Crime&stuff

When Lauren Smith Fields died in her Bridgeport, Connecticut, apartment while on a first date with a man she met on Bumble, and the police didn’t bother to notify her family, that was just the first injustice in a case that has all the worst elements of racism, white male priviledge, police incompetence and more. […]

Something suddenly came up that has delayed Episode 120. No, no one was murdered, but we do have to take a short break. Listen to this special announcement to find out when we may be back and also some things to do so you’re not staring at the wall until we return (hopefully soon).

Irish immigrant Mary Mallon became synonymous with the spread of infectious disease, and is still known more than a century later as Typhoid Mary. But what really happened? And it’s interesting how, more than 115 years after she was identified as the source of a typhoid spread in New York, that as much things have […]

Greg Fitzgerald checked all the eraser killer boxes, including making sure life without parole didn’t really mean life without parole. The second part of the story about the tragic end to the extraordinary life of Amy Fitzgerald. Also, Rebecca NNW’s the Netflix doc “The Tinder Swindler”

There’s a certain kind of killer and Amy Fitzgerald was the victim of one of them. Maybe not as famous as some of the others — Scott Peterson, Chris Watts, Charles Stuart, Mark Hacking, the list goes on and on — but her story is just as significant as their victims. Marilee Strong identified these […]

Hey! It’s a special bonus episode. We had so much stuff for Episode 116 that we had to leave some out, but still wanted you to hear it. We talk about Maine’s first murder of 2022, the alleged domestic homicide of Eva Cox, of Lubec. We also catch up on the recent and startling sentence […]

Marc LePine tried to make a “political point” by shooting up a university in Montreal in 1989, killing 14 women. The legacy of the Montreal Massacre could have gone a long way to changing things, ranging from attitudes toward women to guns. But the equivocation started while the bodies were still warm. Are we any […]

Sister Liz is our guest storyteller, bringing another troubling tale from the great northwest. We also discuss the merits of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (the 1968 version) versus “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” both bank robber movies shot in Boston in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And Rebecca and Maureen give the NNW treatment […]

On his 20th birthday, July 10, 1969, Ted Conrad walked out of the Clevebank bank where he worked with $215,000 in a paper bag. For 52 years he eluded the FBI and U.S. Marshal Service in what’s still that city’s most expensive bank heist. But then, in May 2021, a Massachusetts man on his death […]

Happy fifth anniversary! To celebrate, we have a jam-packed episode. Dottie Milliken and Pamela Webb were both young women with promising lives who were murdered in Maine, cases that have gone decades with no arrests ever made. Rebecca takes an in-depth look. We also discuss some recent news events, the new Bechdel-Milliken Test for sexism […]

We revisit The Station nightclub fire, which we covered in Episode 72, after the TV show “48 Hours” airs an episode that claims to nail down who was responsible for the 2003 blaze that killed 100 in Rhode Island. Then doesn’t. We also update the Maine-New Hampshire landfill body mystery. More or less. And Rebecca […]

Singer and dancer Claudine Longet and skier Spider Sabich were the “it” celebrity couple of the early 70s. When a gun Longet was holding in their Aspen, Colorado, home went off, killing Sabich, it became one of the biggest stories of the decade. While many have forgotten about it over the decades, the issues of […]

There was no evidence – none – against James Dailey in the May 1985 murder of 14-year-old Shelly Boggio. Then child rapist and convicted con man Paul Skalnik made a deal with Florida prosecutors that put Dailey on death row, where he’s been for 34 years. Also, Rebecca gives the NNW treatment to Stephen King’s […]

Cathy Moulton had just turned 16 and was looking forward to going to a dance in September 1971 in her home city of Portland, Maine. She never made it. Five decades later, she is still missing. It’s another sad example of how a case could’ve been solved, and in this one a murder even possibly […]

After Joyce McLain was murdered while she was out for a run in East Millinocket, Maine, in August 1980, the investigation took awhile, but it seemed seemed like cops might’ve finally had their guy when Scott Fornier confessed in May 1981. So why did it take more than 37 years to but him behind bars? […]

Our very special guest, sister Liz, joins us to discuss some unsolved Oregon campsite cases, including the 1974 murders of the Cowden family, as well as the 1977 attack, by pickup truck and hatchet, on two young women at Cline Falls. She also gives the NNW treatment to the Discovery Plus documentary “Relentless.” Rebecca also […]

Dawn Leighton loved her dogs, her new house, and was kind and friendly – a loving sister, daughter and friend. Unfortunately she was also another Maine victim of a senseless murder by a man who thought he was entitled to her. We also do an update on Illinois’ new law that prohibits cops from lying […]

Laura Howard had gone through a messy divorce in her home state of Massachusetts, and thought Florida would be a great place to make a new start. Once in Fort Myers, she became known for her big heart, kindness and generosity. But people will always take advantage, won’t they? On May 3, 2013, police found […]

We’re taking a break for a few weeks, but we want to make sure you have something to entertain you while we’re not around, so we have recommendations for our current top podcasts, TV shows and books. And we also give the NNW treatment to the Netflix doc Sophie. Enjoy!

Frank Sandford was just another baseball-playing kid from a big rural Maine family until the spirit hit him when he was 16. Before Jonestown, before Scientology, Sandford’s self-styled religion gained followers across the globe, as well as at his massive compound in Durham, Maine. Many ultimately followed him right to their graves. Rebecca also updates […]