Karla Brown was 22-years-old in 1978. After five-years of an off and on relationship, she and her fiancé, Mark, bought their first home together. That June, the couple were focused on moving and decorating their new home. They had friends over to help with the move on June 20th, followed by an evening of food and drinks. Next door, at the home of Paul Main, the pretty and outgoing Karla had not gone unnoticed. Join us at the quiet end for Finding Karla Brown’s Killer. Karla’s fiancé Mark went to work on June 21st, leaving Karla home alone. Between 10 and 11am, Karla ended a phone call with her future mother-in-law, telling her that someone was at the door. By the time Mark returned home that day, Karla would be the victim of a brutal murder and the focus of a lengthy, complex investigation. Sources Bite Mark Identification- A Relieable Forensic Tool or Junk Science, Penn State Dickinson Law, Samuel D. Hodge Jr., Robert E. Rains, 7/1/2017 The Karla Brown story: What happened and the latest updates, Tuko.co.ke, Florence Wanjiru, 4/5/2022 PCAST, Court Decisions Assessing the Admissibility of Forensic Science Evidence,https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_forensic_science_report_final.pdf PEOPLE v. PRANTE, Supreme Court of Illinois, The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. John Prante, Appellee. Decided: 5/12/2023 Silent Witness: The Karla Brown Murder Case by Don W. Weber and Charles Bosworth, Jr.

Elana Steinberg’s husband, Steve Steinberg, was a well-liked restaurant manager with a gambling problem. Elana struggled to keep their finances afloat, but it wasn’t easy. Then, on an otherwise normal night in 1981, Elana was stabbed 26 times in their bed. Steve called 911 and told the dispatcher that two bearded men had robbed them and killed his wife. Join us at the quiet end for Victim on Trial: Elana Steinberg. It wasn’t long after Elana’s murder when Steve confessed that he had killed her. Put on trial for murder, Steve’s defense was temporary insanity. Yes, he had killed his wife, but he had done it while sleepwalking. And, Elana had led him to it with her nagging and shopping. Prepare to be outraged. This is a case where the killer was treated as a long-suffering victim and the real victim was put on trial. Sources Crime/mystery: The Defense Pleaded Nagging, The New York Times, Tony Hillerman, 10/9/1988 Death of a Jewish American Princess by Shirley Frondorf Homicidal Sleepwalking: To Kill While Asleep, TimeTraveller.org, Fiona Guy, 10/26/2017

On March 18, 1990, 15-year-old fraternal twins Dannette and Jeanette Millbrook disappeared while out walking from a convenience store to their home in Augusta, Georgia. Earlier that day, the girls told their mother that a man in a white van had been following them. Nothing more is known about this man and he would not be the only person of interest in the girls’ disappearance. Join us at the quiet end for The Missing Millbrook Twins. Dannette and Jeanette’s mother reported them missing that same evening, but she was told that she had to wait for 24 hours. Even after the 24 hours passed, the sheriff’s office failed to investigate or follow up in any way with the family. In fact, when the girls’ 17th birthday passed, the case was closed. The sheriff’s explanation? The girls were now old enough that they could not be forced to return home. This suggests that the girls were runaways, but there was no reason to believe this to be true. In fact, it seems clear that two poor black children were not a priority for the sheriff’s department and a significant injustice was done when they never bothered to look for Dannette and Jeanette. Is it too late now or is there a chance that this cold case can somehow be solved?

At 6:00 a.m. on August 28, 1965, Carl and Carmela Coppolino’s physician, Dr. Juliette Karow, was awakened by a phone call. Carl Coppolino tearfully described to her how he had just found his 32-year-old wife dead, seemingly from a heart attack. Dr. Karow was concerned when she arrived at the house—young women in their 30s rarely die from cardiac arrest. Join us at the quiet end for The Love Triangle Murders. Forty-one days after his wife’s death, Carl Coppolino married Mary Gibson. Imagine the chagrin of the Coppolino’s neighbor Marjorie Farber, who had moved from New Jersey to Florida in hopes of being with Carl. Incensed by this turn of events, Marjorie went to the police and told them that she had stood by helplessly as her husband was strangled to death by Carl. And she had information to share about Camela’s death as well!

On December 22, 1987, Ronald Gene Simmons began a killing spree that would become the worst massacre in Arkansas history as well as the deadliest domestic crime in the history of the United States. His murderous rampage ended six days later, leaving fourteen members of his family and two former coworkers dead. Join us at the quiet end for Christmas Vacation Massacre. Gene Simmons was a nightmare from early on in his marriage. He went from controlling but hard-working military man, to wife beater, to incestuous father, and, in the end, to a merciless mass murderer. Sources Arkansas Man Sentenced to Death for Killing 14 Members of his Family, Deseret News, 2/12/1989. The Devil of Pope County: America's Worst Family Massacre Podcast, Tony Holt, 2023. Ronald Gene Simmons, 1940-1990, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, retrieved 12/12/2023. Zero at the Bone: Story of Gene Simmons Mass Murder, Marshall & Williams, 1991.

Just nine days before Christmas 1998, thirty-three-year-old Ronda Reynolds was getting ready to visit her mother for the holidays. Ronda’s second marriage was falling apart after less than a year and her career as a Washington State Trooper had ended badly, but her friends and family would insist that Ronda had still been optimistic about her future. Barb Thompson, Ronda’s mother, was just happy that Ronda was coming home. But then a call early in the morning changed Barb’s life forever. Join us at the quiet end for Who Killed Ronda Reynolds? Ronda’s soon-to-be ex, Ron Reynolds, had called 911 that morning to say that Ronda had committed suicide in their bedroom closet. Over the next several years, the coroner would change Ronda’s manner of death from "undetermined" to "suicide," not once, but twice. But Barb Thompson never believed that her daughter committed suicide. Finally, Ron was arrested for Ronda’s homicide. But would there be enough evidence to get a conviction? Sources Former Trooper Ronda Reynold's Death Ruled Homicide, Seattle Times, 10/19/2011 Husband in notorious Lewis County murder case to leave job as school principal, Seattle Times, Cathy McLain, 8/23/2012 Husband, Stepson arrested, freed in ex-trooper's death, Seattle Times, Adam Pearson, 10/28/2011 In the Still of the Night by Ann Rule Mystery on Twin Peaks Drive, 48 Hours, E25 S21, 4/21/2012, retrieved 12/4/2023

In June of 1959, just two months before her thirteenth birthday, Lynne Harper was found dead in a wooded grove near a Clinton, Ontario, Air Force base. Lynne was small for her age, the middle child between two brothers. She was described as bossy and a “live wire.” She had her whole life ahead of her. Join us at the quiet end for Two Innocents. The last person seen with Lynne on the day she disappeared was 14-year-old classmate Steven Truscott. Despite a lack of any physical evidence and witness accounts which gave Steven a clear alibi, he was arrested for Lynne’s murder just days after her body was found. Then, Steven was found guilty and sentenced to hang. This is the story of Lynne’s murder, Steven’s unjust conviction, the people who worked to free him and exonerate him of his murder conviction, and the continuing mystery of who was really responsible for this terrible crime. Sources Can Science Clear Truscott? thestar.com. 1/29/2007, retrieved 11/20/2023. Steven Truscott Case, The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/steven-truscott-case, retrieved 11/25/2023. Steven Truscott: His Word Against History, The Fifth Estate, 2015, retrieved 11/25/2023. Steven Truscott, Innocence Canada, Sarah Harland-Logan, 2023. Until You Are Dead: Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History by Julian Sher, 2001, 2023. Victim's Family stunned by Truscott Compensation, CBS News, 7/8/2008, retrieved 11/14/2023 Youngest Canadian Sentenced to Death is Cleared in 1959 Case, The Seattle Times, 8/29/2007, retrieved 11/14/2023.

Jayne Leebrick met David Miller on January 1, 1991 on a cross country flight from Florida to Los Angeles. He was in the seat next to her and seemed like the perfect man. Handsome, wealthy, and a brave cancer survivor, David won her over. If David seemed too good to be true, that’s because he was. Join us at the quiet end for Love Bomber: The Seduction and Murder of Jayne Miller. David swept Jayne off her feet, giving her expensive gifts and portraying himself as an important and powerful man. Within six weeks, the two were married. But from early on, Jayne’s friends and family noticed that something wasn’t right with David Miller. Jayne’s dream man quickly turned into a nightmare, leaving Jayne in financial peril and afraid for her life. Sources Deadly Pretender: The Double Life of David Miller by Karen Kingsbury Mr. Right Is Deadly Wrong, A Lie To Die For, S1E8, Oxygen Network

On the morning of January 21, 1998, 12-year-old Stephanie Ann Crowe was found dead on her bedroom floor. She had been brutally stabbed to death as her family slept soundly in their bedrooms down the hall. Stephanie’s parents desperately called 911 for help. After police officers arrived at the scene, a cursory search of the Crowe home found no signs of forced entry. There was an unlocked sliding glass door in the parents’ room, but it was covered by aluminum vertical blinds. They would have made too much noise for someone to enter undetected, officers decided. Join us at the quiet end for Confessions of Youth, the story of the murder of Stephanie Crowe and the false confessions that followed. On the morning when Stephanie’s body was found, detectives came to an early conclusion that her murder was an inside job. From that day forward, they worked to make the evidence fit their theory instead of letting the evidence develop their theory. This method of investigation, wrong for many good reasons, sent the Crowe family and two other families into a prolonged state of victimhood.

“Disney” Dad Anthony Todt and his wife Megan seemed to be living an ideal, enviable life together. High school sweethearts, they married, had three children, and owned a busy Physical Therapy practice in Connecticut. But that life blew up in December of 2019. Join us at the quiet end for Destroyer of Worlds. How did Anthony Todt end up in a rented Celebration, Florida, home, living alongside the decomposing corpses of his murdered family members and their beloved dog? We’re following this case from the family’s early years, to the time when Anthony Todt became a family annihilator, to his taking the stand in his own murder trial. It’s a sad story with a lot to talk about. Sources Anthony Todt Full Confession: Detective Interrogates Physical Therapist About Family Murders, Law & Crime Network, 4/13/2022 Anthony Todt Murder Trial, Law & Crime Network, 4/11/2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxaLPPexPc&list=PLoW1SIeAWaWbYx1Y8zzwDKtoOcY1tpe2O Looking for the Todt Family podcast, https://www.theday.com/todt/, retrieved 10/1/2023Prosecutor: In Idyllic Celebration, Florida, a Father Killed His Family to Prepare for the ‘Apocalypse,' Rollingstone.com, Andrea Marks, 4/11/2022 State of Connecticut Affidavit, Case 3:20-mj-00019-RAR, United States District Court, District of Connecticut, 1/15/2020