In 2011, at the Spreckels Mansion on the Southern California Coast, there were two unexpected deaths that have since raised many doubts and endless speculation. On July 11, 32-year old Rebecca Zahau was at the Spreckels Beach House along with her sister when her boyfriend’s 6-year old son fell over a second-floor banister. Sadly, he would die in the hospital days later.

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Gail Katz-Bierenbaum was the attractive wife of a successful young surgeon when she disappeared in 1985. Her husband, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, had a very promising future. Charming but awkward, Bob Bierenbaum was a surgical resident who spoke several languages and piloted his own plane.

Then, Bob called Gail’s mother saying he couldn’t find Gail. When her mother arrived at the Bierenbaum apartment, she was disturbed to find Gail’s purse with her keys and cigarettes. Bob said she had left in a huff the day before and he hadn’t seen her since. At the quiet end today, we’re telling the story of a couple who seemed to have life all figured out. But the reality of their lives, and Gail’s death, were far from ideal. Without a body, it would take years to put together what happened to Gail and to bring Bob Bierenbaum to trial. But did they get it right?

The story of Marybeth Tinning and her nine deceased children is one of the worst cases of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in the history of the disorder. Between the years of 1967 and 1985, Marybeth gave birth to and buried every one of her babies and young children, often within months of one another.

Join us at the quiet end today for an unbelievable and startling story of murder, followed by a discussion of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, Child Protective Agencies, and how the criminal justice system deals with mothers who kill their children.

Jack Barron’s wife, Irene, died in her bed in the spring of 1992. She was only 34 and in apparently good health. On the day of her death, Jack told some people at work that she was having headaches and hadn’t felt well for several days.

With her arms full of grocery bags, 33-year old Diane Whipple had just returned to her upscale apartment in San Francisco on Jan. 26 2001. As she opened the door, a neighbor’s dog—a 112-lb. female Presa Canario named Hera—rushed down the narrow hall and began barking at her, followed by 123-lb. Bane, who was on a leash but pulling his owner, Marjorie Knoller, behind him. Diane was knocked to the floor and Bane attacked her.

Patricia Taylor and Tom Allanson came together after each of them left failing marriages behind. At thirty, Tom was younger than Pat by six years. He had been through two short, bad marriages and she had escaped one long one where she said she had felt trapped and smothered by her military husband. Both of them had been looking for the perfect love most of their lives. Despite the odds, they seemed to have found it in each other. From the outside, though, they appeared to have nothing more in common than sex.

Maria Marshall seemed to be living an enviable life. She was beautiful and wealthy, with a successful husband and three healthy sons. It wasn’t until Maria was killed that her friends, family, and neighbors saw how hard she had been working to keep up appearances and keep her family together.

When UVA student Hannah Graham disappeared from a Charlottesville mall in 2014, authorities and volunteers began a massive search to find her. Joining the search were the parents of Morgan Harrington. Morgan had disappeared five years earlier. At the time, the Harringtons didn’t realize that solving Hannah’s case would lead them to the man who had killed Morgan.

Oba Chandler was executed in 2011 for the killings of a mother and her two daughters off the coast of south Florida. Jo Rogers and her two teenage daughters were enjoying a rare and well-deserved vacation when they were approached by Oba Chandler and invited to take a cruise on his boat. He seemed like a kind, harmless, middle-aged man. There was nothing threatening about him.

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Labelled as the “rough sex killing” or the “preppy murder,” the 1986 murder of college-bound teenager Jennifer Levin at the hands of so-called preppy Robert Chambers caught the attention of the entire country. Her horrible death opened up discussions about the reckless and promiscuous world of teenagers in her crowd.

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