Crime Curious

Monday night, August 14th, 1989. Orlando, Florida.
A 27-year-old man from Brooklyn walks up to the front desk of his hotel. He's in town on vacation with his mom, and his family. They've been to Disney World. They've taken pictures. They've shot home videos. Postcards. The whole thing. More than a thousand miles away, a young man named Darryl Rush is shot to death outside a public housing complex in Brooklyn, and a few days later, the man from the hotel is arrested for killing him. He'd spend the next 24 years in prison, telling anyone who'd listen that he'd been at Disney World. And all that time, the proof was sitting in a police file. This is the story of Darryl Rush, whose murder has never been solved. And of Jonathan Fleming, the man who paid for it with a quarter of a century of his life.
 
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
National Registry of Exonerations: Jonathan Fleming: the full case summary, from the murder through the settlements
ProPublica: Brooklyn DA moves to free man after long-buried evidence surfaces
ProPublica: Brooklyn man walks out of court cleared of murder
CNN: Convicted despite vacation alibi, freed after 24 years
CNN: Fleming to sue for $162M
AP via Fox News: Man exonerated of NYC murder committed while he was at Disney World
CBS New York: "I'm gonna live the rest of my life"
PIX11: 25 years later, man wrongfully convicted goes free
ABC7: Brooklyn DA dismisses murder charges
BKMAG: Quality Inn receipt
Newsweek: "I have no faith in the system"
NBC News: Fleming to get $6.25M from NYC

On a warm spring afternoon in rural Mattoon, Illinois, a crime unfolded that would leave an entire community shattered. In April 1968, five children from the Cox family were found brutally murdered near their farmhouse, victims of a shocking act of violence that defied comprehension. The accused was not a stranger lurking in the shadows, but 18-year-old Thomas Charles Fuller, a local high school student who had been welcomed into the family's home and was dating one of the Cox daughters.
 
 
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
 
A. Kleen: Five Little Birds: The 1968 Cox Murders: the family, the day, the manhunt, the plea and sentencing, with a full list of 1968 newspaper sources
People v. Fuller, Illinois Appellate Court (1974): conviction date, victims' ages, sentence structure, hearing dates
JG-TC: Murderer of 5 children seeks parole (2011)
JG-TC: Family continues to fight parole
JG-TC: Parole again denied, 51 years later (2019)
14 News: IL man denied parole in 1968 killings
org: Petition to deny parole, Thomas Charles Fuller II (2026): parents' dates of death, insanity ruling, family's ongoing fight
William Cox, "A Tragic Saturday That Shattered My Family," Awake!, October 22, 1986
Diane Sawyer, The Mattoon Murders (Southern Publishing Co., 1982)
 

Toni Jo Henry’s story is one of the most dramatic and tragic in Louisiana true crime history. Born Annie Beatrice McQuiston in Shreveport, she survived a childhood marked by loss, abuse, and poverty before spiraling into addiction and sex work. In 1939, she married prizefighter Claude “Cowboy” Henry—only for him to be arrested soon after and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Determined to break him out, Toni Jo teamed up with accomplice Horace “Arkie” Burks, and their desperate plan led to the robbery and murder of 41‑year‑old Joseph P. Calloway. After three sensational trials, Toni Jo became the only woman ever executed in Louisiana’s electric chair, “Gruesome Gertie,” in 1942. Her case remains infamous for its blend of grit, glamour, and the haunting question of whether she was a cold‑blooded killer or a broken woman chasing love at any cost.
 
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Wikipedia: Toni Jo Henry, citing O'Shea (1999), Baker (2015), Gillespie (2009) and Nash (1992)
Capital Punishment UK: Toni Jo Henry, A Love Worth Dying For?: most detailed account of the crime, trials, condemned cell and execution
Malefactor's Register: The Tough Life of Toni Jo Henry: Elliot Chaze interview, rumble seat and barbed wire details, unloaded-gun account
The Pardon: Old Articles and Photos: Lake Charles American Press clippings, Feb–Mar 1940
Find a Grave: Toni Jo Henry: birth, parents, burial
Geni: Toni Jo Henry: parents' names
Louisiana Anthology: Toni Jo Henry: siblings
The Cinemaholic: Toni Jo Henry
Murderpedia: Toni Jo Henry

In 2023, Ohio toddler Mackenna Ray became the center of a heartbreaking child‑abuse case that shocked her community. At just two years old, Mackenna endured injuries no child should ever face — yet her story is not one of loss, but of survival. This episode explores the timeline of her abuse, the charges brought against those responsible, and the ongoing efforts to protect Mackenna as she continues to heal. Her case is a stark reminder of how fragile safety can be — and how powerful a community’s determination is when a child needs justice.
 
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News 5 Cleveland: family asks for justice six months after abuse
News 5 Cleveland: charges filed almost a year later
News 5 Cleveland: trial starts
News 5 Cleveland: mother found guilty
Court TV / Scripps: mother sentenced to 15 years
News 5 Cleveland: Dryer changes plea to guilty
Hoodline: Dryer plea and sentencing date
News 5 Cleveland: Dryer to be sentenced
Cleveland 19: Dryer sentenced to 15 years
Jennifer Kvoriak's posts, via TikTok #JusticeForMakennaRae

In 1916, eighteen‑year‑old Marion Frances Lambert left home on a bitter February morning and never returned. By nightfall, she was found frozen in the snow leaving a mystery in her wake, and a community spiraling into scandal. Her boyfriend, college student Will Orpet, quickly became the prime suspect, igniting one of the most sensational trials of the early 20th century. But Marion’s story didn’t end in the courtroom. For more than a century, drivers along Sheridan Road have reported seeing a girl in white standing at the edge of the trees.
 
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
Chicago Tribune (1916) • The Lake Forester (1916) • The Inter Ocean • The Day Book • Wisconsin State Journal • The New York Times (1916) • Los Angeles Herald • San Francisco Call • People v. Will H. Orpet trial transcripts • Lake County Coroner’s Inquest Records • Find A Grave: Marion Frances Lambert • Lake Forest Cemetery Records • U.S. Census Records (1900 & 1910) • Lake Forest–Lake Bluff Historical Society • Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections • Wisconsin Historical Society Archives • Sheridan Road ghost lore archives.

Before sunrise on a storm‑soaked Texas morning, fitness instructor Terri “Missy” Bevers walked into Creekside Church of Christ to set up for her bootcamp class. Within an hour, she would be dead — and the person responsible would vanish into the darkness, leaving behind one of the most chilling pieces of surveillance footage in true‑crime history.
In this episode, we unravel the haunting timeline of Missy’s final moments and the mysterious figure caught on camera: dressed head‑to‑toe in police‑style tactical gear, wandering the church halls with a hammer, breaking windows, and moving with a strange, unforgettable gait. Was this a staged burglary? A targeted killing? Or something even stranger?
 
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
Killing of Missy Bevers - Wikipedia
Who Killed Fitness Influencer Missy Bevers? | A&E
What Happened to Missy Bevers? The Church Surveillance Footage and Timing Questions That Still Haunt This Unsolved Murder | Read The Real Story
Homicide Investigation Under Way After Woman Found Dead Inside Midlothian Church – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
15 Arrests So Stupid They Made Us Lose Faith In Humanity | Bored Panda

In Victorian England, when poverty and shame collided with a brutal social system, desperate mothers sometimes turned to “baby farmers” — women who promised care, safety, and adoption.… but behind closed doors, infants didn’t survive long. Special thanks to our guest host and all credit for today's episode goes to her- Patreon Tashia! 
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In the misty woods of Olalla, Washington, a woman calling herself a doctor built a sanitarium where “healing” meant starvation, control, and death. Wealthy seekers, spiritual wanderers, and vulnerable patients walked into Wilderness Heights hoping for a cure — but many never walked out.
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
  Washington State Archives – “Linda Burfield Hazzard: Healer or Murderess?” Collection of documents including death records, licensing records, trial materials, and historical commentary. (Washington State Digital Archives)
  Washington Supreme Court – State v. Hazzard, 1913 Official decision upholding Linda Hazzard’s manslaughter conviction in the death of Claire Williamson.
  Washington Supreme Court – State v. Hazzard, 1926 Decision clarifying that Linda’s medical license remained revoked despite her gubernatorial pardon.
  Washington State Penitentiary Records (Walla Walla) Documentation of Linda Hazzard’s incarceration, parole, and release.
  Death Certificate Records (Washington State) Includes documented deaths of patients under Hazzard’s care, including Daisey Maud Haglund.
  Smithsonian Magazine – “The Fasting Cure That Killed” Detailed historical feature on Linda Hazzard, the Williamson sisters, and Starvation Heights.
  Harbor History Museum (Gig Harbor, WA) – “Starvation Heights” Exhibit & Research Notes Regional historical research on Wilderness Heights, patient deaths, and community accounts.
  HistoryLink.org – “Linda Burfield Hazzard and Starvation Heights” Washington State’s online encyclopedia entry summarizing Hazzard’s career, trial, and legacy.
  Gregg Olsen – Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest The definitive modern true‑crime book on Linda Hazzard, based on extensive archival research.
  Linda Burfield Hazzard – Fasting for the Cure of Disease (1908) Hazzard’s own book outlining her fasting philosophy and treatment methods.
  Linda Burfield Hazzard – Scientific Fasting (1927) Her later work expanding on her fasting theories; used for understanding her self‑justification and ideology.
  Edward Hooker Dewey – The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting Cure The fasting philosophy that influenced Hazzard’s early medical ideas.
  Seattle Daily Times (1911–1913) Coverage of the Williamson case, trial proceedings, and public reaction.
  Seattle Post‑Intelligencer (1911–1913) Reporting on patient deaths, community concerns, and the sanitarium.
  Tacoma Daily Ledger (1911–1913) Articles on the trial, sentencing, and aftermath.
  London Daily Mail (1911–1912) International coverage of the Williamson sisters, including statements from their family.
  Minnesota Birth and Marriage Records (Carver County) Documentation of Linda Burfield’s birth and first marriage to Erwin Harrison Perry.
  Minnesota Census Records (1880–1900) Household listings confirming Linda’s early life, parents, and siblings.
  Washington State Marriage Records (1903) Marriage documentation for Linda Burfield and Samuel Chrisman Hazzard.
  Haglund Family Records (Seattle) Documentation of Daisey Maud Haglund’s death and her son Ivar Haglund’s later biography.
  Kitsap County Historical Society Oral histories and local accounts of Wilderness Heights and community reactions.
  Olalla Community Historical Notes Local recollections of the sanitarium, patient sightings, and the nickname “Starvation Heights.”

Renee “Giggles” Freer was the kind of child who lit up every room she walked into—sweet, chatty, and full of life. So when the 12‑year‑old vanished from her quiet Connecticut neighborhood in 1980, the community was left stunned… and terrified. What happened in those final moments before Renee disappeared? And why did the truth stay buried for decades?
In this episode, we peel back the layers of a case that’s equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating—one that reveals how innocence can be shattered in an instant, and how a small town’s silence can echo for years.
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
Petition · WHO KILLED RENEE FREER? - United States · Change.org
Renee Freer (1968-1977) - Find a Grave Memorial
Monroe police ask killer to come forward after developments in cold case – NBC Connecticut
Author pursues book to shine spotlight on Monroe’s only unsolved murder | The Monroe Sun
News 12 | Connecticut | Monroe Police They Have Person Of Interest In Nearly 50 Year Old Cold Case
The Unsolved Murder of Renee Freer: 1977 in Monroe, Connecticut — Murder, She Told: Maine & New England True Crime
CT - CT- Renee Freer, 8, missing enroute to friend's house, fatally struck on head, her body found in the woods behind her house, Monroe, 22/6/77, *DNA* | Websleuths
Monroe police speak out on Renee Freer case | fox61.com
47 years later, Monroe police hope to find who killed 8-year-old girl

In 1979, Hope College senior Janet Chandler vanished from her night shift at a Holland, Michigan motel. What looked like a simple abduction unraveled into a shocking story of jealousy, abuse, and a violent conspiracy involving private security guards stationed during a local labor strike. For decades, the truth stayed buried—until a student documentary cracked the case wide open. This episode explores Janet’s life, the betrayal that led to her death, and the cold‑case investigation that finally delivered justice 25 years later.
 
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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crimecuriousMusic By: Michael DrzewieckiCover Art By: Charnell
Janet Chandler Murder: Where are Laurie Swank and Robert Lynch Today?
Janet Chandler — ColdCaseIndex
CRIME HUNTER: Janet Chandler's double life meant it took cops 30 years to solve her murder | Toronto Sun
4 Convicted in 1979 Kidnap, Rape and Murder of Michigan College Student | Fox News
28 Years Later, Justice For Slain Student - CBS News
Conspiracy of silence