We Would Be Dead

The Weirdest New Jersey (NJ Horrors and Haunts with Jesse Pollack)

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!
This week we bring you several tales of homegrown horror from our friend and previous guest, author Jesse Pollack. Jesse is a contributing columnist for Weird New Jersey and co authored the definitive book and podcast on the mysterious death of Jeannette Delpalma: Death on the Devil’s Teeth. Jesse also authored the book and documentary The Acid King and is currently in production with his new found footage horror film, The Point Pleasant Tapes. Today Jesse brings us three spooky stories from the depths of his time thus far with Weird NJ, so get out your coziest blanket, light a fall candle and enjoy our first October Offering!
Click to learn more
A nightmare Before Christmas in Trenton (Weird NJ Article)
Trailer for The Point Pleasant Tapes
Buy Death on the Devil's Teeth
Buy The Acid King
Death on the Devil's Teeth Podcast
 
 
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We Would Be Deadlines (Rabbit Holes #1)

As lovers of information Holly and Leslie frequently fall down "rabbit holes" while researching cases for you. Sometimes they're newsworthy, sometimes they're silly, sometimes they're suggestions from you and sometimes they're just plain weird. No matter which rabbit hole they fall down, they all have one thing in common, they're interesting enough to pull you away from whatever you're supposed to be doing right now. 
This week we'll fall down a path that leads to some current events, case updates, a list of cemeteries you have to visit this October, true crime history that occurred on this day, and the story of a positively ungovernable furry fugitive. 
Click to learn more
Finding Alicia facebook page
Voices For Justice Podcast
Escaped Pennsylvania Killer
Ellen Greenberg (Teacher who died of over 20 mysterious stab wounds)
History.com Article: 13 Year old newspaper delivery boy found dead
New York Times, "She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore. She’s a Sea Otter."
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Gone to pieces (The Murder of Shad Thyrion)

 
 
In the very pre daylight hours of February 23rd 2022 Tara Pakanich heard the storm door to her basement close. Tara's 24 year old son, Shad Thyrion was staying with her at the time in that very basment, and had been entertaining an old friend, a woman named Taylor Schabusiness. Tara upon hearing the door close, wondered if they'd both left, or just her son's guest. As Tara made her way down the stairs I'm sure a lot of possible outcomes ran through her mind, but none of them included finding her son's head in a bucket at the base of the stairs, but that's exactly what happened. This case was a request fiends, and boy is it a wild one!
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Taylor's formal police report
911 call
 
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Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (30 Minute Movie)

This week WWBD took a little break - Holly needed some much needed rest, and Leslie and Jon were moving their son into college! So the team needed a moment and we thought, why not go into the vault and pull out an originally patron only episode of 30 minute horror movies for you all to enjoy! This week we bring you, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. It's a spiritual tale filled with unnecessary montages, poorly choreographed fight scenes, lots of lesbians, and of course Vampires. Below is the link to rent it on amazon if you dare!
 
We will be back with an all new episode 9/6!
Click to learn more
Rent Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter on Amazon Prime
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This Barbie is Evidence (The unsolved murder of Rosie Tapia)

This week we are talking about a case that has been touted as Utah’s most famous unsolved murder. Trigger warning: this one is about a child and there is mention of sexual assault.
 
At 5 am on August 13th 1995, Lewine Tapia woke from a sound sleep with a start. The house appeared to be still and silent, her husband was peacefully sleeping next to her and yet something still  felt wrong. Lewine decided to check on her sleeping children to ease her mind, but when she entered their bedroom her mind was anything but at ease. The window stood wide open, and while her 4 year old twins were still asleep in their bed, her six year old daughter, Rosie, had vanished. 
 
This one is going to make you mad, but honestly we all SHOULD be mad, it is baffling that Rosie's case remains unsolved to this day.
 
Anyone with information regarding Rosie's case can leave a confidential tip at (385) 258-3313 or visit the website http://whokilledrosie.com/ to contact Rosie's family directly. A reward of $100,000 has been offered for any information that leads to solving this heinous crime. 
Learn More:
http://whokilledrosie.com/
https://people.com/crime/could-barbie-doll-hold-clue-to-solving-cold-case/
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/11/20/a-new-coalition-seeks-rosie-tapias-killer-after-22-years/
https://www.facebook.com/ColdCaseCoalition
https://www.ksl.com/article/46202019/group-says-it-has-new-solid-info-on-95-murder-of-6-year-old-girl
https://ksltv.com/502528/reward-raised-to-10000-for-information-in-1995-murder-of-rosie-tapia/
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Dirty Minded Girls (Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme Part 2)

You may know this case as the Heavenly Creatures murder....
The world we inhabit is an ever changing place, one lifetime can contain many lives if we’re lucky. This is the story of two women: rural riding instructor Hilary Nathan and internationally famous novelist, Anne Perry, who once lived as two completely different people. Anne grew up as a rich and fragile heiress named Juliette Hulme, and Hilary was a hard working, dark and quiet girl called Pauline Parker.
Apart these two are people you may not give a second thought about, you could pass them in a supermarket or on the train, but together they are the subject of the lurid and shocking Peter Jackson Film, Heavenly Creatures. 
On the 22nd of June 1954, in the village of Christchurch New Zealand, Pauline and Juliet, as they were, did a terrible terrible thing. A thing so awful that even after their prison sentences were over, they were never allowed to see each other again.
This week we go through Pauline's diary entries to see what she had planned, and what in her mind, lead to this horrific act of violence
Learn More:
This website has every single available piece of info on this case that is currently available, it is vast. This link takes you directly to the section with a detailed transcription of Pauline's diaries. This is the easiest point from which to navigate and likely what you want to see anyway.
https://www.adamabrams.com/hc/
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Dirty Minded Girls (Pauline Parker & Juliette Hulme part 1)

You may know this case as the Heavenly Creatures murder....
The world we inhabit is an ever changing place, one lifetime can contain many lives if we’re lucky. This is the story of two women: rural riding instructor Hilary Nathan and internationally famous novelist, Anne Perry, who once lived as two completely different people. Anne grew up as a rich and fragile heiress named Juliette Hulme, and Hilary was a hard working, dark and quiet girl called Pauline Parker.
Apart these two are people you may not give a second thought about, you could pass them in a supermarket or on the train, but together they are the subject of the lurid and shocking Peter Jackson Film, Heavenly Creatures. 
On the 22nd of June 1954, in the village of Christchurch New Zealand, Pauline and Juliet, as they were, did a terrible terrible thing. A thing so awful that even after their prison sentences were over, they were never allowed to see each other again.
Learn More:
....Next week. No spoilers!
 
 
 
 
 
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Money. Fame. Sex. Glamour. (Andrew Cunanan)

Many of you will know this case will be simply known as the murder of ultra famous, incredibly rich, Italian Fashion designer and icon Gianni Versace, but there is ever so much more to it than that. For a case that is so widely covered we were stunned to learn that we barely knew it at all.  Spree killer Andrew Cunanan killed 4 men in the two months before he made it to the lavish home of Gianni Versace that balmy July morning. He also spent an inordinate amount of time hiding from the police in plain sight. But how, you must be asking yourself? Well, Andrew Cunanan  is a fascinating portrait of what happens when the wrong person is raised to think they're always right, so he simply didn't think he'd get caught. 
Learn More:
Andrew Cunanan FBI full case files
 
 
 
 
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Lost in Brick City (Sakia Gunn)

Newark NJ can be a difficult place to grow up in. The crime rate is high, the income rate is low and gun violence is not an uncommon sight. Fortunately Newark has seen improvements in the last 20 years but in in 2003, when Sakia Gunn and her friends walked the litter lined streets, Newark was one of the scariest places on the east coast. A young black lesbian like Sakia would need support in Brick city if they wanted to survive, and luckily she found it in friends, family and basketball. Sadly, all that didn't matter on May 11th 2003 when a stranger got out of his car and stabbed her as she waited for a bus at 3 am with her friends. This story may seem simple, but it is far from it. Sakia's story is considered a landmark case in the LGBTQ+ community which may leave you wondering, why is this the first time you're hearing of it? 
*Sakia's story is the first case in our pride month series. This episode does include a brief synopsis of the history of pride and the Stonewall Riots, if you're unfamiliar with these events this is a good place to begin. #wewouldbeproud
Learn More:
Sakia Gunn Remembered by Keith Boykin
Braving the Streets Her Way by Anne Hull (part one of The Washington Post coverage)
Using Her Voice to Rise Above by Anne Hull (part 2)
Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project on Vimeo
 
 
 
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All Is Not Well! (The Ratcliff Highway Murders)

In this campfire re-do Holly takes us back to the Regency Era and tells the very bloody story of The Ratcliff Highway Murders. It was too good not to do on a main episode!
You can hear the original campfire stories over on our Patreon if you are a subscriber - if you are not a subscriber, head on over to our Patreon and become one! The date was February 7, 2021 - it was a marvelous time! 
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