True Crime Brewery

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An Inconvenient Woman: The Murder of Carol Kennedy Nov 14, 2017

Show notes

At 7:36 pm on the first Tuesday in July 2008, Carol Kennedy made her nightly call to her mother. Ruth Kennedy lived across the country in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 83-years old at the time and Carol worried about her living on her own. She had called her mother almost every night since her father died in 2006. Despite her advanced age, Ruth was not immune to worrying about her daughter, who was recently divorced and also on her own. Carol reassured Ruth that she had locked her doors and was in for the night.
It was 7:59pm when Ruth heard her daughter say two last words: “Oh no.” The tone of the words was surprise, not fear, and then there was no sound at all. She didn’t hear the phone drop or any voices. Now the line was dead.
This episode of True Crime Brewery, An Inconvenient Woman, is the story of an apparently loving and long-lasting relationship. When one person ended up brutally beaten to death; the other would be the primary suspect.
We have no way of knowing what happens behind closed doors, in a marriage. When a marriage ends in a violent murder, some of their secrets come to light while others remain in the shadows. When a relationship turns from companionship to malice, from malice to murder, all we can do is find justice for the victim, seek punishment for the killer, and attempt to learn something about human behavior.

Love & Madness: Murder in a Southern Family Nov 07, 2017

Show notes

We all have someone in our family who is a little unstable. An eccentric aunt or a brother preparing for the zombie apocalypse maybe. But what happens when a family member sinks deeply into true madness, becoming a danger to himself and others? This is when interventions are needed or lives fall apart.
Susie Sharp was born to a prominent southern family. She was meant for greatness. Her cousin, Fritz Klenner, was the son of a physician, expected to take over his father’s practice. After a bitter divorce, Susie became volatile and paranoid. She was lonely. Her cousin Fritz was there for her. She became involved with Fritz, a college failure who was practicing medicine illegally. Fritz also had a frightening fascination with guns. He claimed to work for the CIA.
A child custody dispute over Susie’s children became bitter as Susie and Fritz isolated themselves from the outside world and did everything they could to keep the two young boys from their father. Then relatives began turning up dead. Five of them in all. Even as Fritz and Susie were suspected, her children were left in the control of two dangerous people.
Follow us through this tale of family destruction beyond what anyone could have predicted. This episode of True Crime Brewery is a stranger than fiction family tragedy: Love and Madness: Murder in a Southern Family.

A Killer in the Family: The Death of Becky Watts Oct 31, 2017

Show notes

It only took minutes to tear apart the family of Darren Galsworthy, a blended family that had been through hardships and illnesses to finally find some happiness and equanimity. Darren and his wife Anjie had each been through difficult relationships before they fell in love and merged their two families into one cohesive group. Things were not perfect, but they were in love and Darren felt proud that their children had a solid home.
Becky Watts was 16-years old and living with her father Darren and her step-mother Anjie when she was reported missing in 2015. Her phone and laptop were gone from her bedroom but her clothing and make-up were left behind. It was initially believed that Becky left her home on the morning of February 19th, but it was later discovered that her step-brother and his girlfriend had lied to mislead police.
The search for Becky involved family, police, and volunteers as well as a social media campaign using the hashtag #FindBecky. As parents, it’s hard to imagine what Becky’s parents went through as days passed and there was no sign of her. Tragically, finding Becky would not bring relief but would only create deep, long-lasting wounds her family would struggle with forever.
This story of strength and loss, A Killer in the Family, edifies as it devastates, bringing to light a sad truth: even those closest to us can destroy us.

Sympathy for the Devil: The Murder of Belinda Temple Oct 24, 2017

Show notes

Pregnant mother Belinda Temple, 30, was found dead in her bedroom closet on January 11, 1999, shot in the back of the head with a shotgun. Her husband David, a Houston-area high school football coach and former local football star, was the focus of the investigation, but authorities did not have enough evidence to arrest him until several years later.
David Temple was convicted of his wife’s murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. In 2016, he was released on appeal and is likely to face another trial. He still maintains his innocence today–alleging that Belinda was killed by burglars during a botched robbery while he was out shopping with their then-3-year-old son.
This is a complicated case that we have examined from all angles. From David’s entitled childhood, to dating abuse, affairs, life insurance, and questionable forensic evidence, we’re letting you decide whether or not David Temple killed Belinda and their unborn daughter. Did a life of being told how special he was lead David Temple to think he was above the law? If that was the case, his family was probably behind him after Belinda’s murder, reassuring him that he was loved and supported, just as they always had whenever he got in trouble at school or in relationships. But there are other possible suspects. We’ll talk about those as well. Come with us to the quiet end.

Our intermission song is Right Where You Left Me by Perlo

Mean Girls: The Murder of Shanda Sharer Oct 17, 2017

Show notes

We’ve all done stupid things due to peer pressure. It can be harmless, such as influencing the way we dress or the way we wear our hair. Sometimes it involves drinking or other high-risk behavior. It often plays a part in bullying, with a teen or group of teens encouraging abusive behavior against a peer. Today, we are talking about an extreme case of peer pressure which led to the torture and murder of a 12-year old girl by 4 teenage girls.
12-year old Shanda Sharer was a cute and friendly girl, living in Madison, Indiana, in 1992, when her murder attracted international attention. Her killers were unlikely criminals. Shanda had left her house willingly with them.
So, how did a typical teenage adventure lead to such horrific violence and murder? The role of peer pressure or mob mentality was definitely a factor. But there were other factors that influenced what happened that night, including the abusive histories and dysfunctional childhood environments of the perpetrators. We’ll talk about the crime of torture and murder against Shanda and examine the influences, including the home lives of the girls involved in the crime.
In this episode of True Crime Brewery: Mean Girls
Our intermission song is Perfect by Alanis Morissette

And Then There Were None: The Disappearance of the Beaumont Children Oct 10, 2017

Show notes

In 1966, three children, Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, went to the beach to celebrate Australia Day. Many people there saw the siblings having a great time, but they never returned home. They vanished without a trace. While a widespread investigation was launched, it turned up very little. To this day, we’re still unsure of what happened, but the case is still felt very deeply, effecting the way investigators search for missing children and the amount of freedom parents allow their children. Many see the disappearance as the end of an era when Australians felt that their kids were generally safe and the start of the modern era of “stranger danger,” and the suspicion that anyone could secretly pose a threat.

It was on January 26, 1966, that Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, aged 9, 7, and 4 respectively, set out from their house, headed for the beach to participate in the Australia Day festivities. Their parents Jim and Nancy trusted 9-year-old Jane to look after her siblings. But something happened that day that prevented Jane from keeping herself and her younger siblings safe. What happened to the Beaumont Children? How do parents cope after losing all of their children in one tragic event?

Join us at the quiet end for And Then There Were None: The Disappearance of the Beaumont Children

Grave Mysteries S1 E5: Killer Chemistry Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

Online dating is murder…at least it is in this episode of Grave Mysteries. Dr. Tiffany Maher is an accomplished woman: a chemistry professor at Northeastern State University. She is intelligent, sociable, and has many friends. Living in a small town in Oklahoma can make it difficult to find romance, so Tiffany decides to give online dating a try. The results are devastating. When she misses a lecture, her colleagues and friends know something is terribly wrong. What happened to Tiffany?

Sugar & Spice: The Murder of Linda Brown Oct 03, 2017

Show notes

David Brown, a man who masterminded the 1985 murder of his wife, died of natural causes in a prison hospital in 2014. He was 61. Brown was in a protective housing unit because of his notoriety for the killing of his fifth wife, Linda Brown. He was accused of persuading two teenagers —one his daughter, the other his sister-in-law and lover— to kill his wife. He went on to collect $835,000 from the victim’s insurance, including several policies started just months before her death. Brown paid $350,000 in cash for a new house within five months of the killing. Shortly after, he took a sixth wife.
Our story today would be unbelievable if it weren’t true. David Brown was the very incarnate of evil, a sociopath with a sweet tooth and a weak stomach, with an insatiable desire for cash, cigarettes, junk food, and adolescent girls. He spent his life manipulating people and scamming in spite of the fact that he had a great income and he was surrounded by people who adored him. But the only life he valued was his own. Join us at the quiet end for Sugar & Spice: The Murder of Linda Brown.

Intermission song: Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young

Grave Mysteries S1 E4: Hidden Truths Sep 28, 2017

Show notes

Anastasia King was chasing the American dream. She was 21-years old when she married an American man and moved from Kyrgyzstan to the United States. When her husband took Anastasia on a romantic trip to Moscow, she never returned. And her family never saw her again. Finding Anastasia, a mail-order bride,is a challenge. Using a trail of her online communication, investigators uncover her secrets and what happened to her.

Dead by Friday: The Plot to Kill Carolyn Matthews Sep 26, 2017

Show notes

Darren Burgess had married the wrong woman. Clinging to a dying relationship for the sake of his children, he turned to alcohol. Through 1998 and 1999, he drank heavily “just to numb the pain.” He started taking risks. In March of 2000, after a work meeting, he was arrested for drunk driving. He feared he would lose his job and his home, so he went to his boss, Kevin Matthews, for help.
Darren kept his job. His license was suspended for 6 months. Darren believes that it was during this time period that his wife Michelle and his boss began communicating via text messages. Flirtations progressed to a full-on love affair.This wasn’t the first time that Michelle had been unfaithful to Darren. She was actually known for her brazen infidelities. And Kevin wasn’t exactly husband of the year to his wife Carolyn. The intensity of their relationship quickly made it public knowledge, but neither Kevin nor Michelle seemed to care. What they did care about was money. When their marriages began to dissolve, their minds turned to murder.
This episode of True Crime Brewery is about lust, betrayal, greed, and a murder for hire scheme that destroyed two families. Come to the quiet end with us for our discussion: Dead by Friday: The Plot to Kill Carolyn Matthews.

Today’s Australian beer is Little Creatures Pale Ale

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