade ago in New Mexico, both of which at first glance appeared to be murders  But solid detective work and a search of the archives of the television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" revealed that both of the deceased men had actually committed suicide based on the plot from the show.  Why would they go through all the trouble? The answer is simple and tragic - and in looking at these cases Melissa takes a strong stand on staying alive and embracing life.  Funny, fascinating and compelling all at once.

Tue, July 31, 2018

37. The West Mesa Murders Part 3 Featuring Todd Kohlhepp - Tastes Like Multiple Persons Of Interest

Melissa wraps up her examination of the West Mesa Murders in Albuquerque with a closer look at the multiplicity of possible persons of interest in the case - and not just the most obvious ones.  Along the way, Melissa introduces us to the story of creepy genius murderer Todd Kohlhepp -  who, while not the most likely culprit in the New Mexico slayings, demonstrates the potential of how any number of nasty rat bastards could have buried all those bodies out on the mesa.

Tue, July 24, 2018

36. GSK Update And West Mesa Murders Part 2 - Tastes Like Tragedy

First things first - an update on a couple of new newzbitz on the Golden State Killer prosecution and things we're learning about people and events on the periphery of the investigation (boffo stuff!).  And then Melissa continues her look into the still-unsolved West Mesa Murders in Albuquerque with profiles of each of the known victims in the case and their stories.  With the case still unsolved, and with so much uncertainty over the "Lost Girls" still classified as missing from the period of time the known murders took place, this case screams out for any new leads - and logic tells us there's SOMEONE - maybe more than one person - out there who has information.  If that person is you, please speak up - we're listening.

Fri, July 20, 2018

35. MURDERTIZER - Tip-Ster Two Cents - Tastes Like Listener Emails

In this short but totally sweet MURDERTIZER, Melissa reads some comments and suggestions from listeners and hands out some big thanks to other fans of the podcast.  We love our listeners and we love hearing from them even more!

Tue, July 17, 2018

34. The West Mesa Murders Part 1 - Tastes Like Bones

Melissa takes a first look at the West Mesa Murders in Albuquerque - murders that happened over a long stretch of time but were not discovered until a mass grave was discovered on the mesa outside of town in 2009.  An incredibly frustrating case - especially for the families of the "Lost Girls" who went missing in the years before the discovery of the bones on the mesa - the majority of whom are still missing and who (for all the authorities know) may be buried in other mass graves.  To add to the crushing pain of the families of the victims - one of the key suspects is now deceased - and the other isn't talking.  This one is truly in need of Tip-Sters who can help solve a mystery that deserves resolution.

Tue, July 10, 2018

33. Tastes Like Homicide Pie And A Bad Movie - The Murder Of Adrienne Shelly

In a delicious mix of serious storytelling, film reviewing and humor, Melissa cuts loose on bad screenwriting AND awful murder as she looks at the life, career and death of writer/director/producer/actor Adrienne Shelly - who was murdered in her New York City office apartment in 2006, just when things were just starting to hit the bigtime for her.  Her indy film "Waitress" had just been named to debut at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival when she was killed, and the film has gone on since to become somewhat iconic - it's even become a Broadway musical.  But...really...why?  As Melissa points out with brilliantly honest humor, "Waitress" just...isn't...very...good...  Interweaving the tale of Shelly's senseless death with a devastating film review, this can only be described as something like Roger Ebert at the Morgue. Simultaneously compelling, brilliant, sad and hilarious, as only Melissa can convey.

Tue, July 03, 2018

32. The Golden State Killer Part 5? - Tastes Like A Familiar Crime Scene - GSK and Patricia Neufeld?

Those question marks in the title of this episode are there for a reason - because a real mystery is evolving regarding the unsolved 1978 murder of Patricia Neufeld in Garden Grove, California.  Originally attributed to a different mass murderer - who to this day denies Neufeld was "one of his" victims, a fresh look at the case reveals haunting similarities between the Orange County housewife's homicide and the M.O. of you-know-who (that would be the Golden State Killer for those of you just tuning in).  Bolstered with some striking - and blind - input from two respected psychic detectives, the facts of this despicable crime take on a whole new light.  Join Melissa as she shines it brightly on what might be  one of GSK's earliest horrors.

Tue, June 26, 2018

31. Tastes Like Not A Very G'Day Mate - The Evil Sprees of Christopher Wilder

Nearly killed at birth.  Nearly drowned as a toddler.  Australian transplant to America, where he becomes a rich South Florida playboy.  Stone cold sexual predator.  One of the deadliest spree killers in U.S. history.  As Melissa explains in this episode, all of those descriptions apply to Christopher Wilder, who in less than three months in early 1984 wrote the swansong to his scabrous 39-year life by abducting and raping (at least) 12 women, killing (at least) 8 of them over a six-week cross-country murder binge that didn't end until...well let's not spoil the ending.  Suffice it to say that nothing about the story of "The Beauty Queen Killer," as Wilder was dubbed by the American press, is anything close to beautiful.

Tue, June 19, 2018

30. The Golden State Killer Part 4 - Tastes Like No Plea And A S***load Of Evidence

It's been less than two months since the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer - but WOW has new information been pouring out about the case ever since.  In this episode, Melissa goes through the search warrant served on the accused and the indictment - including new previously unpublicized allegations of creepy doings that are hard to believe (but, well, not that hard to believe).  PLUS - a social media comment dialogue unearths a chilling, daring and ultimately hopeful confession from a would-be serial killer who has lived his entire adult life battling his demons.  An absolutely compelling virtual conversation between Melissa and a man who found the courage to bring his darkness into the light.

Tue, June 12, 2018

29. Tastes Like A Hit Man Hired From A Yelp Review - The Mary Morris Murders

One of the most frustrating cold cases in America comes to Melissa straight out of Houston Texas, where in late 2000 two completely unrelated women who happened to share the same exact first and last names were killed just four days apart. Could the first Mary Morris have been killed in a completely coincidental car fire?  Could a serial killer be on the loose who hates the word combo "Mary + Morris?"  Or is it more likely that the two murders were the result of a bizarre comedy/tragedy of errors?  And could this be an instance of someone bungling so much of his murderous plan that he came out smelling like a rose?  Spend a little bit of your day with Melissa as she uncorks one hell of a fizzy bottle of unsolved True Crime that maybe - just maybe - YOU - or some other brilliant Tip-Ster can help solve!

Tue, June 05, 2018

28. Tastes Like Life Imitated Art Imitating Life - John List and Ed Sherman and BLACKOUT

A blast from Melissa's college days turns into a rollercoaster ride of Murder-to-Movie- to-Murder!  A recollection of a movie from 1985 called "Blackout" - released when Melissa was still in college - pops in to her memory banks as she looks into the 1971 case of John List, who murdered his wife, children and mother in the most macabre way and went on the lam for nearly two decades before "America's Most Wanted" finally smoked him out.  Was "Blackout" based on the List murders? You decide!  BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! Not long after the made-for-HBO "Blackout" was released into video stores, another murder with INCREDIBLY SIMILAR facts popped up in the investigation of Ed Sherman in Connecticut.  Could one TV movie be the fulcrum in two different murders 14 years apart?  Melissa thinks so.  What about you?

Tue, May 29, 2018

27. Tastes Like Half Of Buffalo Bill - The Horror Of Gary Heidnik

When one of our beloved Tip-Sters - Laurencia all the way from Maine! - sent Melissa an email to suggest this gruesome little tale, we were surprised to learn that its subject - Pennsylvania's own Gary Heidnik - was one of TWO real-life killers writer Thomas Harris used to create his monstrous "Buffalo Bill" character in "Silence of the Lambs."  We knew that Harris had used mass murderer Ed Gein to create his character, but we'd never heard of Heidnik.  Laurencia - who's actually written a treatise on this case - set us straight on the story - which - yes! - comes complete with kidnapped young women held hostage in a dirt pit in a basement - and in this episode of JUST THE TIP-STERS Melissa fills us in on all the details of Gary Heidnik's icky lifetime of ickier crimes, culminating in a four-month spree of kidnapping, torture and murder...and at least one human head boiling on the cooktop range...

Tue, May 22, 2018

26. The Golden State Killer Part 3 - Tastes Like Southern California

In the final years of GSK's known (and we stress KNOWN) string of vandalism, rapes and murders - from 1980 to 1986 - the killings were less frequent but far more brutal as he transitioned from Central to Southern California.  In this, the third and final installment on the history of the Golden State Killer, Melissa examines not only the brutal, last known murders in his spree - she also divulges some recently-uncovered facts about where the killer may have been living and how he had access to the victims.  Plus - Melissa discusses what might have been GSK's first murder victim way back in 1975 - and how recently-revealed facts tie the man then known only as the Visalia Ransacker to the man who eventually became The Golden State Killer.

Tue, May 15, 2018

25. The Golden State Killer Part 2 - Tastes Like The Central Coast Years

In the second part of this multi-part series on California's infamous Golden State Killer, Melissa follows the path of the former East Area Rapist, now headed south to the state's Central Coast - and it's here where the now indicted John James DeAngelo allegedly acquires a real - and completely evil - taste for murder.  As fascinating as it is chilling (and not for the squeamish), the story of this phase of GSK's decade-plus spree of terror is the story of a demonic madman finding his true, horrible calling and the deep and unending suffering left in his wake.

Tue, May 08, 2018

24. The Golden State Killer Part 1 - Tastes Like The Early Years

In the first part of a multi-part series focusing on the infamous, decades-long mystery of the Golden State Killer - and the recent arrest of a suspect after 42 years - Melissa investigates not only the story itself but her own fascination - even obsession - with the case.  In this installment - "The Early Years" - Melissa pieces together facts from John James DeAngelo Jr.'s youth and his youthful career as a police officer to describe in detail each step of what now appears to be over 50 years of terror and terrorizing.  Each of the East Area Rapist's attacks are listed, in order, providing dramatic, staggering illustration to the enormity of his crimes.  The story is often frustrating - as demonstrated by the numerous missed opportunities to stop the killer's spree before it became epidemic - but also engrossing and compelling.  Now with the murderer's face is finally in the light, Melissa journeys into the place where the darkness first descended.

Tue, May 01, 2018

23. Tastes Like A Queen City Massacre - The Bricca Family Murders

In this episode, Melissa takes the suggestion of a loyal Tip-Ster calling the Tip-Ster Hotline from Cincinnati, Ohio - and explores one of that city's most haunting and frustrating cold cases - the Bricca family murders of 1966.  A young family of three brutally stabbed to death on a peaceful Sunday night for seemingly no reason - and while some of the clues lead to what seems an obvious suspect, other clues lead to some bizarre possibilities far away from the Queen City and possibly into the past of one of the victims.  To this day no one has been arrested, and while cold case detectives still work the case, as time passes it gets harder to solve as witnesses and possible suspects fade away.  Here's one YOU might be able to help with - maybe you, dear Tip-Ster, have a tidbit of information that you never thought was important but could break the case.  Listen in and put on your thinking caps...

Sat, April 28, 2018

22. MURDERTIZER - Golden State Killer Preview - Tastes Like A Micro-Penis In Lockup

He was only arrested a few days ago, but already the capture of Joseph James DeAngelo - the alleged "Golden State Killer" accused of committing 12 murders and innumerable rapes and robberies over a decade-plus crime spree, and who has eluded justice for over 40 years - has created a storm of media coverage.  Some is speculative, much has turned out to be completely wrong.  With all the facts still rolling in, Melissa has decided to wait for things to calm down in order to tell the full story not just of the arrest and prosecution of the suspect, but the full, complicated, frustrating story.  In this MURDERTIZER, Melissa passes on her first impressions and gives a brief overview of the case so as to whet our Tip-Ster whistles for the full story - coming soon.  for now, here's a taste of what's to come.

Fri, April 27, 2018

21. MURDERTIZER - Tastes Like Zankou Revisited

In a special zesty MURDERTIZER between full episodes, Melissa follows up on the Zankou Chicken Massacre with a lighter chat about her numerous visits - some with Producer Mark and some by herself - to the new Zankou Chicken outlet near the Homestead Studios.  Funny and touching at once, Melissa relives her thrilling first visit to the new eatery and her subsequent interactions with the Iskenderian family following the store opening, and her appreciation for all the family has gone through.

Tue, April 24, 2018

20. Those Darn Peterson Boyz, Part 3 - Tastes Like Michael

Melissa completes her 3-part series on murderous men named Peterson with maybe the most fascinating of all - the tangled tale of Michael Peterson...who was convicted of killing his wife and making look like she fell down the stairs.  One of the most highly-covered murder cases in the last 20 years, this case - like one of the nightclubs promoted by SNL's Stefon - has everything: late night hot tubs, microscopic raptor feathers, phony-ass blood spatter experts...and blowpokes.  Yes, blowpokes.  Come along for the ride as Melissa details the story of an innocent man who never gave up - or possibly a guilty bad boy who had some very good luck come his way when he most needed it...

Tue, April 17, 2018

19. Those Darn Peterson Boyz Part 2 - Tastes Like Scott

Yeah, he probably did it.  You can feel in in your gut, right?  That's pretty much what the jury said when it convicted Scott Peterson of the murder of his wife, Laci in 2004.  But is demeanor evidence really evidence?  And does it prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt?  In Part 2 of her series featuring three men named Peterson who were each convicted of murdering their spouses, Melissa takes an honest poke at how Scott Peterson - who by all accounts is a no-good, cheating, lying rounder, got convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances based on little more than the fact that the jury didn't like him.  Whether you think he did it or not, the key question of guilt beyond reasonable doubt was thrown to the wind in this case, and Melissa asks:  Is that the kind of judicial system we really want?  A truly unique case gets a fresh look and a critical view through Melissa's uniquely focused lens.

Tue, April 10, 2018

18. Those Darn Peterson Boyz Part 1 - Tastes Like Drew

Who would have guessed that three of the most notorious, murderous men in recent history all share the same last name?  Not for nothing, ladies, but maybe if that dream date turns out to have a surname that starts with "P" and ends with "Eterson," you should reconsider Date No. 2.  In this, the first of a three-part series on three dudes who had no connection to each other - other than the name Peterson...and long interviews with homicide detectives...Melissa leads us down the raunchy life-path of Drew Peterson, a choice butthead of a fella, who thought so much of himself and so little of anyone else (especially the women who were unfortunate enough to enter his sphere) that he thought he could get away with disposing of two wives as if they were no more than yesterday's trash and get away with it.  In fact, it appears he still thinks he can.  A real prize package, this guy.  Melissa digs into the details of how the disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife - whose body has never been found - led to his arrest and conviction for the murder of his third wife - and how the determination of one victim's sister is leading to a final conclusion of both cases.

Sat, April 07, 2018

17. MURDERTIZER - Tastes Like The Crusty Shell Of Charles Manson

...crusty AND flaky too!  Here's another palette-cleansing, tasty and refreshing MURDERTIZER between regular episodes - this time so that Melissa can catch everyone up on the recent court ruling involving the remaining remains of Charles Manson, now dead nearly half-a-year and frozen solid in Kern County California awaiting this decision.  Melissa takes us through some of the bizarre details and even more bizarre characters involved in this battle, and offers up some of her own thoughts on what REALLY should have happened to Chuck's Cold Carcass...

Tue, April 03, 2018

16. Tastes Like Nancy Reagan Comin' Up To Bat: Vicki Lynn Morgan And Alfred Bloomingdale

A beautiful young girl with dreams of stardom moves from small town Colorado to Los Angeles to make her way to stardom...sound familiar?  Vicki Morgan's story actually did lead her to fortune - but not fame - at least not right away.  Over a 12-year period, she was the on-again, off-again well-compensated "kept woman" of millionaire Alfred Bloomingdale.  When Bloomingdale died and his widow ended the flow of dollars, Morgan sued the Bloomingdale estate for palimony - finally finding her fame when her sugar daddy's connections to the rich and powerful in California and Washington DC made for splashy and often tawdry headlines.  When she was murdered before her lawsuit came to trial, many wondered - and wonder to this day - if the murderer was actually the man convicted of the crime, or...???  Join Melissa as she unravels the ultimate tale of a Hollywood dream gone bad.

Tue, March 27, 2018

15. Tastes Like The Secret Is Avoiding Sweat Lodges - The Rise And Fall Of James Ray

James Ray's self-help enterprise made him a zillionaire after Oprah Winfrey knighted him - however briefly - her favorite Guide to Self-Realization.  All of it came crashing down in 2009 when three people died and many more were permanently injured at one of Ray's "sweat lodges" in the Arizona desert.  Join Melissa as she weaves James Ray's rise to fame and success and ultimate fall to prison and financial ruin into her own experiences with the self-help movement and Ray himself.  Can't-put-down-your-earbuds stuff, and a telling glimpse into the deadly hubris that can come from fame.

Tue, March 20, 2018

14. Tastes Like Blood On The Tripod - Bob Crane And John Henry Carpenter

What's more deranged than a TV sitcom set in a Nazi prisoner of war camp?  How about a drummer, radio personality and TV star who likes to feature himself in dirty home movies and gets himself bludgeoned to death in his Phoenix apartment?  Hah?  HAH?!  And that's just the outline of this bizarre tale of Bob Crane, star of the hit TV series "Hogan's Heroes," whose questionable friendship with a video equipment sales executive in the late 60's and early 70's is still the buzz of Hollywood - and not only because John Henry Carpenter put the Betamax to use for purposes other than intended - but also because of his purported involvement in Crane's bloody death in 1978 - something never proven and keeps this story as fascinating as the day the body was discovered.  Join Melissa as she makes the strangest visit to TVLand ever attempted.

Tue, March 13, 2018

13. Tastes Like Hands-Free Driving: Gary DeVore's Long Night's Journey Into Darkness

The mystery of screenwriter/producer Gary DeVore's 1997 disappearance on a dark and lonely highway - and the discovery of his body a year later - sans both hands! - continues to baffle and disturb to this day.  Melissa revisits the facts of this weird case, and delves into some of the speculation on what sinister forces may have been behind his death.  Hint:  Black helicopters ARE mentioned!

Tue, March 06, 2018

12. Tastes Like Leopold, Loeb And Acid On The Genitals - With Special Guest PAUL ZOLLO

Melissa is joined by author, singer/songwriter, columnist and photographer PAUL ZOLLO to talk about the infamous case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two young men who, in 1924 stunned the city of Chicago and the entire nation when decided that they could commit the perfect murder and proved themselves spectacularly and gruesomely incorrect.  Melissa joins Zollo, a Chicago native who has been fascinated by the story for years, to discuss the deeper aspects of this weird yet spellbinding story of two sociopaths who found each other in the same neighborhood and attending the same schools - and who may have had a more complex relationship than simply teaming to commit a cruel and random murder, which generated the first-ever "Trial of the Century" and transfixed the U.S. and the world.

Tue, February 27, 2018

11. Tastes Like Winos, Yoga and Twinning

They say that the fun is doubled when twins are involved...but whoever thought up that little gem never met the Duval Sisters of Maui, formerly of Park City, formerly of West Palm Beach - and for one of them, most recently, formerly of this mortal coil.  Melissa rips a page from the headlines in this spellbinding tale of two identical twins who thought teaching yoga to the rich and famous would make them...well...rich and famous too - only to be done in by the fact that they were, um, BATS**T CRAZY - which led to tragedy.  But was it murder?  Take a listen and decide for yourself.

Tue, February 20, 2018

10. Tastes Like Buried Kill Kits - The Unraveling Of Israel Keyes

Ever wonder why so many serial killers live their entire lives without ever getting caught?  They're CLEVER, that's why.  And the clever ones who do get caught?  Maybe it's just because they want to be caught.  Join Melissa as she investigates the totally depraved, disturbing and utterly brilliant killing spree of Israel Keyes, whose meticulous pre-planning and strict self-discipline enabled him to murder randomly and always getting away clean - until the day he broke his own Rules of the Hunt.

Tue, February 13, 2018

9. Tastes Like A Dark Day In Castaic

Melissa investigates a murder right in her own town - a 2007 "unsolved but solved" case involving the bludgeoning of Lawana Clary, a housewife and special education teacher whose killer will never come to justice - but whose case still needs closure.

Tue, February 06, 2018

8. Tastes Like Tent Canvas

Melissa discusses the tragic case of Barbara Ann Hackman, known only as "Tent Girl" when her body was first found wrapped in a circus tent canvas in rural Kentucky in 1969.  Through the determination of her family and the passion and commitment of one special man who, through pure coincidence, became the force behind her eventual identification decades later.  A tale of sadness, but also of the beauty of the human spirit, and the small Kentucky town that gave her dignity in death, though it never knew her name.

Tue, January 30, 2018

7. Tastes Like The Astral Plane - with Special Guest PAM CORONADO - Psychic Detective

Melissa is joined by renowned spiritual counselor and psychic detective PAM CORONADO, who for more than two decades has helped law enforcement solve a wide array of murders and other crimes.  Known for her numerous appearances in film and television, including "Sensing Murder" and "The Unexplained," Coronado is also an educator and personal spiritual advisor. In this episode of "Just the Tip-Sters, Melissa and Pam discuss the essence of psychic detective work and re-visit Pam's very first case from 1996 - as well as the 2010 homicide committed by one of her former business partners - who may have manifested his own grim destiny.  A fascinating, exhilarating and fun hour-plus conversation.

Mon, January 29, 2018

6. MURDERTIZER - The Story of Frances Glessner Lee, The Mother Of Forensic Science

A delicious appetizer to whet your whistle until the next full episode - today Melissa  tells the tale of Frances Glessner Lee, who, at the age of 52 and with no college education, began a career that changed law enforcement and the art of medical forensics forever, and whose methods are still used today.

Tue, January 16, 2018

5. Tastes Like Lululemon, Yoga and Murder

Melissa delves into the tragic 2011 "Lululemon Murder" in Bethesda Maryland by way of a riveting and personal exploration of one woman's passion for yoga.  Often erroneously described as "the murder in the yoga store," Melissa discusses the Lululemon case through the lens of her own personal journey with yoga, how it's portrayed in popular culture, and the unfortunate way gullible, beautiful souls searching for spiritual healing and meaning can be co-opted by false gurus.

Tue, January 09, 2018

4. Where There's A Will There's A Way - Will Cierzan (w/Special Guest Kari Hewitt)

Melissa is joined by special guest KARI HEWITT of The Finders, a Southern California band of dedicated volunteers who work with law enforcement and other volunteer organizations to help families of missing persons find their loved ones.  In this episode, Melissa and Kari discuss the strange, sad, maddening case of Will Cierzan, who appeared to have disappeared without a trace in January of 2017 when his wife returned home from work to discover the door unlocked, dinner ready, her husband's keys and wallet still in the house - but no husband.  A fascinating look at a fascinating case and the tough, single-minded searcher determined to solve it.

Tue, January 02, 2018

3. Tastes Like My Homey Chuck Manson

Melissa is horrified to learn not only that she and Chuckles were born just a few miles apart - but that the guy who built a temple to Everything Manson and who is suing to get all of Manson's belongings - including his body! - lives just a couple of miles from where she is now!

Tue, January 02, 2018

2. Tastes Like Zankou Chicken

Mmmmm garlic paste.  And chicken!  What could be more tasty?  How about a nasty family feud over a multi-million dollar restaurant chain that turns bloodier than a you-kinow-what with its head cut off!  Join Melissa as she takes us deep into the Zankou Massacre of 2003...

Tue, January 02, 2018

1. Tastes Like Homicide For The Holidays

Melissa explores the strange case of Gene Simmons (no, not THAT Gene Simmons!) who celebrated Christmas and New Year back in 1987 in a most macabre way...