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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Sources

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

In 2015, 35-year-old Kendra Hatcher became a victim of a murder-for-hire plot fueled by jealousy. Kendra was a pediatric dentist living in Dallas who was in a romantic relationship with dermatologist Ricky Paniagua. She was in love with Ricky, but she didn’t know that Ricky had a jealous ex who was stalking her and eventually wanted her dead.

Join us at the quiet end for Fatal Jealousy. Ricky’s ex-girlfriend Brenda Delgado had been devastated since he broke up with her in an email that June. That summer, Kendra and Ricky had gone out to dinner, taken trips, and posted smiling photos of themselves on Facebook. Then, on September 2, the day before Ricky and Kendra were to fly to Cancun for a long weekend, someone walked up to Kendra in her apartment parking garage and shot her in the back of her head. No one could imagine who would have a motive to kill Kendra—until investigators spoke with Brenda’s co-conspirators and learned of her obsession with Ricky and her simmering hate for Kendra.

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Sources

10 Minutes to Sunset, Dateline NBC, S29, E14, Aired 11/13/2020, Retrieved 5/19/2024

Brenda Delgado Found Guilty Of Capital Murder In Death Of Dallas Dentist Kendra Hatcher, CBS News Texas, 6/7/2019, Retrieved 5/18/2024

Brenda Delgado v. The State of Texas Appeal from 363rd Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Opinion filed 10/21/2021

The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer, Texas Monthly, Skip Hollandsworth, 1/2020

Kristopher Love, Hitman in Killing of Dallas Dentist, is sentenced to death, NBC News, Alex Johnson, 10/31/2018

California physicians Deepti Gupta and Kevin Paul Anderson were starting their own pediatric practice together when they had an affair. Both were married to other people. Anderson was loved by his patients and had been a mentor to Deepti, who was ten years younger. The day before she was murdered, Deepti had finished all her requirements to become a fully-licensed pediatrician in the State of California and she was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. But Deepti had a secret—she was pregnant with Anderson’s child.

Join us at the quiet end for Dr. Killer. With his career and marriage at risk if news of Deepti’s pregnancy got out, Anderson asked her to meet him in the San Gabriel Mountains to talk. That same night, Deepti’s car and body were found at the bottom of a steep cliff. After recovering her body, it was determined that she had been strangled, her body and car doused with gasoline, and shoved over the cliffside. It was clear that Anderson was responsible, but was this premeditated first-degree murder or a crime of passion?

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Death of a Doctor: Two Doctors, Obsessive Love, and Murder by Carlton Smith

Los Angeles Times Archives, 1999-2012

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Just after midnight on Christmas Eve 1945, Jennie Sodder woke up to the smell of smoke. The home she shared with her husband, George, and nine of their children, was going up in flames. It would be over seven hours before the fire department arrived. By then, the two-story house had burned to the ground — and five of the Sodder children were missing. In fact, to this day, no one knows what happened to the Sodder children. Their family never saw them again and their remains were never found.

Join us at the quiet end for The Missing Sodder Children. Although authorities determined that the children — Maurice, 14; Martha, 12; Louis, 10; Jennie Irene, 8; and Betty, 5 — had died in the fire, their family was not convinced. How could they have perished in the fire without any bones being found? Because of the strange events before, during, and after the tragic fire as well as a stunningly incompetent investigation, the case continues to be one of history’s most disturbing and intriguing unsolved mysteries.

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The Children Who Went Up in Smoke, Smithsonian, Karen Abbott, 12/25/2012

Long, Long, Long Sodder Post, Stacy Horn, 12/28/2005

Mystery of Missing Children Haunts W.Va. Town, National Public Radio, 12/23/2005

No Direct Evidence: The Story of the Missing Sodder Children by Bob Lane Bragg

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As fraternal twins, Betty and Peggy were together from the very beginning. As adults, they were very different people but remained best friends.  Then, in 1992, they either conspired together to have Betty’s husband killed or fought together to prove their innocence.

Join us at the quiet end for Split Decision. After Betty’s husband, Dr. Jack Wilson, was brutally murdered in his own home, suspicions turned to Betty.  Betty was an outspoken, hard-headed woman who had engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Her promiscuity, alcoholism and an adulterous affair with a black man in racist Alabama may have turned the police, and eventually a jury, against her. If the prosecution’s theory was that Betty and Peggy conspired together to kill Jack, then why was Betty found guilty while Peggy was acquitted? It may have just been the result of prejudice against Betty, the wild one, and appreciation for the sweet and amiable Peggy.

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Sources

Betty Wilson, Snapped, Oxygen Network, S33 E2, 11/5/2023

The Betty Wilson Story, Old Huntsville, No. 77

By Two and Two, Jim Schutze, 1/1995

Finding Betty, Jean Adam Jr., Retrieved 4/9/2024

The Wilson Murder, Forensic Files, S1 E8, Retrieved 4/2/2024

Wilson v. State, Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1/13/1995

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17-year-old Karla Homolka met 23-year-old Paul Bernardo in 1987. Some saw their meeting as love at first sight, but the two had a dangerous attraction which would drive them to commit abductions, sexual assaults, and even murder. This good-looking couple became obsessed with each other. And Paul was very controlling of Karla. But Paul Bernardo’s crimes were not all his own.  Evidence, including videotapes, would show that Karla was a willing participant, despite her claims that she was just another one of Paul’s victims.

Join us at the quiet end for Killer Couple: Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo. The most basic question asked about serial killers is why.  This becomes much more complicated and difficult to answer when murders are committed by more than one person. Today we’re analyzing one of the most notorious couples in modern history. What role did Karla play in Paul’s violent sex crimes and how did her gender affect the disparity in their charges and sentencing?

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Sources

Deadly Innocence, Scott Burnside, Alan Cairns, 1995

Investigating Gender Bias and Sentencing Disparity: A Case Study Analysis of the Paul Bernardo-Karla Homolka Case, Kathrine Lorraine Leafloor, Carleton University, 5/1997

 Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes, Discovery Plus, 12/13/2021

The Ken Murray Case: Defence Counsel’s Dilemma, Criminal Defence News, 7/6/2011 

Lethal Marriage: The Uncensored Truth Behind the Crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, Nick Pron, 2005

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case, The Canadian Encyclopedia, retrieved 3/30/2024

On a weekday afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, fifteen-year-old Paula Cooper stabbed 78-year-old Ruth Pelke to death. In a city with a history of racism, Ruth was a white, beloved bible teacher who refused to move out of her overwhelmingly black neighborhood. When Paula and her friends showed up at Ruth’s door that day asking about bible studies, Ruth had happily invited them in.

Join us at the quiet end for Death Sentence: The Murder of Ruth Pelke & the Punishment of Paula Cooper. When Paula was sentenced to death, few argued against the state’s impending execution of a tenth grader. But when the victim’s grandson forgave the girl, the media brought the story to the forefront and millions signed petitions in support of Paula. This case raises questions about the value of a human life and whether our justice system is made for rehabilitation or retribution.

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A Clear Scientific Consensus that the Death Penlty Does Not Deter, Amnesty International, retrieved 3/14/2024,

https://www.amnestyusa.org/updates/a-clear-scientific-consensus-that-the-death-penalty-does-not-deter/

A Pause in Federal Executions, but Uncertainty About What’s Next, The New York Times, Hailey Fuchs, 7/22/2021

Biden vowed to end the death penalty. Activists are demanding action as he nears the 100-day mark, CNN.com,  Christina Carrega, 4/25/2021

Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views of Leading Criminologists’ Michael L. Radelet Traci L. Lacock, Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Winter 2009,

IndyStar Archives 1985-2017

Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy by Alex Mar, 2023

April Kauffman didn’t have an easy life growing up.  When she was just seventeen, she gave birth to her daughter Kim and set out to make a better life for them both. April raised her daughter in a loving home despite an early split from Kim’s father. She earned her cosmetology license and worked as a hairdresser and as a model. April was fun, energetic, and independent. But life as a single mom could be lonely.

Join us at the quiet end for The Dr. & Mrs. Kauffman. In 2002, April believed she had finally found her happily ever after when she married Dr. Jim Kauffman, a successful physician and a former green beret. As the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, April became an outspoken radio personality and a fierce veteran’s advocate. But Dr. Kauffman had a dark side which April began to uncover. The doctor was running a pill mill out of his medical office and associating with a criminal motorcycle gang: The Pagans. When April had had enough and threatened divorce, she began to realize that her life was in danger, and she might never make it out of this marriage alive.

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Sources

April Kauffman, https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/april-christine-kauffman-atlantic-city-new-jersey, retrieved 2/27/2024

http://aprilkauffman.net/, retrieved. 2/27/2024

Doctor Dealer: A doctor high on greed, a biker gang high on opioids, and the woman who paid the ultimate price,  George Anastasia and Ralph Cipriano, 2020

The Doctor, the Hitman & the Motorcycle Gang : the true story of one of New Jersey’s most notorious murder for hire plots, Annie McCormick, 2020

Doctor’s Orders, Discovery Plus, 9/3/2021

Husband of slain radio host paid man to kill his wife 5 years ago, authorities say, NJ.com, True Jersey, Chris Franklin, 09/3/2018

Punishing Pill Mill Doctors: Sentencing Disparities in the Opioid Epidemic, William & Mary Law School, Adam M. Gershowitz, 12/2020

Who Was April Kauffman: Her Life, Her Mysterious Death and Why None of it Makes Any Sense, Boardwalk Journal, Sarah Colson and Ian Licht, 6/2012

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