Let's Go To Court!

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When Leonila Stickney died from a gunshot wound, her fiance Russell Bertram was quick to provide an explanation. The former police chief told investigators that she’d died in a hunting accident. He explained that she’d been in the passenger’s seat of his truck when he climbed into the driver’s seat. As he climbed in, he’d pointed the gun in her direction. He claimed she’d grabbed the barrel of the gun, keeping it pointed at herself, and leaned in for a kiss. Then the gun went off. He was totally innocent! Nothing to see here! Infuriatingly, investigators bought his story.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“The Hunter and the Hunted” episode Accident, Suicide or Murder
“Jealousy, greed marked 2016 murder trial of former South Dakota police chief Russell Bertram” by Erik Kaufman, Mitchell Republic
“Former South Dakota Police Chief Murdered Pregnant Fiancée And Blamed It On An Accident” by Joe Dziemianowicz, oxygen.com
“Leonila Stickney” podcast episode, Forensic Tales
“Ex-Police Chief Convicted of Murdering Pregnant Fiancée Years After Claiming Her 2009 Death Was an Accident” by KC Baker, people.com
“Why would a former police chief kill his young fiancee? Jealousy and greed, prosecutors allege.” By Sarah Larimer, The Washington Post
“State v. Bertram” findlaw.com

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Well hello, everyone!

We recorded this episode a few days after we returned from Obsessed Fest ‘23. … Though it’s probably more accurate to say that we recorded this episode a few days after we *fled* Obsessed Fest ‘23. Eh, tomayto, tomahto. 

We talk about Obsessed Fest quite a bit in this episode, but if you’d like more information about what happened, we have two recommendations: 

First, we recommend listening to the latest episode of the podcast One Dry Kiss. Their episode, “Obsessed Mess, Mischief MisManagement and Amazing People and Podcasters,” is a firsthand account of what the weekend was like for attendees. 

Second, we recommend listening to the latest episode of Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case, titled, “About Damn Crime: Obsessed Fest.” In that episode, Ellyn Marsh, Rabia Chaudry, Joey Taranto, Maggie Freleng, Daisy Eagan, Amber Hunt, Harris Lane and Ashleigh Gibson share their experiences from the weekend. If you like receipts, this is the podcast for you.

By the way, if you listen closely to this episode, you might hear Kristin cover a timber swindler. It’s a troubling story about a man named Ralph Raines, who was exploited by a “psychic” named Rachel Lee. Over the course of ten years, Rachel took nearly everything Ralph had.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Psychic Fiend’s Network” episode of American Greed
“Sweetheart Swindle” episode of 20/20
“How a psychic stole millions of dollars from an Oregon timber heir,” by ABC News
“Phony wife in sweetheart swindle, who bilked millions from Gaston tree farm heir, gets prison,” by Bryan Denson for The Oregonian
“Daughter of Oregon psychic pleads guilty to helping bilk millions from Gaston tree farm heir,” by Everton Bailey Jr. for The Oregonian
“‘The Sweetheart Swindle’: Rich older bachelor targeted by family,” True Crime Daily 

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 53+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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It was Halloween night. Doreen Erbert and her four-year-old daughter were cuddled up on the couch, watching a movie, when they heard a knock at the door. The knock sounded aggressive, but Doreen got up to answer it. She figured that she was about to encounter an eager trick-or-treater. Instead, she encountered a man in a wolf costume. Just before he attacked her, Doreen yelled to her daughter to hide. 

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“William Dennis” episode Snapped
“JUSTICE STORY: Halloween horror as a masked man murders woman and baby” by Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News
“Man In Wolf Mask Hacks Pregnant Ex-Wife To Death With Machete On Halloween Night” by Benjamin H. Smith, oxygen.com
“Girl recounts grisly Halloween murders” by Michael Molinski, UPI
“Halloween killer found guilty in slaying of wife, unborn child” UPI
“Man guilty in murder of ex-wife, unborn child” by Tracie Thompson, The Peninsula Times Tribune
“Condemned inmates, victims’ families speak out” by Bay Area News Group and Jessica Calefati, Lake County Record-Bee
“People v. Dennis” findlaw.com

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 52+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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Nicholas Firkus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It sounded like someone was downstairs, trying to break into his home. So he woke his wife, Heidi, asked her to call 911, and grabbed his shotgun. The couple moved quickly, hoping to get downstairs and out the back door before the person broke in. But they didn’t make it. To hear Nick tell it, the intruder broke in and wrestled him for control of the gun. The gun went off twice — hitting Nick and Heidi in the process. Heidi didn’t survive the shooting, so that left Nick to tell police what happened that morning.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“A Stranger in the house” episode of 20/20
“Second wife’s suspicions confirmed with ex-husband’s arrest for murder,” by Blue Browning, Brooke Strangeland, Meghan Mariani, Lexi Leib, Greta Morris, Ivan Pereira for ABC News
“Nicholas Firkus gets life sentence for wife Heidi’s murder he blamed on intruder,” by Mara H. Gottfried for the Pioneer Press
“Husband locked up for life after blowing away first wife with shotgun, blaming murder on nonexistent Black man, remarrying,” by Matt Naham for Law and Crime
“State of Minnesota vs. Nicholas James Firkus” court document
“Husband sentenced to life in prison in wife’s 13-year cold case murder,” by Brooke Strangeland for ABC7NY
“How was the Heidi Firkus case closed after so long? Meet the trio who did it.” by Mara H. Gottfried for the Pioneer Press
“Nicholas Firkus found guilty of murdering wife Heidi Firkus,” by Nick Ferraro for the Pioneer Press

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 52+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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Imette St. Guillen wanted to have a good time. Her birthday was just a few days away, so she and a friend went out to celebrate. But when the bar closed and her friend wanted to go home, Imette insisted on staying out. The hard-working graduate student went to the next bar alone. She had no idea she was being watched by a predator.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Downtown Disappearance” episode New York Homicide
“Imette St. Guillen” chillingcrimes.com
“‘The Body Was Ice Cold’: NYC Bar Bouncer Raped, Strangled Grad Student” by Joe Dziemianowicz, oxygen.com
“Imette St. Guillen” podcast episode, Women & Crime
“The gruesome murder of Imette St. Guillen” by Clint Van Zandt, NBC News
“In Bouncer’s Murder Trial, Victim’s Friend Recalls Their Last Night” by Kareem Fahim, The New York Times
“People v. Darryl Littlejohn” casetext.com
“Murder of Imette St. Guillen” wikipedia.org

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 51+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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September 15, 1963, should have been a typical Sunday at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In the church basement, children busily prepared for youth Sunday. Five little girls, ranging in age from 11 to 14, were in the women’s bathroom, changing into choir robes and fixing their hair when an explosion rocked the church. Glass shattered. The church’s rear wall crumbled. The girls flew through the air. Upstairs, the adults panicked. They ran for their children. Four little girls died that day. There wasn’t much of a question as to who’d done this. For years, the KKK had bombed Black churches and Black people’s homes. They’d done so with little to no punishment from authorities. But surely they wouldn’t get away with killing children in church.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“The Birmingham Church Bombing: Bombingham,” by Mark Gado for Crime Library
“Trial of bombing suspect begins,” by Jay Reeves for the Associated Press
“Alabamian guilty in ‘63 church blast that killed 4 girls,” by B. Drummond Ayres Jr. for the New York Times
“Chambliss guilty,” Associated Press
“Birmingham bomber Bobby Frank Cherry dies in prison at 74,” by Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb for the Washington Post
“Birmingham bomb case goes to jury,” by Howell Raines for the St Petersburg Times
“Ghosts of Alabama: The prosecution of Bobby Frank Cherry for the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,” by Donald Q. Cochran for the Michigan Journal of Race and Law
“60 years ago, Alabama church bombing killed 4 girls and catalyzed a movement,” by DeNeen L. Brown for the Washington Post
“Congress honors victims of infamous Alabama church bombing,” by Debbie Elliott for NPR
“50 years after the bombing, Birmingham still subtly divided,” by Debbie Elliott for NPR
“Alabama Gov. apologizes to surviving ‘5th girl’ of 1963 KKK bombing,” by Vanessa Romo for NPR
“16th Street Baptist Church bombing,” National Park Service
“16th Street Baptist Church bombing,” entry on Wikipedia

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 51+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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When nine-year-old George Weyerhaeuser went missing, his family panicked. Kidnappings weren’t commonplace, but in 1935, wealthy families were on guard for them. The Great Depression was in full swing, and just a few years earlier, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby captured the nation’s attention. So, when the Weyerhaeuser’s son didn’t make it home for lunch, they feared the worst. 

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Weyerhaeuser Kidnapping” by Daryl C. McClary, historylink.org
“The Kidnapping of George Weyerhaeuser | USA” podcast episode, The Evidence Locker
“Deep in the Woods” by Bryan Johnston
“1935 kidnapping revealed 9-year-old timber heir’s mettle, led to ‘greatest manhunt in history of Northwest’” by Douglas Perry, Oregon Live
“History: How the Seattle P-I played a pivotal role in the kidnapping case of George Weyerhaeuser” by Alec Regimbal, SeattePI
“George Weyerhaeuser Sr., great-grandson of timber company founder and kidnapped as a child, dies at 95” by Paul Roberts, Seattle Times

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 51+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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Mark Weinberger didn’t ask for much. All he wanted was an 80-foot yacht, a sushi chauffeur, a skinny wife, and a five-story townhome. Luckily, Mark could afford his glitzy lifestyle. He was an ear nose and throat surgeon – and not just *any* ear nose and throat surgeon – he was The Nose Doctor of Merrillville, Indiana. As it turned out, damn near everyone who walked into his clinic needed sinus surgery!

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“The Runaway Doctor” by Buzz Bissinger for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair Confidential “The Runaway Doctor”
“Convicted ‘Runaway Doctor’ starts new life after prison, leaving former patient shocked,” by Rob Stafford and Lisa Capitanini for NBC Chicago

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 51+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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Alice Anderson was in a state of alarm. Her fifteen year old son, Bruce Brenizer had just called with disturbing information. His father, Rick, was missing. So was his father’s girlfriend, Ruth Berentson. Ruth’s daughters, Mindy and Heidi, along with Bruce’s half-sister, Crystal, had vanished as well. Alice made several phone calls before she determined that it was time to involve the police. Someone needed to find this missing family.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“The Brenizer/Berentson Family” episode Family Massacre
“‘I Did It. I Killed Them All’: 15-Year-Old Shot And Incinerated 5 Family Members” by Joe Dziemianowicz, oxygen.com
“The Brenizer Berentson Family” episode Crimelines Podcast
“Rumors Fly, But Murders Still A Puzzle” by Rogers Worthington and Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune
“Deal possible in killing of five” by The Associated Press, Wisconsin State Journal
“Two years later, Brenizer relatives seek answers” by The Associated Press, Leader Telegram
“Brenizer ruled insane” by The Associated Press, The Oshkosh Northwestern
“Life terms for Brenizer in family slayings” by Richard Meryhew, Star Tribune
“Appeals Court Says Wis. Killer Should Remain In Mental Hospital” by The Associated Press, CBS News
“State v. Bruce C. Brenizer” justia.com

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 50+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

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Peggy Carr didn’t feel well. She was nauseous. She could barely speak. Her feet felt as though they were burning from the inside out. Her family rushed her to the hospital, but the doctors were stumped. They wondered if Peggy had the flu. They also wondered if it was all in her head. It wasn’t. 

Over the next few days, her condition improved. Peggy was sent back home, only to become more ill than she’d been before. This time, a neurologist took a look at Peggy’s symptoms and posited that she might have thallium poisoning. The doctor’s hunch was correct. Nearly every member of the Carr household tested positive for thallium. 

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
American Justice episode, “Kill thy neighbor”
“Murder genius is outfoxed by simple ‘country cops,’” by Mike McLeod for the Orlando Sentinel
Vengeance: Killer Neighbors episode, “Poison Mastermind”
“Murder on the mind” by David Walton for the Tampa Bay Times
“Condemned killer wants another trial,” by Bill Heery for the Tampa Tribune
“Poison killer Trepal awaits judge’s ruling on poor defense argument,” by Bill Heery for the Tampa Tribune
“High court rejects death row appeal in Highlands County case,” News Service of Florida

YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 50+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!