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True Crime Brewery

True Crime Brewery is the true crime podcast that brings you deeply inside of a crime and its investigation. Hosts Jill and her retired pediatrician husband, Dick, use their medical knowledge and life experiences to share the stories behind some of the most compelling crimes from all over the world. And, just for fun, Dick uses his secondary expertise as a craft beer lover to review the best beers from the regions where each crime occurred. Meet this true crime obsessed couple at the quiet end of the bar to share a delicious a craft brew and an immersive storytelling experience.
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Now displaying: May, 2018
May 28, 2018

Gail Katz-Bierenbaum was the attractive, young wife of an up and coming surgeon when she disappeared in July of 1985. Her husband, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, was an overachiever with a very promising future. Charming but admittedly awkward, Bob was a surgical resident who spoke several languages, piloted his own plane, and enjoyed gourmet cooking. They seemed like the perfect Manhattan couple.
Trouble in the Bierenbaum marriage began before there was a wedding. Bob was obsessive, possessive, and controlling. Gail had always been a free spirit, a creative and intelligent person. But Gail was raised with the goal of marrying a doctor. Her mother believed her financial insecurity and tendency to move from one thing to another would be cured if she became a doctor’s wife.
Before her disappearance, Gail and Bob were planning a divorce. Bob didn’t want Gail to leave him. Gail had told a friend that she had proof Bob was committing Medicaid fraud. She would threaten to expose him to get her freedom. Then, Bob called Gail’s mother looking for her.
When Gail’s mother arrived at the Bierenbaum apartment, she found Gail’s purse with her keys and cigarettes. Bob said she had left in a huff the day before. He hadn’t seen her since. His story didn’t ring true.
At the quiet end today, we’re telling the story of a couple who seemed to have life all figured out. But the reality of their lives, and Gail’s death, was far from ideal. Without a body, it would take years to put together what happened to Gail and to bring Bob Bierenbaum to trial. But did they get it right?

May 22, 2018

The story of Marybeth Tinning and her nine deceased children is one of the worst cases of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy in the history of the disorder. Between the years of 1967 and 1985, Marybeth, a wife and mother in upstate New York, gave birth to and buried every one of her babies and young children, often within months of one another.

The eldest, Barbara Ann, was born in 1967. By 1972, both little Barbara and her two siblings had died, starting with eight-day-old Jennifer, who is the only Tinning child believed to have died of natural, medically explained causes. The rest died inexplicably, all dead before they were old enough to attend kindergarten. Most were too young to walk or talk.

Marybeth repeatedly sought the attention of medical professionals, but no one spoke up to say that her actions were suspicious. They examined each child for symptoms, found none, and sent Marybeth home, where her child would die soon after. Marybeth was always the one to find them, blue and unresponsive. By the fifth death, doctors were calling the cause of most of these deaths Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

The belief began to circulate in the town of Schenectady, New York, that the Tinning family suffered from "a death gene." Marybeth was asked by concerned acquaintances and family members why she continued to bring more babies into the world since they seemed destined to die so young.  Marybeth said she was a woman and that’s what women are supposed to do.

After fourteen years of deaths, Marybeth Tinning was finally arrested for the murders of Barbara Ann, Joseph, Jennifer, Mary Francis, Timothy, Nathan, Michael, Jonathan, and Tami Lynne Tinning. The autopsy of her youngest, Tami Lynne, had shown signs of manual suffocation.  Marybeth has told varying stories about her involvement.  To this day, her husband, the father to her 9 dead children, stands by Marybeth.

Join us at the quiet end today for an unbelievable and startling story of murder, followed by a discussion of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, Child Protective Agencies, and the criminal justice system.

I’ve asked Dick to bring in a heavy hitting beer today because this case can really be not only upsetting but incredibly frustrating.  As a mother---hell, as a human being---I just cannot understand how this woman was able to repeat these horrible acts over and over with no one intervening to protect the most innocent victims.

May 15, 2018

Jack Barron's wife, Irene, died in her bed in the spring of 1992. She was only 34 and in apparently good health. On the day of her death, Jack told some people at work that she was having headaches and hadn’t felt well for several days.
Eight months later, Jack Barron's son, Jeremy, 4, stopped breathing in his sleep. Jack began to suggest to his in-laws and neighbors that there was some genetic link. The remaining family members were given medical tests which revealed nothing.
When Jack Barron's remaining child, his daughter Ashley, died in her sleep, also at the age of 4, family and friends could not believe such tragedy could strike again. Now alone, Jack quickly sold his Sacramento house and moved in with his mother in the Bay Area town of Benicia, California. By this time, his in-laws were suspicious. Maybe his mother became suspicious too.
Within 2 months, Jack’s mother was found dead in her bed. Finally, investigators began to believe that Jack Barron was a serial killer. Further investigations would reveal links between significant dates in Jack Barron’s life and the dates of his family members' unexplained deaths.
Join us at the quiet end today for a fascinating story of a psychologically disturbed man who killed off his family, one by one, each time planting a tree in their memory. How did police overlook what seems in hindsight to be a well plotted string of murders by a man who clearly enjoyed attention and benefited financially from the deaths of those closest to him?

May 8, 2018

With her arms full of grocery bags, 33-year old Diane Whipple had just returned to her upscale apartment in San Francisco on Jan. 26 2001. As she opened the door, a neighbor’s dog—a 112-lb. female Presa Canario named Hera—rushed down the narrow hall and began barking at her, followed by 123-lb. Bane, who was on a leash but pulling his owner, Marjorie Knoller, behind him. Diane was knocked to the floor and Bane attacked her.
The mauling death of Diane Whipple was viscous and brutal. She suffered over 70 dog bites. The final bite tore open her neck, leading to fatal blood loss. A neighbor called 911 when she heard the horrible attack.
Bane and Hera’s owners would later deny any knowledge of their dogs’ propensity for violence. But nearly 30 people would come forward with stories of being lunged at or bitten by one or both of the dogs. And then secrets emerged that painted an unfavorable picture of the owners.
There is so much to talk about with this case. Responsible pet ownership. Dog breeding. Animal abuse. Adoption laws. The definition of second-degree murder. This is just a crock pot full of fascinating topics. In Unleashed: A Dog Mauling in San Francisco, we will definitely ruffle some feathers, but hopefully the discussion will serve as an opportunity to take a closer look at our values and open the door to some fascinating listener feedback.

May 8, 2018

With her arms full of grocery bags, 33-year old Diane Whipple had just returned to her upscale apartment in San Francisco on Jan. 26 2001. As she opened the door, a neighbor’s dog—a 112-lb. female Presa Canario named Hera—rushed down the narrow hall and began barking at her, followed by 123-lb. Bane, who was on a leash but pulling his owner, Marjorie Knoller, behind him. Diane was knocked to the floor and Bane attacked her.
The mauling death of Diane Whipple was viscous and brutal. She suffered over 70 dog bites. The final bite tore open her neck, leading to fatal blood loss. A neighbor called 911 when she heard the horrible attack.
Bane and Hera’s owners would later deny any knowledge of their dogs’ propensity for violence. But nearly 30 people would come forward with stories of being lunged at or bitten by one or both of the dogs. And then secrets emerged that painted an unfavorable picture of the owners.
There is so much to talk about with this case. Responsible pet ownership. Dog breeding. Animal abuse. Adoption laws. The definition of second-degree murder. This is just a crock pot full of fascinating topics. In Unleashed: A Dog Mauling in San Francisco, we will definitely ruffle some feathers, but hopefully the discussion will serve as an opportunity to take a closer look at our values and open the door to some fascinating listener feedback.

May 1, 2018

Patricia Taylor and Tom Allanson came together after each of them left failing marriages behind. At thirty, Tom was younger than Pat by six years. He had been through two short, bad marriages and she had escaped one long one where she said she had felt trapped and smothered by her military husband. Both of them had been looking for the perfect love most of their lives. Despite the odds, they seemed to have found it in each other. From the outside, though, they appeared to have nothing more in common than sex.
Tom was tall and as strong as an ox. Pat was tiny boned and fragile, like a bird. She liked to be seen as a delicate southern lady. Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind was her role model.
Tom wouldn’t be the first to be taken in by Pat, a lifelong manipulator, and he wasn’t the last. Pat had ideas about what she wanted in life and nothing would get in her way. Throughout her life, Pat feigned illness, made false police reports, tore apart families, and planned multiple murders. No one was exempt from her devious schemes, even those she claimed to love.
In A Dark Heart, we examine the relationships and evil acts of Patricia Taylor Allanson. This is a woman who left behind a string of broken families and lost lives in an effort to obtain the unattainable: perfection.

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