January 8, 1982 Thomas Randolph and his wife Sharron enjoy a meal at their favorite Chinese restaurant in Southfield.
The couple is assaulted after leaving the restaurant, leaving Thomas injured and his wife dead. It’s an 18 year journey to solving the murder, with an ending that no one saw coming.
May, 1975, two cousins, Scott Hardy and Mark Mellendorf walk from Mellendorf’s home in Lapeer County Michigan to Tody Lake for some fishing.
When the boys don’t return home, their parents raise the alarm and searchers scour the woods for hours trying to find the young boys. The next morning, a tracking dog makes a horrific discovery on the southern end of the lake. Both boys are dead and there is a killer on the loose in this idyllic community.
Days later a second boy, Willie Walters, takes his fishing gear to Kearsley Creek, he too doesn’t return. His battered body is discovered the next morning.
These horrific crimes happened just a few miles north of the hunting grounds favored by the Oakland County Child Killer in 1976-1977.
Hillary Norskog was only 13 years old when she became the first victim of a serial murderer near Chicago Illinois. While his parents attempted to shield Steven Pfiel from his responsibility in her death, they could not stop him from killing again.
Special thanks to Lanie of the True Crime Fan Club Podcast for her assistance with this episode. https://truecrimefanclub.com/
Tuesday December 9, 1997. 23-year-old Laney Gwinner meets up with friends at a local bowling alley in Fairfield, Ohio.
She shot a few rounds of pool, had a couple of beers and left just after midnight, headed to her boyfriend’s nearby apartment. Laney won’t arrive, in fact, she’ll never be seen alive again.
In 2012, 23 year old Julia Niswender was chasing her dreams. A student at Eastern Michigan University, her goal was to work as a broadcast journalist.
One December evening, someone entered her off campus apartment and murdered her. Her death devastated her mother and twin sister, and the investigation into her murder would tear the family apart.
School violence is an ongoing issue of concern to students, parents and staff. In October 2013 Danvers High School was the scene of a violent and brutal murder, when a 14 year old freshman raped and murdered his 24 year old math teacher at school and dumped her body on school grounds.
What drove Philip Chism to violence and why choose Colleen Ritzer as his victim?
On January 19, 2015 19 year old Brock Turner, a Stanford University Swimmer, was arrested for the sexual assault of a 22 year old woman, “Emily Doe.”
In the months after the assault his story would change and evolve. At the trial, he was found guilty of three felonies and sentenced to six months in jail. He served three months.
In this episode we look at the perpetrator, the victim and the overwhelming response to the outcome of the trial.
I’m taking a week off to refresh, regroup and plan for a Back to School series of cases.
Meanwhile check out my guest appearance on Our Americana. Season 3, episode 11.
or, give a listen to another wonderful Detroit based storyteller – The Conspirators Podcast. Creepy history and strange stories. One of my favorites.
If you really need to hear me talk crime, check out the newest episode of Thinking Sideways, The Villisca Axe murders. You won’t be disappointed.
Finally, you may know that I am a big fan of the In Sight podcast hosted by the lovely and talented Ali and Charlie. They started a spin off show, geared to the YA set In Sight Junior. As an adult, it’s very well done and written with the same flair as In Sight.
On the night of August 6, 1993 Army Sgt. Kenneth Junior French entered the Luigi’s restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina armed with two shotguns and a rifle.
When his rampage was over, four people were dead and eight others wounded.
In 1983 the battered body of Erik Cross was found in a ditch in front of his house. He’d been beaten, dragged behind a car and finally run over, his body left on the edge of the road.
In the 34 years since his death, the Cross family has waited for an arrest in the case. In the last few years, an army has assembled, hoping to bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice.
In 2016 law enforcement named a group of suspects that they believe are involved in Eric’s death. This included Bill Cook, Tim Martin, Amber Thomas and Brent Spaulding: