The Letter

Latest Episodes:

Meeting the Monster Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

When Jorge Benvenuto sat down to write a letter to the family of the boy he’d shot to death as a teenager, he had no idea the chain of events that would follow. When he penned his apology alone in a prison cell, he never imagined that it would lead to him hugging the mother of that young man. Nor did he have any inkling about the many ways the letter would reverberate through his own life - and the lives of his family members. The Letter opened a pathway for the parents of Zachary Snarr to push for his release.
The Letter team will follow and update with new episodes as developments happen.
Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.
Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley.
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media.
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Delivered Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

This episode is a reminder that we’re all more connected than we realize. A woman named Lianne Bell agrees to do a favor for her mother and it ends up tying her to the Snarrs and Yvette in ways she never expected. Lianne delivers letters. Sy comes to Liane’s house. And in a room where the mother of the shooter once prayed for peace, Sy Snarr will find the miracle she’s been searching for since she lost her son.
Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley.
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media.
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Making Peace with the Shadows Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Surviving a barrage of bullets is just the start of what Yvette Rodier will have to do to reclaim her life. The emotional damage will take far longer to heal than the physical bullet wounds. She gets married, has a child and chooses a career that allows her to use her past to help others.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Putting Down the Rocks Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

Life after Zach’s murder is painful and complicated, but the Snarrs find a way forward through their grief. Sy and Ron try to be the parents their other children need while his siblings build lives in which he only exists as a memory. Another tragedy strikes.
Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

A Death Sentence Waiting to Happen Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

At age 19 and just a few months older than the teens he shot, Jorge Benvenuto faces the possibility of a death sentence. As his court-appointed attorneys fight to save his life, the families of the victims struggle with what justice might look like.
Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Sponsors:
The Letter is sponsored by Hunt a Killer, immersive mystery games where you get to be the detective. Get $10 off at huntakiller.com/theletter with code THELETTER.
For a full list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series,

Season 1 Bonus: Why Revisit a 26-Year-Old Crime? Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Due to popular demand, Episode 3 was dropped early for your binging pleasure. Before we return to our regular weekly episode releases next Tuesday, this week, host Amy Donaldson explains why she pursued this case in the first place, and what can be learned by looking at the last day of an 18-year-old murder victim’s life.

A Gun and a Death Wish Sep 09, 2022

Show notes

Police begin to put the pieces together and capture the 19 year old man who shot Zach and Yvette. Detectives make discoveries about what happened in the life of Jorge Benvenuto in the weeks before he bought a gun. Friends and family tell of a depressed, angry young man who’d been a victim of crime himself. Police track him down, in part because he calls and confesses what happened to a friend.
Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

The Survivor Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

Yvette Rodier was shot several times by a stranger as she and her good friend Zach set up a camera to take pictures of the moon. She describes how she survived, including dragging herself several hundred feet over rough terrain to get to a road and flag down help. That night was devastating. But even after such a terrifying experience, Yvette holds out hope for how she can reclaim her life.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon Mixing by Trent Sell Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton, Dave Cawley and Ed Brass. Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media. The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Every Parent's Nightmare Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

On Zach Snarr’s last day alive, he got up early to help his father at work, he cleaned the kitchen for his mother and he made his sister laugh. But on August 28, 1996, the 18-year-old never came home from his date with Yvette Rodier at a reservoir outside of Salt Lake City. Instead, two police officers and a chaplain came to ring the bell. It was every parent’s nightmare, a devastating loss that rocked a community and shattered lives. But Zach’s mother, Sy Snarr, finds hope from a most unlikely place and it comes in the form of a weekly phone call.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon Mixing by Trent Sell Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media. The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.

Despite the looming shadow of the shooting, her life is one of beauty and generosity; of resilience and hope.

Get more information and photos on our website, theletterpodcast.com.

Researched and reported by Amy Donaldson
Written by Amy Donaldson and Andrea Smardon
Production and sound design by Andrea Smardon
Mixing by Trent Sell
Special thanks to Nina Earnest, Becky Bruce, KellieAnn Halvorsen, Ryan Meeks, Ben Kuebrich, Josh Tilton and Dave Cawley
Main musical score composed by Allison Leyton Brown
With KSL Podcasts Executive Producer Sheryl Worsley
For Lemonada Media, Executive Producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
And Executive Producers Paul Anderson and Nick Panella with WorkHouse Media
The Letter is produced by KSL Podcasts and Lemonada Media in association with WorkHouse Media.