Southern Fried True Crime

This week, we’re sharing an episode of Alphabet Boys. Alphabet Boys takes you inside secret investigations that the FBI, DEA, CIA, and other alphabet agencies never wanted the public to know about. These cases are both dangerous and absurd … and they raise a troubling question: Are America’s top cops catching criminals -- or creating them? In this episode, you’ll hear real audio from an illegal arms deal and meet our central character, who, despite being arrested, claims he works for the CIA. But does he? You’ll wonder: Who are the good guys? And who are the bad guys?

Listen to Alphabet Boys at https://link.chtbl.com/sftcalphabetboys

28-year-old Avis Banks was five months pregnant and exhausted. On the evening of Wednesday, November 29th of 2006, Avis was driving home after a long day at work. All she wanted to do was go home, kick off her shoes, and relax. But Avis would never see the inside of her home again. The moment Avis exited her car after parking it in her garage, she was brutally attacked.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Additional Writing by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley
Case recommended by Denita, Melissa and many others

Sources: http://southernfriedtruecrime.com/avis-banks

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Bonnie and Lieth Von Stein went to bed on a Sunday night in July 1988 content and looking forward to a new future. Hours later, Bonnie would wake to the sound of her husband’s screams and an intruder standing at the foot of her bed. She barely survived the attack herself and after a year of investigation, she would live through another horror when she learned who was responsible for destroying her life.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank & Erica Kelley
Additional research by Haley Gray
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley
Case recommended by Stephanie & Ainsley

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/lieth-von-stein

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• Take a break and lose yourself solving a mystery set in the roaring 20’s with June’s Journey.

On a hot Friday the 13th in June of 1980, Allan Gore was worried. He couldn't get a hold of his wife, Betty. For hours, he'd called her over and over. No answer. Betty always answered. She didn’t get out by herself, especially not with their two small daughters. She hated when he traveled--scared of being alone, so Allan was trying to check in to reassure her. Now he was starting to panic. He finally got his neighbors to get into his house. When he called back, he could never have been prepared for the staggering horror of what happened to his wife.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/candy-and-betty

This story has been requested numerous times literally since I started the show. I understand the fascination now. A real suburban axe murder. It sounds like fiction. So thank you most recently to Melody and Denise but also to everyone who has emailed me over the years. Y’all were right. This one was a doozy.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank & Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley

• This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/SOUTHERN and get on your way to being your best self.

For the Alday family, May 14th of 1973 started like any other day. The Alday men woke up before sunrise to tend to their family farm, and the Alday women began working on their chores. They plowed the field, planted corn, and ate lunch. Little did they know that, by the end of that afternoon, their lives would be irreparably changed forever. Six members of the Alday family dead. Their farm decimated. Their future destroyed. All because four dangerous men, three of whom were prison escapees, would accidentally stumble upon their modest home in rural Seminole County, Georgia.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Additional writing by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley
Case suggested by: Tommy, Sandra, Carrie, Terry & Jordie

Sources:https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/the-alday-family-massacre

• This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp online therapy. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/southern and get on your way to being your best self.
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In August of 1952, 43-year-old Ruby McCollum, a black woman, was two months pregnant. The father was a 48-year-old white politician named Dr. Clifford Leroy Adams, Jr. For seven years, Dr. Adams had manipulated, bullied, and raped Ruby. He forced her to bear one of his children already, and this unborn child would be the second. On Sunday, August 3rd, Ruby entered Dr. Adams’ medical practice for help with an ailing shoulder. But when Dr. Adams tried to force himself on Ruby once more, she snapped. And the State of Florida believed she should face the electric chair for it.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/ruby-mccollum

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Additional writing by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley
Case requested by Rachel, Tracy, and Danita

• This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp online therapy. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/southern and get on your way to being your best self.
• Customize the US’s best home security system for your home by going to SimpliSafe.com/southernfried. There’s no safe like SimpliSafe.
• It’s the 5 year anniversary of the podcast Morbid! Check out their special anniversary series wherever you get podcasts, or early and ad free on Amazon Music or the Wondery app.

On a Friday afternoon, Dr. Rick Lohstroh parked in his ex-wife Deborah Geisler’s driveway waiting to pick up his two sons. It had been a nasty custody battle and their ten year old son, Aaron, had turned completely against his father. Every pickup day was drama. This day it was worse, Deborah and the boys were running late after having to get her car towed and everyone was in a foul mood. While Deborah was helping her seven year old son, Kurt, tie his shoes, Aaron found his backpack and climbed into the back of his dad’s SUV, in the seat directly behind him. In his backpack was a loaded pistol he found in his mother’s closet. What happened next was an unimaginable tragedy.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/dr-rick-lohstroh

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Additional research and writing by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley

• This episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ SOUTHERN and get on your way to being your best self.”

In March 2007, 41-year-old Theresa spent the day moving boxes from her old house to her new apartment. The LaFayette, Georgia 911 dispatcher was leaving her husband. That evening, after seeing her sister, Theresa disappeared without a trace. And local law enforcement kept coming back to the same person: Theresa’s estranged husband, 52-year-old Sergeant Sam Parker of the LaFayette PD. Sam vehemently denied any involvement in Theresa’s disappearance. But he had also bragged for years about how he could kill someone and no one would ever find the body.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/theresa-parker

• US National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
• Canada: visit this website to find the hotline in your area
• UK Domestic Abuse Hotline: 0808 2000 247
• For resources in other countries, visit this website

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley

• This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp online therapy. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/southern and get on your way to being your best self.
• Give all the “moms” in your life a unique, heartfelt gift you’ll all cherish for years to come. Go to StoryWorth.com/southernfried and save $10 on your first purchase
• The Generation Why podcast has a new, special 4-part series about the horrific story of Kalief Browder. Follow them now on Amazon Music, The Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Just because the police can’t solve a murder doesn’t mean other people won’t find someone to blame. In season 4 of Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch, journalist Larrison Campbell returns to her Mississippi hometown to reexamine one of its most notorious unsolved cold cases – the murder of her grandmother, Presh. What happens when a family and a community suspect one of their own?

Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.

The pop culture of the Michael Peterson case is fascinating. There are many infamous true crime cases that create their own universe. The Peterson case was always going to be famous. But when Netflix bought the rights to Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s docu-series, The Staircase, Michael Peterson and his family were launched into the stratosphere. There were already books…but after Netflix reopened the saga, we have every form of media jumping on the Peterson bandwagon. Including a sitcom. Outside of South Park lampooning OJ Simpson, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a murder case inspiring a comedy show with the likes of John Lithgow starring. What does this say about us as a society? How far should “journalists” go to keep trying to get interviews years after the man served his time. How long should his children be chained to this case? I’m not saying I have the answers. I just think it’s interesting to ask these questions.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley
Source, “Death by Talons” by Tiddy Smith

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/the-pop-culture-of-the-michael-peterson-case

• This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp online therapy. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/southern and get on your way to being your best self.
• Stop throwing your money away. Cancel unwanted subscriptions – and manage your expenses the easy way – by going to RocketMoney.com/southernfried
• Protect your home with my favorite home security system. Go to SimpliSafe.com/southernfried There’s no safe like SimpliSafe.
• The Generation Why podcast has a new, special 4-part series about the horrific story of Kalief Browder. Follow them now on Amazon Music, The Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.