True Crime Brewery

With little medical training and no scientific basis for her treatments, Dr. Linda Hazzard was able to attract many wealthy clients to her Institute of Natural Therapeutics in Olalla, Washington.  Dorothea and Claire Williamson, wealthy sisters from England, read Dr. Hazzard’s book “Fasting for the Cure of Disease” and believed it was their path to true health.

Two months after starting treatment, Dorothea and Claire each weighed about 70 pounds.  By the time family members were summoned to the institute, Claire was dead and Dorothea weighed 50 pounds.  She was unable to care for herself as she endured starvation, daily enemas and beatings.  In addition, Dr. Hazzard had been appointed the executor of Claire’s estate and the legal guardian of Dorothea.  Investigations revealed that Dr. Hazzard was responsible for the deaths of many of her patients.

Join us at the quiet end for a story of greed and sadism in a time when pseudoscience and questionable medical practices thrived.  In today’s episode, Hunger, we will try to understand the mentality that led otherwise sensible people to believe in Dr. Hazzard, even as she slowly killed them.

Get Members-Only Ad-free episodes

Read Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen

Kim Barry loved to dance and she had plans to train as a nurse.  Living with her parents in a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, she cared for disabled children in preparation for her future career.

On Friday night, February 6, 1981, Kim’s parents left town overnight, leaving her in charge of her little brother. Kim was usually very responsible, but she also wanted to enjoy her freedom that night. After going to a movie with a girlfriend, the two girls headed to the local disco. Her friend left early, but Kim stayed on to dance and drink some wine.  She was last seen chatting with a man named Graham Potter.

Join us at the quiet end for The Girl Who Loved to Dance. Kim was a kind girl with simple dreams of a nursing career and a family of her own, until one night of freedom put her into the hands of a killer.

Anyone with any information regarding the whereabouts of Graham Gene Potter is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au

Get ad-free TCB episodes

Leave us a review on iTunes

Amy St. Laurent went out on a Saturday night and seemed to vanish into thin air.  As parents, this is our worst nightmare.  Amy was a sensible, smart young woman who knew how to take care of herself, but one bad choice put her into the path of a violent predator.

In the search for Amy, detectives had to deal with uncooperative witnesses, inaccurate stories, and a suspect who wove a complex web of lies.  As time passed with no sign of Amy, her family had to accept a terrible fact: Amy was never coming home.

Join us at the quiet end for Finding Amy St. Laurent.  What happened to Amy is, tragically, something that happens all too often.  Sometimes, a monster presents himself as a charming and fun guy while out in the public eye.  Then, when he isolates his victim and his violent and murderous true self emerges, it is too late to escape.

Brandon Teena was a female to male transgender person born into a homophobic culture.  As we discuss Brandon’s life growing up in rural Nebraska in the 1970s and 80s, it’s difficult to conceive of the difficulties he faced.  As we discuss Brandon’s story, we can see how his life spiraled out of control as he attempted to navigate relationships and he endured judgment and disapproval.

Join us at the quiet end today for what we hope will be an insightful look at the struggles of a young transgender person and the hate crime that took his life, in Boys Do Cry: The Brandon Teena Story.

Kurt Sonnenfeld has been in the news for nearly 18 years, both for the death of his wife Nancy and for being an outspoken 9/11 “truther.”  As a videographer for FEMA, Kurt put together footage of the 9/11 disaster for media outlets around the world. On CNN, he spoke of the heroics of the recovery workers at Ground Zero.  But, back at home, Kurt was a very troubled man.

Nancy Sonnenfeld died on January 1, 2002 under suspicious circumstances.  When it looked like Kurt might be prosecuted for her murder, he fled the country.  Since then, he has remarried and developed a new narrative about his work and Nancy’s death.

Join us at the quiet end today for Justice Denied.  The death of Nancy Sonnenfeld has been determined, by scientists and investigators, to be a murder.  But will her loved ones ever get a chance for justice for Nancy?

It’s been nearly 40 years since young wife and mother Lynette Dawson disappeared from her New South Wales home. Lynette’s last known conversation was with her mother. On the morning of January 8, 1982, her mother called to plan an outing to a local beach. Lynette agreed, but she was nowhere to be found when her mother arrived.

Over the years, as Lynette remained missing, suspicions landed on her husband, Chris Dawson.  His behavior leading up to and following his wife’s disappearance was improper and offensive.  Lynette was not reported missing for six weeks and she was quickly replaced by his teen-aged lover.  Still, the investigation did not lead to any arrests.

Finally, the case was reopened in 2015. Investigators gathered evidence for a case against Lynette’s husband and a true crime podcast, “Teacher’s Pet,” put together the case with witness interviews and well-supported theories.

Join us at the quiet end today for A Lovely Drink. This is a cold case, surrounded by years of deception and speculation, that may finally be approaching a conclusion.

Have a case suggestion?

[email protected]

Stacey Castor was a recent widow, suspected of two murders, when her eldest daughter Ashley was hospitalized following an apparent suicide attempt.  While some people looked at Stacey with sympathy, others thought she was evil, a woman who was alone responsible for the tragedies in her life.

The story of Stacey Castor’s life, her relationships, and her losses, is a complex and twisted narrative.  After it all played out, she would be exposed as a heartless, calculating killer.

Join us at the quiet end today for Her Dark Plans.  After getting away with one murder, Stacey Castor became comfortable with eliminating anyone who got in the way of what she wanted. Her murderous plots knew no boundaries, not even the lives of the children she claimed to love.

Summer Shipp reinvented herself after her divorce, but she always had a big heart and a lively, idealistic personality.  When she disappeared in 2004, she was happy with her life.  She had a close relationship with her adult daughter, Brandy, and she had a large group of friends. Money was tight, but she was as far from materialistic as one can be.

Summer liked her job doing market research.  She had autonomy and she loved to meet new people and learn about them.  But her company sent her out on her own, going door to door, sometimes in rough neighborhoods.  Her friends and family worried, but she had no concerns.

Join us at the quiet end for Searching for Summer Shipp.  This is a case where many of the questions have been answered, but will her loved ones ever have a true resolution?

(more…)

Most of our TCB episodes deal with the intricacies of family, friend, or co-worker relationships, where different personalities and vulnerabilities come together in one tragic act of murder.  But what about the less common but often more perplexing cases of random killings?

American serial killer Israel Keyes was arrested in 2012 in connection with the disappearance of Alaskan woman Samantha Koenig.  Samantha was a young woman much like our friends, sisters, and daughters, working as a coffee shop barista and enjoying time with her boyfriend and her friends.  Needless to say, her disappearance was alarming and devastating to her community.

But after Keyes arrest down in Texas, the alarm and devastation spread to the lower United States as interviews with Keyes revealed a lengthy history of crime, along with an unknown number of victims.

Join us at the quiet end today for A Killer on the Road: The Abduction of Samantha Koenig. It was Samantha’s kidnapping which finally led to the capture of a dangerous predator, ending over a decade of grisly crimes.