Our True Crime Podcast

Sam and Margaret Kastanis met while playing in a band and were married in 1987. When the children came along, they quit the band to focus on family. Margaret said that even after a decade of marriage, she still often had butterflies in her stomach when she looked at her husband.  The couple had three beautiful children: Melissa, 11, Clinton, 9, and Christine, 6. The neighbors described the family as idyllic.Margaret became severely ill with the Epstein-Barr virus and had been out of commission for more than a month. Sam eventually had to take time off from work to stay home with her and the children because she had no energy to care for them. By November 17th, 1991, Sam had been off work for several weeks, and Margaret was frustrated she wasn't getting better.The couple recently put their house up for sale and received a bid. Now, it looked like they would be moving and buying a bigger and better house during the holiday season, yet Margaret was still not fully recovered. Add to this the fact that Margaret had made friends with a mentally unstable woman in the neighborhood and that she, too, had recently shown signs of paranoia. It became evident to some that the Kastanis family was beginning to unravel.But nobody who knew the couple could have known that four of the five members of the Kastanis family would never make it to Thanksgiving. A tragedy of epic proportions was about to unfold in the upscale suburb of Salt Lake City. Join Jen and Cam as they discuss "Snapped: The Kastanis Family Murders."Cam and Jen will be in London at CrimeCon UK! Come see us! You can use our discount code OTCP10 for 10% off ticket price!A HUGE shoutout to Newspapers.com! They have been our resource and we've relied on them since we started in 2018.Thank you to our team:Written and researched by Lauretta AllenListener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AMExecutive Producer Nico Vetesse of The Inky PawprintProducer Jesse Fyffe-Vetesse of The Inky PawprintSources:https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/kastanismargaret.htm https://www.newspapers.com/image/613665361/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613664961/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613664417/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613664128/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613666265/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/469680036/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613665851/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613665851/?match=1&terms=Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/470771883/?match=1&terms=Sam%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613679275/?match=1&terms=Sam%20Kastanishttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130815084404.htmhttps://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=honorscollege_cj (page 26)https://www.deseret.com/1993/6/17/19052136/questioning-failed-to-alter-kastanis-story/https://www.jurispro.com/files/documents/doc-1066204696-resume.pdfhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/470757772/match=1&terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/470755669/?match=1&terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613678190/match=1&terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613678194/?terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/470769718/match=1&terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.newspapers.com/image/613678006/match=1&terms=Rod%20Englert%20Kastanishttps://www.deseret.com/1991/11/20/18952786/deaths-margaret-jenkins-kastanis-melissa-missy-kastanis-clinton-clint-kastanis-christine-chrissy-kas/https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2022/may/1/pseudoscientific-practice-blood-spatter-analysis-how-desire-convictions-drives-flawed-prosecutions/

Listener warning: this case is extremely disturbing. It is our final day of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. In May 1981, on the outskirts of Chicago, a hotel maid went to work like she did every day. For the most part, the day was uneventful, except when she noticed a horrible smell. The Moonlit Hotel wasn’t exactly a five-star place to stay. It was known as a place for drug deals and quick sex. Even so, the maid had never noticed a smell like this before. This was something new. And all day long, she tried to find the source of the stench but never found it. She returned to work the next day, and the smell was even worse.  It is a medical fact that women have a better sense of smell than men. They are also better at identifying a specific odor. And what the maid smelled that day was death. Her gut told her that something was dead on the hotel premises, but no matter how much she looked for the source, she couldn’t find it. The stench was making it almost impossible to work. Finally, she went to the hotel manager, who said that, yeah, now that she mentioned it, he smelled something, too. She told him that she’d already checked all the rooms, so the manager began to search the grounds. The manager came upon a gruesome discovery in an empty field behind the hotel. This would not be the final victim, but the biggest shock was yet to come. Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast on this episode entitled ‘The Personification of Evil: The Chicago Ripper Crew.’A huge thank you to Sleep Creme for sponsoring this episode. Order your bottle today at sleepcreme.com. Use the code OTCPODCAST at checkout to save twenty bucks on the first order! Thank you to our team:Written and researched by Lauretta AllenListener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AMExecutive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky PawprintSources:https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-ripper-crew-satanic-murderers-thomas-kokoraleishttps://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1989/65229-7.htmlhttps://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ripper_Crewhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/29/ripper-crew-killer-thomas-kokoraleis-paroled-after-37-years-prison/3308889002/https://www.cracked.com/article_35559_the-ripper-crew-the-scariest-cult-youve-never-heard-of.htmlhttps://mail.murderpedia.org/male.G/g/gecht-robin.htmhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/387761257/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816419/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/387816597/https://www.newspapers.com/image/387752260/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/388105253/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/387746495/?match=1&terms=%22Shui%20Mak%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/387887372/?match=1&terms=%22Lorry%20Borowski%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/388083689/https://www.newspapers.com/image/387753721/ (plus page 2)https://www.newspapers.com/image/387880426/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/387743330/?match=1&terms=%22Lorraine%20Borowski%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/388109876/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22 (how suspect was arrested)https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/73489679/?match=1&terms=%22Sandra%20Delaware%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/919587870/?match=1&terms=%22Rose%20Beck%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/387845914/?match=1&terms=%22Angel%20York%22https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-first-appellate-district/2008/1063487.html

Here is day 11 of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. After the American Civil War, the U.S. government decided it would be delightful to shuffle the Osage Indians from Labette County, Kansas, to what would soon be the state of Oklahoma—because who doesn’t love a good game of human chess? As they cleared the land, they rolled out the red carpet for homesteaders, luring them in with shiny promises of opportunity. By October 1870, five families of spiritualists—because obviously, that’s who you want on the frontier—decided to stake their claim on this “untamed paradise.” As noted by the proclamation issued on May 17, 1873, this was far from paradise for many travelers. Several atrocious murders have been recently committed in Labette County, Kansas.Join Jen and Cam on this episode entitled ‘Trail of Terror: The Bloody Benders and Their House of Death.’Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHSAll music by our executive producer and editor @theinkypawprintSources:https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/10/bloody-benders/https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/bloody-bendershttps://www.kctv5.com/2024/07/04/kansas-bloody-benders-digging-clues-century-old-murders/https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/ku-researchers-dig-deeper-into-the-bloody-benders-site/https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/people/true-crime-in-kansas-the-mystery-of-the-bendershttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sale-kansas-land-where-bloody-benders-committed-their-crimes-180974121/https://open.spotify.com/episode/13godpkiaP4Ile72PYAIL5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders

We are on day ten of the 12 Nightmares Before Christmas. On a freezing cold night in December of 1977, two women in their mid-thirties were leaving the Forker’s Café at 64 Union Street in Newark, Ohio. At 2:30 a.m., Joyce Vermillion, a barmaid at the café, and Karen Dodrill (dod-rill), a patron and friend of Joyce’s, were preparing to call it a night. Karen had been out celebrating her birthday and had offered to give her friend Joyce a ride home. Since it was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, Karen went out to warm up her car first and was headed back into the bar when she was gunned down by a person waiting in the bushes.  Since there was a homemade silencer on the gun, Joyce had no warning of any danger and walked out of the building and was shot and killed as well. (Some sources say they were walking across the parking lot when they were gunned down.) When Joyce failed to return home from work, her husband notified the police. No one knew that there was not just one killer at work; there were two, and they were related.Join Jen and Cam of Our True Crime Podcast as we discuss ‘Ohio's 22 Caliber Killers: The Lewingdon Brothers.’Thank you to our team:Written and researched by Lauretta AllenListener Discretion by Edward October from Octoberpod AMExecutive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky PawprintSources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_and_Thaddeus_Lewingdonhttps://mail.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/partners/lewingdon_bros/4.htmlhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/288325368/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrillhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/288325794/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrillhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/288326901/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrillhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/288331767/?match=1&terms=Joyce%20Vermillion%20Karen%20Dodrillhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/989648304/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/601876460/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20McCann%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/844598598/?match=1&terms=Robert%20Mickey%20McCannhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Joneshttps://www.newspapers.com/image/406055736/?match=1&terms=Jenkins%20Joneshttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/5054b15de4b02b42cb2ebd87/t/58aef25a17bffc1271928016/1487860323271/HistTimes201401.pdfhttp://wiki.lickingcountylibrary.info/Murders_and_Homicideshttps://www.newspapers.com/image/863804609/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/825445876/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20confessedhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/903090856/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/297373789/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/288468878/?match=1&terms=%22Gerald%20Fields%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/296336484/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Marthahttps://www.newspapers.com/image/288494235/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20%20Marthahttps://www.newspapers.com/image/287438136/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/157391755/?match=1&terms=%22Joseph%20Annick%22https://www.newspapers.com/image/295929917/?match=1&terms=%22Claudia%20Yasko%22%20https://www.newspapers.com/image/287557372/?match=1&terms=Lewingdon%20organized%20crimehttps://www.newspapers.com/image/296705157/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20chargeshttps://www.newspapers.com/image/1065476941/?match=1&terms=John%20Vodhanel%20chargeshttps://www.newspapers.com/image/719952673/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdmanhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/406056639/?match=1&terms=Christine%20Herdmanhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/395561556/?match=1&terms=%22Jerry%20Martin%22%20obituary