Shear Crime Podcast

On this week’s Minne-sode, Ame shares the case of the murder of 19-year-old Katie Poirier of Moose Lake, MN. Katie was working at a gas station in her small town late at night when a man comes in and forces her out of the store. Video surveillance shows her grabbing at her throat which makes police think she may have had something tied around her neck. The video was clear enough to give a decent description of the suspect including what he’d been wearing. An eye witness saw a vehicle and was even able to give a partial plate to investigators. Very soon, a man by the name of Donald Blom is identified and his very dark past is arrested while driving home from a camping trip and his property is searched for human remains, but a fire pit on the property did reveal a human tooth and bone fragments. Shortly after, he confesses to abducting Katie, strangling her, and burning her body on his property. 

On this week’s episode, Ame and Kenzie share the story of the murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers as told by the series Killer Cases on Hulu. Dr. Sievers was a beloved wife, mother, and holistic family physician with her own successful practice in sunny Florida. After returning home from a trip to Connecticut to visit family and celebrate her mother’s birthday, she is met by two men lying in wait inside of her home. The next morning, prompted by her not showing up for work, her neighbor comes upon her brutally murdered body on the floor of her kitchen, with a blood covered hammer nearby. With little to no evidence left behind, the case looks like it may be impossible to solve. But a phone call on a tip line lead police to a small town in Missouri and points the finger at two career criminals as the ones responsible for her death. It doesn’t take long, however, for a trail to appear that links these men as being lifelong friends with Dr. Sievers husband, Mark. Now looking like a murder-for-hire job, investigators scramble for evidence and prosecutors use testimony from one of the convicted killers to charge Mark for being the brains behind the whole operation. Will they have enough proof to put him away? 

On this week’s episode, Kenzie and Ame cover another installment in the series The Killer Speaks. Robert Lopez was a career criminal with a terrible temper. This internal anger mixed with a low self esteem was a dangerous mixture for anyone who got on his bad side. Unfortunately, the ones to find that out were his much younger girlfriends, Libby Williams and Brandi Bernard. At the age of 22, Lopez attacked Libby with a knife when she tried to end their relationship, permanently scarring her face and barely leaving her alive. He’d go to prison and serve many years after pleading to a lesser charge only to be released and free to find his next victim. Lopez soon fell in love with a 19-year-old Brandi, and after some time they learned she was pregnant. Unable to believe the baby was his or the knowledge that he would have to share her affection, he began a downward spiral of abuse and anger. When he could handle no more, he attacked the young girl with a hammer in their home, making sure to finish the job this time.

On this week’s episode, Ame and Kenzie cover another installment in the series Accused: Guilty or Innocent. Danita Tutt was a wife and mother in Texas who spent many days and hours in the hospital caring for their son Colby, who had been born 3 months prematurely and had a laundry list of health issues because of that. As Colby grew up, numerous surgeries and interventions were done to help assist his GI tract with consuming food and eliminating waste properly. At one point, however, Danita and her family are told that there was no more that could be done for the 13 year old boy and that hospice was the best option for him. Stunned and heartbroken, the family tried their best to follow the instructions of hospice nurse Connie, who helped take care of the child in what was supposed to be his final days. But when Colby seems to get better, suddenly fingers are pointed at Danita and she is accused of deliberately starving her son and coercing surgeons into performing unnecessary operations on him. Could this mother have been silently planning the demise of her own child, or were the people in charge of his medical needs painting a picture of a mentally ill mother with evil in her veins?

On this week’s Minnesota based episode, Kenzie shares the story of the murder of Haile Kifer and Nicholas Brady. In 2012 on Thanksgiving in Little Falls, the two cousins decided to break into the home of Byron Smith, a 65-year-old recluse. With a background in the state department, he was trained and always on alert. He began wearing a holster with a gun on himself even at home due to having his home burglarized over a half dozen times in the months leading up to this day. After installing security cameras in his home and on his property, he identified Haile and Nicholas as being repeat offenders to some of the recent burglaries. Having had enough, Byron would go on to set a trap for the teenagers that would end in both of them being shot, at point blank range, inside his home that November day. 

On this week's episode, Kenzie and Ame cover the case of Todd Mullis in the series Killer Cases on Hulu. Todd and his wife Amy lived in and operated a hog farm in rural Iowa along with their three children. What looked like a happy marriage to the family, was known otherwise as toxic by the small town gossip. Amy had been involved in more than one extra marital affair, while Todd was said to be quite a violent and scary man. One mid-November day, Todd and their eldest son Trysten were working in a barn while Amy was in their red shed about 100 yards away. Unfortunately, that would be the day that 13-year-old Trysten would find his mother with a corn rake in her back, clinging to life. A 911 call and a frantic ride to the hospital wouldn't be enough to save her life. But investigators would soon question the explanation of a freak farm accident when the autopsy reveals six puncture wounds from a four pronged rake. Was a jealous lover to blame, or is it always the husband?

On this week's episode, Ame and Kenzie cover the story of Maksim Gelman from the A&E series The Killer Speaks. At 23-years-old, Max, who went by Wes on the streets, was a cocaine dealing and PCP using character with visions of grandeur. One day in early February 2011, the chronic drug use caught up with him in the form of paranoia as he's convinced himself that the feds were onto his dealings and after him. In an attempt to flee Brooklyn, he winds up at his mother's house in search of his passport. A confrontation with his stepfather that morning would change the course of his life as Max would go on to stab the man 55 times, his mother bearing witness to it all, leaving Gelman on the run. That would be the beginning of a 28-hour anger and revenge spree that would leave 4 people dead and another 4 people injured, some clinging to life. An all points bulletin goes out over the city of New York for the man the media has dubbed 'Mad Max'. After he's arrested, many wonder if the lack of remorse was due to the anger inside of him, or was this truly the work of an insane mad man?

On this week's episode, Kenzie and Ame share the story of Bryan Lawson, a man who shot and killed his wife in their small apartment. The A&E series Accused: Guilty or Innocent follows those convicted of crimes that aren't so black and white. Bryan could have had the book thrown at him without a blink of an eye had it not been for the indoor surveillance cameras the couple had installed that caught the entire event on tape. Domestic violence can come in many shapes and sizes, and with the help of his defense team, Bryan works to build a case showing his actions that day against wife Chandra were warranted. Video tape of just before the fatal shooting clearly displays his wife physically assaulting him and berating him while their small child is in the back room. Will this be enough to convince a judge that he did it in fear for his life, or did he set the whole thing up to look innocent?

What have we been up to, you ask? Or maybe you didn't...either way, we are throwing in this bonus episode to give you the details of the major events that occurred in the month of August: the birth of Gabriel, and the incredible trip to Ireland! While true crime is our favorite subject to cover, sometimes we like to release a show without the darkness to remind everyone that life is beautiful and has many things to be grateful for!

This week, Ame and Kenzie cover the brand new documentary Vanessa Guillen: Remember Her Name. Vanessa was a 20-year-old United States Army soldier who was brutally murdered inside Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas on April 22, 2020. After having been missing for over 2 months (with little help from the military) her family, friends, and the community take charge and lead a search that would ultimately end in her remains being found in a horrific method of disposal. But it wasn't long after her disappearance that a lone suspect was identified and put on 24/7 watch. Specialist Aaron Robinson knew he was cornered the moment her body was discovered and he fled the base with authorities on his tail, which ended in him taking his own life. Any answers we would have had died that day along with Robinson. Vanessa's family would go on to demand change in the military and how situations of sexual harassment and assault are handled by the government we entrust our soldier's lives with. The bright light in this story shines upon an immigrant family who fought hard and has since forced the spotlight on these issues within our United States Military.