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  • The Seamstress's Tea: How Foxglove Quietly Killed Her Clients

    The Seamstress's Tea: How Foxglove Quietly Killed Her Clients
    2026/07/26
    The Seamstress's Tea: How Foxglove Quietly Killed Her Clients

    The smell of tea, a pincushion, and seven amber glass bottles sat on a kitchen table beside a woman who had been dead for at least two days - and the bottles were left untested for six weeks while her death was ruled cardiac failure. An 81-year-old client’s offhand mention of herbal tea and a hospital toxicology screen later revealed digitalis from foxglove; but how did those jars move through a close-knit seamstress clientele and go unnoticed until then?

    In this episode, we follow the chain of events from the July 11, 2014 discovery of Kimberly Snyder’s body through the toxicology that linked foxglove to multiple cases, tracing the medical notes, the evidence timeline, and the people whose memories reopened the investigation. What exactly did the seven amber bottles contain, and who in Snyder’s circle received those herbal jars?

    Person: Kimberly Snyder
    Date: July 11, 2014
    Location: Delacroix Street, Casterfield
    Person: Dorothy Vance
    Toxin: Digitalis (foxglove)

    - Kimberly Snyder was thirty-two years old and found dead at her kitchen table with seven amber glass bottles arranged in a loose semicircle.
    - The bottles remained untested in an evidence room for six weeks after Snyder’s death was ruled cardiac failure.
    - Dr. Marcus Webb had seen Snyder three times in the eight months before her death and recorded low potassium in two visits without ordering a toxicology screen.
    - Dorothy Vance, age eighty-one, presented in late August 2014 with severe abdominal cramping, vomiting, and a chaotic heart rate; her toxicology was positive for digitalis.
    - Four of the seven amber bottles tested acutely toxic for Digitalis purpurea over a four-day lab processing period.

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    © 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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    20 分
  • The Thermos That Kept Killing: 16 Weeks of Arsenic in Coffee

    The Thermos That Kept Killing: 16 Weeks of Arsenic in Coffee
    2026/07/25
    The Thermos That Kept Killing: 16 Weeks of Arsenic in Coffee

    The second-shift ritual that kept a factory humming hid a slow, deliberate poison: an olive-green 16-ounce thermos labeled with a dead woman's name turned up at her funeral and a drugstore receipt dated nine days after her burial. How did a thermos belonging to Cynthia Bauer, who died after 16 weeks of unexplained illness, reappear at Redeemer Lutheran- and what did it reveal about arsenic in the break room coffee?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline and people tied to the case, from the first odd illnesses to the receipt found inside the thermos, showing how routine trust at Merton Fabrications intersected with small, repeated doses of poison; could a coworker’s coffee ritual be the thread that unravels what happened?

    Person: Cynthia Bauer
    Date: May 24, 2017
    Location: Merton Fabrications, Harwick, Ohio
    Case: second-shift poisoning cluster
    Doctor: Jean Porter

    - Thermos described as olive-green, 16 ounces, dented with masking tape labeled "Cynthia Bauer"
    - Receipt inside thermos dated June 9, 2017 - nine days after Cynthia's burial
    - Cynthia worked second shift at Merton Fabrications for 22 years and was 53 years old
    - Kevin Daly's blood arsenic concentration was four times the upper limit of normal
    - Cynthia died May 24, 2017 after nearly four months of progressive symptoms; no autopsy was performed

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    © 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
  • The Amber Bottle in the Hackberry: How a Refill Became Murder

    The Amber Bottle in the Hackberry: How a Refill Became Murder
    2026/07/24
    The Amber Bottle in the Hackberry: How a Refill Became Murder

    The trail bottle was labeled to a living woman but contained a medication for a dead woman - an amber prescription found six feet off George Myers Trail and sitting in a hackberry fork for eleven days. How did a benzodiazepine refill, printed at 11:18 PM from a pharmacist's terminal, end up as the clue that named Michelle Hoffman's killer?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline and people connected to the amber bottle, the dispensing records and security footage that tie the refill to a Westerfield Family Drug pharmacist, and the question that finally reopened Michelle Hoffman's death: who used a daughter's routine prescription as a weapon?

    Person: Michelle Hoffman
    Person: Norene Calhoun
    Person: Dennis Miller
    Date: January 17, 2014
    Location: George Myers Trail

    - The amber prescription bottle was found standing upright against the base of a hackberry tree, six feet off George Myers Trail.
    - The label read Michelle Hoffman, Westerfield Family Drug, dispensed January 17, 2014.
    - Michelle Hoffman had been dead for sixty-seven days when the bottle was found on May 9.
    - The dispensing record for the bottle was printed at 11:18 PM from the dispensing terminal with Dennis Miller's credential.
    - The bottle sat in the fork of the tree for eleven days before county deputies filed the report.

    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
  • She Tied the Dog, He Tied the Truth: Thallium at Bishop's Kennel

    She Tied the Dog, He Tied the Truth: Thallium at Bishop's Kennel
    2026/07/23
    She Tied the Dog, He Tied the Truth: Thallium at Bishop's Kennel

    A dog was found tied to a tree with eighteen inches of orange surveyor's twine cut clean at the buckle end, and the owner of that dog died the morning before at 6:52 AM with cardiac arrhythmia of undetermined origin. Thallium poisoning can mimic fatigue, tremor, and numbness - symptoms Rhonda Hoffman reported - so how did a forgotten toxicology sample and three uncollected dogs become the thread that might unravel what really happened?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a kennel dinner and a ended relationship to a found beagle and an unprocessed toxicology screen, laying out the circumstances and unanswered questions that link a riverbank, a kennel, and a refrigerated sample at a hospital. How did a routine toxicology order sit unprocessed for four months, and what could those results mean for Rhonda and Clover?

    Person: Rhonda Hoffman
    Date: April 13
    Location: Fenwick Regional Hospital
    Status: Toxicology sample refrigerated for four months
    Animal: Clover, six-year-old beagle mix

    - Clover was found on April 14 at 5:40 AM on the eastern bank of the Breslin River with 18 inches of orange surveyor's twine attached to her collar.
    - The twine was cut clean at the buckle end; the other end was missing.
    - Rhonda Hoffman was pronounced dead at Fenwick Regional Hospital at 6:52 AM with the official cause listed as cardiac arrhythmia, etiology undetermined.
    - Rhonda reported numb hands and visible tremors between April 9 and April 11 and was sent home from work mid-shift on April 11.
    - The toxicology screen ordered on April 13 was never processed and the biological samples remained in a refrigerated archive at Fenwick Regional for four months.

    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
  • He Gave the Chalice - Then Shannon's Liver Quietly Failed

    He Gave the Chalice - Then Shannon's Liver Quietly Failed
    2026/07/22
    He Gave the Chalice - Then Shannon's Liver Quietly Failed

    Trust turned lethal: a retired communion cup was found balanced in a tree with its bowl wiped clean and soil beneath it showing toxic contamination at forty times background concentration, while the woman who drank from it died nearly a year earlier of what was recorded as acute liver failure-was this slow, cumulative thallium poisoning deliberate or accident? Who handed her that cup every Sunday and why did the diocesan inventory show no record of its transfer?

    In this episode, we follow how routine medical records and a quality audit led investigators from a misdiagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis to the discovery of thallium in preserved tissue samples, and we trace the gap between parish trust and a toxic pattern that unfolded over months. What evidence connected the chalice, the parish, and the man who spoke at her funeral?

    Person: Shannon Rice
    Date: March 22, 2010
    Location: Fennimore (Birch Avenue) and Saint Ambrose Parish
    Case: Thallium poisoning identified in reanalysis February 2011
    Investigator: Detective Phil Okafor

    - The chalice was logged out of Saint Ambrose Parish in 2003 but the diocesan surplus warehouse had no record of receiving it.
    - Soil beneath the chalice showed contamination at forty times background concentration.
    - Shannon Rice died of acute liver failure on March 22, 2010 at age 54.
    - Toxicological reanalysis in late February 2011 detected thallium consistent with repeated, cumulative exposure.
    - Detective Phil Okafor received the thallium result and took the case on March 4, 2011.

    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
  • The Thermos on the Spillway: How Arsenic Quietly Killed Raymond Jones

    The Thermos on the Spillway: How Arsenic Quietly Killed Raymond Jones
    2026/07/20
    The Thermos on the Spillway: How Arsenic Quietly Killed Raymond Jones

    A chill morning found a thermos labeled "R. JONES" sitting upright on the Alderman Reservoir spillway, frost still on the concrete and Raymond Jones already dead for nine days. What was inside the thermos, and how did a long, slow poisoning go unnoticed through months of doctor visits, hospital care, and a routine workplace life?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from the first discovery on January 9, 2014 to the reopening of the case that led investigators to request toxicology on Raymond's tissues 22 days after his death, asking how repeated gastrointestinal clusters at the same school pointed to a broader question about a hidden contaminant.

    Person: Raymond Jones
    Date: January 9, 2014 (thermos discovery); December 31, 2013 (death)
    Location: Alderman Reservoir spillway; Alderman Consolidated School District
    Status: Thermos photographed by Cheryl Meyer; tissues sent to state toxicology
    Investigator: Keith Fisher, Alderman County Health Department

    - Raymond Jones was 38 years old and had worked 11 years for the Alderman Consolidated School District as head of maintenance.
    - Cheryl Meyer found and photographed the thermos at 7:12 AM on January 9, 2014; Raymond had been dead for nine days.
    - The temperature at the spillway that morning was 18 degrees Fahrenheit and there were no footprints in the frost.
    - Raymond saw Dr. Paula Sievers in October, November, and twice in December 2013 for fatigue, low-grade fever, nausea, weight loss, and shortness of breath before dying on December 31, 2013.
    - Keith Fisher requested state toxicology testing of Raymond's tissues 22 days after his death after noting similar gastrointestinal clusters at the same school in January 2013 and January 2014.

    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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    18 分
  • He Fed Them Spoonfuls of Death: The Apple-Butter Murder Jar

    He Fed Them Spoonfuls of Death: The Apple-Butter Murder Jar
    2026/07/19
    He Fed Them Spoonfuls of Death: The Apple-Butter Murder Jar

    A mason jar of apple butter, half a liter and beaded with condensation, sat on a porch railing at 5:47 a.m. - and a man was found dead inside with no sign of trauma; could a spoonful from that jar have been the difference between a predictable life and a lethal betrayal? The case ties a dying brother’s estate worth approximately $900,000 to a man who became indispensable to the family, but what motive hid in plain sight?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a paperboy’s discovery to the relationships and documents that shaped the investigation, including medical visits, powers of attorney, and the jar on the railing that started everything. How did routine visits, a limited power of attorney, and a sealed jar converge into a death that would unravel an estate?

    Person: Warren Jenkins
    Age: 62
    Date: December 9, 2011
    Location: 4 Aldrich Court
    Status: Deceased

    - A mason jar containing approximately half a liter of apple butter was found on the porch railing at 5:47 a.m.
    - Dennis Long, age 14, discovered Warren face-down on the floor after knocking and looking through a side window.
    - Warren had seen his doctor four times in the eight weeks before his death reporting nausea, fatigue, and tingling in his hands.
    - Raymond Jenkins, Warren’s brother, had an estate valued at approximately $900,000 and named Warren and Diane Pruett as co-beneficiaries.
    - Thomas Wright, age 57, held a limited power of attorney over Raymond since 2009 and was seen carrying a paper bag on Warren’s porch the night before the 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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    20 分
  • A Planter in the Ditch: The Poisoning of Heather Gray

    A Planter in the Ditch: The Poisoning of Heather Gray
    2026/07/19
    A Planter in the Ditch: The Poisoning of Heather Gray

    A woman in her twenties walking two miles every morning, dead months later from acute liver failure while a terracotta planter sits untouched in a frozen ditch nearby - what connects a planted herb bed, a groundskeeper who kept working the property, and arsenic found in hair samples? Who placed a fourteen-inch pot upright in eight inches of ice, and why did that unspilled soil become the key to unraveling a death recorded as indeterminate?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning a road-grader operator found the planter through the discovery that linked symptoms in the medical record to arsenic exposure, driven by a sister’s questions and a pharmacology text. Listen to how garden beds, a trusted landscaper, and overlooked symptoms led to one central question: was Heather’s decline accidental or deliberate?

    Person: Heather Gray
    Date: November 14, 2011 (planter found); eight days later (Heather died)
    Location: Harlan Township, Ohio; Alderman Road farmhouse
    Status: Death recorded as acute liver failure of indeterminate cause
    Person: Frank Wallace

    - A road-grader operator, Douglas Williams, found a fourteen-inch terracotta planter standing upright in eight inches of frozen water on November 14, 2011.
    - Heather Gray died eight days after the planter was found; her death certificate listed acute liver failure of indeterminate cause.
    - Heather had been seen by her physician three times in the weeks before she died and was diagnosed with a viral infection; no heavy metal screen was ordered.
    - The herb bed contained six terracotta planters along the south-facing edge; five remained in place after Heather’s death and one was missing.
    - Hair testing later found arsenic in Norma Gray at lower concentrations than in Heather; Norma moved out of the farmhouse in December 2011 and did not know she had been poisoned.

    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