We Would Be Dead

The Hex House (The Murder of Nelson Rehmeyer)

It’s a Leslie-sode and it is sure to spook ya. We are talking about hexes! On November 28th, 1928, Pennsylvania potato farmer Nelson Rehmeyer was accused of witchcraft (and wizardry) and subsequently murdered. Three men were suspected of the murder and happily confessed to the crime, believing they had broken a hex that had plagued their lives.
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Trials of Hex by J. Ross McGinnis (Amazon)
Hex Hollow (Documentary on Amazon Prime)
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Imposter (The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders)

 
This week's case is more like three cases in one, fiends. In 1928, Los Angeles county experienced a chilling string of disappearances. On March 10th,10 year old Walter Collins had gone to the movies with his friends and never came home. Then on May 16th the Winslow brothers aged then and twelve attended a meeting of their model boat club, they too never came home. Arriving on the heels of the grisly murder of Marion Parker, a ten year old local girl, these events sent the people of Los Angeles into a panic, but the disappearances would pale in comparison to what actually became of those poor boys. What was once thought to be high profile kidnappings turned out to be a back woods nightmare at the hands of a man named Gordon Stewart Northcross. If that isn't enough for you, the strange story of Walter Collins takes us on a wild ride into identity theft and a some of the most corrupt police work we've seen so far. Don't believe us? The story is SO wild it served as the basis for the 2008 Clint Eastwood movie: The Changeling. Hang on to your hats this week fiends, it's going to be an old timey bumpy ride!
 
 
 
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The Fall (The Death of Rebecca Zahau)

On the morning of July 13th, 2011, Adam Shacknai walked across the courtyard of his brother's stately summer home in Coronado, California. Adam had been staying in the guest house and thought he might pop into the main residence in search of a cup of coffee. But before Adam could make it inside, he made a gruesome discovery. Hanging from a small second story balcony, completely nude, gagged and bound at the wrists and ankles, was his brother's girlfriend, 32 year old Rebecca Zahau. Join us as we explore the winding road that lead to Rebecca's untimely death and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it.
 
 
 
 
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Rebecca Zahau’s Autopsy Report 
Adam Shacknai's 911 call 
Information on Maxie’s house, the charity Dina Shacknai is creating in Max’s honor 
Justice for Rebecca Facebook page, run by her sister 
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Home Sweet Home (Stratford Knockings & The Barnes Mystery)

In this campfire re-do Leslie tells the story of The Stratford Knockings, an eerie series of seemingly paranormal occurrences that happened at 1738 Elm Street in Stratford Connecticut. In 1848, the Reverend Phelps and his family move to 1738 Elm Street in the quaint New England town of Stratford, Connecticut. The Phelps family thought their biggest worry would be fitting in, but after an experimental night of holding a seance within their home, the Phelps had more than the neighbor boys to worry about.
 Holly tells us of the Barnes Mystery, the story of a missing skull that showed up in the most unlikely of places ,131 years after Kate Webster murdered her employer Julia Martha Thomas in the most brutal manner. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Pew Pew Kaboom (Elmer McCurdy The Carnival Cadaver)

On December 8th, 1976, the crew of the hit televisions show The Six Million Dollar Man made a gruesome discovery. While shooting in a fun house in Long Beach, California, they accidentally broke the arm off an orange day glow dummy only to discover that is wasn't a dummy at all, it was the mummified remains of a human man. Through a fascinating forensic investigation, they would discover that this man was Elmer McCurdy, the worst train and bank robber in American history. Elmer's story is wild, and we guarantee that this week, there's something for everyone. This is one of Holly's favorites, so you know it's going to be super weird. 
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Silence is Golden (Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics)

In 2016 a scandal came to light that rocked the world of elite women's gymnastics. Olympic United States National Team doctor Larry Nassar had been sexually abusing gymnasts during treatments for 29 years. What was worse, USAG was well aware of what had been going on, and had a thick file of predatory coaches they had failed to report over the years buried in a filing cabinet. This is a story of a group of extraordinary children who's safety and wellbeing was ignored for a great many years in exchange for medals and sponsorships. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of gymnasts have suffered at the hands of predatory men they thought the could trust.  It is shocking and heart breaking and quite honestly this was hard story to tell, but it's so important to hear. 154 brave women stood up in a court room and told their stories. We applaud their courage and hope to do their stories justice.
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Rachael Denhollander's full victim impact statement
 
the IndyStar's initial article on predatory coaches
 
the IndyStar's article on Larry Nassar
 
Donate to SafeSport
 
Athlete A
At the heart of Gold
 
 
 
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We Still Won't Be Dead (Covid-19 update, interviews with Dr. Lisa Di Enno and Dr. Stephen McBride)

Well fiends, this is an episode we sorely hoped we wouldn't have to do, but here we are. With the rise of swirling misinformation, the delta variant, back to school looming in the not so distant future and a large amount of unvaccinated citizens folded inconspicuously into the population, it's time once again, to talk about Covid-19. We brought back our doctor friends, Dr. Lisa Di Enno and Dr. Stephen McBride to answer all of your updated questions about Covid-19 and to give us some up to the minute information. This is a powerful listen fiends, you don't know what things are really like until you sit down with a healthcare professional. It was illuminating to say the least. Please get vaccinated if you are able.
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HealthyChildren.org
 
CDC resource for families and children
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Diamonds are Forever (30 Minute Twilight)

Welcome to a sneak peek into our patrons only content, fiends! This week's episode is a bit of a diversion from our usual content. The episode starts with an opening written by all of you! We had so much fun in our Facebook group playing pass the scary story that we decided to bring our creation to life and give it the full opening treatment. Then Holly and Leslie attempt to summarize the movie Twilight in thirty heart pounding, hilarious, minutes. They both still have hives. We hope you enjoy this summer vacation of an episode, and for more content like it, come support us on Patreon!
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Tagged Me To Hell (Khalil Wheeler-Weaver)

In the late summer of 2016, in Essex county New Jersey, women began showing up in abandoned houses, dead. These women had their faces covered eyes to chin in duct tape, they had been sexually assaulted, then strangled with an article of clothing and left to disappear into the ether. 
These crimes all had a direct but circumstantial trail back to a clean cut, twenty year old, orange county man named Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, but, his victims were sex workers who lived in the most depressed parts of town. We've seen this before, so it should come as no surprise to any of us that the police did not pursue Khalil based on his clean cut and harmless appearance, and let the deaths of these women fall between the cracks in turn, based on theirs.
But that's not the end of our story this week. When authorities failed to solve this case, the women effected by it, did. In a time when we all feel helpless, and at the mercy of our circumstances, this story shows that with a little ingenuity even the most seemingly impossible justice can be served. 
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NorthJersey.com 's excellent coverage of this case. Our primary source.
 
Video coverage featuring interviews with Family Members and survivor Tiffany Taylor
 
Insight on this case and "the absence of sympathy for black women" By Raven J. James
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Sunday The 5th (The Lake Bodom Murders)

On Sunday June 5th 1960, at Finland's scenic Lake Bodom, the sun had risen at 4:04 AM. By 11:00 AM the heat of the day had already set in and carpenter Esko Johannson and his son were ready for a swim. While floating along happily the pair noticed something strange on the Lake's far shore. A tent appeared to be laying trampled on the ground. Esko went to investigate, and upon further inspection realized the the little campsite was soaked in blood and four bodies lay tangled in the fallen canvas of the tent. The investigation that followed uncovered one of the most baffling mysteries in Finnish true crime history. Before Sleepaway Camp, Before Friday the 13th, Before AHS 1984, there was Lake Bodom. What makes this story the most frightening entry in the summer camp murder cannon, is that it's all true. 
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Further reading. Some details are hazy due to the translation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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