エピソード

  • The Syringe in Her Hand: How Heat Death Became Murder

    The Syringe in Her Hand: How Heat Death Became Murder
    2026/09/10
    The Syringe in Her Hand: How Heat Death Became Murder

    Danger and unease: a sealed glass syringe, factory sleeve intact, clutched in the hand of a woman declared dead of heat stroke-how did sterile medical equipment end up with Gina O’Brien as she lay arranged on her back? Which detail in the paperwork hid the crime, and who chose to look away?

    In this episode, we follow the official record and the photographs to show what the files said and what the evidence showed, and we ask how a death ruled heat stroke became a case that would eventually send a man to prison for life. What gaps in the system allowed a sealed syringe and three puncture marks to be ignored?

    Person: Gina O'Brien
    Date: October 19, 1937
    Location: Sutter Flat labor camp, San Joaquin Valley, California
    Person: Norman Reed
    Investigator: Carol Carter

    - Gina O'Brien was found on October 19, 1937, lying on her back with a sealed glass syringe in her right hand.
    - The county doctor's report listed cause of death as "heat stroke with possible cardiac involvement" after a roughly ten-minute scene exam.
    - Photographs taken that morning show at least three distinct puncture points on Gina's inner left arm.
    - The sealed syringe bore the stamp of Pacific Medical Requisite of Sacramento and remained in evidence for eleven months.
    - Labor commission investigator Carol Carter took two years to reach the file after routinely pulling death records from the county clerk's office.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    23 分
  • The ledger entry that unmade a broker's alibi

    The ledger entry that unmade a broker's alibi
    2026/09/10
    A deputy finds a sealed assay vial beside a woman’s body and a ledger with erased weights-how did those altered entries expose a broker?

    The ledger entry that unmade a broker's alibi

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries in Crestfall, Montana, 1893 that link a staff assayer’s death to discrepancies in the territorial assay office ledgers. The episode covers the people, the ledger corrections, the vial, and the movements that set the investigation in motion - but who was responsible remains unanswered.

    Person: Sarah Wilson
    Person: Troy Rice
    Date: April 4, 1893
    Location: Crestfall Territorial Assay Office, Crestfall, Montana
    Event: Ledger weight corrections undercut official records

    - Glenn Walsh found Sarah Wilson’s body on the river path at 5:45 a.m, after walking it each morning for eleven years.
    - Sarah worked eleven years as staff assayer and geologist and cross-checked assay registers as part of her duties.
    - Troy Rice, a licensed ore broker with vendor access, signed the assay office log at 4:55 p.m. on April 3; Nora Caine had left at 4:45 p.m.
    - Deputy Holly Donnelly noticed one ledger weight written over another-4.3 faintly under a heavier 6.1-and then found two more matching alterations.
    - A sealed red-wax vial stamped with the Crestfall Territorial Assay Office die was found in the April mud near Sarah’s right hand.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    15 分
  • The Relay Room Secret: Message Found in a Dead Operator's Boot

    The Relay Room Secret: Message Found in a Dead Operator's Boot
    2026/09/09
    The Relay Room Secret: Message Found in a Dead Operator's Boot

    Fear of a methodical, invisible killer - a man found dead at his desk, a telegraph blank hidden in his boot, and ash from deliberately burned papers: what exactly did the attacker want removed, and who moved through the station like a ghost?

    In this episode, we present the full account of the Calhoun Flats relay station incident, detailing the timeline, the physical evidence, and the people involved, and we ask what motive and knowledge made the perpetrator so precise in what was destroyed.

    Person: Jerry Moore
    Date: September 13-22, 1893
    Location: Calhoun Flats relay station, Merton County, Kansas
    Status: Homicide; single blow to the back of the skull; body found September 22
    Case: Message transmitted at 11:51 PM Sept 13; telegraph blank later found in Moore's left boot

    - The message was acknowledged in Dodge City at 11:51 PM on September 13, 1893.
    - Jerry Moore had worked the overnight shift for eleven years and was 56 years old.
    - Moore's body remained at the relay desk for eight days before being discovered on September 22, 1893.
    - Dr. Thomas Vane estimated time of death between midnight and 3:00 AM on September 14, 1893.
    - A folded telegraph blank fell from Moore's left boot when Sheriff Roger Marshall turned it upside down eight days after the transmission.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    23 分
  • The north vent swung inward and let the killer in

    The north vent swung inward and let the killer in
    2026/09/09
    A radio technician’s routine night at the WMLV transmitter shed is broken by an open north vent and a wrong death-time that will crack a case.

    The north vent swung inward and let the killer in

    The north vent swung inward and let the killer in this episode, we follow the discovery at the WMLV transmitter shed and the early steps investigators took as discrepancies pile up around Gregory Petersen’s death. What did a loose north ventilation panel, an unforced door, and a missed pigeon-feeding ritual reveal about who could enter the building?

    Person: Gregory Petersen
    Date: March 8-9, 1937
    Location: WMLV transmitter shed, Millhaven
    Person: Sherry Erickson
    Person: Frank Hooper

    - Petersen worked nights at the transmitter shed and kept a ritual of feeding six homing pigeons every night at ten o’clock.
    - The coroner set the time of death at 10:55 PM, yet a voice was recorded on the WMLV transmission log at 11:14 PM.
    - The shed showed no signs of forced entry; the north ventilation panel sat loose and could swing inward when pressed at the right angle.
    - Contractor Baker logged an unauthorized onsite visit on February 28, 1937, recorded in the station access log without a work order.
    - Station manager Frank Hooper had keys, knew the layout, and was the subject of an embezzlement report Petersen filed on February 22, 1937.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    16 分
  • The Impossible Chain: How a Grease Rag Broke the Alibi

    The Impossible Chain: How a Grease Rag Broke the Alibi
    2026/09/08
    The Impossible Chain: How a Grease Rag Broke the Alibi

    A locked door held by its own chain from the outside, intact and undamaged, and a grease-stained rag hidden beside the toilet-two concrete contradictions that turned a routine motel stay into a baffling murder. Which of those impossible traces reveals the truth about who was in room eleven that night?

    In this episode, we lay out the physical evidence, timelines, and witness notes from the Sundown Motor Court case to show what was known at the time and what remained unexplained, closing on the question: how did the killer enter and leave a room locked from the outside while leaving a mechanic’s rag behind?

    Person: Clifford Meyer
    Date: August 14, 1953
    Location: Sundown Motor Court, room eleven
    Occupation: Refrigerated dairy truck driver
    Investigator: Sheriff Eugene Doyle

    - The room door was open three inches with the exterior security chain looped over the handle, undamaged and screwed flush into the wood.
    - Fern Kowalski, the housekeeper, found the body at 8:30 AM after cleaning the room the previous morning and noted the rag was not present during her earlier cleaning.
    - The victim was 22 years old and had $11 in his wallet with his company voucher on the nightstand untouched.
    - The truck’s odometer showed four extra miles driven beyond the mileage log signed by Meyer at the creamery depot the same evening.
    - A grease-stained rag containing engine grease and transmission fluid was found on the floor beside the toilet; Meyer’s hands were clean at the time of examination.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    23 分
  • The passport that re-entered her town and unraveled a murder

    The passport that re-entered her town and unraveled a murder
    2026/09/08
    A parish volunteer finds a dead woman’s passport stamped twice entering town the morning she died - how did that document expose a murder?

    The passport that re-entered her town and unraveled a murder

    In this episode, we follow the discovery that set a small town on edge: a volunteer finds Denise Myers’s passport in a donation box, stamped twice entering Harwick the same morning she was killed. We trace the people, the timing, and the evidence that turned routine records into a vital lead and ask how a single document could expose a murder.

    Person: Denise Myers
    Date: February 8, 1946 (body found), February 14, 1946 (passport found)
    Location: Harwick; Route Nine roadside ditch; St. Brendan’s parish hall
    Person: Kelly Long (deputy investigator)
    Person: Agnes Pruitt (next-door neighbor)

    - A parish volunteer, Sherry Farrell, shakes out a donated shirt and finds Denise Myers’s passport on February 14.
    - The passport bears two Harwick border-entry stamps dated February 8 at 7:14 AM and 11:52 AM with no exit stamp between them.
    - Denise missed her weekly 5:50 AM call to neighbor Agnes Pruitt on February 6 and was discovered in a ditch around 3:30 AM on February 8 with blunt trauma.
    - Deputy Kelly Long, assigned after the sheriff recused, treats the passport as the first concrete lead and brings it to border officer Tom Vickers.
    - The coat Denise wore when found later becomes a critical piece of physical evidence tying fibers and traces to the timeline.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    16 分
  • The Upright Camera, the Hidden Plate, and the Man Who Lied

    The Upright Camera, the Hidden Plate, and the Man Who Lied
    2026/09/07
    The Upright Camera, the Hidden Plate, and the Man Who Lied

    The upright Speed Graphic sat eight feet from Wendy Armstrong's body with its lens cap on and a single exposed plate inside - a press camera "placed, not dropped" beside a 38-year-old photographer whose fingernails were packed with soil. Who was the man thirty-one unexplained miles from the extension office, and what did that hidden plate record that someone wanted to bury?

    In this episode, we tell the story laid out in the reports and logbooks: Wendy's work as a traveling county photographer, the confrontation at the Dunbar farm, the discovery on the Harvey Quinn Trail, and the mileage discrepancy that pointed to Charles Harris. What did her logbook and that missing plate reveal about the night of July 8-9, 1947?

    Person: Wendy Armstrong
    Date: July 9, 1947 (body found); last seen July 8, 1947 at 4:30 p.m.
    Location: Harvey Quinn Trail, Kemper County; Dunbar farm noted in log
    Case: Speed Graphic press camera with one exposed plate found eight feet from body
    Investigator: Deputy Melvin Lawson (noted camera "placed, not dropped")

    - Wendy Armstrong was 38 years old with soil packed under her fingernails when found.
    - The Speed Graphic camera was upright, eight feet from the body, lens cap in place, bellows extended, and a film holder loaded.
    - Her logbook recorded plates numbered including plates 35-37 among eleven exposures at the Dunbar farm on July 7, 1947.
    - Charles Harris signed out the county truck at 7:45 a.m. on July 8, 1947 showing a 14-mile destination to Dunbar but the odometer showed a 31-mile unexplained difference.
    - State consulting examiner Theodore Wick reported pressure injuries to the neck inconsistent with a fall or accident.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    24 分
  • The Brass Brand Stamp Left in the Mud That Sold Her Land

    The Brass Brand Stamp Left in the Mud That Sold Her Land
    2026/09/07
    A brass brand stamp in Sandcreek mud and a missing rancher leave a county recorder’s office under suspicion-how did that expose them?

    The Brass Brand Stamp Left in the Mud That Sold Her Land

    In this episode, we follow the morning a brass Double-W brand stamp was found ink-side down eleven miles from the ranch where it belonged and the deed filed the day before transferring 320 acres. The episode traces the movements, documents, and people tied to Paula Ward’s disappearance and asks how a stamp and its ink could unravel a title.

    Person: Paula Ward
    Date: January 9, 1883
    Location: Sandcreek road, Caldwell Flats, Sumner County, Kansas
    Event: Deed transferring 320 acres filed January 7
    Person: Roy Holmes

    - Janet Schultz’s bluetick hound found the brass Double-W brand stamp at 7:40 AM in frozen Sandcreek mud, eleven miles from the ranch.
    - Paula Ward owned the Double-W, kept her own ledgers, registered the brand, and never missed Thursday bowling at Mercer’s Hall.
    - Roy Holmes, Sumner County deputy land recorder and licensed brand inspector, handled Paula’s stamp during a visit the night before.
    - The January 7 deed bore Paula’s Double-W impression in violet-black ink, while her ranch records used red stock ink.
    - Paula’s score notebook was found in the mud twelve feet from the stamp; her bowling shoes remained on the bunkhouse step.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    16 分