On March 18, 1990, 15-year-old fraternal twins Dannette and Jeanette Millbrook disappeared while out walking from a convenience store to their home in Augusta, Georgia. Earlier that day, the girls told their mother that a man in a white van had been following them. Nothing more is known about this man and he would not be the only person of interest in the girls’ disappearance.

Join us at the quiet end for The Missing Millbrook Twins. Dannette and Jeanette’s mother reported them missing that same evening, but she was told that she had to wait for 24 hours. Even after the 24 hours passed, the sheriff’s office failed to investigate or follow up in any way with the family. In fact, when the girls’ 17th birthday passed, the case was closed.  The sheriff’s explanation? The girls were now old enough that they could not be forced to return home. This suggests that the girls were runaways, but there was no reason to believe this to be true. In fact, it seems clear that two poor black children were not a priority for the sheriff’s department and a significant injustice was done when they never bothered to look for Dannette and Jeanette. Is it too late now or is there a chance that this cold case can somehow be solved?

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If you have any information on the Millbrook twins, please contact the Richmond County PD non-emergency line at 706-821-1020

Sources

The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins, Oxygen True Crime, 2019.

The Fall Line Podcast, Season 1, created by Laurah Norton & Brooke Hargrove, 6/12/2017-7/31/2017.

Frustrated Sister of Missing Twins Says Sheriff Hasn’t Fixed ‘Terrible Injustice,’ Huffington Post, David Lohr, 6/26/2017, ret. 12/28/2023.

How Black and Indigenous Women are Detrimentally affected by ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome,’ UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog, Mary Bailey, 11/1/2021, ret. 12/30/2023.

Little Sister Still Searching for Twins Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook Last Seen in Augusta, Georgia in 1990, NBC Cold Case Spotlight, Sarah Portney, 4/22/2023, ret. 12/28/2023.

Missing Dannette and Jeanette Millbrook, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/twwinsfammily/

Runaway Youth: Caring for the Nation’s Largest Segment of Missing Children, American Academy of Pediatrics, Clinical Report, 2/1/2020.

At 6:00 a.m. on August 28, 1965, Carl and Carmela Coppolino’s physician, Dr. Juliette Karow, was awakened by a phone call. Carl Coppolino tearfully described to her how he had just found his 32-year-old wife dead, seemingly from a heart attack. Dr. Karow was concerned when she arrived at the house—young women in their 30s rarely die from cardiac arrest.

Join us at the quiet end for The Love Triangle Murders. Forty-one days after his wife’s death, Carl Coppolino married Mary Gibson. Imagine the chagrin of the Coppolino’s neighbor Marjorie Farber, who had moved from New Jersey to Florida in hopes of being with Carl. Incensed by this turn of events, Marjorie went to the police and told them that she had stood by helplessly as her husband was strangled to death by Carl. And she had information to share about Carmela’s death as well!

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Sources

The Crime That Never Was by Carl Coppolino, 1980.

No Deadly Drug by John MacDonald, 1968.

State v. Coppolino, Florida District Court, 1968-1970.

Tracing the Untraceable, Time.com, 5/5/1967, ret. 12/18/2023

The Trials of Dr. Coppolino by Paul Holmes, 1968.

On December 22, 1987, Ronald Gene Simmons began a killing spree that would become the worst massacre in Arkansas history as well as the deadliest domestic crime in the history of the United States. His murderous rampage ended six days later, leaving fourteen members of his family and two former coworkers dead.

Join us at the quiet end for The Christmas Vacation Massacre. Gene Simmons was a nightmare from early on in his marriage.  He went from controlling but hard-working military man, to wife beater, to incestuous father, and, in the end, to a merciless mass murderer.

Sources

Arkansas Man Sentenced to Death for Killing 14 Members of his Family, Deseret News, 2/12/1989.

The Devil of Pope County: America’s Worst Family Massacre Podcast, Tony Holt, 2023

Ronald Gene Simmons, 1940-1990, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, retrieved 12/12/2023

Zero at the Bone: Story of Gene Simmons Mass Murder, Marshall & Williams, 1991.

Just nine days before Christmas 1998, thirty-three-year-old Ronda Reynolds was getting ready to visit her mother for the holidays. Ronda’s second marriage was falling apart after less than a year and her career as a Washington State Trooper had ended badly, but her friends and family would insist that Ronda had still been optimistic about her future. Barb Thompson, Ronda’s mother, was just happy that Ronda was coming home. But then a call early in the morning changed Barb’s life forever.

Join us at the quiet end for Who Killed Ronda Reynolds? Ronda’s soon-to-be ex, Ron Reynolds, had called 911 that morning to say that Ronda had committed suicide in their bedroom closet. Over the next several years, the coroner would change Ronda’s manner of death from “undetermined” to “suicide,” not once, but twice. But Barb Thompson never believed that her daughter committed suicide. Finally, Ron was arrested for Ronda’s homicide.  But would there be enough evidence to get a conviction?

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Sources

Former Trooper Ronda Reynold’s Death Ruled Homicide, Seattle Times, 10/19/2011

Husband in notorious Lewis County murder case to leave job as school principal, Seattle Times, Cathy McLain, 8/23/2012

Husband, Stepson arrested, freed in ex-trooper’s death, Seattle Times, Adam Pearson, 10/28/2011

In the Still of the Night by Ann Rule

Mystery on Twin Peaks Drive, 48 Hours, E25 S21, 4/21/2012, retrieved 12/4/2023

In June of 1959, just two months before her thirteenth birthday, Lynne Harper was found dead in a wooded grove near a Clinton, Ontario, Air Force base. Lynne was small for her age, the middle child between two brothers. She was described as bossy and a “live wire.” She had her whole life ahead of her.

Join us at the quiet end for Two Innocents. The last person seen with Lynne on the day she disappeared was 14-year-old classmate Steven Truscott. Despite a lack of any physical evidence and witness accounts which gave Steven a clear alibi, he was arrested for Lynne’s murder just days after her body was found. Then, Steven was found guilty and sentenced to hang. This is the story of Lynne’s murder, Steven’s unjust conviction, the people who worked to free him and exonerate him of his murder conviction, and the continuing mystery of who was really responsible for this terrible crime.

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Sources

Can Science Clear Truscott? thestar.com. 1/29/2007, retrieved 11/20/2023.

Steven Truscott Case, The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/steven-truscott-case, retrieved 11/25/2023.

Steven Truscott: His Word Against History, The Fifth Estate, 2015, retrieved 11/25/2023.

Steven Truscott, Innocence Canada, Sarah Harland-Logan, 2023.

Until You Are Dead: Steven Truscott’s Long Ride into History by Julian Sher, 2001, 2023.

Victim’s Family stunned by Truscott Compensation, CBS News, 7/8/2008, retrieved 11/14/2023

 Youngest Canadian Sentenced to Death is Cleared in 1959 Case, The Seattle Times, 8/29/2007, retrieved 11/14/2023.

Jayne Leebrick met David Miller on January 1, 1991 on a cross country flight from Florida to Los Angeles.  He was in the seat next to her and seemed like the perfect man. Handsome, wealthy, and a brave cancer survivor, David won her over. If David seemed too good to be true, that’s because he was.

Join us at the quiet end for Love Bomber: The Seduction and Murder of Jayne Miller. David swept Jayne off her feet, giving her expensive gifts and portraying himself as an important and powerful man. Within six weeks, the two were married.  But from early on, Jayne’s friends and family noticed that something wasn’t right with David Miller. Jayne’s dream man quickly turned into a nightmare, leaving Jayne in financial peril and afraid for her life.

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Sources

Deadly Pretender: The Double Life of David Miller by Karen Kingsbury

Mr. Right Is Deadly Wrong, A Lie To Die For, S1E8, Oxygen Network

On the morning of January 21, 1998, 12-year-old Stephanie Ann Crowe was found dead on her bedroom floor. She had been brutally stabbed to death as her family slept soundly in their bedrooms down the hall.

Stephanie’s parents desperately called 911 for help. After police officers arrived at the scene, a cursory search of the Crowe home found no signs of forced entry. There was an unlocked sliding glass door in the parents’ room, but it was covered by aluminum vertical blinds. They would have made too much noise for someone to enter undetected, officers decided.

Join us at the quiet end for Confessions of Youth, the story of the murder of Stephanie Crowe and the false confessions that followed. On the morning when Stephanie’s body was found, detectives came to an early conclusion that her murder was an inside job. From that day forward, they worked to make the evidence fit their theory instead of letting the evidence develop their theory. This method of investigation, wrong for many good reasons, sent the Crowe family and two other families into a prolonged state of victimhood.

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Sources

Crowe v. County of San Diego, Order RE: Summary Judgment Motions, San Diego California, 2/17/2004

Haunting Questions: The Stephanie crowe Murder Case, San Diego Union Tribune, John Wilkens & Mark Sauer, 5/12/1999). 

The Interrogation of Michael Crowe, 2002 movie

Juvenile Interrogations Reform Bill Signed by Governor Newsom, Makes California the Fourth State to Adopt Anti-Deceptive-Interrogation Reforms, California Innocence Coalition, 9/15/2022

The People of the State of California v. Michael Steven Crowe, Joshua David Treadway, & Aaron Paul Houser, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego, 5/22/1998

The Reid Technique Controversies, Criticisms, and Evolving Interrogation Practices, Francesco Galvano, 6/2023

The Right to Remain a Child, New York University Law Review, Ariel Spierer, 11/2017

She’s So Cold: A Defense Attorney’s Inside Story by Donald E. McInnis

“Disney” Dad Anthony Todt and his wife Megan seemed to be living an ideal, enviable life together. High school sweethearts, they married, had three children, and owned a busy Physical Therapy practice in Connecticut. But that life blew up in December of 2019.

Join us at the quiet end for Destroyer of Worlds. How did Anthony Todt end up in a rented Celebration, Florida, home, living alongside the decomposing corpses of his murdered family members and their beloved dog? We’re following this case from the family’s early years, to the time when Anthony Todt became a family annihilator, to his taking the stand in his own murder trial. It’s a sad story with a lot to talk about.

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Sources

Anthony Todt Full Confession: Detective Interrogates Physical Therapist About Family Murders, Law & Crime Network, 4/13/2022

Anthony Todt Murder Trial, Law & Crime Network, 4/11/2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxaLPPexPc&list=PLoW1SIeAWaWbYx1Y8zzwDKtoOcY1tpe2O

Looking for the Todt Family podcast, https://www.theday.com/todt/, retrieved 10/1/2023

Prosecutor: In Idyllic Celebration, Florida, a Father Killed His Family to Prepare for the ‘Apocalypse,’ Rollingstone.com, Andrea Marks, 4/11/2022

State of Connecticut Affidavit, Case 3:20-mj-00019-RAR, United States District Court, District of Connecticut, 1/15/2020