A quick note on today's episode: Linda Hazzard's 'treatments' heavily involved extreme fasting and starvation. We want to mention this up front for anyone who might be sensitive to discussions around restrictive diets or disordered eating.

This week we discuss Linda Hazzard, a self-proclaimed doctor in the early 1900s who convinced patients that extreme fasting was a medical cure. Operating out of Washington state, Linda exploited legal loopholes to open a sanitarium that locals grimly called "Starvation Heights." She targeted wealthy individuals, placing them on starvation diets while slowly taking control of their finances and estates as they grew weaker.

The situation finally reached a breaking point when wealthy British heiresses Claire Williamson and Dora Williamson entered her care. We cover the harrowing conditions the sisters endured, the desperate rescue mission by their childhood nanny, and the sensational murder trial that followed.

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Have you ever met someone who was terrible at something but thought they were a genius? This week, we explore the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their own competence. We start with the case that inspired the research: McArthur Wheeler, a man who robbed two banks after covering his face in lemon juice, believing it would make him invisible to security cameras. His baffling confidence led psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger to study this strange phenomenon.

We then look at how this bias plays out in the world of true crime, from the comically inept “Hillbilly Heist” orchestrated by the Loomis Fargo crew, to the chilling case of Caleb Flynn, a former American Idol contestant accused of murdering his wife and staging a break-in. We also examine the tragic story of Lauren Giddings and the law student who thought he could commit the perfect murder, only to have his plan unravel on live television. Finally, we share the incredible story of Brett Johnson, a cybercriminal who went from the Secret Service's Most Wanted list to a respected FBI consultant, demonstrating the rare journey from the “peak of Mount Stupid” to true self-awareness.

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At 2:14 AM, Navy sailor Angelina “Angie” Resendiz made a frantic, crying phone call to a friend, begging to be picked up from a fellow sailor’s barracks. Moments later, a man took the phone and insisted she was fine, even as Angie could still be heard saying she wanted to leave. Her friend arrived within minutes, but Angie was nowhere to be found. Less than two weeks later, her body would be discovered inside a duffle bag in the woods behind a Virginia elementary school.

This week, we cover the tragic and preventable murder of Angie Resendiz at the hands of Jeremiah Copeland, a fellow sailor with a documented history of violence. We also discuss the heartbreaking parallels to the case of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, whose death sparked national outrage and led to military reform. Angie’s story raises critical questions about whether those reforms go far enough and what happens when the system designed to protect service members fails them.

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At 16, Barry Minkow started a carpet cleaning company in his parents' garage. By 21, he was one of the youngest CEOs of a publicly traded company in America, with a business valued at over $200 million. But the entire empire was built on a foundation of lies. This is the story of ZZZZ Best, one of the most audacious corporate frauds of the 1980s, and the story of a charismatic young man who fooled auditors, investors, and the media with staged job sites and forged documents. After serving time in federal prison, Barry reinvented himself as a pastor and a fraud investigator, only to find himself back in court, facing new charges of embezzlement and stock manipulation. It's a wild ride through the mind of a master manipulator who couldn't stop scamming.

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On Halloween weekend in 2015, a quiet community in Pendleton, South Carolina, was shattered by a brutal quadruple homicide. Four members of the Scott family were found dead in their home, the victims of a savage knife and gun attack. For years, the case remained cold, leaving a family and a town desperate for answers. The initial theory of a robbery gone wrong slowly gave way to a more disturbing possibility: that the killer was someone they knew.

Eight years after the murders, investigators finally made an arrest that stunned everyone. The person charged with the killings was not a stranger, but the daughter and step-daughter of two of the victims, Amy Vilardi. This episode follows the long and twisted investigation, the shocking trial, and the dark family secrets that were revealed along the way.

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In July 2014, 28-year-old German tourist Lars Mittank walked into Varna Airport in Bulgaria, preparing to fly home after a vacation. He had suffered a minor ear injury and needed a quick medical check before his flight. But what happened next turned his case into one of the most baffling disappearances in recent history. Surveillance cameras captured Lars suddenly bolting from the doctor’s office, sprinting through the terminal, and climbing an eight-foot perimeter fence before vanishing into the woods. He left his wallet, passport, and all of his luggage behind.

In the days leading up to his disappearance, Lars had made a series of increasingly frantic calls to his mother, claiming he felt unsafe and that people were following him. Was he suffering from a medical-induced paranoia, or was a real threat closing in? More than a decade later, the chilling airport footage is the last confirmed trace of him. This episode dives into the timeline, the theories, and the endless search for answers in the case of Lars Mittank.

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Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Lars_Mittank

https://people.com/all-about-lars-mittank-mysterious-disappearance-11768067

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31744248

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/vermisster-lars-mittank-spurensuche-in-bulgarien-a-983857.html

https://www.abendblatt.de/region/article131346203/Vermisster-Lars-Mittank-Mutter-hofft-auf-neue-Spuren.html

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Vermisster-Lars-Mittank-Spurensuche-in-Bulgarien,mittank100.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfveiD6cWw

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A birthday party at a rental cabin in the scenic Hocking Hills of Ohio should have been a night of celebration. But fueled by alcohol and jealousy, the night spiraled into a violent confrontation that left a young father, Charlie Starner, dead. This episode examines the chaotic moments captured on a cell phone video and the legal battle that followed, asking whether the stabbing was a desperate act of self-defense or a senseless murder.

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In 2012, 16-year-old Skylar Neese vanished without a trace from her Star City, West Virginia home. What initially seemed like a runaway case soon unraveled into a story of unimaginable betrayal. Her two best friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, held a dark secret that would shock the nation and leave a community searching for answers. This episode revisits the heart-wrenching case of Skylar Neese, exploring the twisted friendship that led to her murder.

With the release of the new Hulu docuseries Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese, we are taking a deeper look into the events that transpired and the warning signs that were missed. Join us as we recount the tragic story of a bright young girl whose life was cut short by those she trusted most.

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In the summer of 2023, police in The Bahamas were investigating a local bar burglary when they accidentally discovered a shocking murder-for-hire plot in a series of WhatsApp messages. The alleged target was Robert Shiver, a former football player from a wealthy Georgia family, and the accused mastermind was his estranged wife, former beauty queen Lindsay Shiver. The message that blew the case wide open was just two words: "Kill him."

What followed was a story that seemed ripped from a movie script, involving a crumbling marriage, a luxury vacation home in an exclusive Bahamian resort, and an affair with a local bartender. As the case unfolded, it would draw in reality TV stars and reveal a pattern of escalating conflict, with both sides making explosive allegations. This is a deep dive into the story of Lindsay Shiver, a case where a picture-perfect life hid a dark and complicated reality.

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In February 2020, Sarah Boone zipped her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., into a suitcase during what she claimed was a drunken game of hide-and-seek. She then filmed him as he suffocated, taunting him and ignoring his pleas for help. The videos she recorded on her own phone became the centerpiece of a bizarre four-year legal saga that included 13 attorneys, a viral ad for legal help, and a defendant who smiled through her own sentencing. This is the story of a toxic relationship that ended in a chilling murder, captured on camera by the killer herself.

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A quick heads-up: this is a bonus episode where we're just having some fun. We also say 'like' a lot. We're, like, sorry... but not really.

Today we're discussing the first episode from HBO Max's "Neighbors".

Welcome to the sun-drenched beaches of Santa Rosa, Florida, where the battle for the shoreline is raging. Meet the “Shoreline Defenders,” a group of residents who believe the beach is for everyone, and the homeowners who will do anything to keep their slice of paradise private. Tensions boil over as one man, armed with a GoPro and the “Shoreline Defender” app, decides to take on the local beach patrol, leading to a series of confrontations that are as bizarre as they are hilarious. From heated arguments with a self-appointed beach cop to a tense sit-down at a local restaurant, this is a story about just how seriously people take their sand.

Then, we head to the wide-open spaces of Montana, where a man’s dream of a quiet country life is shattered by a dispute with his neighbor. What starts as a disagreement over a fence and a road quickly escalates into a full-blown feud involving Zoom court, a failed mediation, and a whole lot of passive-aggressive staring. But there’s a twist: one of these neighbors is a TikTok star known as “The Bearded Bard,” with over two million followers. When the drama spills over onto social media, things get even more complicated. It’s a classic tale of country versus city, with a surprising connection that proves these two might have more in common than they think.

For more fun episodes check-out all our bonus and ad-free episodes at patreon.com/momsandmysteriespodcast. You can also find bonus episodes like this on Apple Podcast + and Spotify Bonus.

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