In September 1992, Tammy Haas was 19 and figuring out her next step in life. After attending a homecoming celebration in Yankton, South Dakota, she and her on-again-off-again boyfriend crossed the Missouri River to a farm party in Nebraska. By morning, Tammy was missing. Five days later, her body was discovered in a ravine near a golf course just across the state line. A broken neck. Conflicting statements. A trial that ended without conviction. More than thirty years later, silence still lingers in Yankton, and investigators believe there are people who know what happened that night. This Case Snapshot is dedicated to the memory of Tammy Haas.

Produced by James Wolner. Research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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James sits down with Harry, the host and victim behind The Rachel Cancer Scam, before sharing Episode One of his story. What Harry once believed was a twenty-year love story slowly revealed itself to be a long-term romance scam built on lies, emotional manipulation, and carefully constructed identities. Careers were invented. A pregnancy was faked. Crises were manufactured to keep multiple men emotionally tethered at the same time. This is a true story about a love scam that was never about money, but about control, devotion, and the power of belief. How does a relationship scam last for decades, and how does the truth finally come to light?

Listen to the complete story of The Rachel Cancer Scam: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rachel-cancer-scam/id1772955263

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This episode examines how Raymond Matzker assumed the identity of William T. Boerum and used it to secure jobs, credentials, and professional standing across multiple states. As the deception went unchecked, the stolen identity became a shield behind which far more serious crimes were committed. Through firsthand recollections and reporting, the story traces how the fraud unfolded, why it was never properly challenged, and how institutional failures allowed devastating consequences to follow.

Tour the Northern California Wine County with Bill Boerum: https://californiawineservices.com/

Produced by James Wolner. Research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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This episode presents the complete police interview of Edward Royal Reitan, recorded following his arrest for the 1990 murder of Robin Enockson in Driscoll, North Dakota. The interrogation is presented in full, allowing listeners to hear Reitan’s own words as investigators question him about the crime, his actions, and his shifting explanations.

Related episode: Ten Years from Killing - The Murder of Robin Enockson: https://dakotaspotlight.com/dakota-spotlight-standalone-stories/

Music heard in this episode by Ike Turner: https://michiganindienetwork.bandcamp.com/track/a-ghost-bike

Produced by James Wolner. Research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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I’m joined by returning guest Peter Hicks, whose music with Sleepy Driver was heard in Season Two of Dakota Spotlight—but this time to talk about his debut novel Roughing It, written under the pen name Andi Ellis. We discuss his shift from songwriting to fiction, the inspiration behind the book, and he reads an excerpt from the story.

"Roughing It", available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roughing-Andi-Ellis-ebook/dp/B0FT4J9PW2

"Unicorn Blues", available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Blues-Andi-Ellis-ebook/dp/B0G6Q43RXY

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This Case Snapshot examines the 1990 murder of Robin Enockson in rural North Dakota. Beginning with an escape from a state hospital a decade earlier, the episode lays out the crime, the investigation, and how the case was ultimately resolved years later after a confession.

Archival news audio courtesy of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

Produced by James Wolner. Research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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Forty years after 22-year-old Kelly Jean Robinson was found floating in a gravel pit pond in rural Minnesota, her case had gone cold — until DNA tests taken by an adopted man revealed that Kelly was his biological mother, and she had been murdered.

In this episode, Dakota Spotlight is excited to share this story from our longtime friend Trisha Taurinskas. Her investigative reporting is meticulous, insightful, and deeply respectful of the families she covers.

Working with Kelly’s family, Trisha uncovered never-before-released information: new suspects, details from her autopsy, and new critical facts from an autopsy. To see images of Kelly, visit: https://www.inforum.com/people/kelly-robinson

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James shares a Christmas message with Dakota Spotlight listeners. A moment to pause, say thank you, and reflect before the year comes to a close, with appreciation for everyone who listens, supports the show, and makes this work possible.

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In the season’s final chapter, Dakota Spotlight returns to Rapidan, Minnesota—to the classmates, friends, and families still living in the shadow of Ray Dahms’s murder. Host James Wolner traces the final years of Brian Lee Hendrickson, from later crimes and manipulation to his eventual downfall.

This episode also brings together two people whose lives he forever changed—Mark Hendrickson, the killer’s brother, and Michelle, one of his victims—for a conversation decades in the making. From courtrooms and archives to quiet Minnesota cemeteries, this conclusion reflects on truth, forgiveness, and the slow turning of justice.

A Dakota Spotlight true crime podcast rooted in investigative journalism, it’s a story about accountability, empathy, and how truth, though buried, endures.

Meanwhile in Mankato was written, researched, edited, and produced by James Wolner. Additional research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

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By the early 1980s, Brian Lee Hendrickson was still working at the Minnesota Home School in Sauk Centre, supervising teenage girls. When one of them—Michelle—spoke up, she was dismissed as unstable and her accusation brushed aside. Hendrickson walked free again.

In this episode, Michelle tells her story, while Hendrickson’s brothers and Michelle’s husband reflect on how this could have happened. Dakota Spotlight revisits a Minnesota courtroom case where no one seemed to realize that the man on trial had already been convicted of murder years earlier.

Through careful investigative journalism, this true crime podcast examines how blind faith in rehabilitation allowed history to repeat itself—and how one survivor’s courage brings long-overdue clarity to a broken justice system.

Meanwhile in Mankato was written, researched, edited, and produced by James Wolner. Additional research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

Check out the full catalog and everything Dakota Spotlight: https://dakotaspotlight.com/

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This episode looks inside Minnesota’s prison and parole system during the years when Brian Lee Hendrickson was behind bars—and how shifting attitudes toward rehabilitation vs punishment helped lead to his early release. We hear from Brian’s brothers, Mark and Gary, about the shock of seeing him walk free after just five years for murder, and how he soon ended up working for the State of Minnesota at the Minnesota Home School in Sauk Centre.

Through interviews, records, and careful investigative journalism, Dakota Spotlight examines the Minnesota parole experiment that failed to protect the vulnerable and reveals how the optimism of reform collided with the realities of crime and manipulation.

A Dakota Spotlight true crime podcast that uncovers how one man’s early release exposed deep flaws within Minnesota’s corrections system—and how the consequences still echo decades later.

Meanwhile in Mankato was written, researched, edited, and produced by James Wolner. Additional research assistance by Mari Zoerb Hansen.

Check out the full catalog and everything Dakota Spotlight: https://dakotaspotlight.com/

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Proudly produced by Six Horse Media: [email protected]

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