Just The Tip-Sters: True Crime Podcast

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186. Looks Like A Minute And A Half Is A Lifetime - The Erasing Of Mikelle Biggs Apr 06, 2021

Show notes

January 2, 1999 was an average day in sleepy suburban Mesa Arizona when, as dusk was falling, 11 year-old Mikelle Biggs and her sister Kimber thought they heard the sound of an ice cream truck coming up the street as they were playing outside their house. Mikelle ran into the house and convinced her mother – who was just starting dinner, to give her some quarters so she and Kimber could buy a treat. Racing back outside, Mikelle borrowed Kimber’s brand new pink bicycle – which Kimber had just gotten for Christmas only 8 days prior. Seeing her sister riding up the street on her bike, Kimber decided to go back into the house to get a jacket. It took her all of 90 seconds to return to the front yard where she would run to catch up with Mikelle. But instead of seeing her sister riding farther up the street, what Kimber saw instead was her empty bike, lying on its side in the middle of the street, pointed back in the direction of their house – the front wheel still spinning. In 90 seconds – Mikelle Biggs went from a bright, beautiful young girl riding to catch an ice cream truck in the fading winter light – to a memory. She has never been seen again. While there is a likely culprit who has been identified – now in prison for a different, horrific crime - he has never been charged and has denied having anything to do with Mikelle’s disappearance. In this moving episode, Melissa describes the police investigation, the family’s exhausting quest for answers, the haunting image of that gleaming new pink bicycle lying still, its front wheel still turning from the impetus of Mikelle’s force – and how all these years later, those 90 seconds live forever in the heart and soul of a little sister who wonders – what if she had not gone to get that jacket?

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185. Looks Like A Nightmare On Light Street - Jessica Rae Sacco And The Killer Juggalos Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

In March 2012, the quiet town of Urbana Ohio (about 50 miles west of Columbus) was rocked to its core when a local murder became national news – not just because of the horrendous nature of the crime, but the affiliation of the perpetrators with a loose-knit “family” whose insistence on loyalty turned twisted beyond belief. The victim, 21 year-old Jessica Rae Sacco, was found by her landlord, dead in the bathtub of the Urbana duplex she shared with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Matthew Puccio. Jessica had been suffocated to death, her body partially dismembered and left behind in the bathtub. And it was the partial dismemberment of the body – and the story behind it – that made this case so horrifying – both in its cruelty and its evil, unforgivable, incomprehensible stupidity. Jessica had fallen in with Puccio, who she met online and was four years her senior, shortly after the young woman – who was bipolar and on medication – had moved in to the duplex on Light Street in Urbana. Puccio moved in, convinced Jessica to go off her meds, and quickly invited his friends Andrew and Kandis Forney to live with them in the small duplex. Jessica and the Forneys did not get along from the beginning – and, now off her medication, life became miserable for Jessica. She and Puccio fought often, and on that fateful March day in 2012, after another fight (the background of which is disputed), Puccio first stabbed, and then suffocated, Jessica. But here’s where the story turns bizarre and into pure evil. It turns out that Puccio, the Forneys and – hard to believe it’s true – the other couple Puccio texted for help after he’d stabbed Jessica – Sharon Cook and Christopher Wright – were all part of a minor cult who call themselves “Juggalos,” fans of the hip hop/metal band Insane Clown Posse. The Juggalo culture, while mostly harmless, projects an ominous and foreboding front – and its secretive, loyalty-based sense of “family” has produced more than its share of criminal activity over the years. In the case of what happened to Jessica Sacco, that loyalty went beyond mere criminality and over the cliff into unimaginable depravity. Suffice it to say that the five friends hung out together for FIVE HOURS with Jessica wounded by a stab wound before Puccio finally suffocated her – and then the parts of Jessica’s body that weren’t found in her bathtub were scattered by Puccio and his Juggalo brethren in various locations for reasons that, given the fact that they left most of the body to be found in the duplex, make sense only to the deranged. Join Melissa as she goes over the details of this truly disturbing murder – and the fate of each of the perpetrators – only one of which ended up with a life sentence – and decide for yourself whether justice has been served.

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184. Looks Like A Bad Meeting At The High School Auditorium - The Very Solvable Murder Of Jay Smith Mar 23, 2021

Show notes

Sometimes it’s so crystal clear that a crime was committed, who did the crime, why the crime was committed and where to go find the bad guy – it’ll drive you nuts. And that is pretty much the story of the disappearance of 23 year-old Austin “Jay” Smith exactly 28 years ago on March 23, 1993. when he left his home in the suburbs of Southern California's San Gabriel Valley and never returned. It’s enough to make a sane person go mad. Dig it: We know Jay went to an appointment that evening, meeting a former employer who was renting audio-video equipment at a local high school – despite the fact that said former employer was furious with Jay for reporting him to the school for pocketing rental money for himself. We know that when he didn’t return at the expected time, Jay’s girlfriend drove to the auditorium where she saw Jay’s truck and the former employer’s camper parked, and that when she banged on the auditorium door, the disheveled former employer opened briefly, only to slam the door in the girlfriend’s face. We know that shortly thereafter, when the girlfriend drove back around to the auditorium, Jay’s truck was gone but the former employer’s camper was still there – and that Jay’s truck was found the next day just a few blocks from the auditorium – and that a witness states he gave the former employer a ride back to the auditorium late on the night of the 23rd when he saw him walking near where Jay’s truck was found – and that a barrel large enough to hold someone of Jay’s size was found to be missing the day after Jay’s disappearance… …oh – and then there’s the fact that after initially being interviewed by the police, the former employer left town for TWO WEEKS without letting anyone know where he went. In his camper. Which had plenty of room to carry a barrel. And 28 years later, the former employer has never been arrested. See – Jay’s body has never been found. And until recently, the Los Angeles County DA’s office simply didn’t prosecute “no body” cases. That has changed – and for the past 8 years a dedicated detective named Richard Lopez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau has been doggedly pursuing answers – looking for that one shred of evidence or witness to put Jay Smith’s case over the top so he can make the arrest so many have been expecting for so long. Listen in as Melissa relates this agonizingly simple-yet-impossibly-difficult story – and urges anyone who knows anything about what happened to Jay to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

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183. Looks Like Murder By The Side Of The Road - Finding Justice For Veronica Estrada - With Special Guest Ken Lewis Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

This week we focus on a murder from December 1993 that occurred literally less than a five-minute drive from the Homestead Studios – although long before Melissa and Producer Mark moved there. The victim was a beautiful and accomplished 29 year-old martial arts instructor and black belt named Veronica Estrada, who left the studio where she was an instructor and, having had an argument with her boyfriend, decided to walk home instead of having him pick her up. The next morning, after no one had heard from Veronica, the owner of the studio, Ken Lewis, and another instructor at the studio named Stuart Milburn, began walking the street that Veronica would have traveled, and eventually, Lewis spotted the young woman’s body off the side of the road and had Milburn run to a business across the street to call police. Both Lewis and the police suspected strange things about Stuart Milburn from the very beginning – but wait – we’ll let the man who was there tell you the story himself – because Ken Lewis is Melissa’s guest this week! Take a listen as Ken tells Melissa about the early days of the case, the arrest and prosecution of Stuart Milburn – and how, after two mistrials that have resulted in Stuart Milburn’ s continued freedom to this day - even the trial judge told prosecutors that Milburn is probably guilty, they shouldn’t bring a third trial unless better evidence emerges. That’s where YOU come in, Tip-Sters. After listening to Ken Lewis’ firsthand account of the events surrounding Veronica Estrada’s murder, maybe something will spark in YOUR memory that could help solve the case. If that happens, please call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

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182. Looks Like Terry Meador Lost His Way - With Special Guest Detective Matt Wharton Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

This week Melissa’s special guest is the engaging (and really nice guy) Detective Matt Wharton from the Sweetwater County Wyoming Sheriff’s Office. It’s definitely Big Country in Wyoming, and Sweetwater County is big indeed – the 8th largest county by land in the United States – with miles and miles of rugged beauty – and winters that are not advisable to take on alone unless you know what you’re doing and know your bearings. And even then, you can get lost…which is exactly what appears to have happened to 74 year-old Terry Meador one cold day in October 2018, when he went looking for a place to hunt but never returned. His pickup truck, abandoned and stuck in a rut, was found on an access road several days after his disappearance. But as of today, no one knows what actually happened to Terry Meador, or where he (or his remains) might be found. Melissa and Detective Wharton cover all the bases in this detailed interview, including a couple of side-tracks that may or may not mean anything at all…but might just trigger someone’s memory. If you can help Detective Wharton solve this mystery and bring some peace to the friends and family of Terry Meador, give him a call at (307) 922-5345.

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181. MURDERTIZER - Looks Like An Unassuming Interview - Melissa Chats With Dave Kimball Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

Hey Tip-Sters! Surprise!!! We have a special between-regular-episodes MURDERTIZER (an appetizer of murder)! Last week Melissa appeared as a guest on a terrific podcast – the Don’t Assume Podcast hosted by Dave Kimball – a truly interesting and interesting guy who hosts people from all over the country from a wide array of professions and backgrounds and challenges his listeners to not assume they know what they think they know about those backgrounds and professions. Naturally, who better for Dave to discuss true crime podcasts with than our own Melissa? Enjoy this wonderful chat where you’ll have a chance to hear Melissa as the interviewee rather than the interviewer – and learn a few things you may not know about her! Thanks to Dave Kimball – we highly recommend you check out the Don’t Assume Podcast for yourself!

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180. Looks Like Chaos In Putnam County - Who Actually Murdered Josette Wright And Robin Murphy? Mar 02, 2021

Show notes

This week’s episode involves a twisted web of convictions (perhaps wrongful), acquittals (also possibly wrongful), the murder of a young woman and the disappearance and probable murder of a second young woman – all wrapped around two potentially really bad guys and one no-doubt-about-it nasty scumbag. The story unfolds in tony Putnam County, an affluent New York City suburb north of Manhattan in southern upstate New York, where in October 1994 12 year-old Josette Wright disappeared. Just over 13 months later, Josette’s remains were discovered. Two young men – Anthony DiPippo and Andrew Krivak – were charged and, in 1997, convicted of Josette’s murder – in separate trials. DiPippo has always maintained his innocence. Krivak confessed. Seems simple. Except…well, a couple of things. It turns out that Krivak has claimed, almost from the moment he accepted his sentence, that his confession was coerced, and there’s evidence to indicate the investigator who questioned Krivak used tactics that may have led to a false confession. And Anthony DiPippo? Well. He has been granted three separate trials – convicted the first two times and finally acquitted in the third. So how can two men convicted of the same crime have been dealt such different outcomes? It all revolves around our certified scumbag in this matter – one Howard Gombert, who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl in Connecticut in 2000 – and who is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of 17 year-old Robin Murphy in April of 1995. Women’s underwear with Robin’s DNA on it was found in a trunk of what can only be described as “trophies” in the home of Gombert’s girlfriend – but with Robin’s body having never turned up, prosecutors have been unable to arrest Gombert for her murder. And then there’s this: there are ties between Robin Murphy, Josette Wright and Howard Gombert that make Gombert a more than reasonable suspect in both cases. Add to all of this the fact that Anthony DiPippo’s original trial attorney had also represented…wait for it…Howard Gombert! Join Melissa as she unravels the tangled facts and seeks to get to the bottom of who killed whom – and if you know anything about either case, please call the Putnam County New York Sheriff’s Office at (845) 225-4300.

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179. Looks Like A Vanishing On A Rainy Night - Asha Degree's Mysterious Walk-Away Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

On the night before Valentine’s Day 2000 (which, like this year, was also part of a three-day Presidents Day weekend), a beautiful 9 year-old girl named Asha Degree and her ten year-old brother O’Bryant went to bed in their Shelby North Carolina home. Sometime around 2:30 am, O’Bryant heard his sister go to the bathroom and return to bed – but when he was awakened in the morning by his frantic mother, he found out what the rest of the nation was about to learn – young Asha had disappeared. And what made the whole thing baffling is that every indication was that Asha had left of her own free will. There were no signs of a break-in nor anything else that would indicate anyone took her from the home. Her backpack and some clothes were missing, indicating she had planned to leave. Even more baffling was the fact that it was heavily raining the night/early morning when Asha disappeared. A witness claimed to have seen her walking in the downpour, but when offered a ride she ran into nearby woods. Would a nine year-old child really strike out on her own on a cold and rainy early morning? If so, where was she going? Did she plan on meeting someone? If so, who…and where…and…why? And why has Asha Degree never been found? Or her remains – after all these years? Melissa delves into the nooks and crannies of this disturbing unsolved disappearance – and as always – encourages anyone who knows anything about what happened to young Asha Degree on Presidents Day Weekend 2000, please call the FBI’s Charlotte North Carolina field office at (704) 672-6100.

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178. Looks Like Unrelated But The Same - Louise Paciarello And The Ladies Of Brownsville Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Sometimes when researching a case, Melissa discovers threads that lead her in multiple directions. Every once in a while one of those threads leads to a clue in the case she’s investigating. But other times, they lead to cases clearly unrelated – but eerily similar – to the matter at hand. This week’s episode brings together two such cases. The cold case Melissa started researching involves the mysterious – actually downright strange – 2007 death of 78 year-old Louise Paciarello, a retired nurse’s aide who was a beloved neighbor and friend in her Yonkers, New York building and surrounding neighborhood. Tiny, frail and lovely, Louise by all accounts had no enemies. Yet for some time before her apartment was set fire by someone who had first strangled her, she had told friends some very troubling – and weird – stories. She showed several friends a note, written on a napkin, from someone who wrote they’d been in the apartment while she slept – and even though she wouldn’t say who the note was from, expressed terrible concern that the writer knew where she kept her money. She also claimed, just days prior to her murder, that she’d heard someone jiggling the doorknob of her newly re-keyed front door. Spooky business – and no one has been arrested, whole thing got Melissa to wondering – who would do this to an elderly lady? How does one earn the trust of someone like Louise Paciarello? And that bit of wondering led Melissa 28 miles south of Yonkers to the Brooklyn New York neighborhood of Brownsville, where just last month (January 2021) the arrest of one Kevin Gavin was announced by the NYPD. Gavin has been charged in the murder of Juanita (“Jenny”) Caballero on January 15, 2021 – but subsequently confessed to two other murders, in 2015 and 2019. All three victims were female, all elderly and all residents of the same New York City Housing Authority apartment building. Turns out Gavin did odd jobs for all three of his victims – which is why they likely trusted him enough to let him into their apartments. He claims he killed all three women because of disputes over money. But that doesn’t seem reasonable when one considers that each of Gavin’s victims were murdered in very different ways – all of which speak “serial killer” more than they do “where’s my money?” Listen in as Melissa puzzles over these two places in such close proximity, focuses on the similarities of how four innocent elderly women were murdered and ponders the nature of those who would take advantage of the weakest and most kindhearted among us.

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177. Looks Like THEY Are Hiding Something - Uncovering Tamara Tigard Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

One day in March 1980, a member of the U.S. Army (her rank still not clear) named Tamara Tigard, who was living (or was she stationed?) in Las Vegas, went for a walk. And then vanished. One month later, 1,200 miles away near the small town of Jones, Oklahoma – on Tamara’s 21st birthday, as it happens – the unclothed body of a young woman was found in a shallow grave on the banks of the North Canadian River. The body had been covered with “wet” lime, which, intentionally or not, had acted to preserve the body to a remarkable degree. Even so, authorities could not identify the body – and no reported missing persons reports matched the dead woman’s description, so “The Lime Lady,” as she came to be known, was buried in an unmarked grave there in Central Oklahoma, leaving law enforcement with a mystery that would last for the next four decades. Almost exactly four decades, as it turns out. Because in 2020, through the unending determination of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, in particular Captain Bob Green, familial DNA technology through assistance of The DNA Doe Project finally identified the “Lime Lady” as none other than Tamara Tigard, who had disappeared 40 years before in Las Vegas. But with that mystery solved, an entire universe of new questions arose. How did this young soldier get from Las Vegas to Oklahoma? Was she dead or alive when she arrived in Oklahoma? Obvious suspects (such as Tamara’s ex-husband, who had a long rap sheet, have been vetted with no success. There’s also the conundrum of Tamara’s manner of death – forensics experts have determined that she was not only shot with a .45 caliber handgun – she died with her clothes on – her shooter was actually walking toward, or charging, her as he (or she) was shooting. So why was she buried with no clothes? And just what was a member of the Army doing living in Las Vegas, when no army base is located there? And how come the Army continued to show Tamara as being on active duty even after she disappeared, never reporting her as AWOL or otherwise discharged? And how about that “Tamara Tigard” living in Ohio who evidently stole Tamara’s identity – has that ever been looked into? These are all mystifying questions that Melissa explores in this episode – and even though the crime happened 40 years ago, those questions even today leave the mind to wander from the mostly plausible to the possibly conspiratorial. And of course, as is usually the case – even all these decades later, there must be someone still alive who knows the true story behind Tamara Tigard’s untimely death. If you think you might know who that person is – or if you are that person, call Captain Bob Green of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department at (405) 713-1000.

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