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  • The Rooftop Coupler: How a Small Fitting Shattered a Factory Alibi

    The Rooftop Coupler: How a Small Fitting Shattered a Factory Alibi
    2026/09/10
    The Rooftop Coupler: How a Small Fitting Shattered a Factory Alibi

    A single brass hex-threaded coupler clamped so tightly in a dead woman's hand that the coroner had to pry it loose - found four stories above the sub-basement where such parts were stored. That tiny, out-of-place fitting and the lividity that showed Emily Bauer had been moved turn an apparent industrial accident into a baffling decision: who brought a sub-basement piece to the roof, and why was Emily moved after she died?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from the night Emily Bauer failed to show up at her sister's, through the discovery on the roof, to the paperwork and personnel details that didn't add up. We follow the coroner's findings, the plant's logs, and the investigator's early leads to ask the question the factory wanted to avoid: was this really an accident?

    Person: Emily Bauer
    Date: April 9, 1943
    Location: Building Four roof and hydraulic sub-basement, Keswick Manufacturing
    Case: Unclear death originally classified as industrial accident
    Investigator: Tracy Anderson

    - Emily Bauer was 53 years old, badge number 4417, and had supervised the press line for more than six years.
    - Emily routinely visited her sister Agnes Pfeiffer two miles from the plant every Thursday evening and missed that Thursday, April 8-9.
    - The coroner, Arthur Keane, noted lividity pooled on Emily's left side, indicating she lay on her left for hours before being found face-down on the roof.
    - A brass hex-threaded coupler from the sub-basement was found clamped in Emily's right fist and had no conceivable reason to be on the roof.
    - Robert Larsen, a 38-year-old millwright at Keswick for 14 months, wore a distinctive gray-green wool coat due to canvas sensitivity and had a denied transfer request to day shift three weeks before Emily's death.

    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.
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    22 分
  • A Foot in a Locked Cellar: The Murder of Douglas Vaughn

    A Foot in a Locked Cellar: The Murder of Douglas Vaughn
    2026/09/09
    A Foot in a Locked Cellar: The Murder of Douglas Vaughn

    The boot was found clean - black leather, brass-capped toe, laced to an ankle with no blood on the outside - a detail that suggests the murder did not happen where the foot was discovered. A life insurance policy for $3,000 named David Dempsey as beneficiary and was filed by him six days before the foot was found; how did a clean boot and an early insurance claim become the first threads of a murder case?

    In this episode, we tell how a correspondence reviewer turned unpaid investigator uncovered contradictions that official authorities did not pursue. Follow the steps that led from a cellar on Dock Street to a twenty-page report that put a businessman on trial - but what exactly did that report prove?

    Person: Douglas Vaughn
    Person: David Dempsey
    Date: January 24, 1893 (last seen)
    Date: February 9, 1893 (foot found)
    Location: Dock Street, Calvert Landing, Ohio

    - A human foot in a black leather boot with a brass-capped toe was found on February 9, 1893, under a freight annex on Dock Street.
    - David Dempsey filed a $3,000 life insurance claim naming himself beneficiary on February 3, 1893, six days before the foot was found.
    - Douglas Vaughn was reported missing by Dempsey on January 27, 1893, three days after he was last seen on January 24, 1893.
    - Vaughn had purchased the Consolidated Voyagers' life insurance policy in August 1891 for $3,000 with Dempsey as beneficiary.
    - By March 2, 1893, Darlene Hunter produced a twenty-page report that led to Dempsey facing trial.

    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.
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    21 分
  • Bookkeeper Finds Two Keys to the Same Room: The Tammy Reed Case

    Bookkeeper Finds Two Keys to the Same Room: The Tammy Reed Case
    2026/09/08
    Bookkeeper Finds Two Keys to the Same Room: The Tammy Reed Case

    A quiet bookkeeper noticed eleven anonymous cash rentals for Room 14 and then found that morning a brass key on the stair and the identical key hanging behind the desk - a hotel system that allowed exactly one. What did Tammy Reed’s ledger markings reveal, and why was someone prepared with a second key months before any apparent need?

    In this episode, we follow the records, routines, and revelations recorded around Tammy Reed’s death and the hotel practices that made her discovery possible, asking whether the pattern in the books was enough to expose a long-prepared secret.

    Person: Tammy Reed
    Location: Paladin Imperial Hotel
    Date: January 9, 1924
    Case: Room 14 duplicate key incident
    Event: Guilty plea and life sentence in March 1924

    - Tammy Reed had worked the books at the Paladin Imperial for eleven years.
    - Room 14 was rented eleven times between March and November 1923 for $2.25 cash each night with no guest names.
    - On January 9, 1924, a brass key stamped with the number 14 was found on the stair above Tammy Reed’s right hand.
    - The identical key was simultaneously hanging on the hook behind the front desk, despite hotel policy allowing one key per room.
    - Marilyn Bennett pressed a wax impression of Room 14’s key during a pre-employment walkthrough the autumn before she was hired and had a working copy in Indianapolis months later.

    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.
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    24 分
  • The Sealed Syringe: How a Labor Camp Death Became Murder

    The Sealed Syringe: How a Labor Camp Death Became Murder
    2026/09/07
    The Sealed Syringe: How a Labor Camp Death Became Murder

    A sealed glass syringe lay pressed against a dead woman's ribs for two years before anyone found it - still capped, still unnoticed, and never recorded. How did a death ruled heatstroke in 1934 hide a syringe and two other anomalies that weren't properly investigated, and what changed when a labor auditor reopened the case two years later?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the initial discovery to the later state audit and the questions that decision raised about the original ruling. We describe the scene, the official responses, and the details that were remembered but not acted upon - could those overlooked facts point to a very different cause of death?

    Person: Christine Carlson
    Date: October 1, 1934 (discovery); September 27, 1934 (last confirmed sighting)
    Location: Sutter Road Labor Camp, Tulare County, California
    Status: Buried at Pixley municipal cemetery after death certificate ruled probable heatstroke
    Investigator later involved: Scott Burke, labor commission auditor

    - Time of discovery recorded by meter reader Jerry Reynolds: 2:15 PM on October 1, 1934.
    - Christine's age and height: 28 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall.
    - Last confirmed sighting: left nurse Agnes's station at 9:15 PM on September 27, 1934.
    - Deputy Warren Finch noted a folded damp cloth still slightly cool despite interior temperature close to 100°F and at least 18 hours since death.
    - Death certificate signed by Dr. Leonard Sisk on October 3, 1934, ruling probable heatstroke without examining the body.

    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.
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    24 分
  • The Telegraph That Condemned Her: A Midnight Form, Two Burials

    The Telegraph That Condemned Her: A Midnight Form, Two Burials
    2026/09/06
    The Telegraph That Condemned Her: A Midnight Form, Two Burials

    A dead woman found sitting upright with a stamped telegraph form dated eleven forty-seven at night-during a seven-hour window when the relay station was unstaffed-raises a single chilling question: who walked into her house after she died and placed that paper in her hands as if pronouncing judgment? What motive would drive someone to forge station paperwork, deliver it like a verdict, and leave the house ajar as if inviting discovery?

    In this episode, we follow the arrival of Donna Lawson and Constable Edgar Edgar in a small Tennessee town as they piece together the sequence of events around Darlene Roberts’s death and the mystery telegraph form. The episode covers the scene, the station logs, and the methodical clues that point to forgery and a concealed motive-how did the stamped form come to rest in her hands?

    Person: Darlene Roberts
    Date: September 5-9, 1893
    Location: Kellner's Crossing, Varden County, Tennessee
    Case: Unsolved telegraph forgery and death
    Investigator: Donna Lawson

    - Darlene Roberts was fifty-four and had lived alone for eleven years.
    - She collected messages from the relay station every Monday and Wednesday at 7:15 a.m.
    - The coroner estimated death occurred four to six days before discovery, around September 5.
    - The telegraph form in her hands was dated September 6 at 11:47 p.m., within a seven-hour unstaffed window.
    - Donna Lawson arrived on September 14 with a morocco notebook and knotted cord and reviewed six names from the station shift log.

    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.
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    23 分
  • Trunk, Photo, and a Manager's Lie: How Danny Vale Vanished

    Trunk, Photo, and a Manager's Lie: How Danny Vale Vanished
    2026/09/05
    Trunk, Photo, and a Manager's Lie: How Danny Vale Vanished

    A young comedian found sealed inside a theatrical trunk with his name stenciled on it - placed on frozen ground with no drag marks - ignites a case of betrayal and premeditation. How did a trunk that required two men or a vehicle arrive at a spot that left no trace, and why was a photograph taken the night before showing someone measuring that same trunk?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery, the immediate crime-scene details, and the records that point from missing money to motive, asking whether documentation and a single image can expose a planned murder.

    Person: Eugene Lewis (stage name Danny Vale)
    Date: December 9, 1923 (body found); December 6, 1923 (date of death)
    Location: Kellerman Fairgrounds, Moline, Illinois
    Case: Missing fees and alleged premeditation involving manager Grant Ford
    Evidence: Photograph taken December 5, 1923 at Beaumont Opera House showing trunk and a man in overcoat

    - Body of a 22-year-old comedian found inside a large theatrical trunk stenciled "DANNY VALE" after about three days dead.
    - Trunk placed on a back trail with no marks in frozen ground across roughly forty feet, indicating it was not dragged.
    - Eugene Lewis kept a ledger documenting bookings and alleged withheld fees by manager Grant Ford.
    - Grant Ford charged a standard 15% booking fee and had accumulating debt and multiple performers leaving in the eight months before December 1923.
    - A promotional photo taken December 5, 1923 shows the trunk at the Beaumont Opera House prop room and a man in a dark overcoat whose posture was catalogued as "consistent with measuring the distance between the trunk and the door."

    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.
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    23 分
  • A Hand Rises Through the Ice: The Murder of Emily Morgan

    A Hand Rises Through the Ice: The Murder of Emily Morgan
    2026/09/04
    A Hand Rises Through the Ice: The Murder of Emily Morgan

    Ice thicker than nature allowed hid a murder: an eleven-inch block carved with saw marks was floated into Harlan Lake and revealed only when a gaff hook broke the surface at first light. Who shaped that slab, carried it, and miscalculated the weight that would keep a body hidden until a woman with no title chipped a tiny sample into a tin that would change everything?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery and early inquiry into Emily Morgan's death, from the moment Pamela Meyer pulled a hand through cracked ice to Christine Draper's careful measurements and notes that proved the block could not have formed on Harlan Lake naturally. How did a block of ice become a tomb, and where did it come from?

    Person: Emily Morgan
    Date: November 9, 1893 (disappearance); November 15, 1893 (ice sampled)
    Location: Harlan Lake; Mill Road; Crestfield
    Person: Christine Draper
    Location: Crestfield Ice Company icehouse

    - The block of ice encasing Emily Morgan's body measured eleven inches thick when Christine Draper recorded it.
    - Harlan Lake in early November could naturally produce three inches of surface ice, four inches in a hard freeze.
    - Pamela Meyer discovered the hand and ring just before first light after checking trotlines she had checked "a hundred times."
    - Christine Draper chipped a sample from the ice block into a sealed tin and recorded the time, date, and exact location on November 15.
    - Christine Draper walked to the Crestfield Ice Company icehouse with Coroner Henry Henry on November 17 to pursue where the ice might have originated.

    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.
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    24 分
  • She Wrote Their Names Before She Died: The Sherry Crawford Case

    She Wrote Their Names Before She Died: The Sherry Crawford Case
    2026/09/03
    She Wrote Their Names Before She Died: The Sherry Crawford Case

    A sixty-two-year-old teacher was found seated upright in a collapsed laundry house, dead for at least four days, with a child's slate at her feet chalked with thirty-one names - none reported missing. What did those erased names represent, and why did Sherry spend years trying to force the system to count them?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the discovery on a Thursday morning in late October 1917 to the missing ledgers and the visits that preceded her death, mapping the people, documents, and payments that formed the conflict. How did a ledger keeper's private records become the only proof of children the official system stopped counting?

    Person: Sherry Crawford
    Date: late October 1917 (death placed in third week of October 1917)
    Location: Dunmore, Indiana
    Case: Calvary Ridge Industrial School for Native Children enrollment discrepancies
    Person: Neil Hill

    - Sherry Crawford, age 62, was found seated upright on a wooden stool in a collapsed laundry house and had been dead for at least four days.
    - A child's slate measuring roughly 12 inches across was found at her feet with thirty-one names written in two columns, dated from 1911 to 1914.
    - Crawford kept private ledgers documenting enrollment and departure dates; those notebooks were removed from her room before investigators arrived.
    - Neil Hill, business manager from 1909 until the school's 1915 closure, received federal per-student payments that continued for two fiscal years after seven children had left without recorded departures.
    - Neil Hill visited Crawford in September 1917 twice; on his second visit a neighbor heard a kettle and another neighbor saw him leave carrying a leather satchel that appeared heavier on exit.

    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.
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    21 分