Generation Why: True Crime

May 24, 2012. Bismarck, North Dakota. Eric Haider was working as a top grounds man for a plumbing and heating company. After the crew he was working with returned from lunch, Eric was never seen again. Eric’s family begged and pleaded with police to help find him. His coworkers said maybe he had walked away from work after his vacation request was denied. His family knew he never left the jobsite. Eric was found three years later. Just like his family suspected, he was buried at the jobsite his coworkers said he “walked away from.” Was Eric’s death a tragic workplace accident or was foul play involved?

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December 15, 2005. Russellville, Arkansas. Nona Dirksmeyer was a beauty pageant queen, a college student, and a girl loved by many people. She was found murdered inside her apartment on December 15th, 2005, brutally stabbed and beaten to death with the base of her own floor lamp. Two suspects were tried and acquitted in Nona’s murder, meaning her killer either walks free, or is someone the police never found.

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May 4, 2007. Belton, MO. Seventeen-year-old Kara Kopetsky walked out of her high school on May 4, 2007, and disappeared without a trace. From those early days, her mother, Rhonda, suspected Kara’s ex-boyfriend, Kylr Yust, was involved in her disappearance, but there was no way to prove it without physical evidence. So Rhonda waited for a crack in the case. On September 8, 2016, 21-year-old Jessica Runions was last seen leaving a party with Kylr Yust and disappeared afterward. Two missing women almost ten years apart with connections to a single man. Was it a coincidence? Or was Kylr Yust involved in two disappearances and possible murders?

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May 26, 1990. Wellington, Florida. Forty-year-old mother of one, Marlene Warren, was enjoying breakfast with her son and his friends when she heard a knock at the door of her home in the Wellington Aero Club in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Marlene walked from the kitchen to the front door to be greeted by a clown holding a basket of red and white flowers and two balloons.

“Oh, how lovely!” she exclaimed as she opened the door and reached out to take the gifts.

The clown produced a handgun and shot Marlene point-blank in the face. Who would want to kill Marlene and why? The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office was determined to find those answers.

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March 3, 1998. Haines City, Florida. On March 3rd, 1998. Officer Christopher Todd Horner made a routine stop at Oakland Cemetery, a known crime hotspot. He radioed dispatch that he was going to inspect a suspicious vehicle. No one heard from him again. Officer Horner was found dead at the cemetery, a single gunshot wound to the head, and the killer was nowhere to be found. What happened that morning? Join us as we discuss a case which divided detectives and prompted the question; was it suicide or homicide?

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July 3rd, 2015. Bardstown, Kentucky. On July 3rd, 2015 Crystal Rogers spent her day with her boyfriend and youngest child. She stayed up late that night, while her boyfriend went to bed. The next morning, Crystal was gone. Her car was found two days later, and that was it. Crystal had vanished without a trace.

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When a newly married couple travel to Australia for their honeymoon, they expect to have the time of their lives. While scuba diving, though, something terrible would happen. The husband would surface without his wife. His version of events would characterize her death as an accident. She had dislodged his mask and after taking care of that he discovered that she was sinking down below him and he just couldn't save her so he went up to get help. Others, such as her father and a close friend, would challenge his story and the husband would be arrested amid suspicions of foul play. Did Gabe Watson murder his wife? Or was Tina's drowning death merely an accident?

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January 5th, 1981. Owyhee County, Idaho. To some, Claude Dallas is an outlaw hero who was wrongfully imprisoned for defending his freedoms. To others, he’s a murderer who fatally shot two game wardens after they caught him breaking Idaho trapping laws. Claude had no regard for law and order, and hated law enforcement so much he was willing to kill to avoid arrest. Claude’s early life and years of illegal trapping without being caught contributed to his feelings of invincibility, until his final arrest in 1987.

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December 23rd, 1997. Reading, Pennsylvania. Just two days before Christmas, Melvin Ortiz was out with friends at a child’s birthday party. That same night, a fatal shooting took place at a local business, Effie’s Pizza Villa, causing the death of owner George Clauser. Two witnesses came forward to tell the police that Melvin committed the robbery. Despite having a very solid alibi and strong evidence in his favor, Melvin was sentenced to life in prison at age 19. Many people believe that politics and a poor investigation led to the wrongful conviction of Melvin Ortiz.

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July 7th, 1977. Scarsdale, New York. Bonnie Garland met Richard Herrin at Yale when she was 20 years old. Herrin was more than 3 years older and was head over heels for Bonnie. After Richard changed schools, Bonnie began to grow distant and finally let Richard know that she wanted to remain friends but that she intended to date other people. On July 7th, 1977, Bonnie's mother walked into her daughter's room and saw her covered in blood and fighting to breathe. She would not survive.

Meetup Event

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