November 6, 2001. Florence, Montana. A customer enters a salon called the Hair Gallery and discovers the bodies of three murdered women: the salon’s 62-year old owner, Dorothy Harris, a 44-year old employee named Brenda Patch, and a 71-year old customer named Cynthia Paulus. The victims have each had their throats cut and the customer reports that an oddly dressed individual wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a long black coat was exiting the salon when they arrived. Six-and-a-half years later, a pair of drug dealers named Brian Weber and Lincoln Benavides are indicted for their alleged roles in the crime, but since the evidence against them is not particularly strong, the murder charges against them are eventually dropped. Were Weber and Benavides responsible for killing these three women? If not, who was the perpetrator and what could their motive have been? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the horrific and perplexing crime known as “The Florence Salon Murders”.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 375-4060.

Additional Reading:

https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/town-shocked-by-beauty-salon-murders-killer-still-on-loose/article_60ccaede-de9d-59f9-96a5-c6aa89f2fea7.html

https://missoulian.com/a-tale-of-five-murders/article_67794684-3696-5da1-8006-5d44963d0f47.html

https://missoulian.com/florence-murder-case-stands-alone-in-fbi-records/article_101cb5b5-ec16-5cf5-98e9-4d902e80cbf1.html

https://mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois-murders-share-similarities-with-unresolved-florence-killings/article_ace8066c-29a2-5fbd-a2a4-e9544178cb25.html

https://missoulian.com/news/local/article_b2a3d5f8-c28d-11de-b1cb-001cc4c03286.html

https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/federal-judge-dismisses-charges-in-florence-triple-murder-case/article_e1a46c3c-0a7c-11df-9268-001cc4c002e0.html

https://www.kpax.com/news/mtn-original-productions/the-florence-murders-20-years-later

https://greatbendpost.com/posts/b71f6fd9-f340-4839-bd6a-9eb7b0f92322

https://www.kwch.com/2022/09/06/kbi-announce-new-evidence-2002-dolly-madison-bakery-murders/

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“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” at the Tower Bridge, Leonardo Royal Hotel & Spa in London on June 10-11, 2023, as well as “Crimecon” at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida on September 22-24, 2023. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD23”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.co.uk or https://www.crimecon.com.

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.