Episode 581: The Murder of Patricia Lonergan
11 July - 1 hour 11 mins explicitOn the morning of October 25, 1943, the body of twenty-two-year-old Lion Brewery heiress, Patricia Lonergan, was discovered in a locked room in the New York apartment she shared with her infant son. Patrica was nude and had been bludgeoned with a candelabra. Suspicion quickly fell on her estranged husband, Wayne Lonergan, who had fled the country to Canada, where he was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Wayne Lonergan was apprehended a few days later and returned to New York, where he was charged with the murder and two days later confessed to killing Patricia in a jealous rage. Despite his confession, Lonergan’s case went to trial and quickly became one of the most sensational trial...
Series Episodes
Episode 597: The Kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle
explicitIn the early morning hours of December 17, 1968, two gunmen burst into the Atlanta motel room of Barbara Jane Mackle and her mother, Jane. After tying up and chloroforming Jane Mackle, the two kidnapped Barbara, forcing her into their car at gunpoint. Later that day, a family friend received a call at the Mackle home in Florida, instructing them to look in the northwest corner of the Mackle’s yard, where they would find a ransom note with details about how to ensure their daughter’s safe return. Once the note was unearthed, the Mackle’s learned their daughter had been placed inside a box and buried in the ground in a remote location. She has enough food, water, and air to survive for a few days, but if the family doesn’t act quickly, there’s a good chance Barbara will die The kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle was an elaborately planned, well-executed crime that quickly dominated local and national headlines, which was no small feat in a year of major social upheaval. By the 1960s, kidnapping for ransom was a familiar concept, but to be kidnapped and buried alive was a terrifying thought that shook Americans to their core and left everyone wondering, what kind of person could do such a thing? Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research and writing support! References Associated Press. 1968. "Kidnapped college girl found safe in box underground." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1. —. 1968. "Mackle kidnapping suspect capturted; $480,000 recovered." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1. —. 1968. "Kidnapped girl tells of ordeal of 83 hours entombed in box." New York Times, December 29: 44. —. 1968. "Kidnapped girl, buried alive, is freed." New York Times, December 21: 1. Atlanta Constitution. 1968. "80-hour burial ends in rescue." Atlanta Constitution, December 21: 1. —. 1968. "Motel coed kidnapped here spurs nationwide alert for 2." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1. Foreman, Laura. 1968. "Campus silent about the girl." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1. Gary Steven Krist v. State of Georgia. 1970. 227 Ga. 85 (Ga. 1970) (Supreme Court of Georgia, December 3). Markowitz, Arnold. 1969. "Plea of Innocent entered for Krist." Miami Herald, March 8: 1. Miami Herald. 1969. "Krist collapses; is being force-fed." Miami Herald, April 25: 4. —. 1969. "'Superiority' goes to jail." Miami Herald, May 28: 3. —. 1969. "Who's villain of kidnap case?" Miami Herald, March 9: 19. Miller, Gene. 1969. "Krist gets life in prison avter jury grants mercy." Miami Herald, May 27: 1. —. 1969. "'Life imprisonment worse than death'." Miami Herald, May 27: 16. Miller, Gene, and Barbara Mackle. 1971. Eighty-Three Hours till Dawn. New York, NY: Doubleday. Murray, Frank. 1968. "Researcher and 2 sought in kidnap." Atlanta Constitution, December 20: 1. New York Times. 1968. "Ransom pickup inadvertently foiled by Miami police." New York Times, December 20. Raines, Howell. 1979. "Parole of a kidnapper angers Atlanta." New York Times, May 14: A14. Sosin, Milt. 1969. "FBI hunts Ruth's 'flight pal'." Miami News, March 6: 1. —. 1969. "Ruth: Everyone is against me." Miami News, March 7: 1. United Press International. 1968. "Gunman and 'boy' kidnapp 20-year-old coed, Florida millionaire's daughter." New York Times, December 18: 25. Vissar, Steve. 2006. "The strange odyssey of Gary Krist; From kidnapper to prisoner to doctor to alleged drug smuggler." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 19. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1 hour 4 mins
5 September Finished
Episode 596: Spooky Lighthouses: Volume 4
explicitWeirdos! Everyone Rejoice!! September is upon us! Let's welcome the 'BER' months with the FOURTH installment of Spooky Lighthouses! Today Alaina & Ash talk about the morbid history of two lighthouses: The Cape Romain Lighthouse in South Carolina & Little Ross Lighthouse in Scotland! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
52 mins
2 September Finished
Episode 598: “Weirdos’ Audiobook Club” presented by Audible – My Best Friend's Exorcism with Special Guest, Sabrina From 2 Girls 1 Ghost!
explicitWeirdos!! It’s our second SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE brought to YOU by our friends at Audible! Today we’re joined by one of our besties, Sabrina from 2 Girls 1 Ghost to chat about Grady Hendrix's, “My Best Friends Exorcism”! Join the “Weirdos’ Audiobook Club’ AND the conversation as we talk about our favorite characters, themes, and scenes! Haven’t listened yet? Don’t worry about it, friend! Go to Audible.com/weirdos for YOUR free trial! And don’t forget to click the episode post on Instagram to comment YOUR favorite part of the book, and discuss with other Weirdos who enjoyed the title, as well! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
59 mins
30 August Finished
Episode 595: Listener Tales 89
explicitWeirdos! The Time has come for Listener Tales! We have a great batch of stories brought TO you, BY you, For you, FROM you, and ALLLLL about you! On today's episode, we tell tales of babysitting for a murderer, a story from our best friend (we're so sorry we accidentally speak over you in the car!! a story about being a ghost writer for an abusive ex, and a nephew who had tea parties with deceased relatives! If you’ve got a listener tale please send it on over to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line :) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1 hour 2 mins
29 August Finished
Episode 594: The Disappearance of the Springfield Three
explicitIn the early morning hours of June 7, 1992, best friends and recent high school graduates Suzie Streeter and Stacy McCall finished up their graduation festivities and headed back to Suzie’s house that she shared with her mother, Sherill Levitt. When the girls failed to meet their friends for a planned trip the following day, two of those friends went by Levitt’s house to check on them. Despite all three women’s cars being parked in the driveway and the front door being unlocked, no one was home. Perhaps more alarming was the fact that the purses, wallets, and other items of all three women were still at the house, and the television in Streeter’s bedroom had been left on. Hours later, when the three still hadn’t been seen or heard from, Stacy McCall’s mother called the police and reported them missing. For months the case of the “Springfield Three” dominated headlines in and around the city of Springfield, Missouri and consumed a massive amount of law enforcement resources; yet leads and evidence were sparse, and it seemed to many that the three missing women had simply vanished into thin air. In the thirty years since they went missing, the investigation has produced a number of compelling leads and potential suspects, but none have produced any answers or arrests and the disappearance of the Springfield Three remains one of the city’s most baffling mysteries. Anyone with information about the disappearance is encouraged to contact the Springfield Police at (417) 864-1810 or place an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at (417) 869-8477. Tips and information can also be submitted online at P3tips.com. Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research! References Barnes, Deborah, and Traci Bauer. 1992. "Frantic families watchful for trio." Springfield News-Leader, June 9: 3. Bauer, Traci. 1992. "Three women vanish." Springfield News-Leader, June 9: 1. Benson, Ana. 2021. The Disappearance of the Springfield Three. Duluth, MN: Trellis Publishing. Bentley, Chris , and Robert Keyes. 1992. "Police follow transient lead." Springfield News-Leader, June 16: 1. Bentley, Chris. 1992. "Disappearance leaves woman's son 'frantic'." Springfield News-Leader, June 10: 1. Clark, Christopher. 1992. "Who could be so cruel? Friends shake their heads." Speingfield News-Leader, June 10: 1. Clark, Christopher, Traci Bauer, and Chris Bentley. 1992. "Typical teenagers, a loving mother." Springfield News-Ledger, June 10: 14. Davis, Ron. 1992. "Troubled." Springfield News-Leader, June 26: 1. Keyes, Robert. 1996. "Inmate to go 'under microscope'." Springfield News-Leader, January 19: 1. —. 1996. "Missing women case leads police to Texas." Springfield News-Leader, January 2: 1. —. 1992. "Streeter's brother passes polygraph." Springfield News-Leader, June 12: 6. —. 1996. "Talk with inmate leads to 'nothing shattering'." Springfield News-Leader, January 20: 1. —. 2006. "Three Missing women: Ten years later." Springfield News-Leader, June 8. —. 1992. "Too many felonies." Springfield News-Leader, July 11: 1. —. 1992. "Waitress gives clue." Springfield News-Leader, June 24: 1. —. 1992. "'We're doing all we can'." Springfield News-Leader, June 21: 9. O'Dell, Kathleen. 1992. "A sixth sense about a baffling case." Springfield News-Leader, June 28: 1. Reid, Kyani. 2022. 30 years later family still seeking answers in the disappearance of three Springfield, Missouri women. June 12. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/30-years-later-family-still-seeking-answers-disappearance-three-springfield-n1296285. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1 hour 12 mins
26 August Finished
Episode 593: Lee Roy Martin: The Gaffney Strangler
explicitIn the winter of 1968, reporter Bill Gibbons got an anonymous call from a man who wanted to confess to three murders in the small town of Gaffney, South Carolina. Gibbons thought the call was a prank, but he took it to the sheriff and the two men travel out to the first of three locations where the caller claimed to have left the bodies. After searching casually through the underbrush for a short time, the men discover the nude body of twenty-year-old Nancy Carol Paris, who’d been strangled to death. At the second location, they discovered the body of fourteen-year-old Tina Rhinehart, who appeared to have been killed in the same manner as Paris. Investigators soon learned that the third location the caller gave was where police had discovered the body of Annie Dedmond six months earlier. In the days that followed, the “Gaffney Strangler,” as the press would come to call him, would contact Gibbons several more times, demanding that he print stories about the murders in the newspaper. He also insisted that Gibbons and the sheriff’s department needed to do something about the fact that Annie Dedmond’s husband, Roger, was sitting in jail for Annie’s murder. Then, a week later, the strangler struck again, this time kidnapping fifteen-year-old Opal Buckson in broad daylight, throwing her in the trunk of his car while her sister watched helplessly. Opal’s body would be discovered a week later, dead like the others. A few days after the discovery of Opal’s body, police arrested Lee Roy Martin, a local mill worker and father of three who’d been born and raised in Gaffney. The arrest shocked the local residents and left everyone wondering, in a town as small as Gaffney, how could they have lived their entire lives with a violent psychopath and never known it? Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research! References Charlotte Observer. 1972. "About Roger Dedmond, convicted of killing his wife." Charlotte Observer, November 7: 30. 2015. A Crime to Remember. Directed by Christine Connor. Performed by Christine Connor. Dalton, Robert, and Craig Peters. 2009. Gaffney Strangler terrorized town 40 years ago, murdering 4 women. July 5. Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2009/07/05/gaffney-strangler-terrorized-town-40-years-ago-murdering-4-women/29885910007/. Fuller, Bill, and Jack Horan. 1968. "Dog only murder witness?" Charlotte Observer, February 10: 1. Gaffney Ledger. 1968. "Attorneys ask court transcript of trial." Gaffney Ledger, February 21: 1. —. 1968. "Officers search well; find Opal's clothing." Gaffney Ledger, February 28: 1. Howe, Claudia. 1968. "Grim mystery, violent deaths engulf Gaffney." Charlotte Observer, February 14: 10. Jones, Mark R. 2007. Palmetto Predators: Monsters Among Us. Charleston, SC: The History Press. Martin, Tommy. 1988. "Lives of golf pro, texile worker crossed paths on February 13, 1968." Gaffney Ledger, February 5: 4. —. 1968. "Martin sentenced to life in prison." Gaffney Ledger, September 19: 1. McCuen, Sam E. 1968. "Crank telephone calls plague Gaffney police." The State, February 16: 19. —. 1968. "Gaffney girl is kidnapped." The State, February 14: 1. —. 1968. "Mother convinced her son innocent." The State, February 9: 1. Skipp, Catherine. 2009. "Gaffney, S.C. haunted by murderous memories ." Newsweek, July 8. The Gaffney Ledger. 1968. "Martin is charged in 3 stranglings." Gaffney Ledger, February 19: 1. The State. 1968. "2 bodies found after phone call." The State, February 9: 1. —. 1968. "Suspect attempts suicide." The State, February 21: 15. Truluck, Jack. 1968. "In-laws believe Dedmond is guilty." Gaffney Ledger, February 21: 1. United Press International. 1968. "Lee Roy Martin indicted in 4 Gaffney stranglings." Greenville News, May 21: 1. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1 hour 8 mins
22 August Finished
