We Would Be Dead

Dear Fiends, We cordially invite you to spend some time with the terrifying spirits of Thrill house. We hope you enjoy this original gothic horror story! Consider it a treat from us to you. Happy Halloween!

Holly Knapp, Co-Host 

Leslie Weidel, Co-Host

Jon Katity, Composer & Audio Engineer

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On a sunny day in November of 1990 three young boys decide to sneak off and play in the gravel pits at a local landscaping store for the afternoon. Little did they know that they were about to open a doorway into the world of colonial American vampires. 

This week we plunge head first into the strange and mysterious practice of vampire exhumations. Along the way we'll uncover the stories of a serial killer hiding in a sleepy Connecticut town, an ancient family graveyard that seemed to appear from out of nowhere, and finally we'll share the tale of Mercy Lena Brown, the last American vampire.  Happy Hallowmonth fiends!

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Article on Mercy Brown from NewEngland.com

The Smithsonian's coverage of The New England Vampire Panic

How Tuberculosis shaped fashion

NY Times article on the discovery of JB 55

The Walton family graveyard

Article on the last American vampire

Vintage Chicago Tribune Article on Mercy Brown

Ötzi the Iceman

Children of Llullaillaco

Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster

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We're starting off spooky season with one of the most haunting cases in true crime history. This case, referred to internationally as “The Burari Deaths” walks the thin line between devotion and madness, faith and delusion, mortal and paranormal. 

At 7:15 AM on July 1st, 2018  Gurcharan Singh went outside to meet his neighbor, Lalit Chundawat, for their morning walk. That morning however, Lalit was not waiting for him. The normally bustling Chundawat household and general store stood dark and quiet. Realizing that something must be terribly wrong Gurcharan entered the Chundawat's house to see if they needed help, and what he found was nothing short of a nightmare. Ten people, including Lalit Chundawat, were hanging from the ceiling in the livng room. The Chundawat family had been wiped out in one fell, silent swoop as their neighbors slept peacefully.

This case begs us to examine how one person, everyone and no one were all to blame for the deaths of eleven people in one fell swoop. 

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House Of Secrets

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Sorry for leaving you all with a crazy cliff hanger last week but it had to be done! When we left off Laci Peterson had gone missing from her Modesto CA home on Christmas Eve day 2002. After a cursory investigation authorities had their eyes on her husband scott. This week we'll see how a pair of burglars with the worst luck in the world threw this case for a loop, a loop that could only be closed by a starting confession from Scott's unaware lover Amber Frey. We'll reveal what became of Laci  and Conner  and examine how one woman's bravery allowed justice to be served.

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Susan Medina's testimony

Watch American Murder: Laci Peterson

click here to learn what happened to the dog

local article on the burglary

additional burglary information

The People Versus Peterson transcript (this is everything)

Excerpts from "For Laci" by Sharon Rocha

Witness by Amber Frey

Comprehensive Rolling Stone Article

CNN's Coverage of Karen's Testimony

Autopsy details, TW we do not go into this in either episode. It is very disturbing.

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On Christmas Eve morning 2002 Scott Peterson said goodbye to his pregnant wife Laci, got in his car and left to go golfing. When he returned home late that afternoon Laci was gone. Friends and family members leapt into action furiously trying to find Laci. Little did they know that they would find themselves launched into a horrifying media circus.  Soon after, Laci's loved ones began to realize that maybe they devil they knew was far more terrifying than the devil they didn't.  

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References will be listed in part 2. No spoilers!

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OH MAN! IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH!! Remember last year when Leslie had just had her baby so she sent her husband, our composer and editor, Jon, in to take her place?! If you don't, well lucky you, because we are rebroadcasting our Friday the 13th episode that Holly and Jon recorded on 10.13.23. And if you do remember, well you get to enjoy twice!!! Jon's knowledge of the Friday the 13th franchise is reason enough to listen to this episode (again)!

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH FIENDS!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday the 13th! This week in honor of this the luckiest unlucky of all days we brought our editor and composer Jon Katity on to help tell the story of the horrific murder of Sharon Gregory by a man named Mark Branch. Mark was obsessed with horror films, and aren't we all? Mark however took the concept of life imitating art to a new level when  he decided to act out his own horror movie in real life. Knock on wood and cross your fingers because this is the story of the Friday the 13th killer. 

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https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Lake-Memories-Complete-History/dp/B00ETHN9L2

https://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2006/07/26/sharon-gregory-murder/

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It's a Lesliesode!!! This week's double sized TLDR takes you through the murders of Emily Hoffert & Janice Wylie, deemed the Career Girls Murder. It's a windy, twisty road that finally leads us to justice - but not without really f-ing up first. 

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https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/08/29/89957611.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitmore_Jr.#:~:text=(May%2026%2C%201944%20%E2%80%93%20October,1966%20ruling%20in%20Miranda%20v.

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,898388,00.html

https://ifearbrooklyn.com/2014/07/06/moving-on-a-tale-of-being-young-dumb-black-in-america/

https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/not_guilty/career_girls/5.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/26/archives/youth-is-accused-in-wylie-slaying-theft-suspect-charged-with.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/29/archives/brooklyn-indicts-3slaying-suspect-accuses-youth-in-stabbing-of.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20150210060034/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/career_girls/3.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/23/archives/in-shadow-of-brother.html

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Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, 19 year old Brandon Swanson left a going away party for a friend. He started off on the half hour drive home to his parents house in Marshall Minnesota, taking back roads through dark cornfields when he found himself in unfamiliar territory.

Brandon tried to turn his car around but ended up stuck off the road in a ditch. He called his parents to come and get him, being sure to give them what he suspected to be his rather remote location. Over the next three hours they would try desperately to find each other. During this search Brandon and his father stayed on the phone until Brandon suddenly uttered "Oh shit" and was never seen again.

Anyone with Information regarding Brandon Swanson or his disappearance should contact Agent Derek Woolford at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (651) 793-7000 or the FBI VICAP at 1-800-634-4097. click the missing poster below for case numbers and more information.

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Missing Poster

Case Report

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This week's super sized TLDR takes you through the complicated, one sided love story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson. It's the story that inspired the much talked about Netflix Documentary: Tell Them You Love Me.

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Mitchell County Iowa, July 12th 2021, 5:27 PM. A local girl was taking a walk down the Greenbelt River Trail when something strange and terrifying caught her attention. She looked once, rubbed her eyes thinking she must be seeing things, and then looked again. Upon further inspection it was clear that no she wasn't seeing things, there among the lush grass and stately trees was a human skull dangling off a wooden spike.

Police rushed to the scene immediately and interviewed everyone who had been along the trail that evening. Among the briefly interviewed was Nathan Gilmore, a man who authorities would eventually find out followed his satanic delusions down a murky rabbit hole to murder and dismemberment. 

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Church of Satan

Sigil of Baphomet

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/nathan-gilmore-sentenced-to-decades-in-prison-for-angela-bradbury-murder/

https://www.radioiowa.com/2023/10/16/father-of-mason-city-woman-speaks-out-as-osage-man-sentenced-for-her-death/

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