Talking True Crime

This week we tell the story of Reginald Adams, a man who spent many years in prison for a crime he did not commit. 

Sources:

Crimecon 2019: Framed, the Wrongful Conviction of Reginald Adams

Nola.com: Exoneration of Reginald Adams

National Registry of Exonerations

Law.umich.edu/special/exonerations/pages/about.aspx 

This week we stay local.  Episode 11 is about a serial killer who was caught in Chelmsford MA by the parents of a 15 yrs old girl he was trying to abduct from her bed at knife point.  Parental instincts save this young girl and who knows how many others had he not been caught.

Sources: 48 Hrs: Live to Tell; "Caught in the Act"- a book by Jeanie McDunough; Lowell Sun; Murderpedia; Pennlive.com online newspaper.

This week we talk about Larry Bittaker and Roy Norris a.k.a. The Toolbox Killers, a sadistic pair who met in jail.  Individually, their crimes where relatively minor in comparison to the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murders they would commit as a pair. This week we take you to the Pacific Coast Highway where the two found their victims.

Sourses:

Murderpedia.com, Parcast.com, Wicked Attraction, Serial Killer Encyclopedia

This weeks story takes us across the pond to Gloucester England to 25 Cromwell Street.   This is the story of Fred and Rosemary West, a husband and wife team who's brutality did not exclude their own children. Between 1967 and 1978 they would kill 12 women and girls.

Warning! This episode includes abuse, including rape, of children.

Thanks go out to Sara Reis in Texas for the 5-star review and to Jake English who did the new artwork for us.  Contact info for Jake is available upon request.

Sources: "My Life Amoung the Searial Killers" by Helen Morrison MD; Biography.com; Wikipedia.com; Rebecca Franks' article in The Chronicle.com; Northdevonjournal.com; Tom Davidson's arlicle in Mirror.co.uk

In their 8th episode, Cassandra & Jessica cover two Alabama ladies who loved their families to death.  First up is Nannie Doss, tune in and find out how she got the nickname The Giggling Granny. The second lady is Rhonda Bell Martin, her nickname, Arsenic Annie, says it all.  Tune in to learn about these two lovely ladies of the 30s & 40s. (pictured: Nannie Doss)

If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources: Murderpedia.org; findagrave.com; EncyclopediaofAlabama.com; "The Penalty is Death: US Newspaper Coverage of Woman's Executions" by Martin Shipman

Keith Hunter Jesperson was a serial killer, but he was also a long haul trucker. His job gave him the access he needed for these crimes. Learn about him, his crimes, and our suspicion of trucker in this episode of Talking True Crime.

 If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources: Murderpedia; murcurynews.com; Crime Stories; Findagrave.com; abcnews.go.com; "I" Creation of a Serial Killler by James Olsen; Dangerous Ground by M. William Phelps; Monster in my Family S1E1; True Crime Daily; The Evil Within; Big Book of Serial Killers.

June 2nd 2017, Jessica Johnson was found by a mail carrier tied by her neck to a mailbox.  Her death was ruled a suicide almost immediately and no investigation was ever done. Her family does not believe this is a suicide. This week we talk about the circumstances and suspicions that surround Jessica's death. The episode is shorter than some of our others but we are hoping the conversation continues via your comments and emails.

 If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources: Crime Watch Daily; WMC5 investigates; Huffpost; True Crime Garage; WMC5actionnews5.com

Crime Watch Daily Links : Please watch

(1) https://truecrimedaily.com/videos/0-ctjn5jw0/

(2) https://truecrimedaily.com/videos/0-ktjjmjr3/

(3) https://truecrimedaily.com/videos/0-78zohwrg/

(4) https://truecrimedaily.com/videos/0-1c54csgo/

Richard Speck was the seventh of eight children born to a poor family.  He had a relatively normal childhood until his father died when he was just 6yrs old. Richard's mother was remarried a year later to a drunken petty criminal.  Starting his life of crime committing petty offenses Richard would grow up to be best known for the gruesome murder of 8 student nurses in Chicago.

If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources: A&E documentary "Richard Speck"; Crime Stories, ChicagoTribune.com

Jim Jones was a cult leader who killed over 900 of his followers by convincing them to drink cyanide laced juice.  As a young kid Jim would preach to the other kids, as an adult he served as the pastor of The People's Temple, later, he transitioned into what Jessica calls a demagogue.  This is a tale of a true master of manipulation.

If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources: Sundance TV; History.com; PBS, Rollingstone.com; Brittanica.com; Biography.com; NYT.com; Jonestown Documentary -Jonestown Paradise Lost; and the podcasts Cult & True Crime Guys

The Weavers were a family who wanted to live off the land away from what they saw as a corrupt government. They wanted to be away form the public schools and the local churches and agencies who were making the rules.  Alone on the mountain top the only social activities happen to be picnics organized by the Aryon Nations who had a compound not far from the Weaver's cabin.  One bad decision on Randy's part threw his whole world upside down. Many lives were changed that day.

If you want to support the show please give a 5-star on Apple Podcast or Stitcher.  Thanks for listening.

Sources:

PBS Documentary American Experience; Britannica.com; The Guardian