When Ernest Brendel, his wife Alice, and their 8-year-old daughter Emily disappeared from their Barrington Rhode Island home, the FBI and state police suspected that they were victims of foul play. The family of three had just moved to Barrington from Providence about three years earlier, believing they had found a safe and happy place for Emily to grow up.

Join us at the quiet end for Trading in Murder. When Ernest Brendel filed a complaint against commodity trader Chris Hightower, Hightower’s life was in a tailspin. The deadline for responding to the complaint came and went, Hightower’s wife asked for a divorce, and he was served with a court order barring him from contact with his children. Exposed as a conman and a thief, Hightower stalked the Brendels and plotted to kidnap young Emily.

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Sources

Death of an Angel by Don Davis

Family of 3 Slain by Arrow, Strangling : Murder: Rhode Island family had been missing since Sept. 20. Autopsies on the mother and child point to asphyxiation, LA Times Archives, 11/17/1991

State v. Hightower, STATE v. Christopher J. HIGHTOWER, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 8/1/1995.

World’s Most Evil Killers – Season 4, Episode 3 – Christopher Hightower, FilmRise, 8/12/2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hfk2XagJzE

We hope you enjoy this re-release of a members-only episode from 2023!

It was the 1970s, a time of freedom and adventure for 16-year-old Jim Boucher and 19-year-old Daryl Barber, when they headed out from their Michigan homes to Daytona Beach Florida for a week of fun and sunshine. The two young men had saved for this trip, their first trip to Florida, having no idea that it would be their last.

Join us at the quiet end for Road Trip. When James and Daryl failed to check in daily as agreed, their parents were concerned. But maybe the two were having so much fun that they’d forgotten. After all, they were young and on vacation.  But when James and Daryl didn’t come home from their trip on their planned return date, their parents began to panic. The Daytona Beach police didn’t have the resources to look for them—there were so many young people who disappeared from Daytona Beach. It was left to their families to find out what happened to them.

Sources

Orlando Sentinal Archives 1978-1990

The Snake & the Spider by Karen Kingsbury

One January night in 1997, Scott Falater’s next door neighbor looked on in horror as Scott dragged his screaming wife into the family pool and proceeded to hold her head under the water. When the police arrived, they found Yarmila Falater floating in blood filled water with 44 stab wounds to her body.

Join us at the quiet end for While He Was Sleeping? Scott told the police that he had no memory of hurting his wife, but they didn’t believe him. He was arrested and would go on trial for murder. His defense, that he was sleepwalking when he killed his wife, was controversial, and prosecutors worked to disprove it with evidence found at the scene.

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Forgive Me for Killing You by Marci Olsen Blau

His Dad Claimed He Ws Sleepwalking When He Killed His Mom-and Now Son is Speaking Out, People.com. Christine Pelisek, 1/29/2021

Scott Falater Today: Where is the Sleepwalking Killer Now? Alyssa Choiniere, Heavy.com, 12/8/2022

Scott Falater: Case of the sleepwalking husband who murdered his wife Yarmila, Daily Crime, Angelica N. Sumter, 1/6/2023

Sleepwalking, Criminal Behavior, and Reliable Scientific Evidence: A Guide for Expert Witnesses, American Psychological Association, M.R. Pressman, 2018.

While He Was Sleeping, 20/20, S43 E11, 1/29/2021

One Christmas morning in Madison, Wisconsin, a young man named Gerald Davies led the police to a dead body lying in a snowbank. Gerald was insistent that he did not kill the man. He explained that he and his fiancée, Barbara, had simply found the body in her apartment and buried it in the snow.

Join us for No Happy Endings. The circumstances of this situation were challenging to believe, but Gerald appeared genuine. It was then learned that the dead man was Barbara’s former partner who had recently transferred his house and an insurance policy over to her. Gerald too had named Barbara as the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. So, the question arose: was Gerald Barbara’s accomplice or was he now a potential victim?

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STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Barbara G. HOFFMAN, Defendant-Appellant. Court of Appeals of Wisconsin. Argued 10/281981. Decided 1/261982. Retrieved 2/10/2025

Winter of Frozen Dreams: The Shocking True Story of Seduction, Suspicion, and Murder in Madison by Karl Harter

This is a re-release of a members-only episode from 2023.

Jill & Dick remember being riveted by this series and had to talk about it! Enjoy! 

A Recap of the Three-Part Series

Jill and Dick recap and discuss this docuseries about an alleged child sex ring in Mineola, Texas.  Spoilers abound so you may want to watch first!

Brenda and Dennis Bowman last saw their daughter Aundria on March 11, 1989. Dennis was the one who called the police when Aundria went missing that afternoon. He told them that he had come home from work and found Aundria missing, along with some of her things and some cash. He said that Aundria, 14-years old and adopted as an infant, was a troubled teen who fought with her mother and had run away before. When Brenda came home, she told the police that Aundria had stolen $150. This was enough for the police to get a warrant to arrest Aundria. Dennis was listed as the victim of Aundria’s crime.

Join us at the quiet end for The Lost Daughter. For decades, Aundria’s case was classified as a runaway. Then her biological mother began her own investigation, learning the stories of Aundria’s peers and those of similar women and girls who were victims of sexual assaults and murder. What they discovered was a much more complex and haunting story, leading back to Aundria’s adopted father.

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Sources

Allegan County woman tells court her husband admitted to burying their daughter’s remains, WWMT, 9/15/2024.

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Dennis Lee Bowman, Defendant, 6/5/2020.

The Girl in the Picture, The Atavist Magazine, No. 118, Nile Cappello.

Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, docuseries, Netflix, 9/12/2024.

Justice for Aundri Bowman Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForAundriaMBowman/, retrieved 12/20/2024.

Man arrested in 1980 death of Virgina woman charged with murder of adoptive daughter in 1989, WSET-TV, Associated Press, 5/15/2020, retrieved 12/10/2024.

Man pleads guilty to 1980 killing of Navy wife, https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/norfolk/man-pleads-guilty-to-1980-killing-of-navy-wife/291-0fdea0d8-95d4-46c0-b696-397f4437dbcd, 6/10/2020, retrieved 12/10/2024.

Michigan man charged in 1980 Virginia Homicide extradicted, WTVR-TV, 5/16/2020, retrieved 12/22/2024.

Mom: Man Confessed to killing adopted daughter in 1989, FOX17, 9/16/2020, retrieved 12/22/2024.

State of Michigan, 58th District Court, Case No. C 741-00, Bail Bond, Felong Charges, Dennis Bowman, 5/30/1980, retrieved 12/10/2024.

Welcome to a public  rerelease of a premium episode from 2023. If you’d like to get all of our bonus shows and get our regular shows without ads, check out tiegrabber.com/subscribe for more information!

On the evening of September 25, 1966, Jerry Bricca, a 28-year-old chemical engineer, got home from work and took his trash cans out to the curb. Joan Janszen, who lived across the street, said hello to him and they exchanged some friendly small talk. Then he went inside. This was the last time that any member of the Bricca family was seen alive.

Join us at the quiet end for Unsolved: The Bricca Family Murders. What happened to Jerry Bricca, his wife Linda, and their four-year-old daughter, Debbie, after Jerry went into his house that night 57 years ago, remains a mystery. On September 27, two days after Jerry was last seen, the bodies of Jerry, Linda, and Debbie were discovered. All three had been stabbed to death. Today we’re discussing various theories of the case, including the suggestion of a love triangle that ended in murder and a possible connection to a friend of Linda’s who was murdered that summer.

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Bricca murders: A new push to solve Cincinnati’s infamous cold case, WLWT5, Sheree Paolello, 2/19/2020, https://www.wlwt.com/article/bricca-murders-a-new-push-to-solve-cincinnatis-infamous-cold-case/30984570

Death on a Quiet Street, Cincinnati Magazine, Jack Heffron, 4/1/2008

Summer’s Almost Gone by JT Townsend

The Jamison Family lived in Eufaula, Oklahoma back in 2009 when they mysteriously disappeared. 44-year-old Bobby and his wife Sherilyn, along with their 6-year-old daughter Madyson, were considering moving into the remote San Bois Mountains when their truck was found abandoned in the area that October.

Join us at the quiet end for The Strange Disappearance of the Jamison Family. Because the Jamisons were a private family who rarely spoke with relatives and friends, no one realized that they were missing for over a week. When their truck was found with their beloved dog inside, dehydrated and near death, the search finally began. Multiple pieces of evidence were found, but none explained what had happened. Multiple theories are out there about what happened, from simple exposure to kidnapping to the supernatural, but will we ever really know why a family of three went for a ride into the mountains and was never seen again?

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Bobby Jamison and His Family are Missing in Oklahoma, True Crime Report, Pete Kotz, 10/22/2009.

The Vanishing at Smokestack Hollow by Jake Anderson

Paradise Lost, Disappeared, Investigation Discovery, S2 E10

George Kogan grew up in Puerto Rico before moving to New York City, where he became a successful antiques and art dealer. In 1990, at age 49, George was happy. He was planning a new life with his former publicist and current girlfriend, Mary-Louise Hawkins, after years in an unhappy marriage. But George’s newfound happiness was short-lived. One morning, while he was walking to his girlfriend’s apartment, he was approached on the street and shot to death.

Join us at the quiet end for Murdered for Money. Ever since George and Mary-Louise became involved, George’s estranged wife, Barbara, was consumed with bitterness. As she and George worked out conditions of their divorce, Barbara became angry and greedy, demanding more alimony than George could afford. Since Barbara stood to collect $4.3 million in life insurance upon George’s death, she was the first person suspected in George’s murder. But it would take investigators nearly twenty years to uncover a link between Barbara and the man who killed George, finally leading to an arrest.

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Lawyer Got 25 Years for Brokering Hit on Client’s Husband But ‘Black Widow’ Gets Only 12 Years Today, ABAJournal, Martha Neil, 6/4/2010

The Millionaire’s Wife by Cathy Scott

New York’s Black Widow to be released on parole, Oxygen.com, Jill Sederstrom, 10/19/2020

Victim cries foul as NYC’s infamous ‘Black Widow’ makes parole: ‘She’s an animal’, New York Post, Laura Italiano, 10/19/2020

Here is a blast from the past—a members-only episode of a Dateline rewatch and recap! Happy New Year and we hope you enjoy our recap of a crazy episode of Dateline Unforgettable hosted by Andrea Canning. 

In this case, an Alabama husband, Michael Reese, is murdered in his own home. His wife Cindy seems beyond reproach. That is, until she doesn’t eat her french fries before they get cold.  Then, all eyes turn to her with suspicions of a torrid love affair and a murder done in cold blood!

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On the morning of December 30, 1978, the bodies of 45-year-old Nancy Spangler and her two teenage children were found in their home in Littleton, Colorado. All three had been shot to death with a handgun. The children were found in their bedrooms and Nancy was slumped in a chair in the basement, a bullet wound visible on her forehead. A typewritten suicide note was found nearby, signed with her initial.

Join us at the quiet end for A Very Bad Husband: Robert Spangler. Nancy’s husband admitted to police that he and his wife had marital problems, that he planned to leave her, and that he was having an affair with another woman. The implication was that Nancy was so distraught over her failing marriage that she took her and her children’s lives. But many people close to Nancy couldn’t believe that she could kill her beloved children.  They wondered if Robert could have killed his entire family, setting the scene to make it look like a murder/suicide. This seemed even more likely after it was discovered that other people in Robert’s life had died suddenly in his company.

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Sources

Dying Man Admits He Killed Four in Family, LA Times, Catherine Tsai, 10/22/2000, retrieved 12/2/2024

Colorado News & The Denver Post Archives, retrieved 12/2/2024

Married to Murder by Robert Scott, 2004