Episodes

On a dark and stormy night in 1883, there was a massacre in Jackson County. Unknown assailants murdered wealthy land owner Jacob Crouch and his entire family as they slept in their beds. While authorities raced against the clock to find the killers, bodies continued to pile up, and the case became more twisted and scandalous than anyone could have imagined. Case: The Crouch Murders Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 ...

When a young wife and mother disappeared from her Hartford, Michigan home in the middle of the day, suspicion fell upon her high school sweetheart and husband of 12 years almost immediately. But the truth of what happened to Amy Henslee was much more complicated, and more sinister, than anyone could have imagined. Case: Amy Henslee, Tonya Howarth Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Gold...

Halloween is a time for scary fun. But the fear that gripped one small Michigan town on Halloween night 1969 is the kind no one ever wants to experience. Two teenage girls ripped from their happy lives, never to be seen again. A killer on the loose. And a community that was nowhere near done experiencing tragedy. No one pays these cases much attention, so it's well past time we talk about the missing girls of Oscoda. Cases: Pamela Hobley, Patricia Spencer, Pamela Hobley, Charlotte Loomis Theme S...

It's that time of year again! The Halloween Special is upon us, which means ghost stories sent in by listeners. These are some good ones. Did yours make the cut? Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman Edited by: SuZen Marie Support the show (http://patreon.com/sodeadpodcast)

A dangerous parishoner with a flair for the dramatic, a lonely housewife, a scorned lover, and an absolute monster of a woman. Today's episode is all about infamous Michigan murderesses. Cases: Nettie Barnard, Carrie Joslyn, Dorothy Hoffman, Nellie Pope Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman Edited by: SuZen Marie RESOURCES: newspapers.com Support the show (http://patreon.com/sodead...

In the summer of 1973, a Farmington, Michigan family set off on a month-long road trip out west. What was meant to be a time of adventure and family bonding instead became a nightmare when the youngest member of the family, a seven-year-old girl, was stolen out of her tent in the middle of the night. Over the next year, the family was taunted and tormented by anonymous calls purportedly from the kidnapper. But would the calls lead to answers in the unsolved case? Case: David Mierhofer Theme Son...

The odds of a person surviving a plane crash where there is at least one fatality are one in 3.4 million. The odds of a person surviving two fatal plane crashes? They don't exist. Or at least, they didn't. Not until June 24, 2011. Case: Austin Hatch Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: ESPN (Elizabeth Merrill, 2011) ABC (Dana O'Neil, 2015) MLive (Associated Press, 2012...

A hospital worker and nanny in Lansing, Michigan carries the weight of a dark past. In another life, she was half of a deadly duo responsible for the most notorious murder spree in American history. Or was she? Case: Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: The Twelfth Victim (Linda Battisti and John Stevens) The Conspirators, Epi...

When serial killer Marvin Charles Gabrion II brutally murdered a teenage mother in the shadows of Manistee National Forest, just ninety steps made the difference in jurisdiction, resulting in him becoming Michigan's first death row inmate in over half a century. Case: Rachel Timmerman and Shannon VerHage Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: The Color of Night (L.C. Ti...

In 1977, a desperate act in a small Mid-Michigan town sparked a movement against domestic violence, and launched a battered housewife into the national spotlight. Case: Francine Hughes Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: The Burning Bed (Faith McNulty, 1980) The New York Times (William Grimes, 3/31/17) UPI Archives People (Gioia Diliberto, 10/8/84) Washington Post (...

True crime queen Ann Rule wrote dozens of best-sellers about crimes around the globe, including 'The Stranger Beside Me,' about her unlikely friendship with serial killer Ted Bundy. Ann's love for true crime began in Michigan, where she was born, and where she spent her summers working for her grandfather, a celebrated sheriff in a small Mid-Michigan town. Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: ...

An almost unbelievable tale of online dating turned fatal attraction, and the tragic life of the Michigan woman at the center of the scandal. Case: Shanna "Liz" Golyar Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License RESOURCES: A Tangled Web (Leslie Rule, 2020) Dateline (Season 26, Episode 1) True Conviction (Season 2, Episode 1) Snapped (Season 24, Episode 16) My Favorite Murder (Episode 208) Wikipedia newspapers.com Supp...

Picture this: You see a single shoe lying on the beach. Curious, you pick it up. Inside are the remains of a human foot. This horrendous scene has unfolded over 20 times on the beaches of the Salish Sea since 2007. Is there a serial killer with a foot fetish stalking British Columbia and Washington State? Listen in for the truth behind the Salish Sea Foot Phenomenon. Case: The Salish Sea Foot Phenomenon Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons...

Glenn "Lenny" Hustin was 30 years old when he disappeared from his Middleton, Michigan apartment in 2001. With the assistance of a frustrated police department, Lenny's family has spent the past two decades searching for him. Lenny's parents are now gone, but his sisters continue the search despite threats and intimidation from locals. They believe one man in particular, a man Lenny trusted with his life, holds the answers. And they have vowed not to back down until he comes clean. Case: Glenn ...

Netflix's "Tiger King" is everything we never knew we needed to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic. While the documentary was filmed primarily in Oklahoma, a surprising Mid-Michigan tie has been uncovered. Case: Tiger King Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: WILX (Rachel Sweet, 3/31/20) Lansing State Journal (Sarah Lehr and Megan Banta, 3/31/20) wynnewoodzoo.org Su...

It's been 108 years since one of the most notorious disasters in American history, known simply by one name- Titanic. The ship was said to be unsinkable, so no one was prepared when the unthinkable happened. Over 2,200 souls were on board when Titanic collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on that fateful April night. 69 of them were bound for Michigan. Miners, farmers, newlyweds, families. Less than half of the passengers bound for Michigan survived, and those that did were far from saf...

More stories about the Night Hag and the Hat Man, sent in by listeners who have experienced sleep paralysis. Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Edited by: Ben Goldman Support the show (http://patreon.com/sodeadpodcast)

Two suspicious deaths at the Dudgeon Swamp in White Cloud, Michigan resulted in some of the most sensational national headlines of the 1920s. Amid rumors of incest, murder, and buried secrets, the Dudgeon family was persecuted by the town, as well as by the backwoods legal system of Stump Country. But were they really a family of killers? Or simply the victims of small-town gossip gone horribly wrong? Case: The Dudgeon Swamp Murders Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) L...

For centuries, stories have persisted about a demon that visits in the night, quite literally paralyzing victims as they lie in bed, helpless. From the night hag to the hat man, this week is all about the phenomena of sleep paralysis. Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: nerdist.com Wikipedia Support the show (http://patreon.com/sodeadpodcast)

Born in Lansing, Michigan in 1970, Glenn Taylor Helzer seemed destined for greatness. By his early teens, he was the spiritual head of his family and a rising star in the Mormon church. But Helzer chose a different path. One that led to him founding an extremist cult, and ended with body parts floating in bags down a river in Northern California. Case: Children of Thunder Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License I...

From Victorian mourning photos to death dolls and coffins with escape hatches, Jenn breaks down some of the strangest mourning practices of the Victorian Era. Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: 22 Morbid Death and Mourning Customs from the Victorian Era (ranker.com/Lisa Waugh) Wikipedia Support the show (http://patreon.com/sodeadpodcast)

When a young girl from a small town in the south fell in love with an international con-man and jewel thief, madness ensued. A gruesome discovery at a New York City train station in 1920 led to one of Michigan's most mysterious unsolved mysteries. Case: The Trunk Murder Mystery Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Intro/Outro Edits: Ben Goldman RESOURCES: The Disappearance of Agnes Tufverson (The History Pres...

Two girls were killed in the same small town following a night out dancing. Their bodies were found in the same park the day after Whit Monday. The prime suspect in each case was a man by the name of Thornton, who was later acquitted. The catch? These crimes occurred over 150 years apart. A quick look at the strange tale of the Erdington Murders. Case: The Erdintgon Murders Theme Song: "Crowd Hammer" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License...

It began with a sexual assault in the dead of night in 1998, and ended with a gruesome mid-day murder in 2007. Over the span of a decade, the women of Lansing lived in fear of a violent predator. More than a dozen women were attacked. Seven were murdered. Multiple men were suspected, arrested, and convicted of the crimes during the reign of a corrupt prosecuting attorney. Now, over ten years later, we reexamine this dark chapter in Lansing's history, and ask questions that may never be answered....