A few weeks back, we covered the saga of how serial plagiarist Ashley Flowers worked out a deal with Indiana State Police investigator Bill Dalton to get the exclusive right to access — and make money off of —the Burger Chef investigative files Dalton had been entrusted with.

To learn more about that sorry affair, please listened to "You Never Can Forget: The Fiasco" (https://tinyurl.com/5n82x5wn).

This week, we're back with more information on this mess, thanks to a records request that the ISP just (finally) completed. In this episode, we'll get into bizarre details about the Red Ball collaboration, like how Dalton and Flowers mocked other podcasters and planned trips to Idaho together. We'll also feature insights from Chris Davis, another podcaster who's covered the Burger Chef case.

Here is a link to the definition we cited in the program: https://www.yourdictionary.com/silver-platter-doctrine

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Organized crime figures are known for ordering vicious assaults and heinous murders. So when an alleged "wise guy" ended up in trouble a few years ago, authorities suspected that underworld in-fighting was behind it all . But the case of Sylvester "Sally Daz" Zottola ended in a horrific way that almost no one saw coming.

True crime researcher Stephen Popkin returns to help the Murder Sheet discuss this tangled, twisty case. He also authored this script. Email him at [email protected].

Popkin's sources:

The New York Times's coverage of the case: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/mafia-zottolo-mcdonalds-killing.html

NBC's coverage of the case: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/son-man-dad-brother-mob-killed-nyc-drive-thru-mcdonalds-hit-murder-hire-plot-prosecutors/1063025/

The New York Post's coverage of the case: https://nypost.com/2007/12/21/vinny-gorgeous-winds-up-doing-time-for-a-spell/

The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York statement on the case: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/son-victim-slain-mcdonalds-drive-through-indicted-murder-hire-conspiracy

Click Track's coverage of the jukebox industry: https://www.clicktrack.fm/p/the-dark-history-of-the-jukebox-how

Gangland News: https://ganglandnews.com/index.htm

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ashley Flowers, the host of CRIME JUNKIE, is on a PR tour to promote a novel that she worked on with another writer. As part of that, ELLE magazine just published a long article referring to her as “the Queen of True Crime.” To our surprise, the Murder Sheet was also mentioned in that article. 

The article gets into the history of crime junkie and it’s parent company Audiochuck, Flowers’s upbringing, and Flowers’ close relationship with Sarah Turney — a true crime podcaster who we’ll note has often weighed in publicly on ethical issues but has seemingly not spoken about the controversy around Flowers. Interesting given that she also sits on the board of Flowers’ nonprofit. 

It discusses a bit of the criticism we leveled at her for RED BALL. That podcast, you will recall, focused on the Burger Chef murders. As part of it, Bill Dalton of the Indiana State Police gave Flowers the exclusive right to monetize criminal investigative files that even the families of the victims are not permitted to see. We are quoted in the piece as calling the resulting programs badly written copaganda– we stand by that criticism but also note there were far worse ethical transgressions involved in the production of that program. 

In the same article, Flowers dismisses the plagiarism complaints against her. She says she did not use the work of other podcasters or paraphrase their words. She claims that “I didn’t take anyone’s work and make it my own.” 

We do not believe that to be true. But we thought it made sense to let you decide for yourself. So, as a bonus episode, we are re presenting an episode we originally released late last year which goes into considerable detail on the plagiarism charges Flowers tries to brush aside and the long lasting real world harm caused by the Bill Dalton/ RED BALL affair. It permanently affected the willingness of the Indiana State Police to use media to publicize cold cases– and cost at least one grieving family the opportunity to have the story of their loved one reach a natrional audience.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We have sources close to the Delphi investigation. We have also dug into public records to get a better sense of where the case is today. In this episode, we will share a few updates on where the Delphi investigation has been, and where it appears to be going.

This episode takes a break from our focus on restaurant homicides, and is part of our intermittent series of episodes on the Delphi case. If you have information on the Delphi murders, send your confidential tip to [email protected] or call 844-459-5786, 800-382-7537 or 765-564-2413.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sponsors:

Best Fiends Download your new favorite getaway, BEST FIENDS, for FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. You'll get $5 worth of in-game rewards when you reach Level 5. That’s friends, without the r—Best Fiends.

Everlywell Everlywell helps you find out what you need for a better tomorrow. Everlywell offers over 30 at home lab tests so you can find the one that can help you get the answers you need. For listeners of our show Everlywell is offering a special discount of twenty percent off an at home test at everlywell dot com slash msheet.

Dermawand Dermawand is the non surgical and non invasive way to make your skin look younger. Now you have the chance to plug Dermawand into your routine — you’ll also get a $100 value if you purchase, along with free shipping and free 30 day returns. Head to dermawand.com and enter promo MSHEET20 for a 20% discount on your order. That’s M-S-H-E-E-T-2-0 to get 20% off your order.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Researching and thinking about the Delphi case requires us all to think about dark subjects most people are not be familiar with– topics such as internet predators and child sexual abuse materials. We feel that it would help us all understand better what happened in Delphi back in 2017 if we were able to get more context in those areas. So we have decided to begin a series of interviews with experts who have spent their careers studying these matters in order to get the benefit of their knowledge. 

We are beginning this endeavor by talking with David Finkelhor. 

Dr. Finkelhor has been researching issues involving child victimization, child maltreatment and family violence since 1977– which is even before there was an internet. He is the Director of Crimes against Children Research Center, Co-Director of the Family Research Laboratory, Professor of Sociology, and University Professor, at the University of New Hampshire. 

At the end of the episode, we will have a few words about next Tuesday’s episode as well as a bit of news about the future of the Murder Sheet. 

Sponsors:

Best Fiends Download your new favorite getaway, BEST FIENDS, for FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. You'll get $5 worth of in-game rewards when you reach Level 5. That’s friends, without the r—Best Fiends.

Everlywell Everlywell helps you find out what you need for a better tomorrow. Everlywell offers over 30 at home lab tests so you can find the one that can help you get the answers you need. For listeners of our show Everlywell is offering a special discount of twenty percent off an at home test at everlywell dot com slash msheet.

Dermawand Dermawand is the non surgical and non invasive way to make your skin look younger. Now you have the chance to plug Dermawand into your routine — you’ll also get a $100 value if you purchase, along with free shipping and free 30 day returns. Head to dermawand.com and enter promo MSHEET20 for a 20% discount on your order. That’s M-S-H-E-E-T-2-0 to get 20% off your order.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s a lot they don’t tell you about the Hoosier State in school textbooks. In 1903, an incident at a tavern set off a chain of events that led to a race riot that convulsed the city of Evansville, Indiana.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sponsors:

Best Fiends Download your new favorite getaway, BEST FIENDS, for FREE today on the App Store or Google Play. You'll get $5 worth of in-game rewards when you reach Level 5. That’s friends, without the r—Best Fiends.

Everlywell Everlywell helps you find out what you need for a better tomorrow. Everlywell offers over 30 at home lab tests so you can find the one that can help you get the answers you need. For listeners of our show Everlywell is offering a special discount of twenty percent off an at home test at everlywell dot com slash msheet.

Dermawand Dermawand is the non surgical and non invasive way to make your skin look younger. Now you have the chance to plug Dermawand into your routine — you’ll also get a $100 value if you purchase, along with free shipping and free 30 day returns. Head to dermawand.com and enter promo MSHEET20 for a 20% discount on your order. That’s M-S-H-E-E-T-2-0 to get 20% off your order.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There is so much going on in the cases we cover we decided to do a special episode where we simply answer questions from our listeners.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The West Memphis Three case is back in the news again- thanks to the efforts of Damien Echols to try to get a piece of evidence DNA tested. Has the media ever given us the full story about this case?

To try to find out, we spoke with researcher Danni Cash, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of this complicated story. Danni is also one of the administrators of the West Memphis 3 discussion group on Facebook. You can find that group at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1031585231015872

In addition, Danni hosts the podcast 10601 Sabo, which covers a different case. You can find it at

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/10601-sabo/id1586602280

If you are interested in learning more about this case, you can find primary source documents at

http://callahan.mysite.com/index.html

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1955, a 14-year-old named Emmett Till was abducted in the middle of the night. He was tortured and brutally murdered. A jury acquitted two of his killers — J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant. No one was ever held accountable for this heinous murder.

In this episode, we'll speak to author Devery Anderson and journalist Jerry Mitchell about the case, and the latest developments in the quest to adjudicate the people responsible for Emmett Till's murder.

Check out Devery's book "Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement" here: https://www.amazon.com/Emmett-Till-Propelled-Movement-Rhetoric/dp/1496802845

Here's Jerry Mitchell's latest article on the efforts to prosecute Carolyn Bryant: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/14/opinion/heres-proof-against-carolyn-bryant-donham-emmett-till-case-is-it-enough-convict-her/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We’d like to extend a warm welcome to this episode’s sponsor, Dermawand!

Dermawand is a non-surgical, non-invasive device that’s been sold globally for two decades, to 3 million users.

This isn’t just another skincare device. It’s clinically proven that Dermawand can reduce the appearance of crow’s feet, under-eye puffiness, and smile lines.

Now you have the chance to plug Dermawand into your routine —Head to dermawand.com and enter promo MSHEET20 for a 20% discount on your order. That’s M-S-H-E-E-T-2-0 to get 20% off your order.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Throughout , we've received some tips on other men who worked at Indiana Chrysler plants: Flint Farmer, Jimmy Duvall, Michael French, and Tim Marchal. In this episode, we'll get into those other names, and why we think it is somewhat unlikely those cases are related to the Delphi murders.

This episode takes a break from our focus on restaurant homicides, and is part of our intermittent series of episodes on the Delphi case. If you have information on the Delphi murders, send your confidential tip to [email protected] or call 844-459-5786, 800-382-7537 or 765-564-2413.

If you or someone you know is facing domestic abuse, call the national hotline at 800-799-7233.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We’d like to extend a warm welcome to this episode’s sponsor, Dermawand!

Dermawand is a non-surgical, non-invasive device that’s been sold globally for two decades, to 3 million users.

This isn’t just another skincare device. It’s clinically proven that Dermawand can reduce the appearance of crow’s feet, under-eye puffiness, and smile lines.

Now you have the chance to plug Dermawand into your routine —Head to dermawand.com and enter promo MSHEET20 for a 20% discount on your order. That’s M-S-H-E-E-T-2-0 to get 20% off your order.

Follow the Murder Sheet on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

And send tips to [email protected].

The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.