The True Crime Journals

This weeks episode is just a bit different. Missy Reeces from This Story Is Nuts  has been filling in for Ashlie Lawson while on maternity leave. So this week we will be saying goodbye to Missy Reece, but with some fun announcements.We are also joined by a mutual friend Britt Richards to discuss her fiction book and a few true crime stories that inspired her writing.Make sure you check out Missy Reeces podcast, This Story Is Nuts!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-story-is-nuts/id1552651186Also check out Britt Richards Etsy page and use promo code TCJ20 to get 20% off your full purchase.https://www.etsy.com/shop/BrittRichardsPublish?ref=l2-about-shopnameSupport the show

Today we are discussing multiple cases all about mothers who kill. We talk about the common motivation in cases such as:Susan SmithAndrea YatesMegan Huntsman and so many moreWhat would make a mom want to kill her kids? What would cause a mom to give birth to 7 children in a 10 year span and place them in a shoe box and store in the garage? Support the show

Missy Reece, host of This Story is Nuts, is back telling us yet another unsolved case of Stephanie Crowe.Wikipedia: The murder of 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe took place in her bedroom inside her home at Escondido, California, sometime between late night January 20, 1998, to early morning January 21, 1998. Stephanie's parents and grandmother found her body on the floor of her bedroom on the morning of January 21, 1998. She had been stabbed eight times. There was no sign of forced entry. Stephanie's window was found unlocked, but a screen was in place and there was no disturbance of accumulated grime and insect traces. A sliding glass door in her parents' bedroom was also unlocked. No knives were found at the scene that seemed consistent with the murder weapon, and no bloody clothing was found despite an exhaustive search.[1]Stephanie's 14-year-old brother, Michael Crowe, was interrogated for hours by police using the Reid method without his parents knowledge and without legal representation. Michael denied any involvement hundreds of times during the interrogation but eventually confessed in what is regarded as a classic example of a false confession.[2] Two of Michael's friends were also interrogated, confessed and charged with Stephanie's murder.But through the twist and turns in the story, was her brother and friends actually the ones guilty of murder? Support the show

April Dawn Andrews lived in a community that was considered low-income. This community had known sex offenders in and out. April, 15 years old was an introvert that was made fun of, so she kept to herself for the most part. After her father passed she felt as if she was a financial burden on her family. The local church was having a donation drive and April told her mother she was walking to the church to see what they had to offer. April hasn't been seen since. Climb into a rabbit hole with David and Missy as they discuss public knowledge of the case, as well as scenarios created throughout the years April has been missing. Support the show

Ashlie has had her baby and on Maternity Leave, so, we have the host of "This Story Is Nuts" joining us while Ashlie is away. We are so honored to have her, so show her, her show and of course US some love!Laureen Ann Rahn (April 3, 1966–disappeared April 26 or 27, 1980) is an American teenager who vanished under mysterious circumstances from her home in Manchester, New Hampshire. On the night of her disappearance, Rahn was accompanied by a male and female friend at the apartment she shared with her mother, Judith, who was out on a date with her boyfriend.The male friend left the apartment after hearing noises in the hallway, Her female friend remained at the apartment. Upon Judith's arrival home after midnight, she found that all of the lightbulbs in the apartment building's hallways had been unscrewed, leaving the halls completely dark. In the apartment, Judith saw a figure sleeping in her daughter's bed and assumed it to be her; however, she then discovered it was in fact Rahn's female friend who had slept in the bed. Her friend claimed to have seen Rahn going to sleep on the couch.-wikipedia_Support the show

The story of Sylvia Liken is one that has been classified as the worst murder in Indiana. In 1965 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sylvia Likens was killed by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski with co- conspirators including her own children. Their tortured and abused the 16 year old for three months before Sylvia finally gave in to her injuries which included the likes of being beaten & starved amongst other forms of torture. She would wind up with 150 wounds across her body as reported by her autopsy report. All of which were inflicted by Baniszewski or at her behest. Support the show

David leads us in the tale of Alison Botha,  an insurance broker who on one night in December 1994, she was abducted, raped, and severely attacked by two unknown persons. She did, however, manage to reach a road nearby where a passing veterinarian saved her. Her brutal abduction & rape sent shockwaves throughout South Africa. The good news is that her perpetrators were found & convicted with life sentences.Support the show

A huge “military” ruse gone terribly wrong. 3 members of an Irish band murdered in Northern Ireland in 1975. One group of militia set up a “military checkpoint” that caused the Miami Showband to stop. A bomb explodes killing to of the militia men. Bullets fly, and 3 band members are killed.In what was believed to be a set up on the band’s bus to frame the IRA in order to get more security at the border, Netflix’s documentary Remastered: The Miami Showband Massacre is the topic of discussion. Support the show

She was the last woman to be executed in England. She led a difficult life when she crossed paths with David Blakely. He was a man of means. A man that could change the trajectory of her life. And he wanted her. Well, at first he wanted her. When a man changes his mind, and leaves a scorned woman behind, there is no telling what she will do.In this case, Ashlie leads a discussion of the the murder of David Blakely by Ruth Ellis. David Blakely was murdered by his former lover on Easter Sunday 1955 outside a nightclub in the suburbs of London. Ruth Ellis was methodical in her execution of the murder as she stalked him from one place to the next before finally finally shooting David Blakely to death.Though stunned by what she had done after th fact, it would not save her own life. Support the show

A man murders his girlfriend. Blames the crime on the girlfriend. Parents help destroy evidence. All get convicted for different aspects of the murder.This is the murder of Emily Longley in the documentary, Mummy’s Little Murderer.Elliot Turner was the son of wealthy jewelers who claimed he murdered his 17- year- old girlfriend after he felt she was “twisting his heart” by seeing other men.An aspiring model, she was out looking to live her best life. That is until her boyfriend murdered her in his parent’s home, & then all three worked together to cover up the crime. Support the show