True Crime Brewery

The case of physician Michael Swango not only exposed the dark side of a man who had taken an oath to do no harm, it also opened our eyes to a professional environment where doctors accepted the word of fellow physicians over that of nurses and patients—even as evidence of gross misbehavior piled up.

Michael grew up in Quincy, Illinois and graduated as valedictorian at the Quincy Catholic Boys High School. He served in the Marine Corps, receiving an honorable discharge in 1980. He then attended Quincy College followed by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

His troubles were first noticed in medical school. Although he was a brilliant student, he preferred to work as an ambulance attendant rather than concentrate on studying. Even at that young age, he had an odd fascination with dying patients.  Michael Swango’s patients often ended up “coding,” or suffering life-threatening emergencies. Several died unexpectedly.

Join us at the quiet end today for a true story that actually is stranger than fiction: Taking Lives: The Crimes of Dr. Michael Swango.

Baptist minister Matt Baker presented himself to the world as a man of God. But when his wife Kari was found dead in their bed of an apparent suicide, questions about who he really was emerged. Kari Baker’s mother and aunts would become the catalysts for the investigation into Matt Baker’s deceptions and lies, working with police to expose him as a narcissistic bully and a lifelong sexual predator.

Between the ages of 17 and 24, Keli Lane had two abortions and gave birth to three babies, all without the knowledge of her mother Sandra or her police officer father Robert. Not only that, but her five pregnancies occurred while Keli was playing water polo at a national level and spending most of her time in a swim suit.

In 1971, 13-year old Charlie Brandt shot his pregnant mother to death before turning the gun on his father and sister. In the years that followed, he seemed to move forward and live a normal life with college, marriage, and a career.

Charlie and his wife Teri were a close, fun-loving couple–the kind of couple others envy. Then, in 2004, his hidden life was revealed. Charlie was not who he appeared to be. There was a darkness no one had seen. But there had been signs.

The case we’re talking about today, more than any in recent history, illustrates that we don’t always know the people close to us as well as we think we do. We’re talking about the case of a family annihilator: Chris Watts.

Julie Miller met Dennis Bulloch through a newspaper ad. He seemed like the answer to all of her problems. As a successful executive approaching her 30th birthday, Julie was ready to get married. Dennis seemed like the all-American guy. She thought he could be the one.

Mick Philpott lived off of welfare benefits for most of his adult life. He had been unfaithful and violent towards women but he enjoyed impregnating them. Mick could love them and leave them, but he would never accept it when a woman wanted to leave him. His reckless and selfish plan to frame an ex-girlfriend for leaving him would result in the death of six innocent children.

On February 14, 2007, stay at home dad Stephen Grant called the Macomb County Sheriff’s office in Michigan to report that his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, had been missing for five days. In his story to the police, Stephen claimed that this was not the first time Tara had taken off, which was why he hadn’t reported her missing sooner. Stephen said that on the evening of February 9, he and Tara had argued. He then overheard Tara talking with someone on the phone, telling them, “I’ll meet you at the end of the driveway”. He said he saw her get into a dark-colored car a few minutes later and he had not seen or heard from her since.

Over the next two weeks, Stephen Grant made several TV appearances pleading for Tara to return. According to police, Stephen Grant was not cooperative with them throughout their investigation. And they began to question his relationship with the family’s 19-year old au pair.

Investigators would ultimately discover that Stephen’s story of a missing wife was untrue and was, in fact, an elaborate attempt to sidetrack the police. According to later confessions, Stephen killed his wife during an argument after she had slapped and belittled him.  But insights into the couples’ relationship and evidence uncovered by the investigation have made this one of the most shocking and disturbing crimes in Michigan’s recent history. Join us at the quiet end today for our discussion of the life and gruesome murder of Tara Lynn Grant, in Blood on His Hands: The Murder of Tara Lynn Grant.

When you think of a mass shooter, you don’t envision someone like Amy Bishop. Forty-five years old, female, Harvard-educated, Biology professor, and mother of four, Amy Bishop would seem an unlikely killer.

It was 3pm on February 12, 2010, and thirteen professors and staff members from the University of Alabama Biology Department met in a third-floor conference room. Plant biologist Gopi Podila passed out the printed agenda and sat beside Amy Bishop. Amy had a handgun in her purse.

Today, in A Shooting in Alabama, we’ll delve into the life of a killer, atypical but just as devious and dangerous as any other. At how many points in her life could she had been thwarted—and why wasn’t she?

Note: Jill and Dick will be taking next week off. TCB will return on January 29th!

Jana Eastburn was the sole survivor, just 22-months old, when her mother, Kathryn Eastburn, and siblings – 5-year-old Kara and 3-year-old Erin – were stabbed to death on May 9, 1985, in their Fayetteville, NC home.