True Crime Brewery

In February, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and their young sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr., disappeared from their Fallbrook, California home.  Days later, their SUV was found abandoned in a parking lot near the Mexican border.  A dark and fuzzy surveillance video was released which seemed to show a family matching their descriptions walking across the border into Mexico.  The media speculated about reasons why the family would leave everything behind as McStay family and friends swore it was impossible.

Then, in 2013, the disappearance became a homicide investigation.   But who would be evil enough to kill an entire family, including a 3 and a 4-year old, and what was the motive?

Join us at the quiet end today for Betrayed & Buried: The McStay Family. We’re taking you back to February 4, 2010, as we follow the McStay family’s story all the way from their mysterious disappearance to the trial of their killer.

When handsome, wealthy investment banker Ted Ammon missed a Monday morning business meeting and failed to pick up his children from school, friends were concerned.  Ted was nothing if not reliable.  He had spent the weekend at his East Hampton home, so his business partner took a helicopter ride to his estate to see what Ted was up to.

Ted stood out as an athletic guy who loved his kids and his three dogs.  But Ted had been going through a lengthy, nasty divorce and child custody battle. His wife was universally believed to be a difficult woman and she was dating a man with a criminal history.

Join us at the quiet end today for In His Own Home: The Ted Ammon Story.  This story shows us how even the most perfect-looking among us has struggles and dangers in their lives that may lead to tragic endings.

Brandon Michael Reid was in and out of hospitals from infancy.  His mother, Tanya, a devoted mother and part-time nurse, seemed to take her son’s illnesses in stride.  But when a pattern emerged suggesting Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, Brandon Michael was put into foster care.  Then, an investigation into Tanya’s past revealed a very disturbing history.

Join us at the quiet end today for A Mother’s Love as we examine a case of serial child abuse perpetrated in multiple states by an unlikely suspect.

On the day after Thanksgiving in 2010, Tanya Zuvers reported her three young sons missing from her home in Morenci, Michigan.  Her husband was supposed to bring the boys back to her on Friday morning, but he never did.

The couple had been living apart and planned to divorce.  Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, just 5-years old, had spent Thanksgiving Day with their father, John Skelton. When Tanya tried to get them back the next morning, John told her that they were with a friend of his.  Then John turned up at a hospital following an apparent suicide attempt.

Today at the quiet end, we’re discussing the details of the Skelton case and the possibilities of what happened to these three young boys.  In Stolen Lives: The Skelton Brothers, we will go over the family history and the timeline of events in an effort to better understand what happened and if anything can be done to bring these boys home.

Mom and skilled pilot Kelsey Berreth was last seen on Thanksgiving Day, 2018.  After not hearing from her daughter for over a week, her mother Cheryl Berreth reported Kelsey missing.  Authorities contacted Kelsey’s fiancé, Patrick Frazee, but he said he hadn’t seen Kelsey either and that the two had recently broken up.

As the search for Kelsey began, police investigated Frazee and learned about another woman in his life, Krystal Lee Kenney.  The story eventually told by Kenney exposed a months-long plot leading up to a horrific crime.

Join us at the quiet end today for a closer look into the disappearance of 29-year old Kelsey Berreth.  The details of this crime, along with its planning and cover up, has left her family heartbroken and many people wondering if there is any true justice for Kelsey.

Susan McFarland, a hard-working mother of three, disappeared just before Thanksgiving in 2002.  Three days later, her car was found in an abandoned parking lot with the keys still in the ignition.

Her friends and family hoped that Sue had just gone off to have some time alone.  But investigators became suspicious of foul play based on her husband’s unusual behavior both before and after Sue’s disappearance.

Join us at the quiet end today for Gone From Home: The Disappearance of Susan McFarland. There is an interesting story here about the lives of a family under emotional and financial distress and three young children who lost the only stable parent they had.

Today’s crime has been compared to the 1987 film “Fatal Attraction” starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas.  Calling the murder of Betty Jeanne Solomon “The Fatal Attraction Murder” was good for headlines, but if you were to ask Carolyn Warmus, she would probably tell you there were no similarities at all.

Carolyn was a young, attractive elementary school teacher living in New York City when she became involved with the older, married Paul Solomon.  Paul would say that Carolyn stalked him and threatened her own life when he tried to break things off.  The murder of Paul’s wife in the Solomon home was both brutal and shocking.  Paul was the prime suspect, but as the facts came to light, the focus turned to Carolyn.

Join us at the quiet end today for Fatal Attraction, a gripping story of lust, obsession, and murder.

There is no one more innocent than a 14 month old child, the age Jaidyn Leskie was when he disappeared.  Jaidyn was born in and lived his life in poverty and ignorance.  Some would say that his mother loved him and tried her best. Others would say she was a careless and neglectful drunk. Either way, the outcome is the same.

Most of us love our kids.  We do our best to keep them well cared for and safe, regardless of our socioeconomic status or the stress life sends our way. Maybe this is why we feel justified in judging parents like Jaidyn’s mother, Bilynda. Not because she was young, unmarried, poor, or a heavy drinker, but because she failed to keep Jaidyn safe.

Join us at the quiet end today for Broken Boy: The Jaidyn Leskie Story.  It’s a hard story to tell and a hard one to hear, but we’re coming to this story with empathy and an effort to understand a dark side of the human condition.

Kelly Ann Tinyes was just two days shy of her 14th birthday when she disappeared in her own neighborhood in 1989.  In the days that followed, children stopped playing outside. Terrified neighbors began a harassment campaign of the Golubs, a family whose two sons were suspects.

The Golub home appeared like any other well-maintained suburban home on the outside, but what police found inside was shocking. This story shows us how we don’t know our neighbors as well as we think we do and how the secrets inside of a family can fester and proliferate, infecting others.

Join us at the quiet end today for What Happened on Horton Road, a troubling and morbid case of two families, one suburban neighborhood, and one unforgettable crime.

Barbara Daly was once one of New York City’s ten most beautiful girls.  She was a model who attended high society parties and married a wealthy man, Brooks Baekeland.  The couple had a luxury apartment in the Upper East Side of New York, but they traveled extensively, staying in houses and villas in Paris, London, and throughout Italy. But despite, or perhaps because of their wealth, Barbara and Brooks had a troubled marriage.

After their son, Antony, was born, he became the center of Barbara’s life.  But as Antony approached adulthood, Brooks was disturbed by his son’s apparent homosexuality.  In a household filled with verbal outbursts, physical brawls, and mental health issues, the Baekeland’s lives fell into patterns of substance abuse, depression, and extramarital affairs.  Over time, Barbara’s complex and disturbing relationship with Antony became violent, resulting a Shakespeare-like tragedy.

Join us at the quiet end for The Good Son, the story of a wealthy, dysfunctional family torn apart by madness and violence.