In 1966, three children, Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, went to the beach to celebrate Australia Day. Many people there saw the siblings having a great time, but they never returned home. They vanished without a trace. While a widespread investigation was launched, it turned up very little. To this day, we’re still unsure of what happened, but the case is still felt very deeply, effecting the way investigators search for missing children and the amount of freedom parents allow their children. Many see the disappearance as the end of an era when Australians felt that their kids were generally safe and the start of the modern era of “stranger danger,” and the suspicion that anyone could secretly pose a threat.
It was on January 26, 1966, that Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, aged 9, 7, and 4 respectively, set out from their house, headed for the beach to participate in the Australia Day festivities. Their parents Jim and Nancy trusted 9-year-old Jane to look after her siblings. But something happened that day that prevented Jane from keeping herself and her younger siblings safe. What happened to the Beaumont Children? How do parents cope after losing all of their children in one tragic event?
Join us at the quiet end for And Then There Were None: The Disappearance of the Beaumont Children
David Brown, a man who masterminded the 1985 murder of his wife, died of natural causes in a prison hospital in 2014. He was 61. Brown was in a protective housing unit because of his notoriety for the killing of his fifth wife, Linda Brown. He was accused of persuading two teenagers —one his daughter, the other his sister-in-law and lover— to kill his wife. He went on to collect $835,000 from the victim’s insurance, including several policies started just months before her death. Brown paid $350,000 in cash for a new house within five months of the killing. Shortly after, he took a sixth wife.
Our story today would be unbelievable if it weren’t true. David Brown was the very incarnate of evil, a sociopath with a sweet tooth and a weak stomach, with an insatiable desire for cash, cigarettes, junk food, and adolescent girls. He spent his life manipulating people and scamming in spite of the fact that he had a great income and he was surrounded by people who adored him. But the only life he valued was his own. Join us at the quiet end for Sugar & Spice: The Murder of Linda Brown.
Darren Burgess had married the wrong woman. Clinging to a dying relationship for the sake of his children, he turned to alcohol. Through 1998 and 1999, he drank heavily “just to numb the pain.” He started taking risks. In March of 2000, after a work meeting, he was arrested for drunk driving. He feared he would lose his job and his home, so he went to his boss, Kevin Matthews, for help.
Darren kept his job. His license was suspended for 6 months. Darren believes that it was during this time period that his wife Michelle and his boss began communicating via text messages. Flirtations progressed to a full-on love affair.This wasn’t the first time that Michelle had been unfaithful to Darren. She was actually known for her brazen infidelities. And Kevin wasn’t exactly husband of the year to his wife Carolyn. The intensity of their relationship quickly made it public knowledge, but neither Kevin nor Michelle seemed to care.
What they did care about was money. When their marriages began to dissolve, their minds turned to murder.
This episode of True Crime Brewery is about lust, betrayal, greed, and a murder for hire scheme that destroyed two families. Come to the quiet end with us for our discussion: Dead by Friday: The Plot to Kill Carolyn Matthews.
A young mother is shot to death while she clutches her 7-month old baby. Her husband lies executed in the next room. This isn’t the story of a Hollywood drama, but the tragic end to an average Tennessee working class family. Billie Jean Hayworth and her husband Billy Payne were going about their normal weekday morning routine when they were senselessly and violently murdered. The events that led to that morning are inexplicable, fueled by the petty ignorance of a woman who used social media to manipulate and hurt people.
We’re taking a look at the catfishing murders of East Tennessee in this episode of True Crime Brewery: Unfriended. Settle in for a twisted tale of senseless murder, jealousy, and cruelty beyond what most of us could ever imagine.
Dick reviews <em>Homestyle</em>, an American IPA from Bearded Iris Brewing
It has been 8 and a half years since anyone has seen Haleigh Cummings alive. When she was last seen on February 9, 2009, she was 5-years old. She would now be 13.
Haleigh's 17-year old babysitter, Misty Croslin, the girlfriend of her 25-year old father, Ron Cummings, called police at 3:30am on February 10th 2009. She had waited until Ron came home from work to make the call.
Misty claimed that she was asleep and woke up at 3am to find Haleigh missing. There was an open door, held open with a cinder block.
Over the years, Misty’s story has undergone intense scrutiny. The troubled, drug-riddled lives of the adults in Haleigh’s life have led to endless speculation and theories, but the case remains unsolved.
In this episode of True Crime Brewery, The Lost Girl, we are talking about one of the most notorious missing child cases in the United States. No one has been held responsible for the abduction or murder of Haleigh, but she is assumed dead. Who is responsible, and will justice ever be served? What does it say about our society when a 5-year old girl can disappear and the people charged with her care and well-being go unpunished for it?
As you may or may not now, we have a second podcast. It's called Watching ID. This is a brief introduction and 3 minute sample of our most recent episode: Grave Mysteries' Murder in the Chat Room. If you like what you hear, you can hear the full episode on iTunes or on your favorite podcast app. Thank you for giving it a try!
Killers don’t wear nametags telling us who they are. They look like everybody else. They are fathers, brothers, neighbors, carpenters, doctors, men, or women. On an upper class suburban street in Kansas City, at 7517 Canterbury Court, Dr. Debora Green and her husband, Dr. Michael Farrar, lived with their 3 children. It was a beautiful home where the children were provided with every advantage. Michael made a generous salary as a Cardiologist, Debora was a full-time mother. This was the image of the perfect family.
When the family’s home became engulfed in flames on October 23, 1995, Debora was barely able to escape the fire. Tragically, two of her children perished in the fire. When the fire was determined to be caused by arson, police were looking for a murderer. But they were searching for a murderer from a pool of people who seemed very unlikely to be murderers and it seemed unimaginable that anyone would have wanted to kill 2 innocent children. What was uncovered in the investigation that followed would shock the community and invite speculation from all over the world.
Join us at the quiet end today as we relive the lives of an outwardly successful couple, following the twists and turns marked by love, fraud, addiction, infidelity, madness, attempted murder, and, finally, murder. In this episode of True Crime Brewery: First, Do No Harm.
Alma Sipple, a single mother in Tennessee, could not afford medical care for her ten-month-old daughter Irma when a knock on the door changed her life: there stood a woman with close-cropped grey hair, round wireless glasses and a broad, stern face.
The older woman exuded authority as she explained she was the director of a local orphanage. She had come to help. Alma was relieved and excitedly rushed to show the lady her sickly child.
Examining the baby, the woman offered to pass her off as her own at the local hospital in order to obtain free treatment. She warned Alma not to accompany her, explaining: "If the nurses know you're the mother, they'll charge you."
Lifting the child from her bed, the woman turned and disappeared. Two days later, Alma was told her baby had died.
In reality, Irma had been flown to an adoptive home in Ohio. Alma would not see her daughter again for 45 years.
Far from being the kind savior that Alma thought she was, the woman who had taken Irma was a baby thief.
For 30 years, Georgia Tann made millions of dollars selling children. A network of scouts, corrupt judges and politicians helped her steal babies. She targeted youngsters on their way home from school, promising them ice cream and tempting them away from their homes. Legal papers would be signed saying they were abandoned - most would never see their families again.
Come with us to the quiet end as we discuss the cruelty suffered by children and families at the hands a woman considered by many to have been the most prolific child abuser and killer in a century.
How well do we really know the people in our daily lives? Our co-workers, our boss, the clerk at the grocery store, our neighbors, our friends, or even our spouse? Many people thought they knew Colonel David Russell Williams. He was a decorated air force pilot and commander at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) at Trenton, Ontario, and a respected member of his community when he was arrested in 2010, and charged with the murders of two women, and numerous other sexually related crimes. The realization that he was a sexual predator and a murderer shocked the military and the country and quickly became an international story.
What were the signs that this was a truly deviant individual? There had to be some. There had to be moments in his professional or personal life where the cracks showed. Many people, quite reasonably, believe that his wife must have known.
Join us at the quiet end today as we go back to the childhood of Russell Williams, through his college years and the escalation of his abhorrent behavior from stealing panties to sexual assault to murder. Also, his victims shouldn’t be ignored. These crimes left many people traumatized and took two young women from the people who loved them, snuffing out their bright and boundless futures.
We remember the victims and examine the secret life of a predator in this episode of True Crime Brewery:
An Officer and a Psychopath
Of all the pain and struggles that are left in the aftermath of a murder, it may be the senselessness that haunts us the most. On February 9th, 2010, 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell said she’d only be gone for 15 minutes when she left the Academy of Hair Design in Wenatchee, Washington. Four days later, police discovered Mackenzie dead and mutilated along the banks of the Columbia River. She still wore her beauty school uniform.
Mackenzie was a happy girl with a bright future ahead of her. Losing her was devastating to her family and friends. The viscous nature of her death was almost more than they could bear.
Chris Wilson, a classmate of Mackenzie, is in prison now after taking a plea deal in her murder. Mackenzie’s family feels like he got off easy while supporters of Chris Wilson say he is innocent and should not be in prison at all. Everyone agrees that her death was senseless.
Join us at the quiet end today as we review the last day of Mackenzie’s life and the investigation which led to Chris Wilson’s conviction in this episode of True Crime Brewery: The Beauty Shop Murder.
Dick shares Fremont Brewing's The Rusty Nail
At what age are we responsible for our actions? Laws and opinions differ, but there are certain acts that seem to transcend age in their brutality and lack of conscience. When 12-year old Jasmine Richardson attacked and participated in the murder of her entire family, a community and those of us looking on were shocked. Was she innately vicious or was she influenced and led into these crimes by her emotionally disturbed adult boyfriend?
An interesting outshoot of this is the impossible position Jasmine’s parents found themselves in as their daughter rebelled and moved into a world of drugs, underage sex, and depravity. Their options were somewhat limited. Also, there was no way for them to predict the horror that happened back in 2006.
Join us at the quiet end of the bar today as we tell the story of Jasmine Richardson’s family and discuss the issues involved in the prosecution of a child for a crime so outrageous that experienced detectives were traumatized by the crime scene. in this episode of True Crime Brewery: Runaway Devil
People do crazy things for love. Some people kill for love. Sometimes people die for love and their loved ones are left to somehow go on without them. To ponder the whys and what ifs. When Rusty Sneiderman was shot dead after dropping his 3-year-old son at daycare on November 18, 2010, police speculated that it was a professional hit. He had been executed with multiple gunshot wounds by an unknown assailant who fled the scene in a rented minivan.
But this was no professional hit. This was a calculated but passion-fueled act, a strategy to allow Rusty's wife Andrea the freedom to spend the rest of her life with another man and inherit millions of dollars.
At the quiet end today, we're telling you about a crime of passion and insanity, a family's loss, and a woman who may have gotten away with murder. You can be the judge in this episode of True Crime Brewery: Crazy Love.
The story of Lisa Irwin, who went missing when she was just 10 months old, has riveted the nation and left behind unanswered questions. How does a 10-month old infant disappear from her crib, never to be seen again? The police have focused on Lisa’s mother, Deborah, although there was plenty of evidence pointing to an abduction.
Deborah drank heavily the night Lisa disappeared and changed her story with police, increasing suspicions. During the subsequent investigation, two witnesses were discovered who claimed to have seen a man walking down the street with a baby. Police were able to find and question a man matching the description of one witness, but the other witness claimed that his photo does not match the man they saw.
So, what is the current status of the investigation into Lisa’s disappearance? Join us at the quiet end as we review Lisa’s story, the evidence, and the investigation. If you’re thirsty, don’t worry, Dick has brought the beer.
The Lillelid family van drove on through the twilight in Greenville, Tennessee, in April of 1997. Gravel crunched beneath its wheels as quiet sobs echoed inside. The sun had set, and dusk gave way to nightfall. When the van stopped, the doors opened to an unusual congregation. One by one, the occupants climbed out. A run down car pulled up the road behind them and came to a stop beside them.
Six young adults from Kentucky know what happened that Sunday evening. The Lillelid family, including two small children, were shot and left for dead.
Join us at the quiet end as we go into the background of the victims and perpetrators of the Lillelid killings, revisit the cold-blooded crime, and learn about the trial and punishments that resulted.
Dick's beer of the week is Noble Cuvee Dry Hop Saison from Blackberry Farm
Sheila Bellush's 13-year-old daughter Stevie came home from school on November 7th, 1997, and found her 23-month-old quadruplet siblings crying and spotted with blood. Sheila was on the laundry room floor, dead from a gunshot wound to her face and a large gash to her throat. It was clear that there had been a struggle. Blood covered the floor and smeared the walls.
The babies had witnessed the brutal crime and remained alone with their deceased mother for hours.
The family had recently moved to Sarasota,Florida, to escape the harassment and threats of Sheila's ex-husband. They had begun a new life, revealing their location to only a few close relatives. But now, investigators believed that there was a complicated plot, conceived by Sheila's wealthy ex, for a brutal murder for hire.
This is a story of two divergent lives coming together and pulling apart, resulting in obsession, rage, and a cruel murder carried out in front of four innocent eyewitnesses: Sheila's babies.
On the morning of July 18th, 2014, Ross Harris was expected to bring his 22-month-old son Cooper to daycare on his way to work. Ross and Cooper ate breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant less than one mile from Ross’ office. After breakfast, Ross drove his SUV to the Home Depot office where he worked. Cooper was strapped in a rear-facing car seat in the back. Ross went into his office at 9:25am, leaving Cooper in his car seat.
At about 12:30, Ross got lunch with 2 co-workers at a nearby Publix. Then he purchased light bulbs from a nearby Home Depot store. When Ross returned to his office building, he opened his driver’s side door and put the light bulbs in the front seat. He would claim that he didn’t notice Cooper was still there.
It was past 4pm, after Ross left work, when he said that he discovered Cooper’s lifeless body and he stopped at a nearby shopping center and called for help. Witnesses and first responders found Ross’ behavior to be strange and suspicious.
Ultimately, a secret life and murder plot would be revealed. The cruelty of this crime, by a father against his young son, was unimaginable.
On this episode of True Crime Brewery, A Devil Down in Georgia: The Murder of Cooper Harris, Dick and I are discussing the sad and unthinkable death of Cooper Harris. What we find out about Ross Harris’ secret life and motivations is a lesson in selfishness and callousness. Dick also shares with us his medical expertise on hyperthermia, the suffering endured by Cooper Harris, and the 30 plus accidental hot car deaths occurring each year in the United States.
The beer? Cosmik Debris!
Murder is stupid. If you have any doubt, this case will fully convince you. Buckle up for a twisted tale of love, murder and deceit that will cause you to shake your head. You may even lose a few hours of sleep,contemplating the unpredictable and cold behavior of some of our fellow human beings.
When waitress Dee Casteel fell in love with the homosexual lover of her boss at the International House of Pancakes, no one could have predicted how far she would go to please him. Not even Dee herself. Join us at the quiet end and hold on tight.
Dick reviews Funky Buddha, an American Porter.
On a Saturday morning in June 1998, no one could find mother and daughter Vicki and Valessa Richardson. The night before, single mother Vicki had dined with her boyfriend while Valessa hung out with her boyfriend and another friend. Everyone was aware that Vicki had been having difficulty getting Valessa to follow her rules. Her older and criminal boyfriend, Adam Davis, was trouble. Valessa had lost interest in school and church. She was shoplifting, taking drugs, and having unprotected sex. Had Valessa run off with Adam? If so, where was Vicki? Concerns grew and the police were called. What was revealed about the events of that Friday night would shock the community of Tampa and horrify everyone who followed the story.
This episode is brought to you by Audible: Start a 30-day trial and your first Audible book is free. Learn more at Audible.com/brewery!
Friends and housemates hadn't heard from Travis Alexander for 5 days when they let themselves into his house to check on him. What they found was shocking. And they knew who was responsible: Travis's ex-girlfriend Jodi Arias.
Petite and pretty, Jodi had an average childhood. But something went very wrong after she fell in love with Travis Alexander. The relationship became toxic, leaving Travis eager to move on and Jodi enraged. Did hurt feelings and stalking behaviors evolve into inconceivable violence? The evidence was overwhelming.
In this episode of True Crime Brewery, we tackle the sensational and infamous case of Jodi Arias and remember Travis Alexander, a young man whose life was painfully cut short.
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Blake Layman made a very bad decision when he was 16. That decision set off a series of circumstances that culminated with his arrest and conviction for felony murder. But Blake didn’t kill anyone. He broke into a house unarmed. The homeowner, who was armed, shot at him and his friend. His friend was killed. By Indiana’s Felony Murder Rule, Blake is now officially a murderer.
The felony murder rule, which comes from all the way back in old English law, treats people who are guilty of lesser crimes as murderers if they are with murderers when a murder occurs during the commission of a felony.
Almost every state in the United States has a felony murder rule, even though there are strong legal arguments to be made that it is probably unconstitutional. Critics also believe that the felony murder rule is contrary to the fundamental principle in our legal system that separates the criminals from their culpable mindset. In other words, the rule sets the same amount of blame to someone without the intent to kill as to someone who has a premeditated intent to kill.
Join Dick & Jill at the quiet end as we look at cases where the felony murder rule was applied and discuss the fairness and constitutionality of this law.
Felony IPA is reviewed of course
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Ted Bundy moved from Seattle, Washington to the University of Utah in 1974 after committing a series of brutal murders of young women. Police weren't yet aware that he was a serial killer. To those who knew him, he was a polite, handsome and well-educated young man.
Rhonda Stapley was a student at the University of Utah. At 21-years-old, Rhonda was innocent. She grew up as a good Mormon girl. When Rhonda met Ted Bundy, she believed the image he portrayed: a fellow student, attractive, helpful and safe. When the mask of Ted was lifted, she would experience first hand the terror and agony he unleashed on his victims.
In this episode of True Crime Brewery, we discuss the life and crimes of Theodore Robert Bundy. As we learn about his victims, we speak with Rhonda, a survivor whose life was forever changed by what he did to her.
The interior of the Diane Down's car was spattered with blood from three small bodies. Six-year-old Cheryl lay crumpled on the floor by the front passenger door. Danny and Christie, aged four and eight, were slumped at odd angles in the back seat.
As surgeons struggled to save the children, their mother Diane Downs sipped tea while her arm was treated for a bullet wound. Considering the nightmare she had just endured, nurses and doctors were amazed at Diane's composure. They assumed she was in shock.
What investigators would uncover over the next few days would bring suspicion against Diane. Why would a young mother shoot her children? Was it really possible that Diane tried to kill her children so she could be with her lover? With shades of the Susan Smith case which wouldn't occur for another 10 years, the case of Diane Downs is a story of narcissism and cruelty that will not soon be forgotten. With Diane's parole hearing coming up in 2020, join us at the quiet end for an in depth look at a mother who chose her desire for a man above the lives of her own children.
On a high, jagged cliff overlooking the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Green River, Wyoming, a young mother and her 5 year-old son plunged to their deaths, their bodies crashing from rock to rock until they landed splayed and bleeding in the dust. Bob Duke's accounting of his family's death was heartbreaking. He described a sudden scream. He had raced to the edge of the cliff to the sight of the twisted bodies of his wife and child below. He spoke of the agony of hearing his son's last breath as he tried desperately to reach him. The rescuers wept as the 23 year-old husband and father stood in silence.
This had to be a tragic accident. You see, Bob Duke was an upstanding young man. He was well respected and successful. Any secrets in his past were well behind him. He was free to move forward and create a new life. And that would have been the end of it. Except it wasn't. Bob Duke had acquired a taste, a taste for something evil that would lead to his own downfall.
Our beer donated by podcast commissioner Roselee is Melvin IPA
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In the middle of the night, as thunderstorms engulfed the remote tents of Camp Scott in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, 3 girl scouts were snatched from their sleeping bags. Their ravaged young bodies wouldn't be found until morning. The discovery was shocking, but there had been warnings: Warnings that were ignored by camp counselors and not revealed to parents.
Join us at the quiet end as we sip Prairie Bomb and discuss this disturbing crime and the mystery that surrounds it to this day.
Young and eager nurse Beverly Allitt was trusted by the parents of her young patients. But after a series of unexplained deaths on the children's ward at Grantham Hospital, all eyes turned to her. Investigators wondered why Beverly was always the one at the bedside when a child took seriously ill. Could she be behind the unexplained tragic events on this small pediatric unit in a tiny English village? Come with us to the quiet end. You will be shocked and dismayed by what you hear as Jill & Dick discuss the murders, the possible motives, and the steps we need to take to avoid such tragedies in the future. A bottle of Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo is shared.
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