True Crime Brewery

Just three years after Thomas Keir told everyone that his first wife Jean left him and their young son behind to be with another man, his second wife Rosalina was found dead and severely burned on her bed. Keir’s claims to be unlucky and grief-stricken were questioned by investigators as well as family, friends, and members of the media. Could the suspicious deaths of two wives be bad luck or a strange coincidence?

Join us at the quiet end for The Two Wives of Thomas Keir. Thomas Kier was a man so jealous that he had hated for even his own child to touch his wife, Jean. His possessiveness was expressed with threats that he would cut her up and feed her to the dogs if she ever left him. Police finally found seven small fragments of Jean’s bones buried under the same house in which Rosalina died. This is the story of two wives, two murders, and a long, difficult fight to get justice for them and their families.

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Convicted wife-killer’s ‘acts of concern’ after 22-year incarceration, 9news.com.au, 5/8/2020

Seven Bones, Two Wives, Two Violent Murders, A Fight for Justice by Peter Seymour & Jason K. Foster, 2011

Two wives murdered: husband convicted of one, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12/14/2004, retrieved 9/28/2024

Wife Killer Gets 22 Years Behind Bars, ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-12-13/wife-killer-gets-22-years-behind-bars/602088, 12/12/2004, retrieved 9/28/2024

On the afternoon of June 26, 2010, a Pennsylvania State Trooper witnessed a car driving erratically. It sped past him and crashed into a tree. Stopping to help, he found the driver alive and covered in blood. When asked what happened, the man answered: “I just killed everybody.”

Join us at the quiet end for Evil Out on Parole. Not far from the accident, police found a gruesome massacre. Then they learned that the man responsible had already been convicted of murder before and had been out on parole for just two months. Now, convicted killer Michael Ballard had used his freedom to murder four more innocent people, including an ex-girlfriend who had become his obsession.

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Death Penalty 101: Why it’s (almost) impossible to execute someone in Pennsylvania, and what’s next, Billy Penn, 1/15/2015

Fatal Jealousy by Colin McEvoy

Man Who Stabbed 4 People Should Have Been in Prison: DA says four people would still be alive if suspect served a full sentence, NBCPhiladelphia.com, Teresa Masterson, 6/27/2010

Northampton DA pushes to set execution date for death row inmate Michael Ballard, Lehighvalleylive.com, Kurt Bresswein, 6/24/2015

Northampton Killer Sentenced to Die: Jury sentences Michael Ballard to die for quadruple killing, Patch.com, Josh Popichak, 5/17/2011

Back in the winter of 1985, two friends from Detroit set out on a hunting trip in rural Michigan. Brian Ognjan and David Tyll, both 27-years-old, had been looking forward to this trip and had planned it for weeks. But somewhere along the way, the hunters became the hunted. They vanished somewhere in the bitter cold, leaving behind a legacy of grief and confusion.

Join us at the quiet end for Into the Cold. On November 22, Brian and David headed out for David’s family cabin in White Cloud. David picked up Brian, Brian cashed a check, and they left. They thought that they might stop to visit a friend along the way. But they never arrived at the cabin or the friend’s home. In fact, they were never seen again. And David’s vehicle, a 1980 black Ford Bronco, has never been found either.

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2 Michigan brothers are charged in hunters’ disappearance 18 years ago, Deseret News, 5/16/2003

Darker Than Night by Tom Henderson

Two Hunters Murdered Near Mio, Michigan Chopped Up and Fed to Pigs, WGRD, Tom Carroll, 8/8/2022

Two Sentenced for Murder of Detroit Hunters, The Michigan Daily, 10/30/2003

July 27th, 1996. Atlanta, Georgia. During a free concert at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, security guard Richard Jewell spotted an abandoned backpack. Authorities soon discovered that it contained a live bomb. The bomb detonated minutes later, but Jewell’s actions saved countless lives. Days later, he became the main suspect in the bombing. The public would immediately associate him with the bombing and some would continue to believe he was responsible even after the actual perpetrator confessed.

Listen to Generation Why: The Olympic Park Bombing on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting http://wondery.fm/GW_TCB now.

Back in the summer of 1973, the Houston Police were called to a home where a 33-year-old man named Dean Corll had been shot to death. This crime scene led them to search a shed he had been renting and a wooded area nearby. Finally, the community would learn what had happened to their missing boys. And the details would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Join us at the quiet end for The Candy Man Killer and the Lost Boys of Houston Heights. In December 1970, two teenaged boys disappeared from the Heights neighborhood in Houston. Then more went missing, one after another. As the number of missing kids grew, people had no idea that a sadistic serial killer and his teenage accomplices were living among them. The police had been telling parents not to worry—their sons had simply run away to join a commune or find work. But the truth was heartbreaking, and the impact is still felt today.

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Sources

Effort Continues to Identify Last Known Victim in Killing Spree, Houston Chronicle, Monica Rohr, 2014. 

Filmmakers May have Discovered New Victim of 1970s Mass Murders, ABC13 News, Ted Oberg, 2012. 

The Lost Boys, Texas Monthly, Skip Hollandsworth, 2011. 

The Man with Candy by Jack Olsen

Carol Montecalvo was a devoted Christian who married her prison pen pal. Once he was released, they seemed happy. But on the evening of March 31, 1988, Carol and her husband Dan were shot. Dan survived. Carol was killed. After Carol’s death, Dan told police that, on the night of the shooting, he and Carol went for a walk together around the neighborhood. When they returned to the house, Carol was shot to death by an intruder. Dan suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.  

Join us at the quiet end for Death of a Prison Bride. Dan claimed that he found his wife bleeding on the floor of their home that night. And evidence in the Montecalvo home seemed to support a burglary gone wrong— until it didn’t. Investigators became suspicious of Dan when they learned of his extensive criminal past, his large gambling debts, and the $600,000 in life insurance he held on Carol’s life. So, did Dan find God or did Carol just find herself an evil man? 

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Burbank Man Guilty of Murdering Wife: Jury decides that ex-convict killed his spouse to collect her insurance, Los Angeles Times, Jesse Katz, 11/6/1990

Final Vows by Karen Kingsbury, 2013

The Perfect Murder, Murder by the Book, S3 E9, 7/27/2016

Tardy Confession: Woman Says Convicted Man Didn’t Kill His Wife, Los Angeles Times, Victor Merina, 1/6/1991

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Emile Cilliers tried to murder his wife Victoria by sabotaging her parachute, but that was not his first attempt to kill her. Emile had a long history of lying, stealing, and having extramarital affairs. He also had a temper. Victoria knew that her husband was often dishonest and emotionally closed off, but she desperately wanted to keep her family together for the sake of their children. She could not even imagine that the father of her children would want her dead.

Join us at the quiet end for The Parachute Murder Plot. Things were far from ideal in the Cilliers marriage, but Victoria was in love and unaware of much of what was going on behind her back. Emile liked to spend money on anonymous sex, frivolous luxuries, and vacations with his girlfriend. He took out high interest payday loans and skimmed money from Victoria’s bank account, all the while gaslighting her into thinking she was emotionally unstable. But as Victoria worried about her troubled marriage, Emile gave her bits of hope. He used her love for her family as a weapon against her and set her up for a terrifying death.

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Chute to Kill: Jealous Belgian Skydiver Convicted of Murder, Time, Leo Cendrowicz, 11/30/2019

Els Clottemans, Belgian Skydiver Who Doctored Parachute of Love Rival Gets 30 Years, The Huffington Post, Robert Wielaard, 10/21/2010

The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot, Channel4UK, 5/28/2024

How Often do Parachutes Fail? Skydive Monroe, https://skydivemonroe.com/blog/parachute-fails-to-open-when-skydiving/, 8/23/2023

Inside the world of parachute murder plotter who was jailed for life for trying to kill his wife, https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/parachute-murder-channel-4-documentary-victoria-cilliers-emile-skydive-the-fall/, 6/11/2024

I Survived by Victoria Cilliers 2020

The Parachute Murder Plot, All3Media, with Fiona, 2018 

Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ, GC Smith & JP Pell, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC300808/, 12/20/2003

Sex, lies and payday loans: The parachute murder plot, BBC.com, Bethen Bell, 6/15/2028

Christa Worthington was a Vassar grad from a prominent family, living on her own on Cape Cod. She had left behind her career as a fashion writer for a simpler life, having a daughter on her own and raising her on the Cape. Then, in January 2002, forty-six-year-old Christa was found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her cottage with her toddler daughter clinging to her body but unharmed.

Join us at the quiet end for The Burden of Bias. After Christa’s murder, suspicions pointed toward several local men she’d known. But in 2005, investigators arrested Christopher McCowen, a thirty-four-year-old African American garbage man. According to the police, McCowen gave inconsistent stories. He was convicted in a trial that was filled with conflicting testimony and police misconduct. But in January 2008, a hearing was held to determine whether racism was a factor in the jury’s decision to convict McCowen. Three jury members testified that fellow jurors made racist remarks during deliberations, raising questions about whether his trial was fair and unbiased. Since then, there have been two distinct sides to this story as McCowen’s attorneys work to get him a new trial.

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Sources

A Killing on the Cape podcast, ABC News, 2017

COMMONWEALTH vs. CHRISTOPHER M. MCCOWEN, 458 Mass. 461, 5/7/2010-12/10/2010, https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/458/458mass461.html

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rejects McCowen’s Appeal of Conviction for Christa Worthington Murder, Lefteris K. Travaykis, Esq., 12/16/2010, https://www.bostoncriminallawyersblog.com/massachusetts-supreme-court-re-2/

Murder on the Cape, 48 Hours, S30 E8, 11/19/2017

Reasonable Doubt: The Fashion Writer, Cape Cod, and the Trial of Chris McCowen by Peter Manso

Revisiting the Christa Worthington Murder 20 Years Later, Caitlyn Flynn, 6/2/2022, https://crimereads.com/revisiting-the-christa-worthington-murder-20-years-later/

Where are they now? Key players in the Christa Worthington murder case 20 years later, Cape Cod Times, Eric Williams, 1/5/2022

Sandra Bridewell lived a life of privilege throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. In fact, her life could have been described as near perfect if not for the trail of dead bodies left in her wake. Her first husband, a prominent dentist, died in their home in 1975. Her second husband, a real estate developer, died of cancer in 1982. Shortly after his death, his oncologist’s wife was found shot to death in her car just hours after giving Sandra a ride to the airport. Three years after that, Sandra’s third husband Alan was found shot to death in his car where he was last seen driving to meet her. And six months after that, Alan’s cousin was found shot to death in his garage.

Join us at the quiet end for Death Followed Her. Sandra Bridewell had a way about her, especially when it came to men. She was a confessed con artist and a skilled liar. But finding her legally responsible for the suspicious deaths of the people around her would prove next to impossible for law enforcement. Under suspicion, Sandra would elude accountability for her crimes, frustrating victims’ families and detectives for years.

Click here to read John Leake’s book “The Meaning of Malice”

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The Black Widow, D Magazine, Glenna Whitley, 5/1/1987

Black Widow Feels the Sting of the Long, Long Arm of the Law, Dallas Observer, Robert Wilonsky, 3/8/2007

Black Widow Pleads Guilty, D Magazine, Glenna Whitley, 2/28/2008

Glenna Whitley Has a Date with Dateline NBC Tonight, D Magazine, Robert Wilonsky, 8/6/2007

The Meaning of Malice by John Leake

The Meaning of Malice Documentary, John Leake, https://vimeo.com/943420674

The Sting, Dateline Secrets Uncovered, S6 E1, 1/5/2019

Tangled Web, Dateline NBC, 8/6/2007

Web of Suspicion: The Oklahoma Tie to the Black Widow of Dallas, New9.com, Kelly Ogle, 5/5/2022

Whatever Happened to the Black Widow: Sandra Bridewell, D Magazine, Glenna Whitley, 5/1/1989

In 2008, single mother Susan Bailey was working two jobs to make sure that her children, 17-year-old Jennifer and 13-year-old David, had everything they needed. But on September 26th, when Susan didn’t show up for work, her employer called Susan’s mother, Kate, in Minnesota. Susan’s mother hadn’t heard from her daughter or her two grandchildren.  She tried all of their phones repeatedly but no one was answering. Eventually, Kate called the police to go out to her daughter’s Roanoke, Texas home and do a welfare check. The police went to the house, but all was quiet and they saw no signs of trouble. No one answered the door and Susan’s car wasn’t there. What the police and Kate didn’t know was that Jennifer was obsessed with her boyfriend, Paul Henson, and that Paul and Jennifer had made plans to run away together.

Join us at the quiet end for Killer Kids. At 3:30 in the morning on September 28, a police officer in South Dakota pulled over three teenagers travelling in Susan’s car. The teens were taken into custody and Susan’s house was finally searched by police. What they found was a shockingly violent and bloody crime scene described by one detective as “a slaughterhouse.”

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Sources

Affidavits: 4 Teens Planned to Kill N. Texas Mom, NBC DFW5, 10/8/2008, retrieved 6/2/2024

Jennifer Bailey & Paul Henson, Snapped Killer Couples, S17 E14, 3/2024

Let’s Kill Mom by Donna Fielder

Teen Killers, Facing Evil, 12/2012

Teen takes plea bargain for killing girlfriend’s mother, WFAA ABC, 10/19/2009, retrieved 6/2/2024