Appalachian Mysteria

Joan Ann Charlton was the first of her family to attend college.  Three weeks into her freshman year at Frostburg State University, she was brutally murdered in the campus arboretum.

This episode tracks three generations of college students, from 1980s Frostburg to current-day Morgantown, each story centering around the memory of one 19-year-old woman who seems perpetually on the cusp of being forgotten.  

But it’s also about how Appalachian college students are laying entirely new groundwork for all cold case law enforcement around the country.

Revisiting the 1983 Murder of Joan Ann Charlton  - The article produced by Andy Duncan's class, including photographs of Joan and her family

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

Four big updates from the Mysteria Crew.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

This short Christmas special tells the story of a Pennsylvania Santa Claus (and his chauffeur) who definitely ended up on the naughty list in 1983. Taking listeners from the top of the tallest skyscraper in Pittsburgh to a backwoods hangar in West Virginia, this episode throws our own rules to the wind with a solved case, zero interviews, and way too much humor.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

In one month, the killers of Julie Williams, Lollie Winans and at least two victims of the Colonial Parkway murders are identified. Bill Thomas joins us to discuss the details, and why there are still so many questions unanswered. Meanwhile the grave of Harry Spitz, which inexplicably exploded in 1975, has its headstone stolen by thieves. A Morgantown resident and Appalachian Mysteria producer step up to set things right.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

In the second of this 2-part series, Jack Edward Hawkins is put on trial without physical evidence for three assaults committed by the Sunnyside rapist, but prosecutors refuse to claim he is a suspect in any others. 

Neighbors of the Hawkins family come forward to describe their experience with Jack and his children. As Hawkins’ involvement in a 1975 incident comes to light, the Mysteria team learns that a new West Virginia law now makes it impossible to learn details about any sexual assault cases. And a team of New Zealand researchers is hired by the defense to explain the problems with the eyewitness testimony used against Hawkins.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

Fifteen years after the events of Season 1 (The WVU Coed Murders), Morgantown women are faced with a new predator: a rapist so meticulous and organized that he vanishes through police checkpoints and neighborhood lockdowns every summer.

In the first of this two part series, we speak with two women who met the Sunnyside rapist face-to-face at both ends of his 10-year crime spree. Geoff Fuller (season 1) returns to help set the scene for a trial that will become studied internationally. 

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

In the last of this 3-part series, we examine Mabel’s top suspects in the murder of Walter Curnutte. Years later, Tim and Becky discover an entirely new motive connected to a forged document, a federal racketeering case, South American cocaine, and, potentially, the West Virginia mafia.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

After Walter Curnutte’s murder, his sister Mabel takes on the case, recording interviews, writing letters to powerful officials, and hiring a private detective. The community’s war on Walter comes to light – from protests to arson to civil disobedience. 

We look back at the strange month preceding Walter’s death – including his hiring of Herb Willie, the man tried for his murder. Was Herb a drunken liar, a murderer, or both? A state trooper who investigated the case has an opinion. Tim and Becky beg to differ.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

This is the beginning of a 3-part story about one square mile of the West Virginia mountains. The story winds its way through a savage war between Indians and settlers, a poor boy adopted into wealth for his ruthlessness, more than one murder trial, the infamous black hand mafia, environmental protests, and international cocaine smuggling.

In Part 1, the descendants of West Virginia’s first white settlers find themselves at war with Indian tribes, eventually building a home that will become the center of a web of controversy, violence and crime.

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media

A WVU alum working for the state prosecutor’s office suddenly finds herself on the scene of a very personal tragedy that could be much more sinister. Much to her dismay, her forensic investigation training is not being employed by authorities in the real world. 

Meanwhile, the victim’s sister is conducting her own investigation, releasing all of her findings to the public. Was the death of Amber Whitelaw a case of accidental fire or murder?

Sarah & Geoff's book about the WVU Coed Murders
(available on Amazon)

Kendall's Appalachian Motorcycling Travel Channel
(@motoappalachiadiscovery on YouTube)

Kromatic Media