Episodi

  • Her Killer's Brand Was in Her Dead Hand: The Murder of Megan Walsh

    Her Killer's Brand Was in Her Dead Hand: The Murder of Megan Walsh
    Aug 20 2026
    Her Killer's Brand Was in Her Dead Hand: The Murder of Megan Walsh

    Frozen at twelve degrees, a fifty-four-year-old bookkeeper was found posed face-down in Teller Creek grass with a Vickers & Sons branding iron clenched in her gloved right hand - a brand she had no legal claim to. Who left Megan Walsh in a field a mile from her rooms before dawn, and why was a falsified ledger entry for the same creek-land the only thread linking her death to men who stood to gain thousands?

    In this episode, we trace the facts as recorded in county notebooks and ledgers, follow the county recorder's investigator Sarah White as she connects a scratched-out grazing permit to Vickers & Sons, and ask whether a death ruled natural could hide a calculated land theft. What did the altered record, the visits to the office, and the brand in her hand truly reveal?

    Person: Megan Walsh
    Person: Sarah White
    Person: Charles Vickers
    Date: January 9, 1884
    Location: Teller Creek, Holt County

    - Body found face-down in frozen grass at roughly 7:15 AM by Kenneth Long after four days below 12°F.
    - Victim age 54; bookkeeper for Harlan Flats Cattlemen's Association for 11 years, hired in 1873.
    - Branding iron in her right gloved hand: a double-V above a horizontal bar, registered to Vickers & Sons.
    - Altered ledger entry transferred ~1,200 acres along the south fork of Teller Creek from Henry Drummond to Vickers & Sons, valued at $6,000-$8,000.
    - Charles Vickers, age 41 and majority partner, visited Walsh’s office twice in the ten days before her death and held a key to the Trade Street office.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 min
  • A Torn Page Condemns Him: The Murder of Marilyn Patterson

    A Torn Page Condemns Him: The Murder of Marilyn Patterson
    Aug 19 2026
    A Torn Page Condemns Him: The Murder of Marilyn Patterson

    A young bookkeeper is found dead on a frozen embankment with no wounds and her coat buttoned to the collar, but tucked in her breast pocket is the left half of a Chinese pharmacy ledger she could not read. That torn page linked her to a nearby dispensary, a colleague’s wardrobe, and a confession that would not appear for twelve years - how did a ledger page condemn her killer?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline from the morning Marilyn Patterson’s body was found through the discovery of the torn ledger page, the witnesses and suspects interviewed, and the trail that tied the fragment to a local herbal dispensary - a question remains: where was the other half of the page, and what did it prove?

    Person: Marilyn Patterson
    Date: December 11, 1923
    Location: Meridian Canal embankment near Calder Street footbridge
    Age: 22
    Occupation: Bookkeeper

    - Marilyn Patterson was found at 6:30 a.m. on December 11, 1923, lying on her back near the Calder Street footbridge.
    - Her gloves were on and her handbag was looped over her forearm; her coat was buttoned to the collar against the December cold.
    - Folded once and tucked into the left breast pocket of her coat was the left half of a page torn from a Chinese-language pharmacy ledger.
    - Marilyn had arrived in San Francisco in spring 1922 with forty dollars and rented a room at Arden Row for $4.50 a week.
    - Colleague Stanley Hicks was 29 years old and had been hired eight months before Marilyn; he had invited her to dinner twice that autumn, both times declined.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 min
  • The Dry Shoe at Whitmore Bluff: Murder Hidden by a Sanatorium Note

    The Dry Shoe at Whitmore Bluff: Murder Hidden by a Sanatorium Note
    Aug 18 2026
    The Dry Shoe at Whitmore Bluff: Murder Hidden by a Sanatorium Note

    Wet cliffs, a dry dress shoe with sand from the cove 140 feet below, and a man whose final letter planned Christmas pudding-what single detail the coroner missed kept this death open for decades. Who left a carefully double-knotted shoe at the cliff's edge, and why did an intake note about being followed vanish into a record that no one acted on?

    In this episode, we tell the story contained in the surviving documents and testimony: the timeline of Jerry Harrison’s admission to Whitmore Bluff Sanatorium, his routine walks and returned letters, the coroner’s suicide verdict, and the later discovery in the archives that suggested he'd reported being followed. Could a ledger entry, a dry shoe, and one overlooked intake form point to murder over a small debt?

    Person: Jerry Harrison
    Date: November 4, 1911 (shoe found), admitted September 21, 1911
    Location: Whitmore Bluff (cliff and sanatorium), body recovered at base of cliff 140 feet below promenade
    Status: Coroner Douglas Vane recorded death as probable suicide; case closed same day
    Event: Intake form found in Regional Archive of Aldermere in 1968 noting Harrison felt he was being followed

    - The shoe was found on the morning of November 4, 1911, with only fine, dry sand on its heel matching the protected cove 140 feet below.
    - Jerry Harrison was 38 years old and had been a patient at Whitmore Bluff Sanatorium for six weeks, admitted September 21, 1911.
    - He mailed a letter to Patricia Wills on October 31, 1911, which she received on November 3 describing light on the water and Christmas pudding plans.
    - Coroner Douglas Vane examined the body the afternoon of November 4 and attributed death to blunt-force trauma consistent with a fall, ruling probable suicide and closing the case the same day.
    - In 1968, an intake form signed by Harrison was discovered in the Regional Archive of Aldermere recording that he felt he was being followed at his lodgings, a note the admitting physician dismissed at the time.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 min
  • The Woman in the Ditch: Poison, Punctures, and a Handwritten Policy

    The Woman in the Ditch: Poison, Punctures, and a Handwritten Policy
    Aug 17 2026
    The Woman in the Ditch: Poison, Punctures, and a Handwritten Policy

    A sixty-two-year-old picker found with her arms folded in an irrigation ditch, a deputy's single-word report-heatstroke-and two tiny puncture marks that went unnoticed until a labor officer broke into the county cold storage. What really killed Linda Stein, and why did the official record close while key physical evidence waited eleven days in cold storage?

    In this episode, we follow how a Thursday-evening volunteer at a mission turned a routine death certificate into a reopened inquiry, tracing the scene, the missing medical examination, and the first forensic observations that challenged the official story: was this heatstroke, an injection, or something else?

    Person: Linda Stein
    Date: October 9, 1934, 6:15 a.m.
    Location: Danner Brothers labor camp, seven miles southeast of Fresno, eastern fence irrigation ditch
    Witness: Carol Watson (found the body); Deputy (wrote "heatstroke")
    Medical opinion: Dr. Howard Neff (examined puncture marks on October 16; consistent with injection)

    - Body found with arms folded at elbows, not splayed, at 6:15 a.m, on October 9, 1934.
    - Deputy's report consisted of six lines and one written word: "heatstroke."
    - Death certificate signed by a county doctor who did not examine the body and relied on the deputy's written report.
    - Two small puncture marks under a bruise on the inside of Linda's left elbow were present when found and still visible eleven days later.
    - Labor compliance officer Marvin Peterson entered county cold storage without authorization and prompted further examination on October 16 by Dr. Howard Neff.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 min
  • The Telegraph Key in the Limestone: How a Dog Unmasked Murderer

    The Telegraph Key in the Limestone: How a Dog Unmasked Murderer
    Aug 16 2026
    The Telegraph Key in the Limestone: How a Dog Unmasked Murderer

    A copper-cased pocket watch, a cleanly cut telegraph wire, and a brass key wedged four feet above Cowell Creek - the ordinary routines of a young operator hid a violent interruption that only a dog could reveal. How did a fully mounted brass telegraph key travel miles from its relay station and end up jammed into limestone while its owner lay dead for over thirty hours?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Carl Dalton’s last logged test signal at 9:47 PM to the discovery of a body and the telegraph key that didn’t belong at the creek, asking how small habits and one overlooked gap in a log exposed the path to a killer.

    Person: Carl Dalton
    Date: September 7-9, 1894
    Location: Cowell relay station and Cowell Creek (approximately 140 yards from the station)
    Item: fully mounted brass telegraph key bolted to a mahogany base
    Investigator: Vernon Keller

    - Carl Dalton sent a routine test signal at 9:47 PM on September 7, 1894, the last entry in his hand.
    - The next station log entry was at 10:15 PM by night operator Albert Goss, leaving a 28-minute unattended gap.
    - The telegraph key found by Bess the dog was wedged into a crack in the limestone four feet above the waterline with its wire tail cleanly cut about one inch from the binding posts.
    - Carl Dalton had worked at the Cowell relay since March 1894, was 25 years old, and filed seven written proposals for circuit improvements between April and August.
    - The west window sill at the station had creek mud smeared on the outside, suggesting movement from outside to inside or inside to outside.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min
  • Fisherwoman Finds the Shoe That Breaks a Killer: The Lakeside Strip

    Fisherwoman Finds the Shoe That Breaks a Killer: The Lakeside Strip
    Aug 15 2026
    Fisherwoman Finds the Shoe That Breaks a Killer: The Lakeside Strip

    A single black patent-leather pump, size seven, stood upright on a cleared patch of floor in a motel room locked for eleven days - and it was seen through a six-inch drainage grate by a sixty-one-year-old fisherwoman. That shoe linked two missing women, a snapped window latch with bright metal, and a man whose movements would stitch two counties together; who had the shoe belonged to, and why was it the only thing left behind?

    In this episode, you will hear the timeline of discoveries on and around Craddock Lake in early August 1953 and how a routine fishing morning led to a homicide finding; could one overlooked object expose a killer who walked in plain sight?

    Date: August 9, 1953
    Person: Ruth Holmes, age 61
    Location: Lakeview Motor Court, Unit Seven, eastern cove of Craddock Lake
    Case: Missing persons and homicide linking Lauren McCarthy and Nancy Colton
    Cause of death: Strangulation (Lauren McCarthy), body placed in water within 24 hours

    - A single left black patent-leather pump, size seven, was observed upright through a six-inch grate on the morning of August 9, 1953.
    - The Lakeview Motor Court room had been locked for eleven days and showed no dust beneath the upright shoe.
    - The rear casement window latch of Unit Seven was snapped clean with bright, unoxidized metal indicating recent breakage.
    - Lauren McCarthy, age 48, was reported missing on August 6, 1953; her body was recovered the afternoon of August 9.
    - Medical examiner Dr. Norris Breck determined Lauren McCarthy's cause of death as strangulation and placed her time of death between August 5 and 6.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 min
  • She Held the Proof: The Murder of Christine Thompson

    She Held the Proof: The Murder of Christine Thompson
    Aug 14 2026
    She Held the Proof: The Murder of Christine Thompson

    A dry glass plate found clutched in a dead photographer’s hand became the single detail that cracked a small town’s silence: the plate was bone dry despite nearly an inch of rain two days earlier, and eleven labeled sleeves were empty from her negative cabinet. Who was taking Christine Thompson’s photographs, why were plates missing, and what did she know that got her killed?

    In this episode, we follow the documentary facts recorded by a surveyor, neighbors, and the deputy assigned to the case to trace Christine Thompson’s last weeks, the missing negatives, and the signs of a practiced break-in that pointed to someone familiar with her routine. What did the almost-developed plate show, and who stood to lose if that image saw daylight?

    Person: Christine Thompson
    Date: July 1926
    Location: Deller Crossing
    Person: Kathleen Vaughn
    Person: Ross Evans

    - Christine Thompson was 32 years old when she was found face-down behind a collapsed wire fence at Deller Crossing.
    - Kathleen Vaughn noted the photographic glass plate was 4 inches by 5, intact and dry despite nearly an inch of rain two days earlier.
    - Christine kept 43 glass plates in labeled sleeves; 11 sleeves labeled for grain elevator were empty.
    - Neighbors reported a Calhoun Ice Company delivery wagon backed into the alley behind Christine’s studio at least four times in June and July, platform toward her back door.
    - Locksmith Conrad Peele found fresh scratches on the strike plate consistent with a thin tool used to depress the spring latch from outside.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min
  • The Dry Ledger in the Wet Well: The Murder of Diane Thorpe

    The Dry Ledger in the Wet Well: The Murder of Diane Thorpe
    Aug 13 2026
    The Dry Ledger in the Wet Well: The Murder of Diane Thorpe

    The idea of a book found bone dry at the bottom of a cold, wet stone well creates a chill: a ledger stamped "Orin County Sheriff's Department" that recorded forty-one months of payoffs, and a widow who stopped calling her sister the night she always did. What happened between Diane Thorpe taking that ledger from an unlocked sheriff's file and her body being found in a cellar two miles away, and why was the book dry?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the ledger's discovery to the last entries and the people connected to them, laying out the timing, payments, and movements that frame the mystery. Did the missing ledger and the May entries about a dispute point to a cover-up tied to a pending Malone hearing?

    Person: Diane Thorpe
    Date: June 1931
    Location: Harmon Road roadhouse; cellar less than two miles from well
    Person: Lester Caine
    Person: Melvin Hughes

    - The ledger documented payments from January 1927 through spring 1931, covering seven county establishments and forty-one months.
    - Diane Thorpe was fifty-two, widowed, ran the Harmon Road roadhouse since approximately 1925, and called her sister every Wednesday at 11:00 p.m.
    - Melvin Hughes, a Calloway Brothers Drilling worker, pulled the dry ledger from the flagged well at 7:20 a.m, on a Tuesday in June 1931.
    - The ledger bore an embossed stamp reading "Orin County Sheriff's Department" and the handwriting throughout was identified as Sheriff Lester Caine's.
    - The final ledger entry on May 31, 1931 read: "Thorpe - dispute unresolved. Book not returned. Advise H," with H referring to Melvin Hughes.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    24 min