TwistedPhilly

Episode 66 – Originally Released November 2018

Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about mass shooting. Additional content warnings are contained within the episode.  Listener discretion is advised.

On the morning of September 6, 1949, 28 year old East Camden resident Howard Unruh shot 16 people in 15 minutes, killing 13 and severely injuring 3 others. The police in Camden were ill equipped to deal with a mass murder of this scale because this was one of the first crimes of this nature in America.

Howard was a WWII veteran, a quiet young man who studied pharmacology at Temple University.  He split his time between Philadelphia and Camden, where he believed he was harassed by his neighbors.  One day his paranoid perceptions took over, pushing Howard to commit wage war on his own neighborhood.  In this episode we talk about  Howard, his victims, the survivors, especially one man in particular who was only 12 years old when he lived through Howard’s killing spree.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

Primary research sources for this episode include:

• Camden Courier Post/Evening Courier Archives
• Philadelphia Inquirer Archives
• Philadelphia Daily News Archives
• Delaware County Daily Times Archives
• Smithsonian.com
• Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers by Katherine Ramsland

The post “Walk of Death” – America’s First Mass Shooter appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 65 – Originally Released October 2018

Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions child abduction, child sexual abuse and murder. Listener discretion is advised.

On Friday morning, October 30, 1992, the battered body of eleven year old Shauna Howe was found in a shallow creek bed a few miles outside the town of Oil City, Pennsylvania.   Shauna was abducted Tuesday night, October 27, a few minutes after leaving a Girl Scout Halloween event.  For days Oil City police, the Pennsylvania State Police, family and neighbors searched for Shauna, hoping to return her to her family alive.  Sadly, their hopes were crushed when she was found murdered.

While we know small towns aren’t immune to the same tragedies we suffer in bigger cities, Oil City experienced very little violent crime.  Most of their criminal activity centered around property theft and petty crimes.   They weren’t prepared for a case like this one, a little girl abducted on her way home from a Halloween party, just a few blocks from her house.  Oil City, which sits about an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh, cancelled Halloween.  No one wanted their children out at night, after dark, for any reason whatsoever.

Police tested DNA from over 100 people in the community, including all the men in Shauna’s family, expecting to get a match to the DNA found on Shauna Howe’s body and clothing, but they didn’t.  It took 10 years for someone to uncover what happened to Shauna, and bring her killers to justice.   Yet once her murderers were behind bars, the city hadn’t reinstated nigh time trick or treating.  Eventually Halloween was reinstated, but only from 2PM till 4PM,  Finally in 2008, a little girl not much different from Shauna Howe convinced Oil City council to let their children trick or treat again at night.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post The Town that Cancelled Halloween appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 64 – Originally Released October 2018

Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about domestic violence and murder.  Listener discretion is advised.

When the Blair Witch Project hit the big screens, many independent filmmakers had aspirations of creating the next big found footage horror movie.  That was especially true for 25-year-old Blaine Norris from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.  Blaine developed a script for a horror movie to be shot in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains.  Only problem was Blaine Norris knew nothing about making a movie, nor did he have a camera man or equipment.  Luckily for him, Blaine’s friend Brian Trimble signed on as Director of Photography with his camera in tow.

But this partnership faltered.  Brian’s wife Randi Trimble, a 28-year-old speech pathologist, wasn’t too keen on Brian camping in the woods for a week filming a horror movie.  Brian suffered from MS and both his wife and his doctor thought spending a week sleeping on the ground could be detrimental to his health.  That decision may have cost Randi Trimble her life.

Randi was murdered in January 2003.  Initially the police suspected her husband Brian Trimble, however Brian had a verified alibi.  Detectives had a tough job ahead of them, sorting between fact and fiction, movie scripts and reality, to uncover who killed Randi Trimble and why.  After Randi’s death her mother, Nancy Chavez, worked tirelessly to raise awareness about domestic violence, creating multiple charities in Randi’s name to support local domestic violence centers in Cumberland County, PA.  This episode is as much Nancy’s story as it is Randi’s.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post The Story of Randi Trimble appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 63 – Originally Released September 2018

At the very bottom of New Jersey is a tiny Victorian town called Cape May.  This is my home away from home.  Filled with historic charm, and “painted ladies” – what we affectionately call the vibrant Victorian homes – you feel as if you’re transported back in time to the 1800s.   One particular house has ties to Philadelphia: the Emlen Physick estate.  Built by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness in 1879, the Physick estate was home to Dr. Emlen Physick Jr., grandson of Dr. Phillip Syng Physick, known as the “father of American surgery.”

Dr. Emlen Physick never actually practiced medicine.  Instead, he left the bustling streets of Philadelphia for the life of a country gentleman in Cape May.  There he farmed on 11 acres, raised dogs and lived with his mother Frances and his maiden aunts Isabelle and Emilie.  The estate passed out of the Physick family in 1935, with the passing of it’s last Physick family resident Emilie Parmentier.  But some people believe Emilie never left and claim her ghost, among other spirits, lingers in the estate today.  Join me on this trip down the shore to Cape May, NJ, as we visit the Emlen Physick Estate and do a little ghost hunting!

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post Emlen Physick and the Physick Estate appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 62 – Originally Released September 2018 with Special Guest Cohost Margo D, cohost of Book vs. Movie podcast, Dorking Out Podcast and the What a Creep Podcast

Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about abduction, missing persons including missing children and murder.  Listener discretion is advised.

Susan Reinert was an English teacher at Upper Merion High School, a district in suburban Philadelphia about 20 miles outside the city.  When she wasn’t teaching classrooms filled with students who adored her, she was with her two adoring children, Karen and Michael.  Susan was amicably divorced from her ex-husband Ken Reinert.  She seemed to have most of what she wanted in life – a successful career, two beautiful children, a loving and supporting circle of friends.  The one thing missing in Susan’s life was romance.

In 1978 Susan began dating a fellow teacher, William Bradfield.  Bradfield was eloquent, well educated, charming and a Lothario.  Susan Reinert wasn’t his only partner.  While she knew about a relationship Bradfield had with another teacher, he assured Susan he wanted to end his other relationship and start a future with Reinert.

In June, 1979, Susan planed a short trip with her children to Allentown, PA.  She had a speaking engagement with an organization called Parents Without Partners on Saturday morning, June 23.  She and the kids packed her car and left Ardmore on Friday night.  By Monday morning Susan Reinert was found murdered, dumped in the hatchback of her car, which was abandoned in a hotel parking lot in Harrisburg.  Karen and Michael Reinert were missing.

How could such a wonderful woman who lived a simple life wind up murdered, and in such a cruel, brutal manner?  Who would do such a thing to a beloved teacher, mother and friend?  It wasn’t just one person responsible for Susan’s death; there were two culprits – fellow teacher William Bradfield and Upper Merion High School principal Jay C Smith, who was under suspicion for the disappearance of his daughter and son in law.  Smith was also arrested for armed robbery.

What unfolded in the months and years after Susan Reinert’s death played out like a Hollywood movie, and eventually that’s what it became.  Joseph Wambaugh, former police officer turned crime writer, immortalized Susan’s murder in his bestselling novel Echoes in the Darkness.  In 1987 the made for TV movie based on his book aired on CBS, starring Stockard Channing and Peter Coyote as Susan Reinert and William Bradfield.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post The “Mainline Murders” appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 61 – Originally Released September 2018

It’s back to school for many students across the country and in this episode we’re going to Kutztown, PA, where we’ll visit Old Main, one of the oldest and most recognizable buildings on Kutztown University campus.  We’ll talk about the history of the university, including the haunted history of Old Main, where the ghost of a young woman named Mary Snyder wanders the 5th floor of this historic building.  Students report sightings of Mary for over 120 years.  How did she die, and why does she linger on the university?

We’ll also take a trip to Crystal Cave, a subterranean wonderland that’s always a cool 54 degrees.  Formations in the cave date from anywhere between 80,000 years old to over three times that age.  Filled with crystals that adorn the walls and the rock formations, legends of Crystal Cave date back over 150 years featuring reports of ghosts inside and outside the cave grounds.  Head back to school with me to Kutztown, Pennsylvania!

Promos in this episode include Framed Podcast and Ghost Press Podcast.  Follow Framed on twitter @framedpod and Ghost Press @ghostpresspod

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post Ghosts of Kutztown: Old Main and Crystal Cave appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 60 – Originally Released August 2018

I love the idea of sneaking away unexpectedly for a few days, dropping off the grid, turning off the phone, and shutting out the world. Provided you don’t fake your own kidnapping to do it.

That’s what happened on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, when Bucks County Pennsylvania resident Bonnie Sweeten called 911 from the trunk of a car.  She said she’d been carjacked by two African American men.  These men threw Bonnie and her 9 year old daughter Julia into the trunk of their car and took off.  That phone call initiated a multi county search for Bonnie and Julia.  Police found Bonnie Sweeten’s car 12 hours later in center city Philadelphia, with a parking ticket on the windshield, and no sign of Bonnie or Julia.  Nor was there any sign of these supposed car jackers.  The car jackers didn’t exist, and Bonnie and Julia were at the happiest place on earth.

What would possess someone to fake their own kidnapping, and that of their child?  Why did Bonnie Sweeten fabricate such an elaborate ruse that had her family convinced, at least for 24 hours, they may never see her or her daughter again?  Her reasons for deception started four years before her trip to Disneyworld, and the breadth of her deceit was much farther reaching than anyone realized.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post Faking It – The Story of Bonnie Sweeten appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 59 – Originally Released August 2018

There is nothing I love more than being a tourist in my own city.  You hear me talk about that in so many episodes.  I wander City Hall every chance I get.  I stop at every blue and yellow historical marker, I know the obvious history and tourist attractions, but even more I love the not so obvious moments in history, and the not so obvious history makers.  One of my favorite ways to tour any city is taking a walking tour.

A new walking tour company recently launched in Philadelphia: Beyond the Bell.  Beyond the bell was founded by Rebecca Fischer and Joey Leroux, friends who met at Haverford college who wanted to share other perspectives from Philadelphia’s history, perspectives that amplify voices you may not have heard before.

Beyond the bell tours offer an inclusive history of Philadelphia.  Their mission is to create tours that influence public history and highlight marginalized communities including people of color, queer folks, first nation folks and women.  A quote from their website says Beyond the Bell is built to promote cross cultural engagement and put the people back into the people’s history.

Recently I was lucky enough to chat with Rebecca Fisher.  I was completely enthralled listening to her talk about how and why she and Joey created Beyond the Bell tours, and the stories they tell to provide different perspectives about the history in Philadelphia.   In this episode I share my conversation with Rebecca, she gives us a glimpse into some of the incredible women featured in the Women’s History Tour, we talk about going to a Philly Quizzo night together and we’ll get a sneak peak into some of the other tours Joey and Rebecca have in the works, which really aren’t all that twisted, but sound totally awesome.  Please join me in welcoming Rebecca to TwistedPhilly!

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post Beyond the Bell appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 58 – Originally Published July 2018

There is a house in Northeast Pennsylvania, on a quiet residential street, with one of the worst haunted histories in our country.  It’s been compared to the Amityville Horror House.  This two story brick home with  three small windows on the second floor, what was once a charming front porch and a little yard in the back, was a nightmare for Bucky Johnson, his wife and daughters in the 1970s.

Was it the turmoil between the Connecticut and Pennsylvania settlers 300 years ago that created an environment for hatred and despair?  Did the blood of the men who died in the French and Indian war seep into the ground and curse the land in Wilkes Barre, PA?  Was there a curse on  Agustus Lanning, the man who built the home at 46 South Welles Street in 1860?  Whatever it is, it lurks behind wooden planks where there were once doors and windows.  Pennsylvania’s Amityville is abandoned, or at least that’s what the ghosts would like you to believe.

TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post The Pennsylvania Amityville House appeared first on TwistedPhilly.

Episode 57 – Originally Published July 2017

Content warning: This episode contains adult subject matter including discussions about death as a result of suicide.  Listener discretion is advised.

On Sunday, July 1, 2018, I had the pleasure of participating in the 6th Annual Philly Podcast Festival.  This was my second year in the festival and my second time back at the best bar in Philly, Tattooed Moms on South Street.  Since I was in South Philly, I wanted to share a story from the neighborhood and I chose the story of Joey Coyle, a 28 year old South Philly man who in February, 1981, had the misfortune of finding $1.2 million on the side of the road.

What would you do if you found one million dollars?  Would you keep it, share it, turn it in?  Would you wait for a reward?  On the surface it sounds like that sort of a windfall would make all your dreams come true.  But for Joey Coyle, in 6 days he went from rags to riches to rags again and landed himself in jail in the process. TwistedPhilly is researched, hosted, and produced by me, Deana Marie, and available biweekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Tiktok and Instagram at twistedphilly to see many of the locations and histories I discuss in the show. 

The post Joey Coyle – The South Philly Robinhood from TwistedPhilly Live at Philly Pod Fest appeared first on TwistedPhilly.