True Crime Campfire

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Devastator: The Crimes of Christopher Hightower, Part I Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

In the late summer of 1991, the tranquil little town of Barrington, Rhode Island was stunned by the disappearance of an entire family: Ernie and Alice Brendel and their 8 year old daughter Emily. As the story unfolded, it just got weirder and weirder. Mafia hit squads, bizarre murder weapons, a mysterious figure called “The Lynx?” And the town was left to unravel a mystery that was truly stranger than fiction: A tale of greed, arrogance, and elaborate deception. Join us for Part 1--and Part 2 next week!
Sources:
Death of an Angel: A True Story of a Vicious Triple Murder That Broke the Heart of a Town, by Don Davis
Court papers: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/state-v-hightower-895304220
The Providence Journal: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2021/01/26/rhode-island-murderer-christopher-hightower-killed-brendel-ernest-alice-emily/4264836001/
LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-10-mn-1885-story.html
British true crime series "World's Most Evil Killers," episode "Christopher Hightower"
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Scorned: The Murder of Jack Jones Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

There’s a famous, if frequently misquoted, line from the 17th century play, The Mourning Bride: “Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned—Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned.” It’s famous because people recognize the truth in it, that betrayal in love can create in a person an obsessive rage that can lead to some very dark places. It’s a tale as old as crime. A murder plot forged out of fury and hurt, and a whole series of bizarre events leading up to it.
Sources:
http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Documents/Case_updates/Htm/066600.html https://supremecourt.flcourts.gov/content/download/339899/file/08-1813_response.pdf https://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-supreme-court/1496855.html https://www.discoveryplus.com/video/blood-relatives/4-women-and-a-funeral
A&E's "American Justice," Season 13, Episode 28, “The Wrath of Mrs. Jones”
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When Nerds Attack - Doomsday: The Murder of Lizzi Marriott Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

If there’s one group of folks we identify with here at True Crime Campfire, it’s nerds. Between Katie and me, we cover about six or seven different subspecies of nerd over here, from Dungeons and Dragons nerd to anime nerd. True crime nerd goes without saying. And as we’ve said before, most of the time our people are harmless, peaceful types. Just give us a special edition Blu-Ray box set of the Lord of the Rings and a pantry full of snacks, and we’ll cause nobody any trouble. But sometimes, for a certain type of personality, a preoccupation with fantasy can be…not such a good thing. Pair that with narcissism and a lack of empathy for other humans, and you’ve got a recipe for some real megalomaniac wackiness. The kind that’s so convinced of its capital-D Destiny that it starts to think it’s entitled to take whatever it wants. No matter what kind of damage it does to anybody else. Join us for the story of Seth Mazzaglia and Kat McDonough, a mismatched pair of theatre geeks who believed they shared a cosmic destiny, but whose selfish desires ended in the death of an innocent young woman.
Sources:
Dark Heart: A True Story of Sex, Manipulation, and Murder by Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie
CBS' 48 Hours, episode "Dangerous Games"
https://www.fosters.com/story/news/crime/2016/09/21/murder-victim-lizzi-marriotts-sexual-privacy-case-hits-supreme-court/25404495007/
Trial footage
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Impostor: The Murder of Tim Wicks Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

The fable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing has always been one of my favorites. You know the one—A hungry wolf can’t get close enough to grab a sheep for dinner because the shepherd is so vigilant. But one day he finds a sheepskin, and slips it on. Now he just looks like one of the flock. He can slip right in among ‘em. And when the shepherd’s back is turned, bam. Dinnertime. Now that is a perfect murder metaphor. How many cases have we seen where a predator manages to hide in plain sight, cloaked by his ability to seem like a super nice guy? More than I can count. And here’s another one. Join us for the story of Tim Wicks, a kindhearted musician with a close circle of friends, who set off for a new adventure in Canada, only to disappear without a trace. When Tim's name later popped up in North Dakota as an accountant under investigation for embezzlement, his friends were baffled. Was Tim living a double life? Or was something more sinister at work?
Sources:
Court papers: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nd-supreme-court/1106318.html https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14082874
Journal Sentinel, "Fatal Identity: A Five-Part Series" by Gina Barton: https://archive.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/Fatal-Identity-364036301.html/
NBC News, "The Tale of Two Timothy Wicks": https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14082874
Oxygen's A Lie to Die For, Episode “A Stolen Life”
Investigation Discovery's To Catch a Killer, Episode “The Real Tim Wicks”
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Wondery Presents: Frozen Head Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Hosted by Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart from the hit show Morbid.When 90-year-old Laurence Pilgeram drops dead on the sidewalk outside his condo, you might think that’s the end of his story. But, really, it’s just the beginning. Because Laurence and others like him have signed up to be frozen and brought back to life in the future. And that belief will pull multiple generations of the Pilgeram family into a cryonics soap opera filled with dead pets, gold coins, grenades, fist fights, mysterious packages, family feuds, Hall of Fame baseball legends, and frozen heads — lots of frozen heads. From Wondery, comes a story about life, death, and what comes next.Follow Frozen Head on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App. Listen to Frozen Head: Wondery.fm/FH_TCCamp
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Illusion: The Murder of LaNell Barsock Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Remember those Magic Eye posters from the 90s? The technical name is stereogram, an optical illusion where if you kinda unfocus your eyes and stare at it long enough, a colorful kaleidoscope-looking abstract will turn into something else. A rocket ship, maybe, or a tropical landscape. They’re fun, and everybody had one in their dorm room for a while. We’re always fascinated by illusion. It’s why magicians are so popular. In the right context, we love to watch something transform into something totally different. But when that something is a person we’ve come to care about and trust? Not so fun anymore.
Sources:
https://www.grunge.com/926587/larene-austins-motive-for-murdering-lanell-barsock-explained/
https://truecrimedaily.com/2016/05/31/woman-leaves-false-clues-in-lovers-murder-caught-after-escape-to-belize/
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/dateline-the-last-day-larene-austin-convicted-killing-lanell-barsock
Investigation Discovery's "In Plain Sight," episode "Red Hot Murder"
NBC's "Dateline: The Last Day," episode "The Case of LaNell Barsock"
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After School Special: The Murder of Greg Smart Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

In 1991, the small town of Derry, New Hampshire suddenly found itself the center of a media event: The trial of Pamela Smart, the pretty blond media services director at the local high school. From the outside looking in, Pam had seemed to be firmly on track for the American Dream. She and her handsome husband Greg were just about to celebrate their first anniversary, and Pam had aspirations to be a TV reporter. But behind the scenes, their marriage was crumbling—and Pam was becoming much too closely involved with one of her students at the high school. When Greg turned up murdered, it looked at first glance like a burglary gone bad…and that’s just how Pam wanted it to look. But the problem with murder conspiracies is, people tend to talk. Especially when some of those people are fifteen years old. And when the truth finally came to the surface, the little town of Derry would never be the same again.
Sources:
Teach Me to Kill by Stephen Sawicki
https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/family/smart/1.html https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/pamela-smart-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-smart-marriage/ https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/show/pamela-smart-an-american-murder-mystery-investigation-discovery-atve-us
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Wild Ride: The Carriage House Murder-for-Hire Dec 30, 2022

Show notes

In game theory, there’s this thing called the Hawk-Dove game, better known to most of us as “chicken.” It’s when two players get themselves into a sort of standoff—a situation where it would be better for everybody if somebody would back down, but nobody wants to be the first to give up. So they both just keep going, with no regard for their personal safety, until finally—hopefully—somebody’ll say uncle at the last possible second. It happens on the road sometimes—often with bloody results. And sometimes, it happens in business. Join us for a story of pure greed and ego, set against the unlikely backdrop of the horse-drawn carriage business in 90s Kansas City, Missouri.
Sources:
Court papers: https://casetext.com/case/us-v-ldonna
Kansas City Star: https://account.kansascity.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=217844680&intcid=ab_archive
Kansas City Pitch: https://www.thepitchkc.com/carriage-lady-returns/
CBS' "Pink Collar Crimes," Episode "Clash of the Carriages"
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The Quiet Ones: The Staudte Family Murders Dec 23, 2022

Show notes

Lao Tzu wrote: If you wish to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you wish to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation. This inspirational quote was posted on April 30th, 2013 on the Facebook page of Diane Staudte, a woman who many in her community may have considered an inspiration herself. A talented musician, a trained cardiac nurse, a mother of four and an essential member of the Redeemer Lutheran Church. And she was an even greater inspiration if you considered that in the past year, she had lost not only her husband, but her 26 year old son to sudden death. It makes sense, then, that Diane would be thinking about self-transformation right then. Making a new life out of the ashes of the old one. But no one could have realized how drastically she wanted to transform her life, and how far she would go to do it.
Sources:
20/20 - A Family Plot
https://abcnews.go.com/US/missouri-woman-recalls-moment-suspected-mom-kill/story?id=38036627 https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-convicted-poisoning-family-maintains-innocence/story?id=82780856 https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2016/08/02/citing-fear-men-staudte-daughter-wants-do-over-antifreeze-murder-case/87966600/
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Like a Rose: The Murder of Ryan Poston Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Linda Ronstadt sang "Love is a rose, but you better not pick it--only grows when it's on the vine." It's a song about how love only flourishes when tended to, when you don't pick and choose which parts of the whole to love. When you love the roots and thorns and leaves as much as the flower. For some, though, love is less like a rose and more like a burdock. Y'know? Those thorny little buggers that stick to your clothes? They stick to you and never let you go, even when you've picked them off the fabric and tried to throw them out. For them, love isn't something that you give up easily. For them, it can be deadly. Join us for the story of Ryan Poston, whose on-again/off-again romance with a beautiful grad student named Shayna Hubers turned into a nightmare of stalking, harassment, and murder. This case has striking similarities to the Jodi Arias story, and interestingly enough, the killer herself was obsessed with the Arias trial.
Sources:
CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/ryan-poston-murder-part-1-breaking-point-1/
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/ryan-poston-murder-part-2-obsessed-1/
ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/US/shayna-hubers-granted-trial-juror-helped-convict-revealed/story?id=41661246
CBS's "48 Hours," episode "Breaking Point"
CBS's "48 Hours," episode "Obsessed"
Oxygen's "Snapped," episode "Shayna Hubers"
Lifetime's "Cellmate Secrets" episode "Shayna Hubers"
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