Podcasts about brandsprivacy

John Michael Hughes is a convicted murderer from Simpsonville, South Carolina, who, along with members of his family, orchestrated the January 2015 ambush and slaying of his estranged son-in-law, John Michael Ferrell.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Omaha Steaks and use my code BEEF for a great deal: https://www.omahasteaks.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Season 40: America's 250th Anniversary. Fifty states. Fifty crimes. Two hundred and fifty years of Americanhistory, told through the true crime cases that other shows leave behind.New Mexico, 1892. A former sheriff walks into the dark with a man he trusts and never comes home. Illinois, 1871.A former Secretary of State steps off his porch for a midnight train and is shot dead in the street. Both menserved their communities. Both were killed for it. Both were largely forgotten — until now. This is historical truecrime, and tonight both cases are about what happens when political power turns lethal.Case A: Francisco Chavez and the Santa Fe RingFrancisco Chavez was born around 1851 in New Mexico Territory, the son of a family that had shaped this regionfor generations before the American flag flew over Santa Fe's plaza. He was Hispanic, a nuevomexicano, and hebecame sheriff of Santa Fe County at a time when the territory's government had been captured by the Santa FeRing — an informal network of Anglo-American lawyers, politicians, and land speculators who exploited Spanishand Mexican land grants to strip Hispanic families of land they had occupied for generations.At the center of the Ring stood Thomas Catron, a Confederate veteran and Missouri lawyer who arrived in NewMexico in 1866. By the 1890s, Catron had acquired interests in thirty-four land grants totaling approximatelythree million acres — making him, by most accounts, the largest private landowner in the United States. He hadserved as district attorney, territorial attorney general, and U.S. attorney. He owned the territory as surely asanyone could.Chavez stood against him. Historian Tobias Duran, writing in the New Mexico Historical Review, called Chavez aformidable foe of the Santa Fe Ring. He was the rare Hispanic Democrat using the blunt authority of the sheriff'soffice to push back against the most powerful men in the territory.On the night of May 29, 1892, Chavez was lured from a Santa Fe bar by a man named Atilano Gold — someonehe trusted. Gold walked him toward the Guadalupe bridge, near the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe,the oldest shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the United States. Armed men waited behind a telegraph pole.Chavez was shot multiple times. His last words, spoken in Spanish, were that brutes had assassinated him.Four men were indicted: Francisco Gonzales y Borrego, his brother Antonio, Laureano Alarid, and PatricioValencia. Their defense attorney was Thomas Catron — the man widely suspected of ordering the murder,now defending the accused killers. The prosecution's key witness, Juan Gallegos, testified that a $700 paymenthad been offered through intermediaries for Chavez's death. Judge Seeds ruled that he did not believe Catronpersonally made the offer, but accepted the conspiracy existed. That distinction shielded Catron from criminalliability.All four defendants were convicted and sentenced to death. Appeals dragged on for nearly five years. On April2, 1897, they were hanged simultaneously at the Santa Fe jail grounds. Forty-five National Guard soldiers werepresent. At 9:09 AM, the trap bolt was drawn. Three necks broke on impact. Patricio Valencia strangled for threeto four minutes before he died.Thomas Catron was never charged. When New Mexico achieved statehood in 1912, the territory he had helpedplunder elected him as one of its first two United States Senators. He died in 1921. A former senator. Nevercharged. Never tried.Case B: Sharon Tyndale and the Seal That Outlasted HimSharon Tyndale was born in Philadelphia on January 19, 1816. He arrived in Belleville, Illinois in 1833 — the sameyear Chicago was incorporated as a town — and spent the next three decades building railroads and building acareer. Abraham Lincoln personally appointed him Postmaster of Belleville in 1861. When Lincoln was assassinatedin 1865, Tyndale was among the committee members who received the president's coffin in Springfield. He wasone of the original fifteen members of the National Lincoln Monument Association, the group that built Lincoln'stomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery.In 1865, Tyndale was elected Illinois Secretary of State. His younger brother Hector had bled for the Union atAntietam, was promoted to brigadier general, and was later breveted major general for gallantry. The family'sloyalty to the Union was bone-deep.In 1867, the Illinois legislature authorized a new state seal. Tyndale proposed reversing the state motto from "StateSovereignty, National Union" to "National Union, State Sovereignty." The Civil War had settled that question withblood. The Senate rejected his proposal. So the legislature gave him the wording and handed him the design.Tyndale kept the words in their mandated order. But he designed the banner in the eagle's beak to twist, placingthe word "Sovereignty" upside down. The seal entered use in 1868. More than a hundred and fifty years later, theword "Sovereignty" still hangs inverted on the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.On April 29, 1871, two years after leaving office, Tyndale walked out of his home on Adams Street in Springfieldjust after one in the morning, heading to the Chicago & Alton railroad station for a 1:50 AM train. On the darkstreet, steps from his own front door, someone clubbed him to the ground and shot him behind the right ear witha single-shot Derringer — the same type of weapon used to kill Abraham Lincoln six years earlier. His $50 walletwas taken. His gold watch was not. His killer was never identified.A five-thousand-dollar reward went unclaimed. Four theories competed — robbery, romantic entanglement,political enemies, railroad business dispute — and the competition destroyed the investigation. The 1929 IllinoisState Journal concluded the welter of possible motives had hindered the case. No arrest was ever made.The seal lives on. Every official document issued by the State of Illinois, every state flag that flies over Springfield,still carries the handiwork of a man who was murdered two years after completing it.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

THE HEALING LOOP - the cycle that brings you back to yourself.You know you're in the loop. That's one thing. Knowing how to get out of it is another thing entirely. The Fantasy Loop™ is the seven-stage cycle that keeps you attached to unavailable love - and it has an answer. Every stage of the fantasy loop has a healing response, and together those responses are the Healing Loop.In Episode 326 of Secret Life Podcast, Brianne Davis breaks down the Healing Loop - the seven-stage way out of The Fantasy Loop - and shows exactly how the two cycles speak to each other.In this episode:Why activation isn't love, and how we mistake anxiety for chemistry and uncertainty for excitementWhy potential is not a relationship, and what to ask about who someone actually is todayHow you end up trying to get today's person to repair yesterday's wound, and why they can'tWhy healthy love can feel boring at first, and what "boring" is actually telling your nervous systemThe Healing Loop, all seven stages: Awareness & Truth, Regulate & Stabilize, Choose Reality Over Fantasy, Heal the Wound, Reclaim Self & Strengthen Identity, Integrate & Live It, Open to Healthy LoveThe goal was never to stop feeling this. The goal is to know what to do when you feel it. The fantasy loop taught you to chase. The healing loop teaches you to return.You're not broken. You're becoming.Take the free Fantasy Loop Quiz to find out which stage you're in: https://quiz.thefantasyloop.comIf this one hit, send it to the person who's been telling you about their situationship for six months.

Paul Michael Stephani, known as the "Weepy-Voiced Killer," was an American serial killer who murdered three women and attacked two others in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area between 1980 and 1982.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Omaha Steaks and use my code BEEF for a great deal: https://www.omahasteaks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

THE LAVA TRAP — you're not chasing them. You're chasing what you believe they'llmake you feel.Have you ever said, "I don't even want them back — I just want them to want me"?Or found yourself checking their social media, waiting for a text, needing themto admit what they did? That's the lava trap. LAVA — Love, Attention, Validation,Acceptance — are normal human needs. The trap is believing only one particularperson can give them to you.In Episode 325 of Secret Life Podcast, Brianne Davis breaks down the lava trap —a recovery concept she picked up over 17 years in the rooms — and ties it directlyto The Fantasy Loop™. Because at the end of the fantasy, you're not just imaginingbeing with them. You're imagining what being with them would finally make you feel.In this episode:— The four parts of LAVA: how love becomes "proof" you're worthy, attention becomes a hit you chase, validation keeps you tied to the person who hurt you, and acceptance makes you abandon your own boundaries— The 7 signs you're in the lava trap — listen for patterns, not a diagnosis— Why you're vulnerable: the slot-machine effect of on-and-off reinforcement, and why unpredictable love feels more intense (not more real)— How LAVA becomes the reward that makes The Fantasy Loop™ nearly unbreakable— The 7 questions that separate the need from the person — including the one that changes everything: "If I could give myself love, attention, validation, and acceptance without needing it from this person, what would I choose differently?"You don't have to stop needing people — we're wired to connect. The goal isn't"I don't need lava." The goal is "I don't need one particular person to decidewhether I receive it." You are not broken. Your worth was never supposed to bedetermined by their choice.Resources at secretlifepodcast.comTake the Fantasy Loop Quiz: quiz.thefantasyloop.comShare your secret: secretlifepodcast@icloud.com

George T. Greer is a Kentucky man who was arrested in February 2024 for a violent samurai sword attack that killed one woman and severely injured two other people while he was under the influence of drugs.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Omaha Steaks and use my code BEEF for a great deal: https://www.omahasteaks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ahead of their Season 5 premiere, Daphne, Gina and Matteo share a special announcement.----This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.Website: https://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskatingThread: https://www.threads.net/@thisweekinskatingPatreon: patreon.com/ThisWeekinSkatingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

THE HIDDEN STRUGGLES OF BEING AN EMPATH — the gift that quietly drains you.If you walk into a room and instantly feel the tension, absorb everyone'smood, feel emotionally hungover after being around chaos, and lose yourselftrying to hold everyone else's emotions — this one is for you. Being an empathis beautiful. But without boundaries, it becomes self-abandonment.In Episode 324 of Secret Life Podcast, Brianne Davis breaks down what being anempath actually is, why it exhausts you, why difficult people are drawn to you,and how to stop absorbing everyone else's energy so you can come back home toyourself.In this episode:— What emotional fusion is — the difference between caring about someone's emotions and becoming entangled with them— Why difficult people unconsciously search for "emotional managers" — and why empaths see potential instead of patterns (that's The Fantasy Loop™)— The line that changes lives: understanding someone's pain does not require tolerating their behavior— Why empaths burn out — carrying 10 other people's emotional states your body was never meant to hold— How to heal: witness without absorbing, set boundaries that protect not punish, and reconnect to yourself — because being needed is not the same as being lovedChaos is not connection. Intensity is not intimacy. Suffering is not love.Sensitivity is not a weakness — but being sensitive without boundaries issuffering. You can stay soft and still protect your peace.Resources at secretlifepodcast.comTake the Fantasy Loop Quiz: quiz.thefantasyloop.comShare your secret: secretlifepodcast@icloud.com

The tragic 2015 true-crime case of 7-week-old Data Toria Hancock, an Oregon infant who died of severe starvation and maltreatment.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Omaha Steaks and use my code BEEF for a great deal: https://www.omahasteaks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

THE TRUTH ABOUT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE — it's not what you think it is. Everybody says they want emotionally intelligent partners, bosses, friends, and parents. But what does that actually mean? It's not being calm all the time. It's not always being nice. It's not never getting angry. Emotionally intelligent people feel the exact same emotions everyone else does — jealousy, hurt, rejection, defensiveness. The difference is what they do AFTER the emotion shows up.In Episode 323 of Secret Life Podcast, Brianne Davis breaks down the fivebehaviors emotionally intelligent people consistently practice — and why eachone matters so much to your healing.In this episode:— Why they apologize before they're caught or confronted — and how real accountability sounds different from "I'm sorry you feel that way"— Why they create a pause instead of reacting — the tiny space between what you feel and what you do, where choice actually lives— Why they get curious instead of making assumptions — because 99% of the time, someone else's behavior isn't about you (and assumption feeds The Fantasy Loop™)— Why they set boundaries instead of seeking revenge — the difference between "I'll make you suffer" and "I'll protect myself"— Why they actually know what they're feeling — because you can't regulate an emotion you can't nameEmotional intelligence isn't about impressing others. It's about building arelationship with yourself where you can tolerate uncomfortable emotionswithout abandoning who you are. Healing doesn't mean you'll never be triggeredagain — it means your recovery time gets shorter.Resources at secretlifepodcast.comTake the Fantasy Loop Quiz: quiz.thefantasyloop.comShare your secret: secretlifepodcast@icloud.com

Today we explore a tragic 2022 emergency call that shattered a quiet Louisiana neighborhood and left four young children trapped in a real-life nightmare.Outro Song: Yeah RightArtist: Willa MaeIntro Song: AfflictionArtist: SubRosaOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Omaha Steaks and use my code BEEF for a great deal: https://www.omahasteaks.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

THE TRUTH RESET — the tool that interrupts The Fantasy Loop™ and brings youback to yourself.This one is different. It's not a teaching episode — it's a practice. BrianneDavis walks you through The Truth Reset™ in real time: a five-step tool shedeveloped and has been using for years to break the fantasy loop, calm thenervous system, and return to what's actually true. Find a comfortable place,take a breath, and do it with her.In Episode 322 of Secret Life Podcast, Brianne guides you through all fivesteps of The Truth Reset™ — because truth heals what fantasy keeps alive.In this episode:— Step 1, Track the activation: how to catch the loop the moment it starts, before it runs you ("I see the loop. I am not the loop.")— Step 2, Regulate the nervous system: why your body needs evidence you're safe right now — not promises about the future— Step 3, Uncover the emotional truth: how to get behind the story to the feeling underneath ("healing happens through feelings")— Step 4, Translate reality accurately: challenging the story, not the emotion — "what are the facts? What else could be true?"— Step 5, Heal through aligned action: the one question that changes everything — "what action right now honors me?"You are not broken. You are becoming. You will loop again, you will forget,you will get triggered — and you will come back. Because every return isprogress. Every reset is healing. Every truth is freedom.Resources at secretlifepodcast.comTake the Fantasy Loop Quiz: quiz.thefantasyloop.comShare your secret: secretlifepodcast@icloud.com

On September 7, 1997, city park workers discovered the remains of a newborn boy near the Moses statue in Albany's Washington Park. Because his identity was initially unknown, the City of Albany and local funeral directors held a proper, deeply moving memorial service and burial for the infant.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On September 7, 1997, city park workers discovered the remains of a newborn boy near the Moses statue in Albany's Washington Park. Because his identity was initially unknown, the City of Albany and local funeral directors held a proper, deeply moving memorial service and burial for the infant.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Matthew Hoffman, often referred to as the "Leaf Killer", is an Ohio man serving a life sentence for the 2010 murders of three people and the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl. Intro Song: AfflictionArtist: SubRosaOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Martinez met a married woman on a dating app. He eventually met up with her and her husband, Anthony Brines. After a night of drinking, smoking marijuana, and using a Ouija board, a violent altercation broke out that would change their lives forever. Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Obscura is not AI slop. It will never be AI slop.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Canticle:another name for a songVulnerable: (of a person) in need of support or protectionOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Daphne and Gina talk with Ivan Righini, four-time Italian champion turned Olympic choreographer. Ivan, who choreographed the programs for Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov, is hosting a camp called Edge of Talent.To learn more about the camp, visit https://www.instagram.com/ivanrighini/----This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.Website: https://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskatingThread: https://www.threads.net/@thisweekinskatingPatreon: patreon.com/ThisWeekinSkatingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On a scorching July afternoon, a routine arrival home turns into a neighborhood nightmare. A father steps inside his air-conditioned house to play video games, leaving his sleeping toddler in the car under the assumption that the vehicle's cooling system is running. Hours later, emergency sirens pierce the quiet suburban cul-de-sac.Intro Song: AfflictionArtist: SubRosaOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shane Waters and Gemma Hoskins close out their reunion by going down the list of the people who appeared in the Netflix documentary The Keepers, where they are today, who is still fighting, who has found peace, and who the world has lost. It is a warm, reflective conversation about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, the young School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, and about the community of survivors, investigators, journalists, and filmmakers her case brought together.The Investigators and AdvocatesGemma gives an honest update on her own life, recovering from a broken hip, stepping back from the day-to-day advocacy, and finding peace in a quiet home in the woods. She talks about her fellow amateur investigator Abbie Schaub, who remains active in the legislative fight and helps run the official Keepers community online.The SurvivorsShane and Gemma share where the survivors are now. Jean Hargadon Wehner, known as "Jane Doe" in the case, is doing meaningful work and published her memoir, Walking with Aletheia. Teresa Lancaster, "Jane Roe, " became an attorney and a leading public voice for survivors, helped pass Maryland's 2023 Child Victims Act, and wrote her memoir, Safe in Socks. Donna testified in Annapolis for the Child Victims Act and helped get Father Neil Magnus added to a public list of credibly accused clergy. They also remember Charles Franz and several of Sister Cathy's former students, including Kathy Hoback, the student Sister Cathy once shielded from Father Maskell, who passed away thispast year.The Journalists and ExpertsThey remember journalist Bob Erlandson of the Baltimore Sun, who covered the case as it happened and died this past year at 94, and renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, who died in 2024 at 97. Shane and Gemma also revisit Delegate C.T. Wilson, the abuse survivor who championed the Child Victims Act, and journalist Tom Nugent, whose reporting first brought the case back into the light.The FilmmakersGemma catches listeners up on the team behind The Keepers, director Ryan White, producer Jessica Hargrave, and cinematographer John Benham, whose work since the series includes the Oscar-nominated, Peabody-winning documentary Come See Me in the Good Light. And, of course, they give a nod to Kim, who edits this very podcast.What Comes NextShane and Gemma agree to keep going as the story unfolds, and invite listeners to suggest the people they would still like to hear from.Content WarningThis episode discusses clergy abuse and violence.Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is The Keepers about?The Keepers is a 2017 Netflix documentary series about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, a Baltimore nun and teacher, and the allegations of abuse at Archbishop Keough High School that may be connected to her death.Who were Jane Doe and Jane Roe?Jean Hargadon Wehner was known as "Jane Doe" and Teresa Lancaster as "Jane Roe, " two survivors whose accounts were central to The Keepers. Both have since written memoirs and become advocates for other survivors.What is the Maryland Child Victims Act?Passed in 2023, the Maryland Child Victims Act removed the time limits on lawsuits for survivors of child sexual abuse. Survivors featured in The Keepers, along with Delegate C.T. Wilson, were instrumental in its passage.Is Sister Cathy's murder solved?No. The murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik remains unsolved more than fifty years later. Crisis ResourcesIf you or someone you know has been affected by abuse:US: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673US: Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-422-4453UK: NSPCC Helpline, 0808 800 5000UK: Rape Crisis England & Wales, 0808 500 2222Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Merry Figure Skating Christmas! Daphne and Gina discuss the 2026-27 Grand Prix assignments that were announced by the ISU on June 16, 2026. They also talk about the announcement of the international competitions for the 2026-27 season.ISU 2026-2027 International Competitions CalendarISU Grand Prix Selection ProcessGrand Prix Assignments: Men, Women, Pairs and Dance----This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.Website: https://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskatingThread: https://www.threads.net/@thisweekinskatingPatreon: patreon.com/ThisWeekinSkatingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsRead lessSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The call went out at roughly one forty in the morning on March sixteenth, 2018, and it pulled the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office toward a scene that the deputies who responded would not be able to put down easily afterward, because some scenes do not let go of the people who walk into them. What waited inside the house is among the worst this show has had occasion to describeOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Daphne, Matteo and Gina discuss the ISU Congress that took place June 10-12 in Tenerife, Spain.Show Notes: https://www.thisweekinskating.com/2026/06/show-notes-isu-congress-recap/----This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.Website: https://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskatingThread: https://www.threads.net/@thisweekinskatingPatreon: patreon.com/ThisWeekinSkatingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shane Waters and Gemma Hoskins continue their first sit-down in over a year, working through the second half of the questions listeners submitted through the show's Facebook community. This is the follow-up to "The Mary Statue and Unanswered Questions, " a wide-ranging conversation about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik in Baltimore, Maryland. Known to millions through the Netflix documentary The Keepers, Gemma has spent more than a decade investigating what happened to Sister Cathy, the young School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School.The Persons of InterestListeners asked about the figures who have circled this case for years. Gemma explains why "Brother Bob" has never been publicly identified, how the nickname came to stand for more than one man, and why she has stepped back from the theory she put forward in her own 2019 book. She and Shane talk through how a single murder sits at the center of a web of other abuse and other suspected crimes, and why that makes Sister Cathy's case so difficult to untangle.New Questions Around Father KoobGemma describes the women who have come forward in recent years with accusations against Father Gerard Koob, and walks through why, in her understanding, charges have been so hard to bring, including questions of jurisdiction and corroboration, since only some of the accusers were abused in Maryland. She recounts asking Detective Josh Battaglia to put her questions to Koob directly. Koob, who was the subject of a 2023 Baltimore Banner investigation by reporter Justin Fenton, continues to deny wrongdoing and says listeners are thinking of a different man. He has not been charged.Who Knew, and the Attorney General's ReportShane and Gemma discuss how much the staff at Archbishop Keough may have known, and why so many people went quiet after Sister Cathy was killed. They place it in the context of the Maryland Attorney General's 2023 report on clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, a 456-page document detailing the abuse of more than 600 children across decades and the conclusion that "no parish went untouched. " That history is part of what is driving the Archdiocese's current bankruptcy.Joyce Malecki and the Sealed FilesThe conversation turns to Joyce Malecki, the 20-year-old whose 1969 murder near Fort Meade has long been discussed alongside Sister Cathy's. Gemma updates listeners on the 2023 exhumation of Joyce's body, the family's still-unanswered request for thousands of pages of FBI files first sought in 2014, and the letter Senator Chris Van Hollen carried to the White House on their behalf. Shane makes the case for why physical evidence in an unsolved murder should never be destroyed.Cathy's FamilyGemma reflects on why Sister Cathy's family chose to step out of the spotlight after The Keepers, the heartbreak of learning their loved one's death may not have been random, and the dignity of their decision to protect their own peace.Content WarningThis episode discusses clergy abuse and violence.Frequently Asked QuestionsWho is Gemma Hoskins?Gemma Hoskins is a retired Baltimore teacher and former student at Archbishop Keough High School. She has spent more than a decade investigating the murder of her former teacher, Sister Cathy Cesnik, and was one of the central figures in the Netflix documentary The Keepers. She was named Maryland Teacher of the Year in 1992.Has anyone been charged in Sister Cathy's murder?No. The 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik remains unsolved, and no one has ever been charged.What is the Maryland Attorney General's report?Released in 2023, the report documented decades of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, naming Father Joseph Maskell among its most prolific abusers and identifying more than 600 victims across the Archdiocese.Who is investigating Sister Cathy's case today?Detective Josh Battaglia of the Baltimore County Police Department currently handles the investigation. He took overfrom Corporal Robin Teal after her retirement.Crisis ResourcesIf you or someone you know has been affected by abuse:US: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673US: Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-422-4453UK: NSPCC Helpline, 0808 800 5000UK: Rape Crisis England & Wales, 0808 500 2222Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There is a village in the apple country of western New York called Sodus, up in Wayne County near the south shore of Lake Ontario, about thirty miles east of Rochester. This is fruit-belt land, orchard and muck field running back from the lake, roadside stands selling cider in the fall, the big cold lake holding the frost off the trees in spring. In October the orchards go heavy and the light comes in low and gold across the drumlins, the long humped hills the glaciers left behind. A few thousand people, one central school the whole area feeds into, the worst trouble in a given year usually a bad wreck out on Route 14. The kind of place where a double murder in a driveway on a sunny Monday afternoon does not just grieve people, it cracks the basic understanding they have about where they live.On the twenty-second of October, 2018, a Monday, that understanding broke. It broke on a short residential street called Carlton Street, a block of modest houses near the Sodus Central School, the kind of street where people leave the doors unlocked and the kids ride bikes in the road. At a little after three in the afternoon, in full daylight, with neighbors home and children about, a young couple was shot to death in the driveway of their own home. By the time the first deputy arrived, the shooter was gone and the street had become a crime scene that the people who saw it would carry for the rest of their lives.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aileen had been pawning items from her victims: tools missing from David Spears's truck, a camera that had belonged to Richard Mallory, other items linked to other victims. Florida law required pawnshops to take a thumbprint from anyone hocking goods, and the prints were on file.Aileen, while filling out pawnshop intake forms, had been using the alias Cammie Marsh Greene. A signed pawn slip with a thumbprint, in the name of Cammie Marsh Greene, was sitting in a Daytona Beach pawn shop.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime and use my code chime.com/OBSCURA for a great deal: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/obscura for a great deal: https://www.quince.com* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode contains descriptions of murder, mob violence, historical racial violence, and the execution of a convicted killer. If you need to skip this content, advance past the 18:00 mark. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 40: Fifty states, fifty forgotten crimes, America's 250th year. Episode 9 covers California and Alabama — two cases, two communities that looked at the legal system and reached for something uglier. October 10, 1890. A woman named Helen Riche is playing cards in her tavern near a California quicksilver mine when ten men in flour-sack hoods crash through the door. She does not run. She reaches up and rips the mask off the nearest man's face, and in that single act she solves the crime that is about to kill her. This is true crime history from the American frontier, and the legal system that followed would leave you cold.December 1888, Birmingham, Alabama. A railroad engineer named Richard Hawes boards a streetcar with his eight- year-old daughter May. He gets off with her at East Lake. He gets back on alone. The body of a young girl is found floating in the lake the next morning. On the same day, Hawes is across the state line getting married. When Birmingham finds out, two thousand people march on the jail.The VictimsHelen Matilda Riche ran the Campers' Retreat tavern on sixty-two acres near the Bradford quicksilver mine, three miles south of Middletown, California. We do not know where she was born or how she came to run a mining-camp saloon in hard hill country — the historical record is thin on her life before October 10, 1890. What it preserves is a woman who managed a clientele of mercury miners in one of the most physically dangerous industries of the era. She was shot five times during the raid. She fought back, reaching for her husband's .44 Winchester with five bullets already in her body. She died four days later. Her husband J.W. Riche died less than three months after her, his own bullet wound never having healed.May Hawes was eight years old when her father took her on a one-way train ride to East Lake on the evening of December 3, 1888. She had been doing the work of a parent since she could walk, looking after younger siblings in a household already coming apart. She was laid out for public identification at Lockwood & Miller's Funeral Parlor in Birmingham, unidentified for a full day. A local butcher recognized her. May, her mother Emma, and her six-year-old sister Irene — all three murdered by Richard Hawes — lay in an unmarked grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham for more than 135 years. In April 2024, they finally received a headstone.The CrimesThe Lake County White Cap raid followed personal grudges that had been tightening for months. Blackburn, a mine foreman, had been thrown out of the Campers' Retreat after a brawl with the bartender Fred Bennett. Others in the group had boundary disputes, cattle quarrels, neighborhood debts to settle. They put flour sacks over their heads and called it a community morality action — the Whitecapping movement had spread from Indiana through the Southern states and into California by 1890. The plan was to flog Bennett and run him to the county line. Helen Riche unmasked Henry Arkarro the moment the men crashed through the door, and the plan collapsed into gunfire.Richard Hawes murdered three members of his own family to clear the way for a new marriage. Emma and Irene Hawes were found bound with curtain cord and weighted with railroad iron curve-braces in a Birmingham lake on December 8, 1888 — the same day a mob of approximately 2,000 people converged on the Jefferson County Jail demanding to hang him on the spot. Sheriff Joseph S. Smith fired into the crowd. Ten men were killed. Approximately thirty were wounded. The historical murder case that followed Hawes would take fourteen more months and a formal trial to reach the same conclusion the mob wanted.The Investigations and Legal OutcomesIn California, ten men were arrested within days. The mining community was small; Helen Riche had identified one attacker herself. The trial opened February 6, 1891, in Lakeport — *People of the State of California v. B.F. Staley et al.* Four men were convicted of second-degree murder: Blackburn sentenced to twenty-five years, Staley and Cradwick to twenty years each, Osgood to twelve years. All four were released from San Quentin within approximately three years. The Governor had commuted Blackburn's sentence to ten years following an extensive lobbying campaign. Three years, for a home invasion that killed two people.In Alabama, Richard Hawes was tried beginning April 22, 1889, before Judge Samuel Greene. The prosecution built the case around May's murder — the strongest evidence available, though entirely circumstantial: eyewitness testimony placing father and daughter on the streetcar together, and only the father returning. The jury deliberated fifty-five minutes. Death. After multiple appeals to the Alabama Supreme Court, all denied, Richard Hawes was hanged by Sheriff Smith on February 28, 1890 — the same man who had fired into a crowd to keep him alive for this moment. Hawes wore a geranium in his lapel. The gallows were built by a man who had served on his jury.Historical ContextBoth cases sit at a specific American intersection: communities losing faith in institutional justice and reaching for extralegal violence, with consequences that fell hardest on people who had nothing to do with the original grievance. The Whitecapping movement was already documented across Indiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi before it reached California. In Alabama, the Birmingham riot of 1888 killed ten bystanders, including Maurice Throckmorton, thirty-three, the city's postmaster, who was reportedly trying to calm the crowd when he was shot. The legal system delivered the outcome the mob demanded — it just took fourteen months and cost ten additional lives to get there.California's legislature responded to the broader wave of hooded vigilantism during this period with enhanced anti- vigilante and anti-mask statutes. For the Hawes case, Fannie Bryant — the family's cook and a key witness for the prosecution — was herself sentenced to death for allegedly aiding Hawes. She died in a prison riot before the sentence could be carried out. Her actual level of involvement remains contested. She was a Black woman in 1880s Alabama, easily targeted by a system that offered her no protection.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The wooded lot itself was mixed scrub of the sort that grows in the disturbed soil along an interstate corridor in central Florida. Pine. Palmetto. A few scrub oaks. Spanish moss hanging where the canopy thickened. The understory of vines and dead palm fronds that turns any walk off the shoulder into a careful one.The lot was bordered on one side by the interstate, on another by a service road, and on the other two by more of the same scrub. It had the anonymity of land nobody owns in any way they bother to enforce. People dumped things in there. Refrigerators. Mattresses. The carpet remnant.The men got closer to the carpet. The carpet was covering something.Underneath was a bodyOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode contains discussions of murder, execution, racial violence, and a botched public hanging. If you need to skip any section, the chapter markers below will help you find your way around. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 40 of Foul Play covers America's forgotten crimes — fifty states, 250 years, and the stories that slipped out of the history books. Episode 8 closes out the season with a double portrait. One case from New Hampshire. One from Colorado. Eleven years apart. Two thousand miles between them. The same question at the center of both: when the law finally catches up with a killer, does it actually deliver justice?This is historical true crime at its most uncomfortable.Case A: The Great Falls National Bank Murder — New Hampshire , 1897Joseph A. Stickney was sixty-eight years old when a man walked into his bank on Good Friday morning, April 16, 1897, and cut his throat.Stickney was the cashier of the Great Falls National Bank in Somersworth, New Hampshire — a mill city of seven thousand people where the Salmon Falls River dropped one hundred feet over a mile and powered seven textile mills. The bank had operated since 1865. On a holiday morning, with the mills closed and families walking to Mass, Stickney was alone at his desk with $150,000 in money and securities behind him.The man who killed him was Joseph E. Kelley, twenty-four years old, born in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Kelley had been convicted in Somersworth five years earlier for breaking and entering. He had studied the bank's routine. He walked in with a blackjack, knocked Stickney to the floor, cut his throat, and left with approximately $6,000 in cash — leaving $144,000 behind.The historical murder investigation moved fast. Kelley hired a horse team from Whitten's Stable. The team was found the next day at Phoenix Stables. On April 29, investigators searched a boarding house in Berwick, Maine, where they found a box containing a false mustache and goatee. Kelley had already crossed into Quebec on a Boston & Maine train. He was caught in a Montreal brothel, seated between two prostitutes, still wearing a woman's dress he had purchased for $10 in gold from a hotelkeeper in Quebec.At trial in Dover, New Hampshire, in November 1897, Kelley changed his plea to guilty — but only if the hanging could be scheduled for January 16, 1898. He had a contract with the Devil, he explained, that expired January 15.Dr. Charles Bancroft of the New Hampshire State Asylum for the Insane examined Kelley multiple times and concluded he had the instincts of a man but the judgment and capacity of a child of nine. Expert after expert called him a "high-grade imbecile. " Chief Justice Alonzo P. Carpenter, who had served as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court since 1896, presided over a bench that ultimately found Kelley guilty of second-degree murder — thirty years in state prison. Kelley was reportedly disappointed. He had wanted to hang.Case B: The Trolley Murder of Joseph C. Whitnah — Colorado , 1886On the night of May 19, 1886, Joseph C. Whitnah was driving a horse-drawn streetcar along the Broadway line of the Denver City Railway when two men approached his car at the southern terminus at Broadway and Alameda.Whitnah was a streetcar operator in a city mid-boom. Denver's population tripled between 1880 and 1890, from roughly 35,000 to more than 106,000. The Denver City Railway operated forty-five coaches across sixteen miles of track.Andrew Green, twenty-five years old, and his associate John "Kansas" Withers had been waiting for Whitnah's car. Green fired two shots from a .38 caliber revolver. The first shot was accidental — triggered when Whitnah screamed. The second was deliberate, close-range, through the heart. Whitnah died on the spot. The $14 in fares in his cashbox went untouched.The true crime investigation broke in six days. On May 21, a private detective received a tip at the G.A.R. Saloon on Larimer Street — the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization for Union veterans. Withers confessed almost immediately and identified Green as the shooter. Green was arrested and confessed on May 25. He told investigators he had been promised the death penalty would be taken off the table if he cooperated.That promise was never confirmed or denied.Green stood trial before an all-white jury. This was Denver six years after a mob of 3,000 attacked the city's Chinese quarter and lynched a man named Look Young. Defense attorney Edgar Caypless worked pro bono. He argued that no robbery had actually been completed, that Green's confession was coerced by a false promise, and that the first shot was accidental. The jury deliberated a little over an hour — was polled four times, one juror holding out for second- degree — and returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder. Death.On July 27, 1886, Sheriff Frederick Cramer of Arapahoe County cut the main rope at 2:24 PM before fifteen to twenty thousand spectators gathered between the Broadway and Colfax bridges. Vendors sold lemonade. Families had brought picnic lunches. Children were in the crowd.Green's neck did not snap. Twelve minutes after the jerk-up, doctors could still feel a pulse at his wrist. At 3:45 PM — eighty-one minutes after Cramer cut the rope — undertakers removed Andrew Green from the gallows and placed him in a casket bound for the "colored" section of Riverside Cemetery.The execution was condemned by nearly every Denver newspaper. In 1889, Colorado moved all executions to the state prison in Canon City, limited witnesses, and commissioned a new gallows design. In 1897 — the same year Joseph Stickney was murdered in New Hampshire — Colorado abolished the death penalty. It was reinstated in 1901.Historical ContextBoth cases arrived during the same decade, when American law was negotiating what justice was supposed to look like. In New Hampshire, a court grappled with whether a man who could plan a murder could simultaneously lack the mental capacity to stand fully accountable for it. In Colorado, a court asked whether a Black man could get a fair trial six years after his city had watched a lynch mob go unpunished.Neither question has a clean answer. Both still echo.This is Season 40 of Foul Play: America's 250th Anniversary — the crimes that didn't make the monuments.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This is part two of a four part series. Last episode, we walked her childhood. The fire at age six. The grandfather and the belt. The kitten in the bucket. The cigarette pig nickname at age eleven. The pregnancy at fourteen. The baby boy taken from her in March of 1971. Her grandmother Britta dying that July. Her grandfather throwing her out a few weeks later. The sleeping bag in the woods on the edge of Troy.That is where we left her. Tonight we follow her from there.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode contains detailed descriptions of violent death, including axe murders and decapitation. If you need to skip this content, advance to the chapter markers below. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 40 of Foul Play marks America's 250th anniversary with a series of Twin Portraits — two true crimes from two different states, set in the same decade, examined side by side. This week: two axe murders from the 1890s, one in Massachusetts, one in Tennessee, both forgotten by history.On May 30, 1893, twenty-two-year-old Bertha Manchester was killed in her father's farmhouse outside Fall River, Massachusetts — six days before the Lizzie Borden trial opened fifteen miles away in New Bedford. In March 1897, five members of a German immigrant family were slaughtered on a Tennessee ridge, their house burned to the ground, their case never solved. Two women named in this episode lived into their nineties and never saw justice. Shane and Wendy tell both stories.The Victims (Case A — Massachusetts )Bertha Mabel Manchester was born May 7, 1871, in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was twenty-two years old. Her mother had died when she was young, and she helped run the family dairy farm on New Boston Road — the quiet, rural edge of a city better known for cotton mills and crowded streets. She was home alone on the morning of May 30, 1893, when her father Stephen and her twelve-year-old brother Freddie left with the milk wagon.She fought back. The medical examiner found twenty-three wounds to the back of her skull, defensive cuts on her hands and arms, and clothing torn in the struggle. Five teeth had been knocked out. The same doctor who performed those wounds had examined two other bodies less than a year before — Andrew and Abby Borden, murdered with a hatchet eight miles away the previous August. Dr. William A. Dolan was the medical examiner for Bristol County. He had seen this kind of violence before.The Victims (Case B — Tennessee)Jacob Ade was a German immigrant who had farmed 410 acres on Paradise Ridge, in the northwestern corner of Davidson County, Tennessee, for twenty years. His wife Pauline was fifty. Their daughter Lizzie was eighteen. Their son Henry was thirteen. On the night of March 23, 1897, a ten-year-old neighbor named Rosa Moirer was sleeping over at the Ade farm.By 9:30 that night, a neighbor named Squire Simpson saw a glow on the horizon. He went to investigate with a potato fork lashed to a long pole, probing through the burning debris. He pulled four bodies from the sitting room. All four Ade family members had been decapitated. Rosa Moirer, the neighbor's daughter, was found outside. She had not been decapitated. Her head was still intact. Five people were dead.The Crimes and InvestigationsIn Fall River, a nineteen-year-old Azorean immigrant named José Correia de Mello — who had arrived in America barely one month earlier, spoke no English, and had worked a day or two on the Manchester farm before disappearing — came back to the property on May 30 looking for money he believed Stephen Manchester owed him. When his uncle was told police needed him as a witness to a horse theft, de Mello went to the station without any idea he was a suspect. A shoe store owner testified that de Mello had tried to pay for new shoes using a trade dollar and a plugged half-dollar — the distinctive coins known to have been in Bertha's stolen purse. On September 18, 1893, de Mello changed his plea to guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison. He walked out on January 31, 1914 — twenty-one years later — and was deported to the Azores. No record of him survives after that.In Tennessee, the case produced theories but no convictions. Jacob Ade had withdrawn approximately $200 from a Nashville bank the day he died, intended as a loan for a neighbor. The money was never found. Investigators considered the neighbor Henry Moirer, whose daughter Rosa was among the dead; a man named Ed Anderson with whom Jacob had quarreled over hogs; and a group of men from Ashland City whose confessions didn't match the physical evidence and who were eventually released. Every trial ended in acquittal. The Paradise Ridge axe murders have never been solved.Historical ContextBoth cases belong to the same decade — the 1890s — when the United States was processing waves of immigration, rapid industrialization, and deep regional tensions a generation after the Civil War. In Fall River, José de Mello arrived in a city with one of the largest Portuguese-American populations in New England. The community that helped deliver him to police later spent years petitioning for his release. In Tennessee, the racial climate meant that multiple Black men from Ashland City were arrested, subjected to interrogation, and coerced into confessions that investigators ultimately couldn't use. Both cases carry the shadow of a justice system that worked very differently depending on who stood before it.Rosa Ade married Lawrence James Hehir in Nashville on January 20, 1897 — just two months before her family was killed. She lived until May 17, 1962. She was ninety years old. The Tennessee Centennial Exposition opened in Nashville five weeks after her family was buried on the Ade property in March 1897. The state was celebrating. A family had been erased.In 2023 — a hundred and thirty years after Bertha Manchester's death — William D. Spencer published *The Other Fall River Tragedy* through the Fall River Historical Society. It was the first full-length account of her case. A historical marker for the Ade family was erected in 2018 at 3000 Morgan Road in Joelton by the Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. A small road called Jacobs Valley runs through what was once the Ade homestead, named in honor of Jacob Ade.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shane Waters and Gemma Hoskins sit down together for the first time in over a year for a wide-ranging conversation about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik in Baltimore, Maryland. Known to millions through the Netflix documentary The Keepers, Gemma has spent more than a decade investigating what happened to Sister Cathy, the young School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School. She was found dead two months after her disappearance. This episode is a Q&A, recorded live with questions submitted by listeners through the show's Facebook community.The Investigation: Timeline Questions and New DoubtsListeners asked about the timeline of the night Sister Cathy Cesnik disappeared on November 7, 1969. Father Gerard Koob, who was in a relationship with Sister Cathy, claims he called the police at 11:30 PM after arriving at her apartment. The police report says the call came at 1:30 AM, a two-hour gap that remains unexplained. Koob says he and Father Peter McKeon found Cathy's car around 3:30 AM during a walk, but the police report credits McKeon alone with the discovery.Gemma corrects a long-standing detail from The Keepers: the car was not found directly across the street from Cathy's apartment at Carriage House. It was actually found one court up the street, on Carriage Court, around a curve and out of direct line of sight from Lantern Court. She also confirms that the image of Sister Cathy's car shown in The Keepers was digitally placed into the scene by producer Jessica Hargrave as a visual aid. The steering wheel appears on the wrong side because the original police impound photo was flipped to match the camera angle.Shane and Gemma discuss the suspicious letter Father Koob claims Cathy wrote to him, a handwritten love letter dated 12:30 AM on the Monday before she disappeared. The letter was found in the morgue notes rather than the detective's case file. Shane points out this means it was likely turned over after Cathy's body was found in January 1970, not when she first went missing. A profiler formerly with Scotland Yard analyzed the letter's content and concluded it was not written by Sister Cathy. Koob did not pass his second polygraph examination.They also examine a separate letter Cathy wrote to her sister Marilyn, postmarked after the disappearance, which was admitted into evidence with the Baltimore County Police but has since gone missing. Shane raises the question of whether Father Koob could have written the letter to Marilyn as well, noting the parallels to the other letter and the movie ticket alibi.New Evidence: The Mary Statue at St. Clement'sGemma shares a story that has not been widely reported. Approximately two years ago, Eva Nelson, a publicly identified survivor of Father Joseph Maskell's abuse, told investigators she remembered watching Maskell bury something in the backyard of the St. Clement's rectory in Lansdowne. Police obtained permission from the current property owner and brought in ground-penetrating sonar equipment. Detective Josh Battaglia, the current investigator on Sister Cathy Cesnik's case, was present at the dig.After two visits and multiple excavations, they found a broken statue of the Virgin Mary buried beneath a large bush that had once been small when Eva was a child. Eva recognized the statue immediately. A nun at St. Clement's had given it to her for protection, telling her, "Mary will always protect you." Father Maskell found the statue, broke it in front of Eva, and forced her to watch him bury it. The discovery validates Eva's memory of events that took place decades ago.Historical ContextSister Catherine Ann Cesnik was a 26-year-old School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore. She disappeared on November 7, 1969 after leaving her apartment to run errands. Her body was found on January 3, 1970 in a wooded area in Lansdowne. Her murder has never been solved. Father Joseph Maskell, a Catholic priest and school counselor at Keough, was later accused of sexually abusing dozens of students throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Multiple survivors have said they believe Sister Cathy was killed because she was about to report the abuse. Maskell died in 2001 without facing criminal charges. The case was the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary series The Keepers.Content WarningThis episode discusses clergy abuse and violence.Frequently Asked QuestionsWho is Gemma Hoskins?Gemma Hoskins is a retired Baltimore teacher and former student at Archbishop Keough High School. She has spent over a decade investigating the murder of her former teacher, Sister Cathy Cesnik. She was featured in the Netflix documentary The Keepers and authored a book about herself and the case. She was named Maryland Teacher of the Year in 1992.What happened to Sister Cathy Cesnik?Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik disappeared from her Baltimore apartment on November 7, 1969. She had gone out to run errands, including a stop at a local bakery. Her car was found near her apartment that night. Her body was found on January 3, 1970. Her murder remains unsolved.What was found buried at St. Clement's?Police used ground-penetrating sonar to search the backyard of a former rectory associated with Father Maskell in Lansdowne. They found a broken statue of the Virgin Mary that a survivor remembered Maskell burying in front of her decades earlier.Who is investigating Sister Cathy's case today?Detective Josh Battaglia of the Baltimore County Police Department currently handles the investigation into Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder. He took over from Corporal Robin Teal after her retirement.Crisis ResourcesIf you or someone you know has been affected by abuse:US: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673US: Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-422-4453UK: NSPCC Helpline, 0808 800 5000UK: Rape Crisis England & Wales, 0808 500 2222Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Daphne and Gina talk with 2026 Olympic bronze medalist Daniel Grassl about this past Olympic season, meeting Pope Leo and his plans for next season and beyond.Follow Daniel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.grassl_official/————————————This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.Website: https://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskatingThread: https://www.threads.net/@thisweekinskatingPatreon: patreon.com/ThisWeekinSkatingAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

She had stopped going to school. She had no money. There was no adult on the planet looking for her. What she had was a sleeping bag in the snow.Her name was Aileen Carol Pittman. The world would come to know her by her grandparents' last name. Wuornos.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode contains discussions of murder, arsenic poisoning, the deaths of children, and historical criminal trials. Ifyou need to skip any portion, advance past that segment using your chapter markers. This EpisodeSeason 40 of Foul Play marks America's 250th anniversary by examining two cases that expose how the justice system treated killers differently based on wealth, gender, and class. This week: a double feature — one case from Texas, one from Pennsylvania, eleven years apart, and both asking the same question. Was justice served?In January 1877, a woman known as Diamond Bessie crossed a footbridge over Big Cypress Bayou in Jefferson, Texas. She never came back. Her companion — the wealthy son of a Cincinnati jeweler — walked away with her rings on his fingers and her luggage on his arm. What followed was one of the most contested murder trials in Texas history, in a town that was already losing everything. This is true crime at its most infuriating: a woman's life weighed against a powerful family's money.Then we cross to Philadelphia, 1888. Sarah Jane Whiteling, a forty-year-old factory worker's wife in a rear apartment on Cadwallader Street, lost her husband, her daughter, and her son inside sixty-seven days. The insurance companies paid out $399 total — $47 for her two-year-old boy. Arsenic trioxide was in every body. The prosecution called it wholesale murder. The defense called it insanity. The jury took two hours. This is historical true crime that doesn't let you look away.The VictimsDiamond Bessie — real name believed to be Annie Stone, born around 1854 in upstate New York — had built a life on her own terms in an era that gave women almost none. She worked in upscale establishments in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Hot Springs, accepting fine jewelry as payment, which earned her the name everyone knew her by. Dark- haired, pale-skinned, with grey or steel-blue eyes that period newspapers described as striking, she was intelligent and charming by every account. She married Abraham Rothschild in Danville, Illinois on January 11, 1877. Ten days later, a Black woman named Sarah King found her body propped against a twisted oak in the bayou woods — fully clothed, stripped of every piece of jewelry, a single gunshot wound to her temple.The Whiteling victims were a family. John Whiteling, thirty-eight, worked as a streetcar conductor and factory worker. Bertha was nine years old. Willie was two. John died on or around March 20, 1888. Bertha died April 25. Willie died May 26. Sixty-seven days, start to finish. Each death had a doctor's signature and a natural cause on the certificate. None of those causes were arsenic. The bodies at Mechanics' Cemetery held the truth that the living room had hidden.The CrimesAbraham Rothschild — son of Meyer Rothschild, a prosperous Cincinnati jeweler — had been traveling with Bessie since meeting her in Hot Springs around 1875. On January 21, 1877, he bought two picnic lunches from Henrique's Restaurant in Jefferson, crossed the footbridge over Big Cypress Bayou with Bessie, and came back alone. He told the hotel staff she was visiting friends. The next morning he wore two of her large diamond rings to breakfast. Two days later he boarded the eastbound train with both sets of luggage. He was traced to the Capitol Hotel in Marshall, then arrested after shooting himself outside a saloon — blinded in his right eye — in Cincinnati. His family spent what contemporary sources called "no fewer than ten high-priced attorneys" on his defense, led by U.S. Congressman David B. Culberson. The first trial ended in a conviction and a death sentence. The Texas Court of Appeals threw it out on a procedural technicality. The second trial ended in an acquittal. The jury deliberated four hours.Sarah Jane Whiteling purchased Rough on Rats — an arsenic trioxide compound manufactured by Ephraim S. Wells of New Jersey — and administered it to three members of her household between March and May of 1888. Coroner Samuel H. Ashbridge ordered the bodies exhumed. Professor Henry Leffmann, a chemist, and Dr. Henry F. Formad, a pathologist, found arsenic in every body. A drugstore clerk confirmed the purchase. Sarah confessed. Her defense centered on Dr. Alice Bennett — the first female physician to lead a department at an American asylum, Norristown State Hospital — who testified that Whiteling suffered from "physiological insanity" linked to reproductive dysfunction. The prosecution answered with their own experts: Drs. Charles Mills and John Chapin, who acknowledged she was of weak mind but said she was not legally insane. The jury deliberated approximately two hours. Guilty. First-degree murder. Death.On June 25, 1889, at 10:07 in the morning, Sarah Jane Whiteling was executed at Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia. She was the first woman executed in Philadelphia since colonial times. She reportedly appeared calm and believed she would be reunited with her children in heaven.Historical ContextBoth cases unfold during America's Gilded Age — that era of violent contradiction between spectacular wealth and grinding poverty. Jefferson, Texas had been the biggest riverport in the state until the Army Corps of Engineers removed the natural logjam on the Red River in 1873, and the railroad bypassed the city for Marshall. What had once shipped more than 75,000 bales of cotton annually was already hollowing out when Bessie's body was found. Reconstruction was collapsing across the South. Democrats had retaken the Texas state government three years earlier. In this context, the Rothschild family's ability to hire an army of lawyers — including a sitting U.S. Congressman — and purchase an acquittal reads as something beyond a legal outcome. It reads as a statement about whose life counted.In Philadelphia, 1888, a factory worker's full-year wages ran between $300 and $500. Sarah Whiteling collected $399 from three life insurance policies — nearly a year's salary — for the deaths of her husband and two children. The arithmetic is not subtle. Dr. Alice Bennett's insanity defense was, by the standards of 1888 forensic psychiatry, genuinely innovative — her theory of "physiological insanity" in women with reproductive dysfunction would later be examined in the *Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law* (Vol. 48, No. 3, 2020). But the jury didn't buy it, and Sarah Whiteling hanged.Together these cases are a portrait of American justice in 1877 and 1888: brilliant, broken, and priced according to what you could afford.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In 2011, a quiet neighborhood in Bakersfield, California, was shattered by a crime so severe it left veteran investigators shaken. The case began with the frantic search for a missing eight-year-old girl and ended in a tense, seven-hour SWAT standoff. Ray Coriell, the man at the center of the storm, faced a barrage of charges that exposed a harrowing betrayal of trust and a level of violence that seemed unimaginable.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Historical SignificanceIn Georgia, a Webster County posse pursued Susan and Enoch one hundred twenty-five miles to Coffee County, Alabama. The grand jury indicted both on May 27, 1872 — twenty-three days after the murder. Enoch's trial lasted a single day; the jury deliberated for three minutes. Both were sentenced to death on May 30. Twenty-six days from murder to death sentence. The Georgia Supreme Court denied Susan's appeal in *Eberhart v. State* 47 Ga. 598 (1873), with Justice H.K. McCay dismissing calls for mercy. Governor James M. Smith refused clemency four days before Susan was to die.Sheriff L.R. Barnard traced the Potts family over five hundred miles to Rock Springs, Wyoming, arresting the couple on February 16, 1889. Josiah Potts claimed Fawcett had killed himself after sexually abusing their daughter Edith, then approximately five years old. The abuse allegation was never investigated. The jury deliberated four hours — unanimous guilty verdict. Two hundred sixty-seven residents of Carlin petitioned the state board of pardons to commute both sentences to life imprisonment. The board refused. Sheriff Barnard himself opposed the execution.The Investigations and TrialsCase B — Georgia (1872): On May 4, 1872, after ten o'clock at night, Enoch Spann strangled his wife Sarah with a plow line, breaking her neck. According to his confession, Susan Eberhart held a handkerchief over Sarah's mouth at his command. Susan maintained she had been asleep and was compelled to participate under direct threat from a man who had already attempted murder twice — including a staged buggy accident where Susan had pulled Sarah from a swollen creek to save her life.Case A — Nevada (1888): Miles Fawcett entered the Potts household on New Year's Day to collect a debt and leverage knowledge of Elizabeth's bigamous marriage in Fresno, California. He was never seen alive again. His remains — charred, dismembered, buried in pieces throughout the cellar floor — were discovered on January 16, 1889, by the new tenant George Brewer. The only identifying object: a fragment of burned trouser pocket containing Fawcett's pocketknife.The CrimesSarah Spann was approximately fifty years old. She had lost a leg and lived as an invalid in a one-room log cabin inWebster County, Georgia, dependent on her husband Enoch for everything. A Confederate veteran whose own fellow soldiers had described him as "very ignorant and very imbecile, Enoch Spann was the man she was married to and the man who killed her.Miles Fawcett was born around 1830 near Manchester, England. He came west following the railroad, settling in Carlin — a Central Pacific division point established in 1868 with a population of roughly eight hundred. Fawcett worked a small ranch outside town. He kept to himself, known well enough that his pocketknife was recognized on sight but private enough that neighbors called him "Old Man Fawcett" and left it at that. He was fifty-seven when he disappeared.The VictimsNew Year's Day, 1888. A fifty-seven-year-old English carpenter named Miles Fawcett walks into a house on Silver Street in Carlin, Nevada, to collect a debt. He never comes back out. For a full year, the town absorbs his absence. When a new tenant probes the cellar floor and pulls up what he takes for a rotten turnip, it turns out to be a charred, decapitated human head. The woman who lived above that cellar — Elizabeth Potts — would become the only female ever legally executed in the state of Nevada. Meanwhile, in post-Civil War Georgia, an eighteen-year-old named Susan Eberhart is sent to cook and wash for a one-legged woman in a one-room cabin. Within days of her arrival, the man of the house begins telling her how he intends to kill his wife. Susan once waded into a swollen creek to save that woman's life. She would be convicted of helping to end it.Season 40: America's 250th Anniversary. Fifty states, fifty crimes, two hundred and fifty years of history. This double-feature covers Nevada and Georgia — two women sentenced to hang, separated by seventeen years and two thousand miles, connected by a question neither court could answer.This EpisodeThis episode contains discussions of murder, execution by hanging, domestic violence, sexual coercion, and dismemberment. Support Foul Play: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foulplaypodcast Website: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/foul-play/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/foul-play-crime-series/id1525832703 Follow us: Instagram: @foulplaycrimeseries Twitter: @foulplaypodOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Double Homicide: The House on Benchor Road - Part 02Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://www.chime.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Comparison is the one emotion everybody feels and nobody admits to — and Barb Schmidt and Michelle Maros of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle were scared to record this episode for a reason. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, they unpack the jealousy, resentment, and quiet self-destruction that comparison leaves behind — and make a case that might surprise you by the end.From Michelle comparing her book sales to her friends' mid-tour, to Barb owning up to something she projected onto Michelle for years, this episode goes places most podcast conversations never do. If you've ever felt something ugly creep in while watching someone else win — and then felt ashamed of it — this one is for you.What you'll take away: Why 85% of your daily thoughts are negative — and how comparison supercharges the loop How jealousy and envy are signals, not character flaws — and what they're actually pointing to The self-talk method for catching comparison before it turns into resentment Why "be better than yesterday" might be quietly doing more damage than good How to let comparison fuel action instead of shame Don't risk letting comparison keep stealing your joy without ever asking what it was trying to tell you. Learn how to read it instead.Episode Breakdown ⬇️0:00 Introduction0:36 Where Does Comparison Come From?0:52 The Science of Negative Thinking7:07 Barb's Personal Story: Childhood & Comparison9:19 Comparing Yourself to Yourself11:23 Comparison, Jealousy & Envy25:09 Michelle's Story: Visiting a Friend's Family28:22 Self-Talk as the Key Tool39:17 Can Comparison Actually Be Helpful?40:50 Takeaways & Closing

July 1877. A dirt road in rural Missouri. A fifty-eight-year-old woman named Martha Parrish is shot dead by her own son-in-law while trying to rescue her daughter from an abusive marriage. Fifteen years later and five hundred miles east, an eighteen-year-old maid named Ellen Smith is shot behind a luxury hotel in Winston, North Carolina — and someone writes a song about it. Two historical murders. Two women killed by men who claimed to love someone close to them. One ended in a double coffin. The other became a folk song you may have heard without knowing it was real.Season 40: Twin Portraits — double-feature true crime episodes exploring two historical murders from different American states, connected by a single theme. In Episode 3, the theme is love that kills — and the songs that outlive the dead.This episode contains discussions of domestic violence, murder, suicide, and public execution. If you need to skip this content, support resources are listed at the end of these notes.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Double Homicide: The House on Benchor Road - Part 01Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You've read the books. You've tried the meditation. You've done the journaling, the breathwork, the therapy. So why do you still feel stuck?In this episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, master well-being educator Devi Brown joins the conversation for one of the most honest discussions about healing we've ever had. Devi spent years teaching wellness to athletes, executives, and thousands of students through her Deeply Well podcast and her work at Chopra Global. Then her own life fell apart... and she discovered that everything she'd been teaching wasn't enough to save her.What she built from that breaking point became her book Living in Wisdom... a completely different approach to healing that doesn't start with fixing yourself. It starts with being brave enough to actually meet yourself. This conversation goes beyond surface-level wellness and into the real, messy, uncomfortable process of becoming whole.In this episode, you'll learn:- Why "doing the work" can still leave you stuck... and what's actually missing- The difference between surface-level wellness and true well-being- What "Complex Lived Experience" means and why it changes how you think about your pain- Why Devi's 8-step healing process starts with grief, not gratitude- What it looks like to live in wisdom on an ordinary Tuesday... not just during a retreatIf you've ever felt like you're doing everything right and still not feeling better... this episode is going to change how you think about the entire journey. Devi's book Living in Wisdom is available now in paperback (as of TODAY).

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, intimate partner violence, poisoning, and discussions of coercive control in same-sex and heterosexual relationships. Crisis resources are listed at the end of these notes.In this episode of Foul Play, Shane and Wendy examine two cases from the American Gilded Age connected by the same institutional failure: not a lack of evidence, but a refusal to act on it. The Ashtabula bridge disaster killed 92 people and led to the silencing of the one man who told the truth. The Hells Canyon massacre left as many as 34 Chinese miners dead — and an all-white jury acquitted the confessed killers.Season 40: Twin Portraits — two states, two stories. Ohio, 1877. Washington and Oregon, 1887. A murdered railroad engineer whose autopsy was hidden for 123 years, and Chinese gold miners massacred in the deepest gorge in North America while federal law declared them less than citizens. Two historical murder cases where the evidence existed and the institutions responsible chose silence.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Neglect: The Streamer and the Silent CribOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscuraSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Billy Wimbish - was born around 1859. A Black man who made his life in the Alaska Interior, Wimbish earnedrespect among the miners of the Fairbanks district. In 1906, he served as lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against mineowner D.H. Cascaden on Cleary Creek. Judge James Wickersham ruled in the miners' favor, finding Cascadenliable for all wages owed. That legal victory, won in Alaska Territory as a Black man against a white mine owner,defined the kind of man Wimbish was.Lloyd Magruder - was born in 1825 in Maryland, descended from a Scottish ancestor who arrived as a prisonerof war in 1653. He served in the Mexican War, rising from private to second lieutenant. After a stint in Californiapolitics representing Sacramento in the State Assembly, Magruder moved to Lewiston, Idaho Territory, in July1862. He built a mercantile store and a pack train operation in a frontier capital still called "Ragtown" for its canvastents. He had a wife named Caroline and three children.Idaho and Alaska. 1863 and 1910. Two murders separated by forty-seven years and two thousand miles,connected by gold and the calculation that it was worth more than a man. In Idaho, a merchant named LloydMagruder loaded a fortune onto pack mules and trusted the wrong men. In Alaska, a miner named Billy Wimbishdisappeared from his claim, and the system did not look for him. Both cases were solved not by authorities butby friends who refused to stop searching. This is the story of gold fever and what it cost.Season 40: Two hundred and fifty years of American history. Fifty states. Fifty crimes. Two per episode, pairedby what connects them.This episode contains discussions of murder, violence, and the destruction of human remains. Crisis resourcesare listed at the end of these notes.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Leslie Preer was murdered in her Chevy Chase, Maryland home on May 2, 2001. For 23 years the case sat cold. This episode features court audio from the August 2025 sentencing and the genetic genealogy breakthrough that finally identified her killer.Leslie Ann Jennings Preer, 48, was a wife, mother, and former University of Florida journalism student. Born in North Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1952 and raised across the country in a large military family, she settled in Chevy Chase in 1982 with her husband Sandy and their daughter Lauren. She volunteered at a local library teaching English to immigrants and newcomers. Friends and family remembered her as gentle, intelligent, and kind.On the morning of May 2, 2001, Leslie did not show up for work. A welfare check at her home on Drummond Avenue revealed she had been beaten and strangled inside the house. There was no forced entry. Blood and skin cells from her attacker were recovered from the dining room, hallway, and near the kitchen. DNA under her fingernails told investigators exactly who did it. The problem was, he was not in any database. Suspicion fell on her husband, Sandy Preer. He was cleared, but the cloud of suspicion followed him for years. Sandy passed away in 2017 before he ever saw justice for his wife.In 2022, Montgomery County investigators Tara Augustin and Alyson Dupouy reopened the file. They uploaded the crime scene DNA to a public genetic genealogy database. The search traced a distant relative in Romania, which narrowed the field until one name surfaced in old case notes. Lauren Preer's high school boyfriend, Eugene Gligor. For five years he had sat at the Preer family dinner table. He had shared their holidays, their game nights, their home on Drummond Avenue. In June 2024, investigators followed Gligor to Washington Dulles International Airport and retrieved a discarded water bottle. The DNA matched.On June 18, 2024, federal marshals arrested Eugene Gligor at his apartment in Washington, D.C. In May 2025 he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. On August 28, 2025, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David Lease sentenced him to 30 years with all but 22 years suspended, followed by five years of supervised probation. Prosecutors Donna Fenton and Jodie Mount handled the case. Gligor remains incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Training Center. Sandy Preer was posthumously vindicated.This episode features court audio from the 2025 sentencing hearing and archival case reporting. Listener discretion advised.Support Obscura:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/Website: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/Apple Premium: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/black-label/id6443660911Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/OBSCURA* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/obscura* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, intimate partner violence, poisoning, and discussions of coercive control in same-sex and heterosexual relationships. Crisis resources are listed at the end of these notes.Historical ContextIn Indiana, public pressure forced an exhumation four months after Hattie's death. Organs shipped to Chicago forchemical analysis revealed large quantities of strychnine. Pettit was arrested and charged with murder. The trial in Crawfordsville drew journalists from across the Midwest. Lew Wallace — the author of *Ben-Hur*, a former Union general, and a member of the military commission that tried the Lincoln assassination conspirators — attendedregularly from the gallery. The jury convicted Pettit and sentenced him to life in prison at hard labor. He died oftuberculosis in 1893, the same day the Indiana Supreme Court granted him a retrial. Elma Whitehead, who funded his defense and fled the state to avoid subpoenas, was never tried.Lilly Duer was captured in Baltimore and tried at the Worcester County courthouse in Snow Hill, Maryland, in May 1879. She was housed not in jail but at the National Hotel across the street — jail being unsuitable for a woman of her standing. The jury convicted her of manslaughter. The sentence: a five-hundred-dollar fine and no prison time. For shooting a woman in the face.The InvestigationsIndiana, 1889: While Hattie Pettit visited a friend in South Bend, her husband moved into the home of Elma Whitehead — the wealthiest woman in the county, daughter of church patron David Meharry. Pettit proposed to Elma, and she accepted. When Hattie returned on July 12, she was poisoned with strychnine on at least three separate occasions over five days. The poison produced violent convulsions — the body arching, the muscles seizing, the face drawn into what the Victorians called the risus sardonicus. Hattie told her doctor she believed she had been poisoned. He did nothing. She died July 17, 1889. The official cause: malaria.Maryland, 1878:On November 5, Lilly Duer walked into the Hearn family home in Pocomoke City with a revolverconcealed in a specially sewn pocket of her dress. She shot Ella Hearn in the face. The bullet passed through Ella's lip, shattered a tooth, and lodged in her skull. Through the blood, Ella spoke: "Don't, Lilly, please don't. I'll marry you." Lilly fled to Baltimore disguised in her brother's suit with her already-short hair cropped shorter.The CrimesHattie Sperry Pettit: was a schoolteacher who married the Reverend William Pettit through church connections inNew York. In 1889 Indiana, teaching was one of the very few professional callings available to educated women, andHattie was practical, self-sufficient, and disciplined. She did not know that the man at the head of her table had oncebeen jailed for theft, had lied his way into the Masonic Brotherhood, and had used those connections to secure his ordination. The minister she married was a fabrication.Ella Hearn was nineteen years old in the autumn of 1878, the daughter of an established merchant family in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Quiet, gentle, trusting — she had graduated from a boarding academy where she shared a room with the woman who would shoot her. She observed what the newspapers called a delicate, unassuming grace. That grace made her extraordinarily vulnerable.The VictimsBoth cases are about desire that could not be spoken aloud and justice systems that decided the people who caused harm deserved more mercy than the people who were harmed.In a river town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a nineteen-year-old woman is shot in the face by her closest companion— and through the blood and agony speaks five words that have echoed for nearly a century and a half. In the farming country of western Indiana, a minister poisons his wife with strychnine so he can marry the richest woman in the county — and the dying woman figures out exactly what is happening to her. No one lifts a finger.Season 40 of Foul Play begins a year-long journey across all fifty states, pairing two historical crimes per episode —connected by a single thread. Tonight: Maryland, 1878, and Indiana, 1889. Two women trusted the people closest to them. Both paid for that trust with their bodies.Crisis Support ResourcesIf you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence:-US: National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233-US: Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741-UK: National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247-UK: Victim Support: 0808 1689 111Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Black Label: The Station Nightclub FireSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Two women strangled in two days by the same man in Jacksonville, Florida -- one killed at a motel on Christmas night, the other a beloved teacher murdered in her own home the next morning. This episode features real interrogation footage and court audio.Leah Kline's life ended on December 25, 2019. She and Zebulon Perkins had been staying at a Westside Jacksonville motel when an argument turned violent. Perkins strangled Kline and disposed of her body in a dumpster behind the building. She was 38 years old. Her remains would not be discovered for days.The following morning, December 26, Perkins drove to the Cedar Hills home of Vivian James, a 49-year-old chemistry teacher at Atlantic Coast High School. James had once been his teacher. According to court records, Perkins went to her looking for guidance -- and when James told him he needed to turn himself in to police, Perkins beat her and strangled her with a cord inside her home.Vivian James had spent years in a classroom shaping the futures of Duval County students. Colleagues and former students described her as someone who gave her time and attention freely, a teacher who saw potential where others saw problems. The fact that a former student came to her door in crisis -- and that her instinct was to counsel him toward accountability -- speaks to who she was.On December 28, a friend stopped by James' home and found her body. The friend called Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and reported James' car missing. Investigators located the vehicle at the same Westside motel where Kline had been killed. Perkins was inside. When officers searched the car, they found Perkins' bag containing sweatpants stained with James' DNA, along with her camera and three laptops. Two of James' televisions and her computer monitor were recovered from the home of Perkins' mother. DNA recovered from beneath James' fingernails matched Perkins.In March 2024, Zebulon Perkins pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 70 years in Florida State Prison. The interrogation footage played during court proceedings showed detectives confronting Perkins about the evidence against him -- a man who, according to investigators, showed no emotion when asked about either death.This episode features interrogation recordings and court audio. Listener discretion advised.Support Obscura:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/obscuracrimepodcast/Website: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/obscura/Apple Premium: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/black-label/id6443660911Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Chime: https://chime.com/OBSCURA* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code OBSCURA for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Progressive: https://progressive.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code OBSCURA20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy