Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.
-Margaret Atwood

Shana Grice was a bubbly teenager who worked as an office receptionist in Portslade in the summer of 2015. At the time, she was just 18, bright-eyed and full of promise. She was excited to be able to save money for the wedding she planned with her boyfriend of two years, Ashley.

Shana's co-worker Michael Lane, a 26-year-old mechanic was instantly smitten with Shana. Lane was eight years older than Shana, and she was quite flattered by this older guy’s attention. So, when Shana’s and Ashley’s relationship hit a rough patch, and the couple decided to “take a break,”  her relationship with Michael Lane went from flirtatious to something more physical.

After a three-month relationship with Michael, Shana decided she wanted to be with her high school sweetheart, Ashley, and broke off the relationship him. Michael, however, couldn’t abide by her decision and told a friend, “She’ll pay for what she’s done.”

Michael became obsessed with Shana and began stalking her. Shana was afraid and went to the police for help on five occasions. It seems her complaints fell on deaf ears.

Join us as we discuss, "She'll Pay: The Stalking and Murder of Shana Grice."

We will be in London at CrimeCon UK! Come see us! You can use our discount code OTCP10 for 10% off the ticket price!

Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vetesse of The Inky Pawprint
Producer Jesse Fyffe-Vetesse of The Inky Pawprint

Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex49297674
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shana_Grice
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-39363003
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/08/police-told-not-to-use-fines-in-stalking-cases-after-shana-grice
https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/murder-in-slow-motion-the-shana-grice-story/umc.cmc.3omacvuai5ho5g7uzu3lq7ep4
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/news/civil-liberties/the-murder-of-shana-grice-why-police-attitudes-must-change
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sarah_Everardh
ttps://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/sarah-everard-what-happened-wayne-couzens-report-b2504551.html

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It was a cold November evening on the 26th, 2004, in Van Buren, Missouri, when the events that would soon unravel in the small, unsuspecting town began to take shape. Two men, Lance Shockley and his sister-in-law’s fiancé, Jeffrey Bayless, embarked on an innocent enough drive in Bayless' truck. But as they made their way, something went wrong. Under Shockley’s control, the vehicle careened off the road, plunging into a ditch. But it wasn’t the crash that would raise the most questions—it was what happened afterward that would haunt everyone involved. As the investigation unfolded under Highway Patrol Sergeant Carl DeWayne Graham, Jr., the small town would see another person lose their life. Join Jen and Cam on this Our True Crime Podcast episode entitled, ‘Officer Down: The Execution of Sergeant Carl D. "Dewayne" Graham.’


Listener Discretion by @OctoberpodVHS

All Music is by our Editor @theinkypawprint

Sources: 
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/mo-supreme-court/1641767.html

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-8599/48167/20180524163117353_2018-05-23%20-%20Shockley%20BIO%20-%20FINAL.pdf

https://notes.mshp.dps.mo.gov/si01/si01p001.nsf/035631d21d12b3ca8625729800536894/f2437dc3b16326358625726d006c4fe8?OpenDocument

https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/state-v-shockley-no-899789387

https://www.kfvs12.com/story/10410825/lance-shockley-sentenced-to-death/

https://www.dexterstatesman.com/story/1993757.html

https://missouritrooper.com/sergeant_carl_d_dewayne_graha.php

https://www.kait8.com/story/10074122/prosecutions-witnesses-testify-about-guns-at-trooper-murder-trial/

https://notes.mshp.dps.mo.gov/si01/si01p001.nsf/9c752498db6706a18625729800536890/93f4fb63106cf0a1862575be00749277?OpenDocument

https://www.kansas.com/news/article1005976.html

http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2008/09/delay-again-in-lance-shockleys-murder.html

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Man-who-killed-Missouri-trooper-loses-appeal-433906243.html

https://ktvo.com/news/local/conviction-upheld-for-man-convicted-of-killing-missouri-trooper

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Missouri-Supreme-Court-upholds-conviction-for-Ozarks-man-in-death-of-trooper-508656111.html

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Sam and Margaret Kastanis met while playing in a band and were married in 1987. When the children came along, they quit the band to focus on family. Margaret said that even after a decade of marriage, she still often had butterflies in her stomach when she looked at her husband.  The couple had three beautiful children: Melissa, 11, Clinton, 9, and Christine, 6. The neighbors described the family as idyllic.

Margaret became severely ill with the Epstein-Barr virus and had been out of commission for more than a month. Sam eventually had to take time off from work to stay home with her and the children because she had no energy to care for them. By November 17th, 1991, Sam had been off work for several weeks, and Margaret was frustrated she wasn't getting better.

The couple recently put their house up for sale and received a bid. Now, it looked like they would be moving and buying a bigger and better house during the holiday season, yet Margaret was still not fully recovered. Add to this the fact that Margaret had made friends with a mentally unstable woman in the neighborhood and that she, too, had recently shown signs of paranoia. It became evident to some that the Kastanis family was beginning to unravel.

But nobody who knew the couple could have known that four of the five members of the Kastanis family would never make it to Thanksgiving. A tragedy of epic proportions was about to unfold in the upscale suburb of Salt Lake City. 

Join Jen and Cam as they discuss "Snapped: The Kastanis Family Murders."

Cam and Jen will be in London at CrimeCon UK! Come see us! You can use our discount code OTCP10 for 10% off ticket price!

A HUGE shoutout to Newspapers.com! They have been our resource and we've relied on them since we started in 2018.


Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vetesse of The Inky Pawprint
Producer Jesse Fyffe-Vetesse of The Inky Pawprint

Sources:
https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/kastanismargaret.htm 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613665361/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613664961/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613664417/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613664128/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613666265/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/469680036/?match=1&terms=Kastanis
https://www.newspapers.com/image/613665851/?match=1&terms=Kastanis

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Listener warning: this case is extremely disturbing. 

It is our final day of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. In May 1981, on the outskirts of Chicago, a hotel maid went to work like she did every day. For the most part, the day was uneventful, except when she noticed a horrible smell. The Moonlit Hotel wasn’t exactly a five-star place to stay. It was known as a place for drug deals and quick sex. Even so, the maid had never noticed a smell like this before. This was something new. And all day long, she tried to find the source of the stench but never found it. She returned to work the next day, and the smell was even worse.  It is a medical fact that women have a better sense of smell than men. They are also better at identifying a specific odor. And what the maid smelled that day was death. Her gut told her that something was dead on the hotel premises, but no matter how much she looked for the source, she couldn’t find it. The stench was making it almost impossible to work. Finally, she went to the hotel manager, who said that, yeah, now that she mentioned it, he smelled something, too. She told him that she’d already checked all the rooms, so the manager began to search the grounds. The manager came upon a gruesome discovery in an empty field behind the hotel. This would not be the final victim, but the biggest shock was yet to come. 

Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled ‘The Personification of Evil: The Chicago Ripper Crew.’


A huge thank you to Sleep Creme for sponsoring this episode. Order your bottle today at sleepcreme.com. Use the code OTCPODCAST at checkout to save twenty bucks on the first order! 

Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint

Sources:
https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-ripper-crew-satanic-murderers-thomas-kokoraleis

https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1989/65229-7.html

https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ripper_Crew

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/29/ripper-crew-killer-thomas-kokoraleis-paroled-after-37-years-prison/3308889002/

https://www.cracked.com/article_35559_the-ripper-crew-the-scariest-cult-youve-never-heard-of.html

https://mail.murderpedia.org/male.G/g/gecht-robin.htm

https://www.newspapers.com/image/387761257/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20

https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816419/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20

https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816597/

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Here is day 11 of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. After the American Civil War, the U.S. government decided it would be delightful to shuffle the Osage Indians from Labette County, Kansas, to what would soon be the state of Oklahoma—because who doesn’t love a good game of human chess? As they cleared the land, they rolled out the red carpet for homesteaders, luring them in with shiny promises of opportunity. By October 1870, five families of spiritualists—because obviously, that’s who you want on the frontier—decided to stake their claim on this “untamed paradise.” As noted by the proclamation issued on May 17, 1873, this was far from paradise for many travelers. Several atrocious murders have been recently committed in Labette County, Kansas.

Join Jen and Cam on this episode entitled ‘Trail of Terror: The Bloody Benders and Their House of Death.’

Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS

All music by our executive producer and editor @theinkypawprint

Sources:
https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/10/bloody-benders/

https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/bloody-benders

https://www.kctv5.com/2024/07/04/kansas-bloody-benders-digging-clues-century-old-murders/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/

https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/ku-researchers-dig-deeper-into-the-bloody-benders-site/

https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/true-crime-in-kansas-the-mystery-of-the-benders

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sale-kansas-land-where-bloody-benders-committed-their-crimes-180974121/


https://open.spotify.com/episode/13godpkiaP4Ile72PYAIL5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders

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We are on day ten of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On a freezing cold night in December of 1977, two women in their mid-thirties were leaving the Forker’s Café at 64 Union Street in Newark, Ohio. At 2:30 a.m., Joyce Vermillion, a barmaid at the café, and Karen Dodrill (dod-rill), a patron and friend of Joyce’s, were preparing to call it a night. Karen had been out celebrating her birthday and had offered to give her friend Joyce a ride home. Since it was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, Karen went out to warm up her car first and was headed back into the bar when she was gunned down by a person waiting in the bushes.  Since there was a homemade silencer on the gun, Joyce had no warning of any danger and walked out of the building and was shot and killed as well. (Some sources say they were walking across the parking lot when they were gunned down.) When Joyce failed to return home from work, her husband notified the police. No one knew that there was not just one killer at work; there were two, and they were related.

Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast as we discuss ‘Ohio's 22 Caliber Killers: The Lewingdon Brothers.’


Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_and_Thaddeus_Lewingdon

https://mail.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/partners/lewingdon_bros/4.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325368/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill

https://www.newspapers.com/image/288325794/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill

https://www.newspapers.com/image/288326901/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill

https://www.newspapers.com/image/288331767/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrill

https://www.newspapers.com/image/989648304/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22

https://www.newspapers.com/image/601876460/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22

https://www.newspapers.com/image/844598598/?match=1&terms=Robert%20Mickey%20McCann

https://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Jones

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It is day 9 of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On a sweltering June 26, 1957, Margaret Harold, a vibrant young woman, and her boyfriend, a U.S. Army sergeant, were enjoying a rare weekend getaway. As they were making their way, a green Chrysler came barreling toward them. Without warning, the car swerved, forcing them off the road. The driver, a tall, dark-haired man, stepped out with a sinister calmness. He approached their vehicle with a wicked look in his eyes. The stranger demanded that they roll down their window as he brandished a nickel-plated .38 revolver. At first, the man demanded money and then cigarettes. When the couple did not have anything to give him, he shot Margaret point-blank in the face. The horrified soldier, paralyzed by shock, fled the scene, racing through the rural fields that surrounded him. Finally, he reached a farmhouse, where he managed to call the police, relaying the horror he had just witnessed. The sergeant provided a clear description of the man who had attacked them—a man with an average build and somewhat tall stature, marked by dark hair and a clean-shaven face. Before police could find the stranger, he would do a lot more damage. 

Join Cam and Jen on this episode entitled “The Sex Beast: Melvin Rees.”

Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS

All music is by our executive producer and editor @theinkypawprint

Sources:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-serial-killer-preys-upon-a-woman-out-for-a-drive

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/193/849/1733703/

https://www.facebook.com/baileysarian1/videos/the-chilling-story-of-melvin-rees/1122503025475063/

https://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rees-melvin.htm

https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/melvin_rees/13.html

https://www.sharda.ac.in/apply/ed/4c000655-Ay9X2VWw1xs.html

https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/melvin_rees/12.html

https://www.tamucc.edu/online/video/video-kMVK9ybIbWB.html

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It is day eight of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. At 5:45 a.m. on May 12, 2005, Michael Ross woke up and got out of bed as usual. It was a partly cloudy morning in Somers, Connecticut, and the day would be warm and pleasant. At 6:00 a.m., Michael had oatmeal for breakfast, then watched television and read the newspaper. After reading for a while, he received communion from a Catholic priest. The day was going well—pretty typical for him, actually. He visited with family and friends in the afternoon for a few hours. The only thing unusual about Michael’s dinner of turkey a la king, rice, fruit, mixed vegetables, and white bread was that it would be his last because, a few hours later, Michael Ross was executed by the state of Connecticut. It was the first execution in the state of Connecticut since Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky was electrocuted in 1960. 

Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled 'The Roadside Strangler: Michael Bruce Ross.'



Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint

Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAMXqN0Eaw (If you watch or listen to one thing on Michael Ross, watch this one. It's the one Jen spoke about.)

https://murderpedia.org/male.R/r1/ross-michael.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bruce_Ross

https://www.newspapers.com/image/972592729/?
match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20

https://www.newspapers.com/image/254927798/?match=1&terms=1.%09Dzung%20Ngoc%20Tu%20

https://web.archive.org/web/20050616003937/

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7144278/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175726038/dzung-ngoc-tuhttps://magazine.nd.edu/stories/my-name-is-michael-ross/ (in his own words)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/490184513/?
match=1&terms=%22Paula%20Perrera%22

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As we start this episode, it is day seven of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On Sunday, February 16, 1997, around 9:45 to 10:00 a.m., an employee arrived at Captain D’s restaurant on Lebanon Road in Donelson, Tennessee, ready to start another routine day. But as he approached the establishment, an unsettling sight greeted him: the doors were firmly locked, which should not have been the case since two other employees were scheduled to open earlier.  He went to a neighboring restaurant to call Captain D’s, and when he received a busy signal, he felt relief. After a few minutes, he tried again, but the phone continued to ring this time. He knew something was wrong. Concerned for his colleagues, he contacted another employee whose father served as a Metro police officer. When the employee’s father arrived at the scene, they entered the restaurant between 11 a.m. and noon. What they found was shocking.  In an instant, the routine of a Sunday morning was replaced by an unspeakable tragedy, and the community would soon grapple with the aftermath of this horrific crime. Sadly, this was just the beginning. 

Join Cam and Jen of Our True Crime Podcast on the episode “The Fast Food Murders: Paul Reid.”

Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS

All music is by our editor and executive producer @theinkypawprint

Sources:
https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/court-of-criminal-appeals/2001/m1999-00803-cca-r3-dd.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/paul-dennis-reid-never-confessed-230942209.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/serialkillers/comments/s8rviv/does_anyone_on_here_know_about_paul_dennis_reid/

https://www.tba.org/journal/the-murders-of-paul-dennis-reid-jr

https://web.archive.org/web/20060616222357/http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3867

https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/nashville-serial-killer-paul-dennis-reid

https://web.archive.org/web/20070127141638/http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_98859.asp

https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/convicted-mass-murderer-paul-dennis-reid-pronounced-dead/article_782aac80-7223-594f-b2ac-be4105f56968.html

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/320079/s02-e05-the-fast-food-killer

https://web.archive.org/web/20110527105333/http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/4809806.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY22n_y5Msg

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/tennessee-mass-murderer-paul-dennis-reid-dead/51-95431900

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It is day six of our 12 Nightmares Before Christmas, and we are headed to Germany. After World War II, Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones, with the Soviet Union controlling East Germany and East Berlin, while the United States, France, and the U.K. managed Western Germany and West Berlin. By 1949, Europe had transformed dramatically, symbolized by the creation of two Germanies. Initially, movement between the two regions was unrestricted, but as East Germans fled westward in droves, the border was sealed in 1961, culminating in the Berlin Wall, a defining emblem of the Cold War.  In Plauen, East Germany, young Volker Eckert grew up in a Communist city near the Czech border. As a child, Volker developed a fixation on hair, playing with his sister’s dolls and mother’s wigs, which sparked sexual fantasies he kept secret. By age 14, his obsession with hair escalated into violence. On May 7, 1974, he strangled his classmate Sylvia Unterdörfel in her home under the pretense of needing help with homework, driven by an uncontrollable urge to feel her hair. Fearing exposure, he killed her and staged her death as a suicide. Sadly, Sylvia would not be his only victim. In fact, there would be many more.

 Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled ‘The Polaroid Killer: Volker Eckert.’

A huge thank you to Sleep Creme for sponsoring this episode. Order your bottle today at sleepcreme.com. Use the code OTCPODCAST at checkout to save twenty bucks on the first order! 

Thank you to our team:
Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AM
Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Pawprint


Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8BLkEZ7zk0&ab_channel=Mia%27sRealityChannel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volker_Eckert

https://murderpedia.org/male.E/e/eckert-volker.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/07/crime

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/01/germany.gilestremlett

https://web.archive.org/web/20120103001441/

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_11264.shtml#ixzz5TG24bAlw

https://www.novinite.com/articles/73211/Bulgarian+Victim+of+German+Sex+Killer+was+Pregnant

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/nov/23/germany.gilestremlett

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

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