midwretched

S3E10: Ted Kaczynski pt 2

In Part 2 of our telling of Ted Kaczynski, we discuss the timeline of the bombings alongside his own writings and journals, focusing on his motivations and mental health decline. 

S3E9: Ted Kaczynski: the Unabomber

This episode was recorded Thursday 6/8, just two days before Ted Kaczynski was found dead in his prison cell. Any references to him being alive were made when he was known to be alive. In this episode, Mick reviews Ted Kacyznski’s early life, including myths and stories surrounding his development and education. And discuss what took him from a painfully bland  burnt out gifted kid to a domestic terrorist.

S3E8: The Marvin Gabrion Investigation

On June 3, 1997, 19-year-old single mother Rachel Timmerman told her mom she was going on a date with a man she met at work, and that she would be taking her 11-month-old, Shannon, with her. About a month later, Rachel’s chained and bound body would be pulled from Oxford Lake in Newaygo County, Michigan. As this case unfolded, it would become a significant story in the landscape of Michigan criminal justice. Join Tommy and Mick as Tommy runs us through a tumultuous investigation of a true monster in Michigan.

S3E7: A Kidnapping, A Foundling, An Enduring Mystery: the Paul Fronczak Story

On an  April day in 1964, a joyful new mother enjoys her first days with her infant son. But when that baby suddenly disappears from the hospital, it sends the entire city into a whirlwind. After nearly two years, the family is reunited with the boy they think is their child. Decades will go by before that child grows up to uncover the mystery of who he really is, and what happened to the real Paul Fronczak.

S3E6: The Rise and Fall of the Indiana Klan

The history of the Ku Klux Klan is deeply intertwined with the history of the United States and, arguably, there’s no better demonstration of this than the rise and fall of the Indiana Klan—branch of the KKK borne out from one man’s megalomaniacal need for power. When the violent rape and subsequent death of a young female politician happens at the hands of this man, the face of the KKK would be forever altered. Join Tommy as she runs Mick through this horrifying chapter of Midwestern history.

S3E2: Precious Hope: St. Louis’s Little Jane Doe

In February 1983, two boys in St. Louis enter an abandoned building looking for scrap metal and find a horrific scene that traumatized the city. Mick and Tommy discuss the still unsolved murder of Precious Hope, St. Louis’s Little Jane Doe. A massive search leads nowhere and desperate police take desperate measures. We talk about theories of what happened and what hope there is for this case to finally be solved.

S3E4: The Skelton Boys

Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton were last seen playing outside on Thanksgiving Day 2010, appearing as carefree and playful as they normally did to their neighbors in Morenci, Michigan. Less than 24 hours later, the boys were missing and their father was laid up in an Ohio hospital with a busted ankle. The story that follows is one of family drama, pointed fingers, impossible seeming stories, and questions that all boil down to one man withholding the truth. Join us as Tommy and Mick dive deep into the disappearance of the Skelton brothers.

S3E3: Calista Springer: Filicide

In a small town in Michigan, a young girl is trapped in her bedroom, unable to escape while her house catches fire. When Calista Springer lost her life, many initially thought of it as a tragic accident for her family. However, as the investigation unfolded, many in her community came forward to express their long-running concerns about her safety, with mounting accusations of abuse and neglect charged at her parents. Tommy and Mick explore the potential role of disability and stigma in Calista’s case. They also discuss the issue of Filicide and the National Disability Day of Mourning.
https://disability-memorial.org/

S3E2: Midwest Academy: The Troubled Teen Industry and the trial of KS

Every year, thousands of teens are taken from their homes and sent to “specialty schools and programs” for Trouble Teens. In this episode, we discuss the history and practices of the Troubled Teen Industry through reports from one Iowa school that was successfully taken down by the FBI and other investigative organizations. But only after dozens of reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of minors. 

S3E1: The Flora Four

Many people with more than a passing interest in true crime know about the double murder of two young girls in Delphi, Carroll County, Indiana in 2017. What fewer are aware of is the brutal arson a few months earlier that took the lives of four children in a neighboring town. Join in as Tommy leads us through a tough series of questions: what happened to Keyara, Keyana, Kerielle, and Kionnie? Why? How is it being investigated? And, finally, what is going on in Carroll County, Indiana?