Love Marry Kill

Michele MacNeill was a devoted mother of eight and a respected member of her community. From the outside, her life looked picture-perfect—until cracks in her marriage began to surface.

As her husband Martin grew increasingly distant, Michele and her daughter Alexis uncovered evidence of a secret life he had been carefully hiding. Affairs, deception, and manipulation slowly came into focus, even as Martin insisted nothing was wrong.

When Michele agreed to undergo a facelift at her husband’s urging, it seemed like a chance to repair both her confidence and her marriage. Days later, she was dead. What first appeared to be a tragic accident would soon raise far more troubling questions.

Listen to part 2 today on Patreon

Today's snack: Shirley Temple bars

Sources:
Hogan, Shanna (2015). The Stranger She Loved A Mormon Doctor, His Beautiful Wife and an Almost Perfect Murder. St. Martin’s Press (ebook). 
https://www.hulu.com/watch/4b0eeefe-a55f-4a3e-bac0-c670f32da9fe 20/20
https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/playback/vod/_/88283925-d78b-3b40-87be-682222e792f7?paused=true Dateline 
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3058-N-Millcreek-Rd-Pleasant-Grove-UT-84062/60844909_zpid/?mmlb=g,0 The MacNeil’s home
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/reactive-attachment-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352939
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2011/04/29/investigators-suspect-utah-doctor-killed-wife/
https://abcnews.com/US/utah-doctors-life-lies-unravels-children-convinced-murdered/story?id=63609211 
https://www.sltrib.com/news/courts/2017/07/22/prison-death-of-former-utah-doctor-and-convicted-killer-martin-macneill-was-a-suicide-police-officially-rule/

In 1964, an 18-year-old mother named Theresa Cross Sanders claimed self-defense after killing her abusive husband. Over the next two decades, Theresa—often a single parent—built a life in Northern California, raising six children behind closed doors in a home ruled by fear, violence, addiction, and control.

As the abuse escalated, two of her daughters vanished a year apart without anyone reporting them missing. Years later, the surviving children began breaking their silence, exposing one of the most disturbing family murder cases in California history.

Today's snack: Strawberry Banana Cookies (from the mind of Emma)

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Sources:
https://www.hoopladigital.com/play/11557901
https://medium.com/@crimesandcuriosities/the-worlds-most-evil-mother-86f46e54fccb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmQSul_0MU
https://thecinemaholic.com/where-are-theresa-knorrs-sons-now/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/st-joseph-man-sentenced-child-porn

Mackenzie Cowell was seventeen years old — a dancer, a cosmetology student, and a young woman with her whole life mapped out in front of her — when she stepped out of her beauty school in Wenatchee, Washington one February afternoon and never came back. Four days later, her body was found partially submerged in the Columbia River, twenty miles from where she had disappeared.

What followed was one of the stranger murder investigations in recent Washington state history. Investigators chased a months-long dead end involving drug dealers, a supposed snuff film, and an informant whose story kept changing. Meanwhile, the real answer had been hiding in plain sight — in the classroom where Mackenzie spent her afternoons, and in an apartment where a piece of carpet held a secret that luminol would eventually reveal.

Mackenzie had survived a difficult childhood, a contentious home life, and the relentless schedule she had set for herself. She made it through all of that. She didn't make it through one ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

Today’s snack: Quick and easy apple tart with buttermilk caramel syrup

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Sources:Fretwell, Courtney. "Mackenzie Cowell." Forensic Tales, Rockefeller Audio, 30 Mar. 2026.
Quirky-Motor. "[EXTENSIVE write up on the murder of Mackenzie Cowell, 17-year-old high school student killed in Washington State... Part 1 of 2]". Reddit, r/UnresolvedMysteries, ca. 2021.
Quirky-Motor. "[EXTENSIVE write up on the murder of Mackenzie Cowell, 17-year-old high school student killed in Washington State... Part 2 of 2]". Reddit, r/UnresolvedMysteries, ca. 2021.
Robbins, Jefferson. "Man contends he's innocent despite his guilty plea." The News Tribune, 18 Nov. 2012, p. B5.
Robbins, Jefferson. "Suspect faces troubles in murder probe." Tri-City Herald, 24 Dec. 2010, p. 13.
Smith, Catt. "The Murder of Mackenzie Cowell." Catt's True Crime Corner, 22 Dec. 2023.
"48 Hours 'Secrets of the River': Be careful what you plead for." CBS News, 11 Aug. 2014.
"Murder of Mackenzie Cowell." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Apr. 2026.
Van Sant, Peter. "Mackenzie Cowell murder: The search for her killer." CBS News, 9 Aug. 2014.
Dahl, Tanya. "Second Suspect Arrested In Mackenzie Cowell Murder." KXLY 4 News / YouTube, uploaded by 4 News Now.

Michael Severance was a decorated Air Force staff sergeant from Lee, Maine — a young man known for his integrity, his loyalty, and his love of dancing the Texas two-step. In January 2005, just months into a troubled marriage to a West Texas veterinarian named Wendi Davidson, Mike vanished without a trace. His truck, his wallet, and his cell phone were all left behind. For weeks, investigators chased dead ends while Mike's family in Maine waited desperately for answers.

What they eventually found would shock everyone who had known him. What followed was a complex investigation, a bitter custody battle over Mike's infant son, and a legal case full of twists that left his family feeling that true justice was never fully served.

Mike survived five combat deployments to some of the most dangerous places on earth. Evil found him in his own home.

Today's snack: Pralines from The Big Texas Cookbook (thanks Carla!)

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Lynette Hooker disappeared after falling from a dinghy in dark, choppy waters near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas on April 4, 2026. Her husband, Brian Hooker, returned alone. As the search turned up nothing, questions began to surface about the conditions, the timeline, and Brian’s account of that night.

Today's snack: Reese's Marshmallow and Butterfinger French Toast

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Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lynette-hooker-husband-brian-messages/
https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/us-news/first-photos-of-boat-lynette-hooker-was-sailing-when-she-vanished-in-bahamas/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H71r6cv-6mY
https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/us-news/first-photos-of-boat-lynette-hooker-was-sailing-when-she-vanished-in-bahamas/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15712585/lynette-hooker-missing-daughter-husband-accident-search.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15715489/lynette-hooker-missing-bahamas-daughter-husband-threatened-overboard.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lynette-hooker-missing-american-boater-bahamas-update/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15715489/lynette-hooker-missing-bahamas-daughter-husband-threatened-overboard.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maps-brian-hooker-lynette-hooker-disappearance-bahamas/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lynette-hooker-woman-missing-bahamas-was-previously-arrested-domestic-rcna267417
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brian-hooker-leaves-bahamas-amid-search-missing-wife-to-be-with-ailing-mother/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6VGHqPPPgtYh8gCM17BQPA?si=PF8t--QSTCuo9enlwwOavA&pi=Mya1Bp5bQLuxZ&nd=1&dlsi=176d5c76f46e4289
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brian-hooker-lynette-wife-disappearance-bahamas-messages/