True Crime Brewery

By Tiegrabber PodcastsSociety & Culture Documentary True Crime

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True Crime Brewery episodes

July 24, 2018 The Murder of Bonny Lee Bakley
Bonny Lee Bakley was not an ethical or particularly law-abiding woman. Not someone you would want your daughter to model her life after. She was a con artist and a groupie who used sex and deception to get money from men. When she was shot to death in May 2001, her husband at the time, actor Robert Blake, was charged with the crime, but there was a long list of other people with a motive.
As a young girl, Bonny’s dreams were similar to many other girls. She wanted to be rich and famous one day. Growing up in poverty probably helped to motivate her. Her desire to leave her hometown and begin her quest for stardom began early after she was sexually abused by her father. Fame became an obsession.
After high school, Bonny moved to New York. She started calling herself Lee Bonny. She got some small modeling jobs and worked as an extra in movies. But her goal of becoming a star was not happening. So, her focus switched from becoming a star to marrying one.
Her life was a life of scams: stalking celebrities, stealing credit cards, and eventually becoming pregnant with Robert Blake’s child and marrying him. After only 6 months of marriage, she was murdered. It took a year to bring her husband to trial. He was acquitted of her murder but found responsible for her death in a civil trial.
This murder is officially unsolved and there are many questions remaining. One thing worth considering is whether Blake would have been convicted if Bonny had been a more sympathetic victim. Does our justice system have different standards for so-called good girls than it does for someone like Bonny, a woman with an objectively shady history? And then, of course, there is the celebrity factor. Join us at the quiet end as we discuss the murder of Bonny Lee Bakley, the acquittal of Robert Blake, and the actual evidence in this case.

1 hr 32 min
July 17, 2018 A Dangerous Woman: The Life and Crimes of Tracey Richter
Tracey Richter was an angry narcissist willing to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. She had no qualms about harming anybody who would dare to come between her and what she wanted. But Tracey was also a good actress. That may explain why she got away with so much for so long.
Tracey cheated on, deceived, and physically abused her first husband. When they divorced, she falsely accused him of child sexual abuse, going as far as to recruit her own son to tell lies about his own father.
Although Tracey would remarry and find a new man to deceive, her grudge against her first husband would stew inside of her. Tracey made cold-blooded, detailed plans and then followed through with them, killing an innocent young neighbor in a set up of her ex to keep full custody of her son.
As we talk about the life and crimes of Tracey Richter, aka Tracey Pitman, aka Tracey Roberts, aka Sophie Edwards, we will examine how she managed to hurt so many people for so long before she was finally brought to justice. Join us at the quiet end today for A Dangerous Woman: The Life and Crimes of Tracey Richter.

1 hr 29 min
July 10, 2018 Tainted Love: The Murder of Kathy Augustine
Does tragedy run in families? In the case of the Augustine family, they seemed to have more than their own fair share of unexpected deaths. In August, 2012, 32-year old Dallas Augustine shot and killed her wife Jessie McCaskill before turning the gun on herself. Six years earlier, Dallas’s step-father Chaz Higgs had been accused of murdering her mother Kathy Augustine with a fatal drug overdose.
Chaz was a hospital nurse involved in the care of Kathy’s sick husband Charles Augustine when Charles died. Just weeks after his death, the marriage of Kathy and Chaz raised a lot of eyebrows. Kathy’s sudden death just three years into her marriage with Chaz had police suspicious not only that Chaz had murdered Kathy but that perhaps he had had something to do with the death of her husband.
This story received a lot of publicity, partially because Kathy had been a prominent politician in Nevada and she had undergone impeachment proceedings for violating state ethics laws. Chaz would claim that her political opponents were responsible for her death. By all accounts, Kathy was not an easy person to get along with. There were plenty of people who disliked her, but did anyone have more of a reason to want her dead than Chaz did?
Join us at the quiet end today for a story of murder too strange and complex to be fiction. In Tainted Love, we’ll learn about Kathy, Chaz, and the events leading up to their love affair and Kathy’s untimely death.
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Take Care/Of Yourself!
Madison Reed
2 hr
July 03, 2018 The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay
In Australia, about one person goes missing every 15 minutes. Most missing persons cases take hours, days, or even weeks before an in-depth investigation is put into action. In the case of 43-year old mother of three Allison Baden-Clay, it took mere minutes.
Constables arrived at the Baden-Clay home at 8am, took one look at Allison’s husband Gerard, and strongly suspected that he had killed Allison. He was dressed for a normal work day when he walked out the front door of his suburban home and greeted the officers. They immediately noticed fresh scratches running down the right side of Gerard’s face. Jagged and raw, they inflamed his cheek and trailed off at the line of his jaw.
Those scratches told a story that didn’t match the story Gerard told them. He said he had cut himself shaving. They looked at this supposed concerned husband and long-standing pillar of the community and saw a killer.
In the days after Allison’s disappearance, investigators learned that her marriage was not what it appeared. Gerard had been unfaithful and his mistress was expecting him to ask Allison for a divorce. It could have been a case of a suburban mom who needed time alone. Maybe she would come walking up the driveway any minute. Or maybe they would find her injured on a walking path waiting for help. But they didn’t think so.
Allison Baden-Clay seemed to be living a charmed life. Her husband was a successful and well-known real estate agent. Their three young daughters were healthy. Their home was in Brookfield, a very desirable suburb.
Like thousands of women who suffer from domestic violence, Allison lived with underlying misery as she worked to present herself and her family in the best light. In our quiet end talk today, we’re looking into the development and destruction of Allison and Gerard’s relationship. What went wrong and did the punishment fit the crime?
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The Allison Baden-Clay Foundation
2 hr 35 min
June 26, 2018 The Trooper’s Target: The Murder of Dr. John Yelenic
The life of John Yelenic, a young, friendly, prominent dentist who was murdered in Pennsylvania back in 2006, was intertwined with the lives of his soon to be ex-wife Michele and her live-in boyfriend, Pennsylvania State Trooper Kevin Foley. All three of these people had specific personalities and beliefs which can be traced back to their childhoods and family relationships.
In our discussion of the murder of Dr. John Yelenic we will see how three lives came together through seemingly random circumstances and culminated in a brutal homicide. No one wins in a murder. The violent loss of one life devastates many lives. To completely understand this murder case, we will go back to where the story began. John was brought up by his mother to give generously and to ask for little in return. Even after he became financially successful, he remained a kind and humble man. Some would say that his marriage to Michele was a mistake from the start. At the quiet end today, we will take a look at John’s childhood, Michele’s beginnings, and the background of her boyfriend Kevin Foley. In The Trooper’s Target, join us for the story of a murder with a psychological examination of the victim and his killer or killers.

2 hr 6 min
June 19, 2018 Missing Amy: The Disappearance of Amy Billig
When 17-year old Amy Billig disappeared in 1974, her absence created a miserable void in her family. Her mother Sue would never be the same. But Amy’s story is about so much more than pain and loss. It’s about the lasting qualities of hope in the shadow of an ongoing nightmare.
Sue Billig was left without her daughter, left to wonder and imagine all of the terrible things that may have happened to her. But even after being lied to, mislead, ignored, and manipulated, her faith in humanity held firm. She never gave up on Amy.
Sue Billig began investigating her daughter’s case immediately after Amy disappeared. She received tips from people who claimed that Amy had been abducted by members of motorcycle gangs that traveled through the Coconut Grove area of Florida in 1974. Some people claimed that Amy was alive and others claimed she had been killed. Sue was led on a chase throughout the U. S. and even into Great Britain over the years.
There were harassing, cruel phone calls. One caller tormented her for 21 years until 1995, when FBI agents were able to identify the man by tracking his cell phone. Before, he had always used a pay phone to harass Sue, making him impossible to find. The caller was identified as Henry Johnson Blair, who worked for the U.S. Customs Department. Blair claimed that he was an alcoholic and that he suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder which caused him to harass Amy’s mother. The addition of Blair into this case brought renewed attention on to a man Amy had described in her journal. Amy wrote that she was considering running away to South America with a man she called “Hank.” A photo developed from a roll of film in Amy’s camera showed a white van which was identical in color and model to a van Blair drove in 1974. Blair’s job with the Customs Department required him to relocate to South America around the time Amy had mentioned in her journal.
At the quiet end today, we are taking a look inside the hell that the families of missing persons endure by examining the case of Amy Billig and the struggles of her mother, Sue Billig.

1 hr 19 min
June 12, 2018 Murder Actually: The Texas Cadet Murder
In the early morning of December 3, 1995, a farmer driving along a quiet country road saw the body of a teenage girl on the ground behind a barbed-wire fence. At first, he thought he was looking at a dead animal. As he moved forward, the girl’s face was unrecognizable. One bullet hole was in her left cheek, another in her forehead. She had been hit so hard on the left side of her head that the part of the skull above her ear was caved in. She was wearing flannel shorts and a gray T-shirt. Within hours, police identified her as Adrianne Jones, a sixteen-year-old high school sophomore from the town of Mansfield, southeast of Fort Worth, Texas.
It was only that autumn that her parents had allowed Adrianne to stay out past nine o’clock on weekends. Her father had nailed her bedroom windows shut so she couldn’t sneak out of the house at night. But aside from sneaking out to have some fun with friends, Adrianne was a good girl. She took advanced honors courses, studied at least two hours a night, and was a talented athlete. She also worked twenty hours a week at a local fast-food restaurant.
Adrianne thrived on attention, especially when it came from the teenage boys around town. One of Adrianne’s closest friends, Tracy Bumpass, called her “a big flirt.” There were plenty of high school guys who wanted to meet her and lots of girls who wanted to be her friend.
It was Adrianne’s popularity that made the investigation into her murder so difficult. And it quickly became clear to the detectives that Adrianne knew her killer, or killers. There was no sign at the crime scene that she had struggled. There were no marks that her hands or legs had been restrained. Nor was there any indication that someone had broken into her house or had gone through her window to abduct her.
When David Graham and Diane Zamora were arrested for her murder in the fall of 1996, it was a shock. The high school sweethearts were high achievers with great ambitions. Graham was a first-year cadet at the Air Force Academy with plans to become a fighter pilot. Diane, who had won an appointment to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was set on being an astronaut. They had their futures mapped out, including their wedding date for the summer of 2000.
But Diane Zamora bragged to her roommates that she and David had killed a girl back in Texas. She said anyone who got between her and David would have to die. She said the girl deserved it … everyone knew the girl was a tramp and a slut. David had cheated on her and had sex with Adrienne Jones. The only solution was for them to kill Adrienne to preserve their love.
The story of Adrianne Jones’ murder, often called the Texas Cadet Murder, is an incredible story of a senseless killing by two unlikely killers.

1 hr 15 min
June 05, 2018 The Spreckels Mansion Mystery
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.
On July 12, understandably distraught, Rebecca picked up her boyfriend’s brother, Adam Shacknai, from the airport and brought him back to the mansion. There were reports of loud music coming from the house that evening. A neighbor claimed to hear a woman screaming.
The next morning, Adam called 911, stating that he found Rebecca nude, hanging from a balcony, a supposed suicide. But the scene was unusual, to say the least. Rebecca’s ankles and wrists were bound with rope, she was gagged with a t-shirt, and she was completely nude.
That fall, Rebecca’s death was ruled a suicide and 6-year old Max’s death was ruled an accident. Police held a press conference to announce that neither death involved foul play. But this year, Adam Shacknai was found responsible for Rebecca’s death in a civil suit filed by Rebecca’s family. Police have not filed any charges.
Our quiet end discussion today is a mystery. What happened at the mansion back in July 2011? Are we talking about an accident and a suicide, an accident and a murder, a murder and a suicide, or two murders? Let’s pour ourselves a brew and mull it over.
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Try Grove
1 hr 55 min
May 29, 2018 The Surgeon’s Wife: The Disappearance of Gail Katz-Bierenbaum
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.
Trouble in the Bierenbaum marriage began even before there was a wedding. Bob was possessive and controlling. Gail was creative and more free in her life. Gail was raised with the goal of marrying a doctor, so she married Bob to please her parents. Her mother believed her financial insecurity and tendency to move from one thing to another would be fixed after she became a doctor’s wife.
Before her disappearance, Gail and Bob were planning a divorce. Bob didn’t want Gail to leave him. Gail had told a friend that she had proof Bob was committing Medicaid fraud and she was going to threaten to turn him in in order to get a divorce.
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?

1 hr 52 min
May 22, 2018 All Her Children: The Victims of Marybeth Tinning
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.
The eldest, Barbara Ann, was born in 1967. By 1972, both little Barbara and her two siblings had died, starting with eight-day-old Jennifer, who is the only Tinning child believed to have died of natural, medically explained causes. The rest died inexplicably, all dead before they were old enough to attend kindergarten. Most were too young to walk or talk.
Marybeth repeatedly sought the attention of medical professionals, but no one spoke up to say that her actions were suspicious. They examined each child for symptoms, found none, and sent Marybeth home, where her child would die soon after. Marybeth was always the one to find them, blue and unresponsive. By the fifth death, doctors were calling the cause of most of these deaths Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
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.
I’ve asked Dick to bring in a heavy hitting beer today because this case can really be not only upsetting but incredibly frustrating. As a mother—hell, as a human being—I just cannot understand how this woman was able to repeat these horrible acts over and over with no one intervening to protect the most innocent victims.

1 hr 56 min