We Would Be Dead

On the outskirts of southwestern Philadelphia, nestled between urban neighborhoods and overgrown woodlands lies Mount Moriah Cemetery, a 200 acre semi abandoned graveyard that is frozen in time, or at least it was until November of 2025 when a series of shocking grave robberies catapulted it into national news.  Enter Johnathon Gerlach, the 34 year old man who lived in a self proclaimed "house of skulls. Johnathon, a modern day ghoul who slept above piles of human remains, made his living selling dead bodies in broad daylight. This week we'll tell you how he did it, and why.   Click to learn more (sources) ABC 6 article Local news coverage Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery   The Cannibal Club   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

Hello there fiends, its Holly and Leslie, back from the dead (for real this time). There's nothing like a good old fashioned campfire story swap to kick off our spooky season! This week Holly will tell us all about the strange world of doppelgängers featuring the bewildering bilocation tale of Émilie Sagée. And Leslie will dive into the mysterious occurrences in piece of American wilderness called The Devil's Den. * We recorded this episode back in August when we were prematurely trying to make a full comeback, but life had other plans. We're here now though, and we're so excited to get back to work full time! Happy October!    Click to learn more (sources) Terry Lovelace Clinton & Cristen Brink Rodney Letterman Katerine Van Alst Devil's Den State Park in West Fork, AR  Link to the book containing the original retelling of Emélie Sagée's story. Begin on page 348     Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

  After the sudden death of her husband Eric, Kouri Richins struggled to help their three young sons cope with the immense grief and unimaginable loss they felt. Eric's death was shocking and incomprehensible. In the early morning hours of March 4th, 2022, Kouri curled up in bed next to Eric only to discover he was not breathing and "cold".  To comfort her boys in the months that followed Kouri found herself telling them over and over, that their father was still with them. They talked about it so much that eventually she was able to turn their narrative into a book designed to help other children cope with grief and loss. Three months after she published the book, Kouri Richins was arrested for Eric's Murder.    Click to learn more (sources) Kouri's 911 call Body cam footage https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/02/26/kouri-richins-former-housekeeper-testifies-to-purchasing-her-pills/ https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/03/04/kouri-richins-paramour-testifies-about-their-affair-before-after-husbands-death/ https://www.parkrecord.com/2026/03/09/private-investigator-says-independent-probe-sought-truth-in-eric-richins-death/ https://www.biography.com/crime/a70499053/who-is-kouri-richins-case-and-murder-trial https://people.com/crime/kouri-richins-husband-suspected-she-was-having-affair/     Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

After the sudden death of her husband Eric, Kouri Richins struggled to help their three young sons cope with the immense grief and unimaginable loss they felt. Eric's death was shocking and incomprehensible. In the early morning hours of March 4th, 2022, Kouri curled up in bed next to Eric only to discover he was not breathing and "cold".  To comfort her boys in the months that followed Kouri found herself telling them over and over, that their father was still with them. They talked about it so much that eventually she was able to turn their narrative into a book designed to help other children cope with grief and loss. Three months after she published the book, Kouri Richins was arrested for Eric's Murder.    Click to learn more (sources) Kouri's 911 call Body cam footage *More two come next week in part 2.   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

On August 28, 2013, Bryce David Laspisa, a 19‑year‑old student attending Sierra College in Rocklin California started out on the 6-7 hour drive back to his parents home in Laguna Niguel CA for an impromptu visit. Over the next 30 hours Bryce would spend hours sitting in his parked car at rest areas and on the side of country roads before disappearing all together. He spoke to his parents several times over the course of his trip, providing vague reassurances but never an explanation. On the morning of August 30th, Bryce's 2003 Toyota Highlander was found overturned at the bottom of an embankment. There was evidence at the scene indicating that Bryce had survived the crash, and yet he was nowhere to be found. Extensive searches of the surrounding area produced no evidence of his whereabouts, no trace of Bryce has been discovered to this day. We all know that people don't just vanish into thin air, but the question remains, Where is Bryce?   Click to learn more (sources) https://websleuths.com/threads/ca-bryce-laspisa-19-castaic-30-aug-2013-1.220961/ https://www.facebook.com/FINDBRYCELASPISA/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/bryce-laspisa https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/missing-in-america/bryce-laspisa-california-missing-person-rcna229928 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1hKUQAhmSg https://www.kcra.com/article/site-being-searched-for-missing-sierra-college-student-turns-up-body/6407433   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

On August 28, 2013, Bryce David Laspisa, a 19‑year‑old student attending Sierra College in Rocklin California started out on the 6-7 hour drive back to his parents home in Laguna Niguel CA for an impromptu visit. Over the next 30 hours Bryce would spend hours sitting in his parked car at rest areas and on the side of country roads before disappearing all together. He spoke to his parents several times over the course of his trip, providing vague reassurances but never an explanation. On the morning of August 30th, Bryce's 2003 Toyota Highlander was found overturned at the bottom of an embankment. There was evidence at the scene indicating that Bryce had survived the crash, and yet he was nowhere to be found. Extensive searches of the surrounding area produced no evidence of his whereabouts, no trace of Bryce has been discovered to this day. We all know that people don't just vanish into thin air, but the question remains, Where is Bryce?   Click to learn more (sources) *Links to come in part 2, no spoilers!   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

***THIS EPISODES IS A REBROADCAST OF EPISODE 117 WITH AN UPDATED ADDED TO THE BEGINNING!*** This week, we decided to rebroadcast our coverage of Katelin Aken's disappearance after learning that James Branton, Katelin's step-father and the last person to have seen Katelin, was arrested for multiple sex crimes. This arrest brings investigators one step closer to uncovering what happened to Katelin 10 years ago.  ------- In this, the first installment in our “Not a Runaway” series we discuss the mysterious disappearance of 19 year old Katelin Akens.  “Katelin Michelle Akens was last seen on December 5, 2015, in the vicinity of Oak Crest Drive in Partlow, Virginia.  She was visiting family in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and was scheduled to fly home to Arizona on December 5, 2015.  However, she did not board her flight and has not been seen since.  On December 7, 2015, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) recovered a piece of blue luggage from a roadside ditch, unzipped, empty, and with a missing wheel.  A wallet was located inside the luggage with Arizona identification belonging to Akens.“  Right now, In the United States there are 194,673 reported missing girls and women under 21, and that only accounts for the time that has elapsed since January first, according to national statistics by the end of the year there will be twice as many.  91% of these women and girls are classified as Runaways. It's comforting to assume these women and girls just decided to go somewhere else, but ask their families how many of them actually did that, and I think you'll get a vastly lower percentage. We need to believe these families, we need to give these girls the importance they deserve, we need to find them. All of them. Anyone with information about Katelin or her disappearance should call the Spotsylvania county sheriff's office at (540) 582-7115 or Spotsylvania's Crime Solvers at (540) 582-5822 or 1 (800) 928-5822     Click to learn more  James Branton Arrested For Sex Crimes 10 Years After 19 Year Old Katelin Akens Goes Missing FBI official listing for Katelin Help Find Katelin Akens Facebook Group     *Affiliate Link WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation       

In September of 1852, Maria Kirwan and her husband took a small ferry boat from the seaside town of Howth to a little island called Ireland's Eye.  Both Kirwan' stepped off the ferry boat, full of excitement for the pleasant day ahead. The Kirwan's planned to swim and sketch and eat a delicious picnic lunch. What they didn't plan though, was that by the end of that day, only one of them would be getting back on that ferryboat....alive.  Join us for our 6th St. Paddy's day episode as we discuss the ancient but fascinating cold case that shocked an entire community among the beautiful Irish landscape. Click to learn more (sources) https://ragingfluff.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/the-irelands-eye-murder-case-1852/ https://crowehistory.com/2018/11/09/the-irelands-eye-murder-case/ https://murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kirwan-william.htm#google_vignette https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/stories/irelands-eye-murder https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/death-on-ireland-s-eye-tragedy-and-mystery-on-a-lonely-patch-of-rocky-shore-1.4792036   Briggs, Katharine – An Encyclopedia of Fairies (1976) Croker, Thomas Crofton – Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825) Wilde, Lady Jane – Ancient Legends of Ireland (1887) Campbell, John Francis – Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860) Keightley, Thomas – The Fairy Mythology (1850) McGowan, Joseph – Irish Monsters (2009) Duchas.ie – The Irish Folklore Commission Collection   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

 In the fall of 2006, the city of New Orleans was still wading through the immense wreckage of Hurricane Katrina. Local author Chris Rose calls it "The storm that keeps killing" and it was.  So, on October 17th 2006, when a man was found dead of apparent suicide, laid out on the lower rooftop of the Omni Royal Gardens Hotel, the police thought at first, that the storm had struck again. In some ways it had, but this case was is much more than meets the eye. The victim had, in his pocket, US Army issued dog tags, a key and a note. The dog tags bore his name: Zachary Bowen. The note said that he had taken his own life as payment for taking the life of another, his girlfriend Addie Hall. The key was to the apartment where the police would find her body, and that is just the beginning of the story of Addie and Zach. It's the story of a love that ripped through their lives...like a hurricane. Click to learn more (sources)   https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15338473   https://www.weremember.com/zackery-bowen/4x5v/memories?utm_campaign=findagrave&utm_source=findagrave   https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/books/27maslin.html   https://www.ranker.com/list/zack-and-addie-new-orleans/patrick-thornton?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=creepy&pgid=1011190218967434&utm_campaign=zack-and-addie-new-orleans-comment&utm_content=zscmyrogkwxlpvxp&fbclid=IwY2xjawQDLYdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJNa200cjJKMnVDekFkbEQwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpvwEdXqakKjI73YR7X3NItwsL-gUbKRqb-n_mIcCQxpNTKbw4lkTYp0_vmW_aem_jQm30W6behD6TGP4TiWJcA   https://www.ksla.com/story/5560421/suicide-leads-police-to-gruesome-murder-scene/   https://ghostcitytours.com/new-orleans/ghost-stories/zack-addie/   https://www.risk-show.com/podcast/raw/   http://www.blather.net/theblather/2006/11/the_war_at_home_the_story_of_zachary_bow/   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity WWBD Merch Buy your WWBD swag here!  Join the Conversation      

Hey we know we have rebroadcasted this before, but with Valentines Day coming up, I wanted to highlight the man I love! No not Jason, but our Editor/Composer and my Husband, Jon Katity!! It's always a great episode to celebrate today with. We really should have Jon back on for another episode! ________   Hey there fiends, Leslie is taking a little time off to be the cutest and spookiest new mom in all the land, which means...(imagine a drum roll) guest hosts! 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.  Click to learn more https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Lake-Memories-Complete-History/dp/B00ETHN9L2 https://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2006/07/26/sharon-gregory-murder/   Episode Credits: Hosts/writers: Holly Knapp and Leslie Weidel Editor/Composer/Producer: Jon Katity   Validate Us: WWBD Merch Shop Buy us a cup of validation WWBD Official Soundtrack, Vol. 1 WWBD Official Soundtrack, Vol. 2 Shadows of Christmas (WWBD Christmas Album) Sponsors Try Audible Plus Give the Gift of Audible! Kindle Unlimited Membership Amazon Prime Free Trial Join the Conversation