Episodi

  • The broken service-latch let him slip in and steal a life

    The broken service-latch let him slip in and steal a life
    Oct 19 2026
    A woman’s morning routine and a broken service-latch reveal a shadow in a glass plate-did that single routine let a killer slip in?

    The broken service-latch let him slip in and steal a life

    In this episode, we follow the morning April Lawson disappeared, the discovery of her body at the Harwick Grain & Feed loading dock, and the slow uncovering of photographic evidence that had sat undeveloped for decades. What did a broken rear latch, a precise timetable, and an undeveloped plate reveal about who could enter without leaving a record?

    Person: April Lawson
    Date: July 14, 1931
    Location: Harwick Grain & Feed loading dock
    Witness: Kathleen Vaughn
    Evidence: three glass-plate negatives kept in a photographer’s truck

    - April Lawson fed a three-legged cat named Pocket every morning at six fifteen and every evening at seven for four months without fail.
    - The Harwick service entrance latch had been broken for weeks, allowing entry without a key and bypassing the front time-clock.
    - Otto Briggs kept a front time-clock ledger that showed no punch for April on the morning she was found.
    - Frank Gray, an itinerant photographer, used the rear entrance repeatedly, kept glass-plate negatives in his truck, and one plate later showed April at the dock.
    - Cynthia Duncan, a records clerk, held a negative to the light on July nineteenth and recognized April’s image while the cat had been yowling at an empty doorway for twelve hours.

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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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    13 min
  • The ledger on her knees copied a sheriff's books and toppled his alibi

    The ledger on her knees copied a sheriff's books and toppled his alibi
    Oct 18 2026
    A dead woman sits in a padlocked storm cellar with a borrowed kerosene lamp and a ledger copied in the sheriff’s handwriting-how did that expose him?

    The ledger on her knees copied a sheriff's books and toppled his alibi

    In this episode, we follow the discovery of Diane Thorpe's body in a locked vault and the ledger found on her knees. The episode traces how a copied set of payment records tied the case to Sheriff Doyle Sutter and forced Deputy Emily Walker to build an investigation alone.

    Person: Diane Thorpe
    Date: June 12, 1931
    Location: County Road 7, Caldwell County, Missouri
    Person: Doyle Sutter
    Person: Emily Walker

    - Melvin Marshall found a burning kerosene lamp and Thorpe’s body when he lifted a padlocked storm-cellar hatch while clearing a drainage line.
    - Thorpe ran Thorpe Feed & Supply and Creosote Hollow, a legitimate front and an unlicensed blind pig, and kept her own business books.
    - Thorpe had been copying, entry by entry, a set of payment records that did not belong to her, producing a near-duplicate ledger.
    - Agnes Byrd identified the handwriting in the ledger as matching records she had seen in Sheriff Doyle Sutter’s office during a 1930 tax visit.
    - Two days after the body was found, Sheriff Sutter submitted a written recusal from the investigation with no explanation, leaving Deputy Emily Walker to take the case.

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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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    15 min
  • The hymnal that stayed dry proved she was killed

    The hymnal that stayed dry proved she was killed
    Oct 17 2026
    A dry choir hymnal found in a flooded ditch suggests Cheryl Barnes’s last walk was planned - but how did that impossibility expose them?

    The hymnal that stayed dry proved she was killed

    In this episode, we follow the evidence left on Mill Road the night Cheryl Barnes disappeared and the early days of the investigation that unfolded from a single impossible detail. What did an untouched hymnal, fresh wheel ruts, and burned letters reveal about the routine someone had studied for weeks?

    Person: Cheryl Barnes
    Age: 44
    Location: Mill Road, Caldwell Falls
    Date: May 10-11, 1905
    Investigator: Sheriff Todd Bennett

    - Melvin Pruitt found an open choir hymnal face-down on a gravel shelf in four inches of standing water, but every page was bone-dry.
    - Cheryl left First Methodist at 9:15 pm on May 10 after choir practice and never reached Holt House, where she boarded.
    - Thomas Lawson boarded intermittently at Holt House for three weeks, eating supper in the common room and noting Cheryl’s routine.
    - Fresh wheel marks and deep ruts were found where Mill Road narrowed under elm trees, showing a wagon had sat and then moved on.
    - Edna Holt burned a bundle of letters left in Lawson’s room after he asked her to dispose of them before leaving town.

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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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    16 min
  • The safety log that vanished before the coroner arrived

    The safety log that vanished before the coroner arrived
    Oct 16 2026
    A county investigator finds a safety log filed before the coroner arrived and a newspaper that shouldn’t exist - how did those records expose them?

    The safety log that vanished before the coroner arrived

    In this episode, a coroner’s investigator follows paperwork and small inconsistencies after a press-floor riveter is found dead outside a wartime plant. The episode traces who filed reports, which records were altered, and what details drew suspicion about that night.

    Person: Richard Webb
    Person: David Carlson
    Person: Rebecca Henderson
    Date: April 9, 1943
    Location: Harwick Ordnance Works, Building Seven

    - A sixteen-year-old delivery boy, Richard Webb, found David Carlson’s body outside Building Seven at 4:20 AM.
    - Carlson had that morning’s Dunmore Falls Courier tucked under his arm - a paper printed by Webb less than seventy minutes earlier.
    - Rebecca Henderson, county coroner’s investigator, noticed the gravel was wet from rain while Carlson’s boots were dry.
    - Ronald Jenkins, floor safety supervisor, asked Carlson to stay after his shift for a “log review” and was not scheduled to be in Building Seven that night.
    - An internal accident report, signed by plant manager Owen Pruitt but presented by Jenkins, was filed at 6:00 AM on April 9 - before the coroner’s office was notified.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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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    15 min
  • The Mason lid that proved she hadn't starved

    The Mason lid that proved she hadn't starved
    Oct 15 2026
    A road-grader finds Melissa Hayes motionless with a Mason jar lid on the sill - how did that lid expose something about her death?

    The Mason lid that proved she hadn't starved

    In this episode, we follow the discovery at Melissa Hayes’s farmhouse and the details that caught county coroner’s deputy Paula Whitfield’s eye. The scene raises a single question that drives the investigation: what did that new Mason jar lid mean?

    Person: Melissa Hayes
    Date: March 7, 1936
    Location: Garfield County, Oklahoma
    Person: Paula Whitfield
    Person: Kevin Foster

    - Robert Wallace, a road-grader operator, detoured and found Melissa seated at her kitchen table and did not touch anything before leaving.
    - Paula Whitfield, a 38-year-old coroner’s deputy with self-taught toxicology, examined the scene and recorded “Not yet satisfied.”
    - Every jar lid in the pantry was aged and darkened except one bright silver Mason jar lid on the windowsill, sealed recently.
    - Melissa had butchered her last chicken six weeks before her death, and she’d lived alone on a failing wheat farm through drought and Depression.
    - Kevin Foster, the hired hand who lived fifty feet from the back door, had managed the property since 1933 and had regular access to the kitchen.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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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    16 min
  • The insurance policy that named Carlson collected Frank's life

    The insurance policy that named Carlson collected Frank's life
    Oct 14 2026
    A telegraph lineman finds a buried man in the Carrow River; an insurance policy named Douglas Carlson-how did that expose them?

    The insurance policy that named Carlson collected Frank's life

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events around Frank Padgett’s disappearance, death, and burial in Millhaven, and how routine paperwork and small decisions shaped the investigation. What can a £400 life policy, a dock ledger entry, and a volunteer’s habit reveal about what happened on Pier Seven?

    Date: February 3, 1893
    Person: Frank Padgett
    Location: Pier Seven freight road / Carrow River / Millhaven Cemetery
    Event: Body recovered February 6; buried February 9; face seen in river February 19
    Person: Douglas Carlson

    - Rebecca Harris, an Ohio Valley Telegraph lineman, climbed a telegraph pole at the mill weir on February 19 and saw a face in the river that matched a man buried ten days earlier.
    - Nora Padgett bought a $400 life insurance policy for her son on January 14 and signed a form that named Douglas Carlson as a secondary claimant citing an unspecified debt.
    - Frank’s last logged activity was a delivery to Carlson’s warehouse on Pier Seven at approximately 8 p.m. on February 3, recorded in the dock ledger.
    - A body was reported anonymously on February 6, identified only by a note in the coat pocket, and the coroner ruled accidental drowning after a brief examination.
    - Sheriff Stanley Chambers focused on the routine-looking policy clause, the ledger entry, and Nora’s unsigned memory of any debt as the investigative road that might explain why a buried man reappeared in the river.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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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    15 min
  • The ledger entry that sent her to a fake train departure

    The ledger entry that sent her to a fake train departure
    Oct 13 2026
    A leather case is found on a frozen riverbank and a hotel ledger names a traveling saleswoman - how did that ledger expose them?

    The ledger entry that sent her to a fake train departure

    In this episode, we follow the disappearance of Beverly Wagner from Harwick Junction after she vanished following a private dinner at the Harwick Junction. The episode traces the hotel ledger entry, the dry leather sample case found on the mill creek embankment, and the conflicting station manifest that together raise the question: what did a single notation in a ledger set in motion?

    Person: Beverly Wagner
    Date: January 6-9, 1926
    Location: Harwick Junction, mill creek embankment, Harwick Junction Hotel
    Person: Grant Ramsey
    Person: Philip Becker

    - Beverly Wagner was a 38-year-old traveling sales agent on a regular Harwick run, last seen entering the Harwick Junction private dining room on the evening of January 6.
    - The Harwick Junction front-desk ledger, in Grant Ramsey’s handwriting, recorded Beverly as having checked out and taken the 9:15 southbound train at 9:00 p.m, on January 6.
    - Philip Becker found an upright leather sample case on the frozen mill creek embankment at 6:40 a.m. on January 9, with dry contents and no ground impression around it.
    - Floodwaters had crested three days earlier, and the frozen crust around the case showed it had been placed after the freeze rather than washed ashore.
    - Sheriff Ronald Tucker, a former rail-yard foreman, compared the hotel ledger to the stationmaster Arthur Finch’s meticulous passenger manifest to follow the conflicting records.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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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    16 min
  • The handwritten D that signed for her letter cost Gina York her life

    The handwritten D that signed for her letter cost Gina York her life
    Oct 12 2026
    A forged signature and three city logs point to Della Voss - but one person couldn’t be in three Ohio towns in one hour. How did that expose them?

    The handwritten D that signed for her letter cost Gina York her life

    In this episode, we follow municipal detective Leon Peterson as he reconstructs the paper trail around Gina York’s death and the mysterious name that threads through multiple booking ledgers. The episode traces the ledger entries, timestamps and movements on December 9 to ask how a signature became central to a murder inquiry.

    Person: Gina York
    Date: December 9, 1923
    Location: 14 Calloway Street, Harwick, Ohio
    Case: ledger entries for Della Voss across Cincinnati, Dayton and Harwick
    Investigator: Leon Peterson

    - York kept decades of meticulous booking ledgers and found a three-year pattern tied to the name Della Voss.
    - A certified letter sent November 28 demanding an accounting was signed for at a Cincinnati post office with the signature “D. Voss.”
    - On December 9, circuit records show Della Voss logged activity in Dayton at 7:00 p.m., Cincinnati at 7:15 p.m., and a Harwick phone call at 8:00 p.m.
    - Peterson compared three separate booking ledgers and found the handwriting identical: the same looping capital D and abbreviated V.
    - The Harwick scene showed no forced entry; York had stayed home from her regular Tuesday pinochle game and was found dead two days later.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 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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    19 min