Let's Go To Court!

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Botham Jean had been looking forward to a quiet night at home. The 26-year-old accountant made himself a bowl of ice cream and settled into his comfy leather couch, ready to watch some football. But Botham didn’t get a quiet night at home. Instead, an off duty police officer named Amber Guyger entered his apartment. She shot twice. Judging by the trajectory of the bullet that killed Botham, he was either in the process of getting up or cowering when Amber shot him. When Amber called 911, she was frantic. “I thought it was my apartment. I thought it was my apartment,” she said.   Then Brandi tells us about a woman everyone pitied. Luz Cuevas couldn’t seem to accept that her infant daughter, Delimar Vera, had died in a house fire. She told anyone who would listen that her daughter was still alive. But that was nuts. Everyone knew that the ten-day-old little girl was dead. Years passed, but Luz didn’t waver. She was certain that her daughter wa

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Julene Simko called 911 in a panic. She’d just discovered her husband dead in their bed. He’d been shot in the back of the head by an intruder. She’d already grabbed a gun and fired two shots to scare off the attacker, but she feared the person was still in the house. But who could the intruder be? Julene and Jeremy’s home in rural Vermilion, Ohio, was remarkably secure. They had multiple guard dogs, a security system, and plenty of guns. Who could have gotten past all those safeguards and murdered Jeremy Simko? Then Kristin tells us about real estate agent Beverly Carter. In 2014, Beverly was the top selling and listing agent for Crye Leike Realtors. The previous year, she’d sold $12 million in real estate -- no small feat in central Arkansas. So when a man calling himself Steven Adams reached out to her about buying a new house, Beverly was all ears. Steven said that he and his wife, Crystal, were relocating to the area. They were cash buy

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Brian Hile was smitten. He’d never had much luck with the ladies, but at 28, his dream had come true. He’d found a smokin’ hot girlfriend. She had long blond hair, piercing eyes, and she loved to send him sexy pictures. But after two years of dating, Brian discovered that he’d been catfished. He’d never been talking to a woman. He’d been talking and sending pictures to a man in South Africa. Brian wanted revenge, but South Africa was too far away. So he went after Tiffany Watkins, the completely innocent woman from the photos. Then Brandi tells us about Kristine Young, who became deeply concerned when she couldn’t get ahold of her adult daughter, Ashley Young. That concern grew when she realized that her daughter had recently visited an old friend, Jared Chance. Kristine had always had a bad feeling about Jared. She’d been right to feel that way.  And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, the

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Cindy Reese had a bad feeling. The second she opened her front door, she saw that her house had been ransacked. She called for her husband, Michael, but he didn’t answer. Clearly, something was wrong. So Cindy called the police. When they arrived, police discovered Michael Reese dead on the kitchen floor. He’d been shot execution style. Cindy was stunned. As she told it, she’d narrowly missed encountering the murderer herself. She and Michael had been to church that evening, and afterward they got some fast food. When they arrived home, Cindy remembered she needed some orange juice and ham from the grocery store. She told Michael to take their dinner inside. She’d eat with him after she got back from the Piggly Wiggly. But investigators didn’t buy Cindy’s story. Then Kristin tells us about the suicide of a Texas A&M professor. James Aune was a pretty big deal. He was a tenured professor who’d authored two books on rhetoric. He had the re

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Mitchell Carlton Sims was pretty proud of himself. He’d landed a job as the manager of a Domino’s Pizza in West Columbia, South Carolina. But the good times didn’t last long. He got into a disagreement with his boss over a bonus and flipped out. Mitch tried to stage a coup. It didn’t work. He tried to get his boss fired. That didn’t work either. Finally, Mitch quit. But he held onto an out-of-control rage toward his former employer.  Then Brandi tells us about a family annihilator. (Does that surprise you? If so, welcome to the podcast.) James Kraig Kahler was a bad husband. He controlled and manipulated his wife, Karen. He controlled Karen’s social circle, as well as her finances. But James lost a little control when Karen sold enough cakes to buy herself a gym membership. She became a regular at the gym, and eventually found work as a trainer. It was there that she met Sunny Reece. Karen and Sunny’s friendship soon blossomed into something

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Kay Sybers hated going to the doctor. According to her husband, Bill Sybers, Kay hated going to the doctor so much that she refused to get medical treatment for her ongoing chest pain. The morning of May 30,1991, Kay woke up in pain. Bill, who was a pathologist and medical examiner, attempted to draw blood from Kay’s arm so that he might figure out what was wrong. But he couldn’t get any blood. He then left for work, and Kay died later that morning. But how did she die, exactly? Had Bill really been trying to draw blood? Or had he injected her with a deadly poison?  Then Kristin tells us about a murder that haunted a small Washington town for nearly 30 years. Mandy Stavik was home from her freshman year of college for Thanksgiving break of 1989. She went for a five-mile jog with her dog, Kyra, as she often did, but she never came back. Mandy’s mom immediately panicked. She called everyone she knew. People searched and searched for Mandy. Thr

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! As far as 911 calls went, this one was strange. An anonymous woman claimed that her neighbor, whose name she didn’t know, had been attacked by a man. Then she hung up. When the dispatcher called back, she realized that the “neighbor” had called from a pay phone outside a fast food restaurant. But when police arrived on the scene, they quickly realized that the caller had been onto something. Anna Lisa Raymundo, an ivy-league educated research scientist, lay dead in her entryway. She’d been stabbed multiple times and beaten over the head. Her condo showed signs of a violent struggle with her attacker. Then Brandi tells us about a woman who died tragically while taking down party lights from a tree. When investigators arrived at the home of Louis Mahony and Lainie Coldwell, it seemed clear that Lainie had fallen off a ladder, to her death. But she was only injured on the back of her head. The rest of her body was unharmed. As time passed, it s

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Tim Noble called 911, desperate for help. He’d just walked into the home he shared with his fiance, Debra Holden, and found her dead on the couch. A gun lay next to her. It appeared she’d died by suicide, and that’s exactly what the medical examiner ruled. Investigators couldn’t find the bullet, though. That seemed a little odd. The blood trail also seemed odd. It was as if she’d been moved after she died. Then Tim showed up at the hospital with a bullet in his leg and an incredibly strange story as to how it got there. Then Kristin tells us about Margaret Rudin, the so-called black widow of Las Vegas. When Margaret and Ron Rudin got married, it was the fifth marriage for both of them. What had been a whirlwind courtship got rocky as soon as they moved in together. Margaret discovered that Ron was having an affair. She also discovered that he’d never renovated the home after his ex-wife died by suicide. Over the years, Margaret says their ma

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! John Purnell was having a pretty normal day at his job as head of security for Great Britain’s biggest supermarket chain. Then he got a bizarre phone call from a local newscaster. The newscaster said they’d found a troubling document in their photocopier. The document was an extortion letter, aimed at Tesco. In it, a person calling themselves “SALLY,” threatened to send bombs to Tesco customers. The bombs would get bigger, and deadlier, unless Tesco paid up. Then Brandi tells us about Joe Musante, who was discovered dead in his pastor’s office. Investigators determined Joe’s death to be a suicide, but his sister, Rose, had questions. Hadn’t her brother and his wife recently been seeing their minister, AB Schirmer for marital counseling? When investigators looked into AB’s history, they discovered his wife had died tragically. And so had the one before her. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of arti

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Brandi starts us off with a very Brandi case. It was Easter weekend, 1992, and Dana Ewell was concerned. He was spending time with his girlfriend’s family and couldn’t get a hold of his parents. When investigators arrived at the Ewell home, they discovered a chilling scene. Dana’s sister Tiffany had been shot. So had his father, Dale. His mother, Glee, had been shot four times. The killer had taken their time with the murders. They left no DNA. No prints. No shell casings. The home appeared to have been ransacked, but little -- if anything -- was taken.  Then Kristin tells us about the murder of talk radio show host April Kauffman. In what would later turn out to be April’s last day on the air at WIBG, The Talk of South Jersey, she told her listeners that she “felt like she was on borrowed time.” She said that if she were to be “taken out” and sent to “see our creator,” she could take comfort knowing that she’d raised her daughter, Kimberly

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Mark Fisher just wanted to have a little fun. That’s why the 19-year-old college sophomore headed into New York City with his friends. While they were out drinking, Mark ran into another friend, and by the end of the night, he found himself at a house party in Brooklyn, surrounded by mostly strangers. The next morning, Mark’s body was discovered just two blocks from the house party. He’d been beaten and shot. When investigators tried to speak with the people Mark had partied with that night, they clammed up. But over time, police came to suspect John Giuca, who’d thrown the party, and his friend, 17-year-old Antonio Russo. Then Brandi tells us about yet another questionable bathtub murder. When Michele Somers’ family first met Martin MacNeil, they knew something was up. They couldn’t quite put their finger on it, but something about Martin seemed sketchy. But Michele was under Martin’s spell. They eloped in 1978, and aside from Martin’s six

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! It was just before Christmas 1992. Randy Sheridan was out jogging near his house in Junction City, Kansas, when he was ambushed and killed. An investigation revealed that he’d been shot five times -- three times at a distance, and twice at point blank range. When investigators spoke to Randy’s girlfriend, Judy Junghans, she gave them some helpful information. Randy had a daughter with a woman named Dana Flynn, and Dana was convinced that Randy was a bad man. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Dana Flynn” episode Snapped “‘God Wants Him Dead’: Evangelical Siblings Gun Down Woman’s Ex-Boyfriend Amid C

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! It was nearly 11 p.m. when Ryan Widmer called 911. He told the dispatcher, “My wife. She fell asleep in the bathtub, I think. I was downstairs. I just came up here and she was laying face down in the bathtub.” He said that his wife, Sarah, fell asleep in the bathtub “all the time.” Ryan drained the bathtub and removed Sarah from it, then began performing CPR. Paramedics showed up a short while later, but were unable to revive Sarah. Later, questions emerged about how exactly Sarah Widmer died. Brandi presented the only case because Kristin and Norm said goodbye to their sweet pup of 13 years this week. Peanut lived a long, happy life and left her mark on this podcast. She never shared a case, but she did make her presence known with an occasional bark. She’ll be missed.   And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and paste

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Brandi starts us off with a story about a serial killer who the New York Times dubbed, “the worst woman on Earth.” In 1889, Lizzie Brown took a job working as a housekeeper for a 70-year-old farmer named Paul Halliday. Paul quickly proposed to Lizzie, but he’d come to regret that decision. As it turned out, Lizzie Brown wasn’t her real name. Soon, the Halliday’s barn burned down. So did the family home. Paul’s adult son, John, died in the blaze. Neighbors suspected Lizzie had something to do with the fires.   Then Kristin tells us about the cruise from hell. “The Island Escape” is a no-frills cruise ship that sails the Mediterranean. It’s a converted ferryboat that caters to budget travelers and offers balconies that -- unlike most other cruise ships -- hang over the water. Nonetheless, this was the cruise that attorney Lonnie Kocontes selected when he wanted to woo his ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki.  And now for a note about our process. For eac

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! We all think we know the story of Rosa Parks. She was an old, tired woman who got on a bus in segregated Montgomery, Alabama. When the white bus driver asked her to give up her seat to a white passenger, Rosa refused. She was tired! Her feet hurt! For refusing to move, Rosa Parks was arrested. Then, oopsies, she became a civil rights icon! … well, that’s not quite how it went down. Rosa Parks wasn’t that old. Her feet didn’t hurt. When she refused to give up her seat, she knew exactly what she was doing. She’d been a take-no-shit activist her entire life.  Then Brandi tells us about a serial killer. When Alice Williams showed up at 86-year-old Norma Davis’ house and shouted her name, Norma didn’t respond. Alice became concerned. So she cautiously made her way through Norma’s home. That’s how Alice discovered that Norma had been brutally murdered. A knife stuck out of Norma’s neck. Another stuck out of her chest. About a week later, another w

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Stephenie Woods was beyond exhausted. She’d just had a c-section a week earlier, when she gave birth to her daughter, Abby. So Stephanie laid down on her couch for a nap. Abby was asleep in her crib, and Stephanie’s one-year-old son, Conner, was in his playpen. Stephenie woke to a stranger at her door. The woman was Shannon Torrez. She told Stephenie that her car had broken down. Could she use her phone? Could she use her bathroom? Stephenie was groggy and taken off guard. Bewildered, she agreed to help the woman. But Shannon wasn’t there for Stephenie’s phone. She was there for her baby. Then Kristin tells us about Elizabeth Thomas. In the fall of 2016, 15-year-old Elizabeth was at a particularly vulnerable time in her life. She and her siblings had been homeschooled their whole lives by an abusive mother. The kids eventually made the brave decision to call Child Protective Services on their mother, and she was removed from the home. This m

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! When Lloyd Gaines requested a course catalog from the University of Missouri’s School of Law, the registrar sent one right away. Later, when Lloyd applied to the school, university officials thought nothing of it. He was a qualified applicant. Then the university’s registrar received his undergraduate transcripts, and shit hit the fan. The transcripts came from historically black Lincoln University. But the University of Missouri School of Law refused to accept black students. They asked Lloyd to go to law school in a neighboring state, but Lloyd refused. Then Brandi tells us about a creepy church lady. Mary Jane Fonder had been attending Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church for years. Despite her long tenure at the church, she didn’t have many friends there. People generally thought she was pretty weird. But her weirdness kicked into overdrive when she convinced herself that she and the church pastor had feelings for one another. She left hi

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Kenneth Parks showed up at his local police station in a haze. He was covered in blood. His hands were horribly injured. He was confused, but horrified. He told police, “I think I have just killed two people.” In fact, he’d just murdered his mother-in-law, Barbara Ann Woods. He’d attempted to murder his father-in-law, Dennis Woods as well, but Dennis survived the attack. But why did Kenneth attack his in-laws? Prosecutors said he did it because he didn’t want to tell them about his gambling addiction. But Kenneth’s defense argued he hadn’t intended to attack his in-laws at all. He’d committed the crime while sleepwalking. Then Kristin tells us about a former army ranger who was down on his luck. Pat Sabo was back in his hometown of Eastlake, Ohio. Money was tight. He’d had a few run-ins with the law. That’s when an old high school friend named Christine Metter connected with him on Facebook. The pair hadn’t talked in nearly 20 years, but the

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Hello you skeezy scunches! We’re off this week for New Year’s, but we’ll be back next week with a brand spankin’ new episode. We hope you’re having a safe and happy holiday season! And if you enjoy this episode and feel so inclined, please join our Patreon! You’ll automatically get 17 bonus episodes to binge! In this episode, Brandi starts us off with an old timey story that may have you screaming “TOO SOON!”  In the early 1900s, germs were a novel concept. Washing your hands was an optional activity. The idea of being an asymptomatic carrier was nearly unheard of. So when a sanitation engineer named George Soper approached a woman and demanded samples of her blood, urine and feces, she scared him away at forkpoint. She scared the next doctor away, too. But the public health community would not be deterred. They were convinced that Mary Mallon was an asymptomatic spreader of Typhoid. And they had to stop her. Then Kristin tells us about

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Hi everyone! We are taking the week off to celebrate the holidays, but we're rereleasing one of our all-time favorite episodes. We hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays from the LGTC crew! Amy Anderton was concerned. Her boyfriend, Logan Storm, *seemed* like a good guy. He was a middle school math teacher. He talked a lot about trust and positivity. But something seemed off. So one day, when Logan left for work, Amy snooped through Logan’s stuff. That’s when she came across a thumbdrive. She plugged it into her computer, opened it, and was horrified by what she saw -- hundreds of images of child pornography. Then, Brandi tells us about high school student Tyler Hadley’s massive party. When Tyler first told his friends about his plan to throw a party, they were a little skeptical.Tyler wasn’t the party-throwing type. His parents were super strict. But Tyler was determined to throw a party, and that’s exactly what he did. Tons of kids showed up from