Episode 532: Listener Tales 82

In the early morning hours of December 17, 1968, two gunmen burst into the Atlanta motel room of Barbara Jane Mackle and her mother, Jane. After tying up and chloroforming Jane Mackle, the two kidnapped Barbara, forcing her into their car at gunpoint. Later that day, a family friend received a call at the Mackle home in Florida, instructing them to look in the northwest corner of the Mackle’s yard, where they would find a ransom note with details about how to ensure their daughter’s safe return.Once the note was unearthed, the Mackle’s learned their daughter had been placed inside a box and buried in the ground in a remote location. She has enough food, water, and air to survive for a few days, but if the family doesn’t act quickly, there’s a good chance Barbara will dieThe kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle was an elaborately planned, well-executed crime that quickly dominated local and national headlines, which was no small feat in a year of major social upheaval. By the 1960s, kidnapping for ransom was a familiar concept, but to be kidnapped and buried alive was a terrifying thought that shook Americans to their core and left everyone wondering, what kind of person could do such a thing?Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research and writing support!ReferencesAssociated Press. 1968. "Kidnapped college girl found safe in box underground." Los Angeles Times, December 21: 1.—. 1968. "Mackle kidnapping suspect capturted; $480,000 recovered." Los Angeles Times, December 22: 1.—. 1968. "Kidnapped girl tells of ordeal of 83 hours entombed in box." New York Times, December 29: 44.—. 1968. "Kidnapped girl, buried alive, is freed." New York Times, December 21: 1.Atlanta Constitution. 1968. "80-hour burial ends in rescue." Atlanta Constitution, December 21: 1.—. 1968. "Motel coed kidnapped here spurs nationwide alert for 2." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1.Foreman, Laura. 1968. "Campus silent about the girl." Atlanta Constitution, December 18: 1.Gary Steven Krist v. State of Georgia. 1970. 227 Ga. 85 (Ga. 1970) (Supreme Court of Georgia, December 3).Markowitz, Arnold. 1969. "Plea of Innocent entered for Krist." Miami Herald, March 8: 1.Miami Herald. 1969. "Krist collapses; is being force-fed." Miami Herald, April 25: 4.—. 1969. "'Superiority' goes to jail." Miami Herald, May 28: 3.—. 1969. "Who's villain of kidnap case?" Miami Herald, March 9: 19.Miller, Gene. 1969. "Krist gets life in prison avter jury grants mercy." Miami Herald, May 27: 1.—. 1969. "'Life imprisonment worse than death'." Miami Herald, May 27: 16.Miller, Gene, and Barbara Mackle. 1971. Eighty-Three Hours till Dawn. New York, NY: Doubleday.Murray, Frank. 1968. "Researcher and 2 sought in kidnap." Atlanta Constitution, December 20: 1.New York Times. 1968. "Ransom pickup inadvertently foiled by Miami police." New York Times, December 20.Raines, Howell. 1979. "Parole of a kidnapper angers Atlanta." New York Times, May 14: A14.Sosin, Milt. 1969. "FBI hunts Ruth's 'flight pal'." Miami News, March 6: 1.—. 1969. "Ruth: Everyone is against me." Miami News, March 7: 1.United Press International. 1968. "Gunman and 'boy' kidnapp 20-year-old coed, Florida millionaire's daughter." New York Times, December 18: 25.Vissar, Steve. 2006. "The strange odyssey of Gary Krist; From kidnapper to prisoner to doctor to alleged drug smuggler." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 19.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Weirdos! Everyone Rejoice!! September is upon us! Let's welcome the 'BER' months with the FOURTH installment of Spooky Lighthouses! Today Alaina & Ash talk about the morbid history of two lighthouses: The Cape Romain Lighthouse in South Carolina & Little Ross Lighthouse in Scotland!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Weirdos!! It’s our second SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE brought to YOU by our friends at Audible! Today we’re joined by one of our besties, Sabrina from 2 Girls 1 Ghost to chat about Grady Hendrix's, “My Best Friends Exorcism”! Join the “Weirdos’ Audiobook Club’ AND the conversation as we talk about our favorite characters, themes, and scenes! Haven’t listened yet? Don’t worry about it, friend! Go to Audible.com/weirdos for YOUR free trial! And don’t forget to click the episode post on Instagram to comment YOUR favorite part of the book, and discuss with other Weirdos who enjoyed the title, as well!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Weirdos! The Time has come for Listener Tales! We have a great batch of stories brought TO you, BY you, For you, FROM you, and ALLLLL about you! On today's episode, we tell tales of babysitting for a murderer, a story from our best friend (we're so sorry we accidentally speak over you in the car!! a story about being a ghost writer for an abusive ex, and a nephew who had tea parties with deceased relatives!If you’ve got a listener tale please send it on over to [email protected] with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line :)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the early morning hours of June 7, 1992, best friends and recent high school graduates Suzie Streeter and Stacy McCall finished up their graduation festivities and headed back to Suzie’s house that she shared with her mother, Sherill Levitt. When the girls failed to meet their friends for a planned trip the following day, two of those friends went by Levitt’s house to check on them. Despite all three women’s cars being parked in the driveway and the front door being unlocked, no one was home. Perhaps more alarming was the fact that the purses, wallets, and other items of all three women were still at the house, and the television in Streeter’s bedroom had been left on. Hours later, when the three still hadn’t been seen or heard from, Stacy McCall’s mother called the police and reported them missing.For months the case of the “Springfield Three” dominated headlines in and around the city of Springfield, Missouri and consumed a massive amount of law enforcement resources; yet leads and evidence were sparse, and it seemed to many that the three missing women had simply vanished into thin air. In the thirty years since they went missing, the investigation has produced a number of compelling leads and potential suspects, but none have produced any answers or arrests and the disappearance of the Springfield Three remains one of the city’s most baffling mysteries. Anyone with information about the disappearance is encouraged to contact the Springfield Police at (417) 864-1810 or place an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at (417) 869-8477. Tips and information can also be submitted online at P3tips.com.Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesBarnes, Deborah, and Traci Bauer. 1992. "Frantic families watchful for trio." Springfield News-Leader, June 9: 3.Bauer, Traci. 1992. "Three women vanish." Springfield News-Leader, June 9: 1.Benson, Ana. 2021. The Disappearance of the Springfield Three. Duluth, MN: Trellis Publishing.Bentley, Chris , and Robert Keyes. 1992. "Police follow transient lead." Springfield News-Leader, June 16: 1.Bentley, Chris. 1992. "Disappearance leaves woman's son 'frantic'." Springfield News-Leader, June 10: 1.Clark, Christopher. 1992. "Who could be so cruel? Friends shake their heads." Speingfield News-Leader, June 10: 1.Clark, Christopher, Traci Bauer, and Chris Bentley. 1992. "Typical teenagers, a loving mother." Springfield News-Ledger, June 10: 14.Davis, Ron. 1992. "Troubled." Springfield News-Leader, June 26: 1.Keyes, Robert. 1996. "Inmate to go 'under microscope'." Springfield News-Leader, January 19: 1.—. 1996. "Missing women case leads police to Texas." Springfield News-Leader, January 2: 1.—. 1992. "Streeter's brother passes polygraph." Springfield News-Leader, June 12: 6.—. 1996. "Talk with inmate leads to 'nothing shattering'." Springfield News-Leader, January 20: 1.—. 2006. "Three Missing women: Ten years later." Springfield News-Leader, June 8.—. 1992. "Too many felonies." Springfield News-Leader, July 11: 1.—. 1992. "Waitress gives clue." Springfield News-Leader, June 24: 1.—. 1992. "'We're doing all we can'." Springfield News-Leader, June 21: 9.O'Dell, Kathleen. 1992. "A sixth sense about a baffling case." Springfield News-Leader, June 28: 1.Reid, Kyani. 2022. 30 years later family still seeking answers in the disappearance of three Springfield, Missouri women. June 12. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/30-years-later-family-still-seeking-answers-disappearance-three-springfield-n1296285.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the winter of 1968, reporter Bill Gibbons got an anonymous call from a man who wanted to confess to three murders in the small town of Gaffney, South Carolina. Gibbons thought the call was a prank, but he took it to the sheriff and the two men travel out to the first of three locations where the caller claimed to have left the bodies. After searching casually through the underbrush for a short time, the men discover the nude body of twenty-year-old Nancy Carol Paris, who’d been strangled to death. At the second location, they discovered the body of fourteen-year-old Tina Rhinehart, who appeared to have been killed in the same manner as Paris. Investigators soon learned that the third location the caller gave was where police had discovered the body of Annie Dedmond six months earlier.In the days that followed, the “Gaffney Strangler,” as the press would come to call him, would contact Gibbons several more times, demanding that he print stories about the murders in the newspaper. He also insisted that Gibbons and the sheriff’s department needed to do something about the fact that Annie Dedmond’s husband, Roger, was sitting in jail for Annie’s murder. Then, a week later, the strangler struck again, this time kidnapping fifteen-year-old Opal Buckson in broad daylight, throwing her in the trunk of his car while her sister watched helplessly. Opal’s body would be discovered a week later, dead like the others.A few days after the discovery of Opal’s body, police arrested Lee Roy Martin, a local mill worker and father of three who’d been born and raised in Gaffney. The arrest shocked the local residents and left everyone wondering, in a town as small as Gaffney, how could they have lived their entire lives with a violent psychopath and never known it?Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesCharlotte Observer. 1972. "About Roger Dedmond, convicted of killing his wife." Charlotte Observer, November 7: 30.2015. A Crime to Remember. Directed by Christine Connor. Performed by Christine Connor.Dalton, Robert, and Craig Peters. 2009. Gaffney Strangler terrorized town 40 years ago, murdering 4 women. July 5. Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2009/07/05/gaffney-strangler-terrorized-town-40-years-ago-murdering-4-women/29885910007/.Fuller, Bill, and Jack Horan. 1968. "Dog only murder witness?" Charlotte Observer, February 10: 1.Gaffney Ledger. 1968. "Attorneys ask court transcript of trial." Gaffney Ledger, February 21: 1.—. 1968. "Officers search well; find Opal's clothing." Gaffney Ledger, February 28: 1.Howe, Claudia. 1968. "Grim mystery, violent deaths engulf Gaffney." Charlotte Observer, February 14: 10.Jones, Mark R. 2007. Palmetto Predators: Monsters Among Us. Charleston, SC: The History Press.Martin, Tommy. 1988. "Lives of golf pro, texile worker crossed paths on February 13, 1968." Gaffney Ledger, February 5: 4.—. 1968. "Martin sentenced to life in prison." Gaffney Ledger, September 19: 1.McCuen, Sam E. 1968. "Crank telephone calls plague Gaffney police." The State, February 16: 19.—. 1968. "Gaffney girl is kidnapped." The State, February 14: 1.—. 1968. "Mother convinced her son innocent." The State, February 9: 1.Skipp, Catherine. 2009. "Gaffney, S.C. haunted by murderous memories ." Newsweek, July 8.The Gaffney Ledger. 1968. "Martin is charged in 3 stranglings." Gaffney Ledger, February 19: 1.The State. 1968. "2 bodies found after phone call." The State, February 9: 1.—. 1968. "Suspect attempts suicide." The State, February 21: 15.Truluck, Jack. 1968. "In-laws believe Dedmond is guilty." Gaffney Ledger, February 21: 1.United Press International. 1968. "Lee Roy Martin indicted in 4 Gaffney stranglings." Greenville News, May 21: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the afternoon of March 25, 1934, Belle Bradley found one of her tenants, forty-five-year-old Eric Madison, dead on the floor of the apartment he rented with his wife, Nellie. Madison had been shot in the back four times with a .32 caliber revolver and there was no sign of Nellie Madison, nor was there any evidence of a break-in or a robbery. In the days that followed, investigators quickly determined that Nellie had shot her husband and they tracked her to a remote cabin in northern California, where she was arrested and taken back to Los Angeles and charged with the murder.To the Los Angeles police and press, Nellie Madison was suspicious from the very start; not for any obvious reason or evidence against her, but because she openly defied the categories and characteristics used to define a wife and woman at the time. Although she was only thirty-three years old, she had been married five times and yet had no children. She also had a strong skillset from having worked many jobs, and having been raised on a farm in Montana, she was a skilled survivalist who had never needed the help of a man. Going into the murder trial, it was these facts, more than any physical evidence or witness testimony, that would count against her.After a two-week trial, Nellie Madison was found guilty for the murder of her husband and sentenced to death, making her the first woman to ever sit on death row in the state’s history. However, Nellie’s death sentence was hardly the end of her case; in fact, it was the turning point in the story that would finally bring the truth about Eric’s death into the light.Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesCairns, Kathleen. 2005. "Saved From the Gallows." California Supreme Court Historical Society 5-14.—. 2007. The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.2015. A Crime to Remember. Television. Directed by Christine Connor. Accessed July 23, 2024.Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1934. "Calls woman Lady Macbeth." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 20: 1.—. 1934. "Hint Madison is still alive." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 13: 1.—. 1934. "Mrs. Madison facinc noose; plans appeal." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 23: 1.—. 1934. "Self defense may be argued." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 6: 1.—. 1934. "Widow unmoved by death story." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, April 12: 7.Los Angeles Times. 1934. "Auditor found slain; wife hunted in inquiry." Los Angeles Times, March 26: 15.—. 1934. "Death clew hunt pushed." Los Angeles Times, April 1: 17.—. 1934. "Death plea hits widow." Los Angeles Times, June 20: 17.—. 1934. "Deatn case widow mum." Los Angeles Times, Marchh 27: 19.—. 1934. "Doubt cast on identity." Los Angeles Times, June 14: 17.—. 1934. "Madison may be exhumed." Los Angeles Times, June 16: 13.—. 1934. "Second pistol bought by Mrs. Madison hunted in mysrtery murder case." Los Angeles Times, March 28: 5.—. 1934. "Slaying of mate denied." Los Angeles Times, June 15: 36.—. 1934. "Widow veils death tale." Los Angeles Times, March 28: 17.Rasmussen, Cecilia. 2007. "Unwitting pioneer of the battered-woman defense." Los Angeles Times, February 4.The People of California v. Nellie May Madison. 1935. 3826 (Supreme Court of the State of California, May 27).Underwood, Agness. 1934. "Widow weeps when held in murder quiz." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, March 29: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, the chemical element was quickly adopted by manufacturers for its luminescent properties that would go on to be used in, among other things, the painting of clock faces, watches, and instrument panels, allowing them to be seen in the dark. At the time, the introduction of radioluminescent materials into manufacturing was hailed as a scientific solution to an age-old frustration, but it didn’t take long before that solution was shown to have terrible consequences.    As a radioactive element, radium is highly toxic to humans, particularly when ingested or inhaled. While it seemed unlikely that anyone would ingest or inhale the radium used to paint a clockface, this fact posed a serious problem for the largely female factory workers whose job it was to paint the dials. These “Radium Girls,” as they would come to be known, not only spent most of their day in close proximity to the paint, but also employed a technique in which they frequently wet their paintbrushes with their mouths, consuming small amounts of radium in the process. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, hundreds of young women working in at least three radium dial factories in the United States suffered deadly radiation poisoning as a result of working so closely with radium, all without any safety protocols and completely unaware of the dangers. After dozens of deaths, a group of factory workers successfully sued their employers for damages, exposing the widespread disregard for worker safety. While the suits were generally a major victory for the American labor movement, it was ultimately hard-won and little comfort to those who would die within a few years.Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesCamden Courier-Post. 1928. "Woman radium victim offers living body to aid in search for cure." Courier-Post, May 29: 1.eGov Newswire. 2021. "Menedez leads colleagues in introducing senate resolution to honor the lives and legacy of the 'Radium Girls'." eGov Newswire, June 26.Evening Courier. 1927. "Radium poison victims want damage suit limits raised." Evening Courier, July 19: 2.Galant, Debbie. 1996. "Living with a radium nightmare." New York Times, September 29: NJ1.Lang, Daniel. 1959. "A most valuable accident." New Yorker, April 24: 49.McAndrew, Tara McClellan. 2018. The Radium Girls: An Illinois Tragedy. January 25. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://www.nprillinois.org/equity-justice/2018-01-25/the-radium-girls-an-illinois-tragedy.Moore, Kate. 2017. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. New York, NY: Sourcebooks.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. n.d. Radium Girls: The Story of US Radium’s Superfund Site. Environmental Preservation Snapshot, Orange, NJ: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.New York Times. 1928. "Finds no bar to suit by radium victims." New York Times, May 23: 11.Prisco, Jacopo. 2017. "Radium Girls: The dark times of luminous watches." CNN, December 19.United Press. 1928. "Woman, dying by degrees, tells of symptoms of radium posioning." Courier-News, May 16: 6.—. 1928. "3 more are victims of radiun poisoning." Evening Courier, May 22: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the morning of March 20, 1927, nine-year-old Lorraine Snyder was awakened by the sound of gentle knocking at her bedroom door and when she opened it, she found her mother bound and gagged on the floor. According to the girl’s mother, Ruth Snyder, someone had broken into the house in the middle of the night, knocked her unconscious and tied her up, then murdered her husband, Albert. Ruth claimed the motive was robbery, but investigators were immediately suspicious of her. Not only was there no sign of forced entry, but Albert’s murder had been particularly brutal and appeared personal. A day later, when police found Ruth’s supposedly stolen items hidden in the house, her story started to fall apart.The murder of Albert Snyder had everything depression-era Americans were looking for in a media distraction—sex, extramarital affairs, fraud, and murder. From the moment Ruth and her boyfriend, Judd Gray, were arrested for the murder of her husband, they were thrust into the spotlight and would remain fixtures on the front pages of the papers across New York up to and including the final moments of their lives.Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesBeckley, Zoe. 1927. "Ruth Snyder to escape chair, is Zoe Beckley's forecast." Times Union, April 19: 1.Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1927. "Suspect is held after cops grill dead man's wife." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 21: 1.Brooklyn Times Union. 1927. "Hid lover in her home, then went to party." Brooklyn Times Union, March 21: 25.—. 1928. "Ruth and Judd die, she first, in sobs; each is forgiving." Brooklyn Times Union, Janaury 13: 1.MacKellar, Landis. 2006. The Double Indemnity Murder: Ruth Snyder, Judd Gray, and New York's Crime of the Century. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.New York Times. 1927. "Cross-examination of Mrs. Ruth Snyder on her last day on the stand." New York Times, May 4: 16.—. 1927. "Girl finds mother bound." New York Times, March 21: 1.—. 1927. "Gray's first story was full of denial." New York Times, March 22: 3.—. 1927. "Judge warned jury to avoid sympathy." New York Times, May 10: 1.—. 1927. "Mrs. Snyder and Gray found guilty in the first degree in swift verdict; both to get death sentence Monday." New York Times, May 10: 1.—. 1927. "Not a cruel killer, Gray writes in cell." New York Times, April 8: 25.—. 1927. "Says Gray was hypnotized." New York Times, March 26: 9.—. 1927. "Slayers indicted; Snyder case trial sought for April 4." New York Times, March 24: 1.—. 1927. "Slayers of Snyder face speedy trial; racant confession." New York Times, March 23: 1.—. 1927. "Slayers of Snyder hear doom unmoved; put hope in appeals." New York Times, May 14: 1.—. 1927. "Snyder jury hears Gray's confession accusing woman." New York Times, April 28: 1.—. 1927. "Snydwer was tricked into big insurance, state witness says." New York Times, April 26: 1.—. 1927. "Widow on stand swears Gray alone killed Snyder as she tried to save him." New York Times, April 30: 1.—. 1927. "Wife betrays paramour as murderer of Snyder, and he then confesses." New York Times, March 22: 1.Sutherland, Sidney. 1928. "Ruth and Judd die in chair, asking for forgiveness for sin." Daily News, January 13: 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Weirdos! Spencer and Madison drop by to give us a SNEAK PEAK at their new show, Gossip's Bridle! Get ready to gossip about the gossips! So, pull up a chair, sit crooked, and talk straight with us!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.