We’ve all had someone lie about us. But imagine that the lie is that you murdered a loved one. In today's episode,we'll untangle a mess of lies and unveil the jaw-dropping truth behind a murder that was all about revenge. Not toward the victim, but against a member of the victim’s family.

Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!

This is Season 4, Episode 48. Our book this week is “We Thought We Knew You: A Terrifying True Story of Secrets, Betrayal, Deception, and Murder” by M. Williams Phelps and we’re going to welcome back licensed counselor and pastor David Brannock as our guest for the next two weeks. We will check in with David again after we investigate the rest of the fascinating case of the murder of Mary Yoder.

Last week we started looking into the sudden and shocking death of Dr. Mary Yoder. The sixty-year-old chiropractor had died of colchicine poisoning and no one knew how she could have come in contact with it. If it wasn’t accidental, then it was time to start looking at suspects.

Of course investigators began with those closest to her. Her son Adam and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Kaitlyn, or Katie, had both worked at the clinic with Mary and her chiropractor husband William. Katie was flaky and Adam was obsessed with her, but did they have anything to gain from Mary’s death.

One of Mary’s own sisters called police and told them they needed to take a close look at Bill

Someone else sent an anonymous letter to police telling them exactly who the letter-sender thought killed Mary. Adam, her son.

As the author of this book wrote, “There are soul-sucking humans in this world.” The question is, how do we recognize them? We’ll talk a bit a that with our guest, and in our Scripture for this episode

We are back in Proverbs this week for our Bible passage because this book of the Bible is just so practical!

Proverbs 20:11 NLT

Even children are known by the way they act, 

whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.

Do you remember me saying that when people tell you who they are by how they act - believe them!? I didn’t just pull that outta thin air - it’s Biblical. We can assess a person’s character by the way they act. Katie could put on a good front when she wanted to, but her true character couldn;t help but leak out when she didn’t get her way. She not only killed Mary, but think about the emotional damage she’s done to Mary’s family and friends. 

Let’s all take a good look at the people in our lives and those close to our loved ones. Are they leaking out any concerning actions that might signal bad character? If so, are we going to set some healthy boundaries for that person, or make excuses? Our decisions can have a tremendous impact on our physical, emotional, and even spiritual welfare.

Let me know what you think about today’s episode! Send me an email a [email protected] or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!

Visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at [email protected]. 

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