The Misery Machine

This week, Drewby and Yergy shift gears to a local case that has haunted the community of Jay, Maine for 3 decades - one that we hope will soon be solved so that she can be laid to rest and her family can have some long deserved closure. This week we are discussing the disappearance of Kimberly Moreau.

Kim Moreau was a beautiful 17 year old girl that went missing from the small mill town of Jay, ME after skipping her junior prom following a fight with her then boyfriend. It is alleged that she spent the day with a friend and two 25 year old men joyriding in a white Trans AM, although the events of May 10th and 11th, 1986 unclear and subject to wide rumor and speculation.

Kim's family has never given up hope - handling much of the investigative legwork themselves after local and state police proved to be grossly negligent in the handling of Kim's case. There was been many extensive searches in recent years, and police allege that of all of the missing person cases in the state, Kim's case is the one in which they receive the most frequent tips, even after 3 decades. 

We discuss the background of Kim's case - discussing Kim as a person, and providing  details in to what is alleged to have happened during the day she disappeared. We also discuss some of the more recent searches, some of the theories of what happened to her, and delve into the backgrounds of the folks tied to her disappearance. 

Maine State Police: (207) 743-8282

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: https://www.missingkids.org/

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Source Material:

https://www.centralmaine.com/2015/08/06/police-renew-search-in-1986-kimberly-moreau-cold-case-2/

https://wgme.com/news/local/police-find-no-sign-of-kimberly-moreau-under-livermore-farm-stand

https://wgme.com/news/local/34-years-later-family-still-searching-for-kimberly-kim-moreau-who-went-missing-at-17

https://www.facebook.com/groups/403335559702829

https://www.facebook.com/Finding-Kimberly-2240297219619943

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQMqtDLDBkQ&t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNeAs2dDxM

As Suicide Prevention Month comes to a close, Yergy and Drewby discuss the life and death of Ian Curtis, who was an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division and recorded two albums with the group: Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). Curtis was known for his bass-baritone voice, dance style, and songwriting typically filled with imagery of desolation, emptiness, and alienation.

Curtis suffered from severe epilepsy and depression and took his own life on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour and shortly before the release of Closer. While there are some different theories as to why Curtis did it, the general consensus is because of his severely compromised quality of life due to his largely uncontrolled epilepsy. Unfortunately, the advancements of modern medicine had not yet caught up when Curtis was alive, and because of this, medication was virtually no help to him. His death lead to the band's dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order. 

We discuss our own personal struggles with chronic health conditions and the failure of the for-profit health care system in the United States - and how dealing with illness and medical debt can lead to hopelessness and despair, and ultimately suicide in some cases. 

Suicide Hotlines Worldwide: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

LGBTQ+ Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/lgbtq/

Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

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#podcast #documentary #truecrime #suicideawareness #suicideawarenessmonth #mentalhealth

Source Material:

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

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

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ian-curtis-of-joy-division-commits-suicide

In keeping up with Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Drewby and Yergy delve into the case of Robert Budd Dwyer, an American politician who served as the 30th State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served from 1965 to 1971 as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and from 1971 to 1981 as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the state's 50th district. Dwyer then served as the 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania from January 20, 1981, to January 22, 1987, when he died due to committing suicide during a live press conference.

In the early 1980s, Pennsylvania discovered its state workers had overpaid federal taxes due to errors in state withholding prior to Dwyer's administration. A multi-million-dollar recovery contract was required to determine the compensation to be given to each employee. In 1986, Dwyer was convicted for accepting a bribe from the California firm that won the contract. He was found guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, perjury, and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and was scheduled to be sentenced on January 23, 1987. On January 22, Dwyer called a news conference in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg where he fatally shot himself with a .357 Magnum revolver in front of reporters. Dwyer's suicide  was broadcast later that day to a wide television audience across Pennsylvania, including children that were home from school due to a severe snowstorm.

Throughout Dwyer's trial and after his conviction, Dwyer maintained that he was not guilty of the charges for which he was convicted, and that his conviction resulted from political persecution. Former U.S. Attorney James West, who prosecuted Dwyer, affirmed Dwyer's guilt, stating that "the evidence against Dwyer was overwhelming and indisputable". All posthumous appeals made by Dwyer's lawyers on Dwyer's behalf were denied, and his convictions were upheld.

In 2010, Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer, a feature documentary about R. Budd Dwyer’s life and the tragedy of his suicide, premiered at the Carmel Art and Film Festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with the Dwyer family in attendance. In the documentary, William T. Smith, a former chairman of the Dauphin County Republican Committee and one of the key trial witnesses in Dwyer’s conviction, admits that he lied under oath at his own trial about never offering Dwyer a bribe in hopes of reducing his own sentence and to spare his wife from being prosecuted for her role in the conspiracy. He expressed his regret for lying and the role it played in R. Budd Dwyer’s public suicide.

Although these revelations suggest that Dwyer may not have gotten justice, he did at least secure his family’s future. Since Dwyer died while still in office, his widow, Joanne, was able to collect full survivor benefits that totaled more than $1.28 million. Many close to Dwyer feel that he may have committed suicide to preserve the state-provided pension for his family, whose finances had been ruined by legal defense costs.

Suicide Hotlines Worldwide: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

LGBTQ+ Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/lgbtq/

Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

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Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM

#podcast #documentary #truecrime #suicideawareness #suicideawarenessmonth #mentalhealth

Source Material:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer

https://allthatsinteresting.com/r-budd-dwyer

https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Man-Life-R-Budd-Dwyer/dp/B006I9PO2G

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Suicide Hotlines Worldwide: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

LGBTQ+ Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/lgbtq/

Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1

Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM

#podcast #documentary #truecrime #suicideawareness #suicideawarenessmonth #mentalhealth

Links about suicide during COVID-19:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/202006/are-we-facing-post-covid-19-suicide-epidemic?fbclid=IwAR2On_sPyZjj5C0pdfTqo-HkB3axBqmrAqOwoVsfRNuSVJtl4ZfLlqD-GHs

https://www.psycom.net/covid-19-suicide-rates?fbclid=IwAR2On_sPyZjj5C0pdfTqo-HkB3axBqmrAqOwoVsfRNuSVJtl4ZfLlqD-GHs

Happy Labor Day!

Dennis Andrew Nilsen was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London, England. Convicted of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder, Nilsen was sentenced to life imprisonment on November 4th, 1983, with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 25 years. 

All of Nilsen's murders were committed in the two North London addresses in which he resided between 1978 and 1983. His victims would be lured to these addresses and killed by strangulation, sometimes accompanied by drowning. Following each murder, Nilsen would observe a ritual in which he bathed and dressed the victim's body, which he retained for extended periods of time, before dissecting and disposing of the remains by burning on a bonfire or flushing down the toilet. He died in prison on May 12, 2018 of a pulmonary embolism and retro-peritoneal hemorrhage.

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Source Material:

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

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-tennant-on-playing-dennis-nilsen-the-making-of-a-murderer-0mh8bwz2b

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/dennis-nilsen

https://murderpedia.org/male.N/n/nilsen-dennis.htm

This week, Drewby and Yergy review the mysterious case of Gloria Ramirez, a cervical cancer victim, whose brief but dramatic emergency room stay  in Riverside, California and untimely death baffled the medical community in the mid 90's due to medical workers falling very ill just by being in the presence of her and her body, prompting concern that her body had turned into a chemical weapon, and this was further highlighted as a possibility due to her alleged self-administration of Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Later the county health department attempted to make the claim that the whole thing was simply a case of mass hysteria, as many of the workers who fell ill were women. The case was further complicated due to multiple autopsies with the majority done after her body had already badly decomposed. Several conspiracy theories have since arisen.

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Source Material:

https://www.rxlist.com/dmso_dimethylsulfoxide/supplements.htm

Due popular demand by our viewers, we recount the tragic death of Kelly Anne Bates - an English teenager who was murdered in Manchester, England at the age of 17 by her abuser and live in partner, James Patterson Smith, who was roughly 30 years her senior. She was tortured by him over a period of four weeks, including having her eyes gouged from their sockets up to three weeks before her death, before being bludgeoned over the head and drowned in a bathtub.

The murder inquiry was headed by Detective Sergeant Joseph Monaghan of Greater Manchester Police, who said: "I have been in the police force for 15 years and have never seen a case as horrific as this." William Lawler, the pathologist who examined Bates' body, described her injuries as the worst he had seen on a murder victim. 

Smith, with a history of violence and torture against former partners, denied murdering Bates but was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on 19 November 1997.

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Source Material:

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

https://www.manchestersfinest.com/articles/manchesters-vilest-murder-kelly-anne-bates/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kelly-anne-bates-james-patterson-smith

https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/smith-james-patterson.htm

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the tragic death of Kendrick Johnson, conspiracy theories related to his untimely death, the gross mishandling of his case at the hands of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and how the legal system has yet again failed a person of color.

On January 11, 2013, the body of Kendrick Johnson  was discovered inside a vertical, rolled-up mat in the gymnasium of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, GA where he was a student. KJ, as he was known by family and friends, was described him as a sweet and quiet boy. He was a three-sport athlete and dreamed of one day playing professional football.

A preliminary investigation and autopsy concluded that his death was accidental, and was classified as "positional asphyxia" or that he suffocated as a result of being stuck upside-down in an enclosed space for an extended period of time. Johnson's family had a private pathologist conduct a second autopsy (and years later, a third) which concluded that Johnson died from blunt force trauma, which was allegedly inflicted by means of a 45lb weight or dumbbell, according to many accounts.

Also discovered during the second autopsy was the fact that Kendrick's body lacked internal organs, and that his body cavity had been stuffed with newspapers during the embalming process. The absence of his organs raised questions pointing at a cover up at the hands of the coroner that handled the initial autopsy, and sparked conspiracy theories regarding organ harvesting and trafficking. Kendrick's family sued the funeral home, but the case was subsequently dropped as nothing technically illegal had occurred. 

On October 31, 2013, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced that his office would open a formal review into Johnson's death. On June 20, 2016, the US Department of Justice announced that it would not be filing any criminal charges related to Johnson's death. Kendrick Johnson's family filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against 38 individuals. The lawsuit alleged that Johnson's death was a murder and accused the respondents of a conspiracy to cover up the homicide, which involved two sons of an FBI agent.

Johnson’s father, however, admitted that he had no hard evidence to back up any of these claims and the Johnsons had to drop the suit. They were sued for more than $850,000 in attorney fees and more than one million in defamation charges. They were ultimately ordered by a judge to pay close to $300,000 worth of lawyers’ fees to those they had accused with no evidence.

Drewby and Yergy also touch on the racial elements of this case, and discuss whether or not the case would have been handled differently if Kendrick would have been a white student.

Links to the Petitions To Reopen the Case: https://www.change.org/p/united-states-supreme-court-justice-for-kendrick-johnson, https://www.change.org/p/gbi-justice-for-kendrick-johnson & https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/kendrick-johnson-petition

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#podcast #documentary #truecrime #justice4kendrick #blm

Source Material:

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

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kendrick-johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9_n9vXz_LM&t

This week, Drewby and Yergy dive into a YouTube listener suggested case - thank you so much Chiffon for your suggestion!

The medical examiner's report found Jenkins' death to be accidental. Alcohol and Topiramate found in her system were thought to have hastened the effects of hypothermia sustained by Jenkins remaining inside the freezer. While the Rosemont police department did not suspect foul play, they stated that their investigation was incomplete. Jenkins' family and friends criticized the initial police response, and a lawsuit was subsequently filed against the hotel and others.

The case was also rife with conspiracy theories, many pointing fingers at several of Kenneka's friends, with one of the more outrageous theories claiming that Kenneka was murdered in order to provide Selena Gomez with one of her kidneys.

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Source Material:

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-kenneka-jenkins-hotel-death-anniversary-20180906-story.html

As we've talked about in previous episodes, the treatment of Indigenous and First Nations people, specifically women, in Canada is unacceptable. Today we're sharing a case with you courtesy of our friends at Occultae Veritatis Podcast. If you have any information, please utilize the links below.

Tipline Email: shorturl.at/pHKMX

Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477

https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=206#

https://www.facebook.com/bringashleymorinhome/

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/timeline-a-look-at-the-tiki-laverdiere-homicide-investigation-1.4543609