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New Year, New Binge 2025, Episode 2
1.2k Plays18 hours ago
Welcome, true-crime lovers, to New Year, New Binge 2025 Edition! What you’ll find included is your guide to an exciting lineup of podcasts that will make 2025 your best year for listening yet. New Years is a time for resolutions, and mine is simple: to share with you the most captivating, chilling, and downright binge-worthy true-crime podcasts. Whether you’re looking to uncover unsolved mysteries or dive into deep investigative storytelling, I’ve got you covered.
Be sure to follow all of the podcasts you enjoyed so you never miss a new episode. Podcasts are listed below in the order in which you will be introduced to them:
Episode 1:
Reverie True Crime https://linktr.ee/paigeelmore
Fresh Hell Podcast https://freshhellpodcast.com/
Malice https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/malice-a-true-crime-podcast/id1471251398
Women & Crime https://www.womenandcrimepodcast.com
True Crimecast https://linktr.ee/truecrimecast
The Dark Oak Podcast thedarkoak.com
Episode 2:
Coffee and Cases Podcast https://linktr.ee/coffeeandcases
Heart Starts Pounding https://www.heartstartspounding.com/
Mortal Musings Podcast https://linktr.ee/mortalmusingspodcast
True Crime Creepers https://linktr.ee/TrueCrimeCreepers
Private Dicks Podcast https://linktr.ee/privatedicks
Twisted Travel and True Crime https://linktr.ee/twistedtraveltruecrimepodcast
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to New Year New Binge
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back listeners to Episode 2 of New Year New Binge 2025 edition. I'm Allison and I hope your 2025 is already off to a fantastic start. If you're like me, the New Year is the perfect time to add new podcasts to your rotation. Whether you're cleaning up after a wild celebration or sipping coffee while reflecting on your goals, I've got just the recommendations to keep you company and to spark your curiosity. Let's jump right in.
Introducing Coffee and Cases
00:00:55
Speaker
First up in Episode 2 is my very own podcast, Coffee and Cases. A new year means new opportunities to bring light to the past, and that's exactly what we aim to do at Coffee and Cases podcast. Our resolution for 2025 is to continue shedding light on the mysteries that remain unsolved, and amplifying the voices of victims whose stories demand answers. From puzzling disappearances to baffling cold cases,
00:01:19
Speaker
Coffee and Cases combines research with heartfelt storytelling, all while you sip your favorite brew. If your resolution is to uncover the truth and keep these stories alive, we'll be right here with you, one case at a time.
00:01:35
Speaker
My name is Allison Williams and I am the co-host of Coffee and Cases, a true crime podcast, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. Joining me each week is my co-host Maggie. We alternate weeks telling each other about lesser known cases. We tell stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case We'll take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to the families. As these families know, conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness, helping to keep their memories alive.
The Disappearance of Brenda Condon
00:02:09
Speaker
The following is an excerpt from episode 215 concerning the disappearance of Brenda Condon. If you'd like to hear more, be sure to check out that episode or any of our new episodes, which get released each Thursday on your favorite podcasting app.
00:02:26
Speaker
We like to think that if we live our lives in ways that are admirable, that nothing too bad will ever happen to us. Even though we know that evil, that pain and that suffering are indiscriminate. We also wonder why bad things happen to good people or why bad people seem to prosper. We know that something bad could happen to any one of us at any second, yet we're still shocked.
00:02:55
Speaker
and the reasonable person doesn't get hired, when the considerate person falls ill, and when the faithful person is mistreated. So too, many were shocked when the person at the center of our case this week went missing. She was responsible, she was tidy, she was caring, she was outgoing, she was a good friend, and she was a loving mother. But none of those things stopped someone nefarious from entering her life and taking her away.
00:03:25
Speaker
the end of her work shift in Spring Township, Pennsylvania on February 27, 1991, this is the case of Brenda Condon.
00:03:45
Speaker
Brenda Louise Condon was born on March 1st, 1962, and was the youngest of five children. When Brenda was only three years old, she lost her mother, which left her older sister Iris, 12 years her elder, to step into the motherly role. And Iris happily did so. While their father was still the disciplinarian for the children, Iris remembers taking Brenda with her nearly everywhere she went.
00:04:15
Speaker
It was when Brenda turned 16 that the roles shifted for her. You see, when Brenda was 16, she found out that she was pregnant and she would soon be a mom herself. She went from being the baby of the family to being the mom.
00:04:32
Speaker
Even though Brenda didn't have memories of the person her mother was, she had the role her sister had played in her life to guide her. She was excited for this new adventure and perhaps because she had lost her own mother vowed to always be there for her child no matter what. Her boyfriend at the time, Tom, who was around 10 years older than Brenda.
00:04:56
Speaker
asked Brenda to marry him when he learned that she was pregnant, and they soon began their own small family with the birth of their son Todd. Two years later, Tom and the then 18-year-old Brenda had their second child, a baby girl they named Shauna, and things were good for several years after. However, by the time Brenda was in her early 20s,
00:05:20
Speaker
She had been married for close to six years already, had two children, and was beginning to grow apart from her husband. Even their divorce, though, showed Brenda's maturity, despite her young age of 22.
00:05:34
Speaker
She and Tom had a conversation about what was best for their kids and had mutually decided that the children should remain living with her ex-husband. That way the divorce wouldn't disrupt their lives any more than it had to. Tom lived in a more rural location where they already had friends and Brenda had moved into an apartment complex.
00:05:57
Speaker
Brenda and Tom were amicable. There was no ill will. There wasn't fighting or screaming in front of the kids. There wasn't even a custody agreement. Brenda was welcome to come pick the kids up and spend time with them whenever she or they wanted.
00:06:15
Speaker
By 1989, after the divorce, Brenda established a successful cleaning business with one branch in Williamsport and one branch in State College, Pennsylvania. Brenda seemed to be thriving. Business was good. She was able to have fun with her friends in a way that she hadn't been able to do in her teens. And there was a new man she had been seeing named Greg Palazzari.
00:06:40
Speaker
Brenda and her friends had met Greg, as he was in a band that played at several bars that they frequented. But Greg wasn't just a musician, he also owned a Senoko gas station called, as one might obviously guess, Greg's Senoko. So since he was rooted due to his business, Brenda decided to move in with him at a home located at 1959.
00:07:04
Speaker
Harvest Circle in State College, Pennsylvania after they had become an official couple. The good news was that in this new location, it put her closer to her children than she had previously been. Brenda had also begun to make friends with Greg's friends in State College as the two grew serious. By 1991, when our case takes place, the pair had been dating for about two years.
00:07:31
Speaker
It was one of those friends, a very close friend, as Brenda's sister Iris said on the Unfound podcast, named Carl, who owned a local bar called Carl's Bad Tavern. Those are separate words, Carl's Bad Tavern.
00:07:48
Speaker
in a rural area of Spring Township, Pennsylvania, on State Route 550, two miles north of Belfonte, Pennsylvania. And Carl was looking for some extra help at the bar. When he approached Brenda to gauge her interest in bartending, she was all in.
00:08:06
Speaker
Even though Brenda hadn't ever bartended before, she had a magnetic personality and was an extremely quick learner. In fact, even though she had only worked quite literally one or two shifts, Carl already trusted her enough to ask her to take on a shift by herself and to work a double.
00:08:27
Speaker
Brenda began a shift on the evening of February 26, 1991, would close the bar down by herself, get the deposit ready for the bank, clean up, and then go home for a few hours of rest before returning to begin the morning shift on the 27th, again, alone, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It had seemed
Jared Negrete's Haunting Disappearance
00:08:49
Speaker
like a decent second job that, along with her home cleaning business, had the potential to make her some good money Brenda pulled into work in her 1986 gray mercury capri, dressed in jeans, a silver shirt covering a black tank top, and wearing black cowboy boots, ready to start the first shift. According to most accounts, that shift was pretty uneventful. Like always, most of the customers were regulars with a few new faces at the bar. Brenda poured drinks and made small talk. She was kind and likeable, so it came easy to her.
00:09:27
Speaker
Even though a double shift would mean she'd likely feel exhausted the next afternoon, she didn't mind. It would just get her one day closer to her birthday, which was only a couple of days away on March 1st, and also closer to some birthday celebrations with both her boyfriend and with her family. When Brenda's replacement shift came in on February 27th at 6 PM, they saw her car parked in the lot.
00:09:53
Speaker
However, when they entered the bar, they didn't see Brenda anywhere. The door had been unlocked, but the lights were off. The receipts from the evening shift were neatly organized. Obviously Brenda had worked up the deposit, but where was she? It was clear that some patrons had come in because there were empty glasses on the bar with the money for the drinks laid either beside or under the empty glasses. But that meant that Brenda hadn't collected the money from them.
00:10:24
Speaker
Why not? After searching the bar and finding Brenda nowhere, someone had called Greg to see if he had heard from her. It was at this point that Greg told them he hadn't seen her either, that she hadn't come home after her shift the evening before.
00:10:43
Speaker
I couldn't find it in any of my research who had initially called the police to alert them that Brenda was nowhere to be found. I don't know if coworkers called, if Carl, the owner of the tavern did, if Brenda's boyfriend Greg did after he had been alerted, or what.
00:11:02
Speaker
I do wonder how alarms weren't raised for Greg when Brenda didn't return home between shifts to sleep and why it took until the following evening when the next shift came in to realize she was missing. However, perhaps he believed she could have gone to her sister's or to a friend's house. Or maybe he wasn't home himself to know that she didn't return.
00:11:29
Speaker
Regardless of who made that first call, there was an obvious bias and belief that she was young and would show back up. In fact, a sincere effort and investigation into finding Brenda didn't happen until March 2nd, the day after her 29th birthday, when she didn't show up to pick up her children, aged 10 and 12 in 1991.
00:11:55
Speaker
Brenda's sister Iris didn't know her sister was missing until several days after the coworkers discovered her missing and had alerted Greg. Iris said that Greg hadn't called her, but that could be because even though Iris knew Brenda had a boyfriend, Brenda had never brought Greg around nor introduced the two of them.
00:12:20
Speaker
So Iris learned about her sister from a call placed to her by the Spring Township Police Department on that Friday. They asked if she were Brenda Condon's sister and when the last time was that she had heard from her sister. Iris let them know that she was and it had been a few days, but that Brenda would be there the next day for a birthday celebration. No, they told her she likely wouldn't.
00:12:46
Speaker
because she hadn't been seen nor heard from for several days. Her boyfriend Greg had just come in on that same day Friday to say that Brenda was missing. Then they asked if Iris could come in to file the missing persons report. Since she was the oldest blood relative, her children were obviously too young to do so. When Iris learned that Brenda hadn't been seen and hadn't shown up to pick up the kids. She knew that whatever had happened to Brenda had been the result of foul play. She had not left on her own.
00:13:22
Speaker
Remember, Brenda knew what it was like to grow up without a mother. Brenda's sister, Iris, stated her reporter, Mike Joseph, quote, she grew up without her own mother. She would never have done that to her kids because she knew what it was like, Meyers said. I felt that she was gone that night. She never walked away from that site, end quote.
00:13:46
Speaker
In other words, Brenda would have never left her children and not told them where she was going. Whatever had happened to her and wherever she had gone was not of her own free will. Her family were positive.
00:14:01
Speaker
Brenda's son told Lee Hall of Fox 43. Once officers realized she wasn't showing up, then they realized they had a problem because she was always very punctual and conscientious about being there for us, end quote.
00:14:18
Speaker
The problem was that by the time that law enforcement took the missing persons report, the scene of the abduction had already been greatly contaminated. It had even been contaminated by the time they first came to the tavern in response to first hearing about Brenda.
00:14:36
Speaker
Even then, by the time her coworkers knew Brenda wasn't there, they found that two vendors had already come into the bar through the unlocked door to complete their rounds and restock. Like the cigarette vending machine vendor, who hadn't even known anything was amiss, just believed that whoever was supposed to be on duty had stepped out. There were empty glasses sitting on the bar with money by them. So either Brenda hadn't had a chance to fully clean the night before or patrons had come in, walked behind the bar to make themselves drinks before leaving the money for them. And the replacement shift had come in to begin getting things ready for the evening, moving things before even knowing the tavern was a potential crime scene. At this point, so many surfaces had now been touched by others. What they did determine was that the motive for whatever happened had not been robbery.
00:15:34
Speaker
First, we assume the deposit from the night shift was still there. I say we assume because when Carl came in to inventory his bar, he didn't report that anything had been taken. Additionally, even though Brenda's keys and her purse were gone, her car was still in the parking lot. Whoever had done this hadn't come back for it. No, it seemed instead that the point of whatever had happened had solely been to take Brenda.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yet while that seemed obvious, there was one detail that left everyone stumped.
00:16:18
Speaker
If your heart skips a beat at the unexpected, Heart Starts Pounding is the podcast for you. From eerie disappearances to spine-tingling historical crimes, it's a reminder that life's mysteries are often closer than we think. If you want to develop your analytical skills this year, Heart Starts Pounding dives into cases that leave you questioning every detail.
00:16:41
Speaker
Hi, this is Kaylin with the Heart Starts Pounding podcast. I wanted to include today the story of Jared Negrete because it's one that still keeps me up at night and it it plays on a lot of my biggest fears of being out in the woods and getting lost. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, you can check out Heart Starts Pounding wherever you get your podcasts, also on Instagram and TikTok at Heart Starts Pounding, and we're also on YouTube now. Thanks!
00:17:10
Speaker
So every summer from ages 16 to 22, I worked at summer camps. I loved it. It was the most fun I've ever had in my entire life. Being nestled in the middle of the woods, away from society for eight weeks, you just really feel like you're in your own world. If you've ever been to camp, then maybe you can understand what I'm about to say next. But there is a darkness that hangs over the camping experience, whether you're aware of it or not.
00:17:39
Speaker
For instance, every summer, I'd watch as the head of the camp I worked at wields an old-school TV set and a VHS player into the rec room. This was before the campers even showed up to the camp, it was just us counselors. But all of us would have to sit shoulder to shoulder on the floor and watch a video on the dangers of what could happen if you took your eyes off a child for even a moment. In just the blink of an eye, they could be gone.
00:18:07
Speaker
I'm going to tell you the story of a troop leader named Dennis who had that exact experience happen to him.
00:18:14
Speaker
On July 19, 1991, a scout master named Dennis hiked with his troop up the side of a mountain near San Gorgonio in California. The troop consisted of six middle school boys who belonged to the Mormon Church in San Bernardino, and now that school was out and summer was in full swing, the troop offered programs like this hike for scouts.
00:18:37
Speaker
It was supposed to be a fun but challenging climb up to the summit of the mountain, where the boys could look out at all they had accomplished in their 15-mile or 24-kilometer trek. The only problem Dennis thought as he looked out at all the boys was that not every 12-year-old was in the best shape for the trek. Five of them laughed and ran around as they effortlessly trekked up the mountain. But one boy, Jared Negrete, was having a hard time.
00:19:08
Speaker
Earlier that morning, the group had packed up their campsite by dry lake and moved it a mile up the mountain to a new camping location. Today, they were set to trek up the last, albeit most challenging part of the summit. Most of today's hike was going to be above 10,000 feet, or 3,000 meters, meaning oxygen would be thinner, and to the already steep and rocky climb was going to be more taxing.
00:19:35
Speaker
Jared seemed like he was already exhausted from the mile ascent with his packs this morning, and he was struggling to keep up with the group. Just then, one of the boys suggested they race to the top of the mountain, and the others shouted in agreement. Off they ran, bounding over the big rocks in the path and skillfully maneuvering through the slim parts of the trails. Dennis followed the boys up the last stretch to the summit when they finally reached the peak.
00:20:04
Speaker
Around them was a 360-degree view of San Bernardino. Other hikers stood around snapping pictures and posing by the sign that displayed their accomplishment. It was an awe-inspiring view for the boys to witness. They made it up just before sunset. The only problem was not everyone was there. Jared had not made it to the top.
00:20:32
Speaker
That's when two hikers pulled Dennis aside. They told him that they had passed a boy scout further back who was really struggling and kept wandering off the path. That was definitely Jared, Dennis thought. He thanked the hikers for letting him know and told them that he'd be picking the boy up on his way down. If the hikers had passed him, he must not be that far down the mountain, Dennis assumed.
00:20:58
Speaker
And so, the other five boys were rounded up and they all started their descent. Dennis imagined where Jared would be in his head, but as they got closer to the area, Jared was nowhere to be found. Maybe he just turned around and tried to get back to their camp, but no matter how far the troop hiked, Jared wasn't anywhere.
00:21:22
Speaker
Details of what happened next are a little hazy, but we know that at 1.30 a.m., an emergency call was finally placed to police to inform them that Jared was missing. He was last seen by the hikers around 6.30 p.m. The police were not able to start their search for another two hours, meaning that nine hours would go by from the time Jared went missing to when the search for him began.
00:21:48
Speaker
What followed was search parties, largely led by volunteers setting out to search as much of the mountain as they could, covering about 45 square miles. People searched on foot, on horseback, and his parents even circled the area in a helicopter shouting his name out on the bullhorn. They vowed that no stone on the mountain would remain unturned.
00:22:12
Speaker
Searchers were made aware of the last thing that he was wearing, green pants, glasses, high tops, and a tan shirt. Actually, a few days passed with no sign of the boy. But emergency services wouldn't give up just yet. There was still a chance that he was alive. There was fresh water on the mountain, full of fish. It was possible to survive alone up there. Plus, Jared was known to always have a snack on him. That could potentially hold him over.
00:22:42
Speaker
but they also started to fear the worst. See, sometimes when children are lost, they'll freak out and think that they'll get in trouble if they're found, so they'll hide from search parties intentionally. Searchers also worried that in a panic, Jared may have tried to take a route straight down the mountain and back to civilization, even if it was off of a path.
00:23:05
Speaker
We know from the last people who saw Jared that he was having trouble staying on the trail. They even told him to stay on the path as they passed, worried that he may hurt himself. But also, a big issue searchers faced was that where Jared was last seen was near the resting place before the final summit up the mountain, meaning there was a chance that Jared took off on the wrong trail.
00:23:32
Speaker
There is a small break in the search, however, on July 22nd, when footprints matching Jared's are found three miles away at the 10,000-foot peak of the High Creek Trail, heading back down a trail from the big peak the boys raced to.
00:23:48
Speaker
The footprints don't really seem to go anywhere, though, so they don't offer much help other than showing that Jared was there, and that he had potentially stayed on a path to get to this peak. The search continues, occasionally aided by troop leader Dennis. It seems like an unspoken agreement amongst everyone that this wouldn't have happened if Dennis had paid better attention.
00:24:14
Speaker
Jared's parents tried to take some of the blame off of Dennis, saying that perhaps their son bent down to tie his shoe and leaving him behind was completely unintentional. However, another parent confirms that the boys were racing and Dennis did take off with them.
00:24:32
Speaker
Scout rules, at least at the time, said two important things. One was that the slowest hiker sets the pace, and two, troop leaders should be too deep.
00:24:45
Speaker
Typically, there were two troop leaders assigned to a group like this. And for this trip, there actually originally were. But the day of the hike, the second leader called out. Dennis, not wanting to cancel the trip for the kids and confident in his 15 years of involvement with the Boy Scouts, decided to keep the trip on. But though Dennis claimed to be an expert hiker, he had only worked with this particular troop for five months.
00:25:15
Speaker
And though scouting taught the boys basic survival skills, it was nothing compared to what someone would need to survive in the mountains for days on end. The sheriff's deputy noted that every day Jared was missing, his chance of survival drastically dropped. A study done by Oregon Health and Science University found that 99% of people found alive during search and rescue missions were found within the first 51 hours of being reported missing.
00:25:47
Speaker
That means if Jared was reported missing at 1.30am on July 20th, 51 hours later, it was 4.30am on July 22nd. That was the day that Jared's footprints were found. So when those footprints are ultimately ruled to not lead to anything on July 24th, Jared's chances of being found alive are under 1%.
00:26:13
Speaker
But the community was not ready to give up on the young boy just yet. And the search continued. People were hopeful. They shared stories of miraculous survival tales, like how a man in California stayed alive once for 39 days in the wilderness, surviving on bugs and moss. Maybe they ignored the fact that the man was a former Marine, with far more survival training than young Jared.
00:26:44
Speaker
By July 28th, over a week had passed and some of the searchers were starting to feel like they wouldn't find Jared alive. They were still blanketed across the mountain when all of a sudden one of them calls out that they found something.
00:27:02
Speaker
Other searchers run over to the area at the bottom of a slope near a river where they see a few snack wrappers, a beef jerky, and a camera. The area isn't on any trail. It looks like Jared may have slid down on his bottom and the contents fell out of his pockets. The camera is sent in to process photos. Maybe there's something useful on there. But what they find instead is haunting.
00:27:35
Speaker
12 photos were developed from Jared's camera. Most were images of the Mount San Gorgonio landscape. Trees, hillsides, a photo of a mountain peak in the distance. But it was the last photo that was taken on the camera that chilled investigators and still haunts searchers to this day.
00:27:59
Speaker
For the final photo on the camera, Jared turned the lens towards himself. It's a close-up of his face. His arms were maybe not long enough to get a fuller photo. Instead, we just see his eyes and nose illuminated by a bright flash, indicating that it was night when the photo was taken.
00:28:21
Speaker
In it, his eyes are slightly squinted, maybe from the brightness of the flash, though some think he may be afraid of something.
00:28:33
Speaker
Though this camera was found, no more traces of Jared would be. And the search was eventually called off a little more than a week later, 19 days after Jared was first reported missing. Authorities believed there was at that point a 0% chance he was still alive.
00:28:54
Speaker
To this day, no one knows what happened to Jared. Some people believe he fell to his death shortly after going missing. The camera was found off of a trail, so maybe Jared was trying to get down the mountain the fastest way possible and fell or ran into an animal.
00:29:13
Speaker
Logan Clark has a different theory, though. He was a private investigator hired by the Negretis who believed Jared was kidnapped. In his investigation, he came across two other people in the area who said they had been kidnapped or nearly kidnapped.
00:29:31
Speaker
One was a 10-year-old boy who was able to get away from his captor on September 7th of that same year and the other was a man in his late 20s who was abducted and buried up to his neck. He was able to escape three days later.
00:29:47
Speaker
Other, very important parts of those stories are missing, however. Like, what did the abductor look like? Was it the same abductor? And did anyone else see that person on the mountain the day that Jared went missing? Police have largely discounted this theory.
00:30:07
Speaker
Jared's remains have never been found, and most believe that they're still on the mountain. His parents blame the scouts and the Mormon Church, though neither of them were ever charged with any crime. Instead, sheriff deputies spoke to scout leaders to teach them more safety protocols to make sure no child ever went missing under their care again. Dennis was moved from his position to a state supervisor role.
00:30:36
Speaker
Many who are interested in this case go back to the last photo of Jared. What can be learned from just two eyes and a nose? Is his brow furrowed? Is he afraid? Is there something behind him? What clues does this photo hold? And will it ever help someone locate him?
00:31:02
Speaker
They always told us it can happen in an instant. One moment you turn your back on your campers, and the next thing you know, one is missing. But in the case of Jared Negretti, it seemed like that wasn't the case. Dennis knowingly walked away from his camper and brushed it off when others brought up concerns about Jared struggling on the trails.
00:31:25
Speaker
If the group had more patience and stayed together, we probably wouldn't be wondering what happened to the boy today.
00:31:38
Speaker
The New Year is a time to reflect on life's big questions about morality, existence, and the choices we make.
Mortal Musings: Crime Meets Philosophy
00:31:45
Speaker
That's exactly the space where mortal musings thrives. The podcast blends the intrigue of true crime with thought-provoking discussions, philosophical and ethical dilemmas, and some humor that the cases present. As they say on the show, they take the cases seriously, but not themselves.
00:32:06
Speaker
If your 2025 resolution is to explore the deeper meanings behind humanity's darkest moments and maybe chuckle a little along the way, Mortal Musings will challenge your perspective and leave you laughing, as you'll see in this montage they've put together. New year, time for a new binge. My name is Megan, and I am one half of the podcast, Mortal Musings. Along with my co-host, Neil, we'd like to tell you guys some true crime cases.
00:32:37
Speaker
Although we don't exclusively stick to true crime, we'll also get into some other dark and interesting topics. For a little peek into our podcast, we thought we'd give you a bit of a variety show. First up, we have the Miyazawa family murders. On the 31st of December in the year 2000, a family of four were found murdered in their home. Who did this and why?
00:33:02
Speaker
Today we are going to be talking about the murder of the Miyazawa family, also known as the Setagaya family murders. That's two different families. No, so Setagaya is the area. OK. Oh, you're going to have fun with this one.
00:33:19
Speaker
Yeah, ah before we get into it, I will say that this is a Japanese case. I've tried my best um with pronunciations, but please forgive me if I'm getting anything slightly off. I can help because... and You're a linguist. i know I know a bit of Japanese. It is my mother's tongue.
00:33:39
Speaker
Did you mean to say that? What? You said mother's tongue, not mother tongue. a
00:33:48
Speaker
so all right It's mother tongue, like motherland, not mothers. Following this, he um takes a s*** in the toilet and doesn't flush. Oh, that's disrespectful, that. That is a sign of disrespect, that. It's not only they're finding the bodies, but they're going to find a big f***ing log in the s***ter. The smell of that.
00:34:14
Speaker
He then dumps the contents of Yasuko's handbag and Mikio's wallet as well as household keys and a white towel stained with his blood into the toilet. So they've got his DNA? Yes, they do. Investigators are getting there and they're like, oh, look at all this s*** dumped in the toilet. Then they move in this literal s*** dumped in the toilet. See, that's even more disrespectful because yet their food, yes, s*** it out.
00:34:41
Speaker
and didn't flush it like it's a double whammy. It really is. Quote. When you compare victims who die from an illness or natural causes to those who are suddenly murdered, they look very different. What's the f*** do? There are theories as to whether it was down to either money or like your mother said, a grudge yeah and that was being held against the family.
00:35:09
Speaker
Oh, do you know what it could be? No, no, no. Were they refusing to sell? No. So it's not the city then.
00:35:23
Speaker
Next, we're going to talk about the Bone Breaker Killer and the survival of Thad Phillips. In this case, we hear about the unfathomable courage and willpower of Thad Phillips and the twisted desires of Joe Clark, the Bone Breaker Killer. What we're covering today?
00:35:40
Speaker
Today we are going to be talking about the bone breaker killer. Also the survival of Thad philiplip fawa bad Phillips. Phillips. Phillips. Thad! Thad, short for Thaddeus. He twists it until he hears the bone snap. Thad screams out in pain. I bet he f***ing did. Joe tells Thad that he is fascinated with the sound of breaking bones.
00:36:10
Speaker
Bet you're on. Well, that's what Thad says to him. Oh. Thad asks, why don't you just do it to yourself? Joe tells him that he can never get the right angle. He would also put leg braces on Thad and try to get him to walk with them on. If he told me to walk, I'd say f*** off. You either carry me or get a wheelchair.
00:36:31
Speaker
Unfortunately, Joe walks in and he finds Thad laid there and he's shocked that Thad has made it all the way down there as far as he did. And he went, fair fucks to you for that. I'll take you on. Not quite. Joe was pissed. He was f***ing fuming about Thad's ability here.
00:36:52
Speaker
6 million in compensation and 15 million in punitive damages. I don't think Joe has that. No, no, bad has not received any money as Joe doesn't have a f***ing sense to his name, unfortunately.
00:37:05
Speaker
Following on from the survival of Thad Phillips and the torture that was inflicted on him by the Bonebreaker Killer, we have the story of Mary Mallon, or more unfortunately known as Typhoid Mary. Now I don't think this needs much of an explanation, but Mary Mallon was an Irish immigrant who was accused of infecting quite a few people with typhoid. This was during her time as a cook for the wealthy in New York during the 1900s.
00:37:32
Speaker
Today we are going to talk about the story of Mary Mallon. Sound familiar? Right, we're nearly 60 episodes in. She was also known as- When has it ever sounded familiar? She was also known as Typhoid Mary. Does that sound familiar? Is that like a wrestler?
00:37:52
Speaker
Typhoid Mary! I don't know what you're laughing at. There used to be one called, uh, um, Earthquake and Earthquake. And without hurricane. Two big fat blokes. So no, typhoon Mary I've never heard of. Did you say typhoon? Yeah. Typhoid. What's that? Disease. oh Oh. Oh, that sounds really bad. but That's much worse than I thought. It's not like having a wrestler. is that That's the same as if you had a wrestler called leper luke or something like that.
00:38:33
Speaker
Leppard Luke Mary Mallon was born on the 23rd of September in 1869 to parents John and Catherine Mallon in Cookstown, County Tyrone. In 1884, at the age of 15, Mary left Ireland for a new life in America. She settled in New York City, where she would live with her auntie until she found her feet. I couldn't do that. Do what? New York City. Well, 1800s as well. Not great.
00:39:03
Speaker
but nowhere where was we and where
00:39:07
Speaker
Mary was a skilled cook, and over the years she had built up quite a good reputation for herself. Now, around this time, there was quite a few outbreaks of typhoid.
00:39:19
Speaker
And if you're unfamiliar with the symptoms of typhoid, you're looking at fever, headaches, diarrhoea, all ranging from mild to severe. That's flu. And if left untreated, septicemia and death. So it's it's like a flu? I mean, yeah, you you're getting a fever. Yeah. You don't really get sh**. Why are you pulling the face out though? whats butre Because why are they calling it typhoid? Because it is.
00:39:48
Speaker
so I don't, I don't get it. What don't you get? The symptoms are the same as flu. Isn't it? He also called in a man named George Soper, a sanitary engineer who once said, quote, I was called an epidemic fighter. ah By who? By who, George? Who, who, who said that?
00:40:14
Speaker
Last, and arguably the least, Richard Speck. Richard Speck was a mass murderer who terrorised a group of student nurses in 1966. Although, Neil was just a shuck by Richard's backstory. So today we're going to cover a mass murder, and it is the case of Richard Speck. Are you familiar? No. Should I? I'd say it's a big enough one. How long ago was it? It happened in the 60s.
00:40:45
Speaker
weren't alive then He was also starting to struggle academically. He was failing all of his subjects and he would end up dropping out of school at the age of 16. we were going to fail all the subjects we were always pissed Richard wasn't actually around for the birth of his daughter. He was currently serving a 22 day sentence for disturbing the peace after boxing the head off someone. Richard was convicted of both forgery and burglary.
00:41:14
Speaker
So again, you'd kind of think, you know, he's kind of got off a bit easy there. 16 months. You know, also he's got his daughter. You'd think he's delighted to see her. No, he was back inside within a week's time. Within a week? Yeah, for f*** sake. Richard, come on. So he was arrested on the 9th of September, 1965. Neil, Hair Adventure, I guess. We've had Disturbing the Peace, we've had Forgery, and we've had Burglary.
00:41:43
Speaker
Right, so we've had fighting, forgery, burglary, smoking, drinking and fighting. Indecent exposure, you got his lad out? No. In the car park of an apartment building, he attacked one with a 17-inch carving knife. Well that's escalated.
00:42:00
Speaker
Richard stabbed a man with a knife and was charged with aggravated assault. Richard robbed a shop, stealing 70 cartons of cigarettes, which he would then sell on. This guy's just taking the piss. He really is. I'd heard of Richard Speck, the mass murderer. Yeah. i Sorry, I just completely forgot. This is you told me at the beginning. This is a mass murder. Yes. How much **** does he do before this mass murder?
00:42:28
Speaker
We like to think of it as you'll come for the true crime and stay for the comic relief. And at the end of each episode, we don't like to leave you guys hanging. We're going to tell you a tale of oddity, which, to be fair, could be anything. From the likes of Mike the Headless Chicken, Baby Cages, Balloon Fest 86, The Real Life Weakened at Burnies, including both the Irish and Brazilian edition, and let's not forget about the story of a septic penis.
00:42:57
Speaker
Happy New Year lads, and remember, we like to take the cases seriously, but not ourselves. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.
Humorous True Crime: The Helen Mintix Case
00:43:13
Speaker
What better way to kick off the new year than with the podcast that combines jaw-dropping true crime stories with humor and personality? True Crime Creepers is your perfect companion for 2025, offering thrilling cases delivered in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat and laughing along the way. If your resolution is to lighten the mood while still diving deep into the fascinating world of true crime,
00:43:38
Speaker
True Crime Creepers has you covered. Their witty banter and sharp storytelling make every episode feel like a conversation with friends. If your friends had an act for unraveling the wildest crimes. Welcome to another episode of True Crime Creepers, where we talk about all the real life creeps, from serial killers to con artists. I'm Kristen, the true crime fanatic who loves to tell these stories. And I'm Mogab, the true crime newbie who hasn't heard any of them.
00:44:06
Speaker
We are in New York City for this one. It was Wednesday, July 23rd, 1980. And the Berlin Ballet had come to New York to perform at the famous Metropolitan Opera House, commonly referred to as the Met, not to be confused with the other Met, which is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, different Met.
00:44:31
Speaker
The Met is the famous centerpiece of Lincoln Center, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which is an affluent area of New York. It's mostly residential, but considered to be one of Manhattan's cultural and intellectual hubs, mostly thanks to the Lincoln Center, which is on the south end of the Upper West Side.
00:44:48
Speaker
It's a complex of buildings that spans over 25 acres and 15 blocks and comprises 30 indoor and outdoor facilities, including the famous performing arts school, Juilliard, and of course, The Met. What? Sorry. Were you thinking of Save the Last Dance?
00:45:08
Speaker
Yes, because I just, did you watch, there's this video, there's a, I don't know if it's a ticket talk or whatever and someone's like, can we dissect this movie real quick? Yeah. did Have you seen it? Uh-huh. I just saw it yesterday and I watched it like three times. I was dying.
00:45:26
Speaker
Because I liked that movie and then I was like, wait, this is all terrible. It's so bad. And you go back and you look at this dance that you think when you were watching it 20 years ago, more 25 years ago, however long.
00:45:42
Speaker
You think that she is killing it, right? Yes. And she's doing this the most ridiculous simple dance. She does a little hop, a little jump hop thing. And the Juilliard people are like, yeah, she's killing it. Welcome to Juilliard. I know. Just right there, she finishes. And they're like, welcome to Juilliard. What did she do? She swooshed her foot around the stage a couple times. I know. Or when she goes back to steps now that she can do hip hop and they show the dancing and she's just like, sweat. It's just like crisscrossing your feet a little. But welcome to Juilliard. So bad. All right, moving on. All that to say, Lincoln Center is a really big deal when it comes to the arts in New York. The Met is the largest repertory opera house in the entire world, seating approximately 3,800 people.
00:46:36
Speaker
But on the night of July 23rd, 1980, it's said that 4,004 people were in attendance to see the Berlin Ballet perform at the Met. It was a completely sold out show. It was a big deal that the Berlin Ballet was in New York. They were only there for 11 days and people were really excited to see them.
00:46:56
Speaker
This show was a mixed repertoire that night. They were going to be ah performing the Firebird first, which is a ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky, who is so famous that I have heard of him. Yeah, me too. yeah after five After Firebird, they would there would be a performance of Piazola's Five Tangos, which I guarantee I butchered, followed by a performance by these famous Russian dancers, Valerie and Galina Panoff. They were a married couple.
00:47:24
Speaker
of Don Quixote's Pade du, which is the, in the simplest terms, is a love dance. You're crushing it right now. ah Thank you so much. I really worked on this, but I'm also sure I have none of it right. But the Kennedy Center describes a Pade du as the coming together of two people who carry with them all kinds of intense emotions, including love and grief and fear and deceit, joy and longing.
00:47:51
Speaker
and Then after the Panoff's performance, Miss Julie by Tour Rangstrom would end the night. oh I apologize for any part of that that was incorrect. It's a pade du up in here. Pade du. The second performance, that the five tangos, that was to be performed to pre-recorded music. and so The musicians in the orchestra would be able to take like a 45-minute break during that time. so They could go hang out in the lounge, they could get a coffee, a snack, whatever.
00:48:18
Speaker
until it was time for them to come back. For this particular performance, this was an orchestra made up of like local freelance musicians. So this wasn't an orchestra that played together regularly and that all knew each other very well. I think a lot of them kind of knew who each other was. They were all professional musicians in New York. Yeah, is it like a small circle or is it like a large circle because it's New York, you know?
00:48:41
Speaker
Right. I think it's like kind of both. I think it's like big enough that they're not always playing together, but it's small enough that you kind of recognize most people, you know, you kind of know who each other is usually as kind of the impression that I got, but I have a new idea really.
00:48:59
Speaker
The five tangos ended at 930, which is when the orchestra was meant to be back in the pit to perform Don Quixote. But one musician did not come back from the break. A 31-year-old violinist named Helen Mintix named Helen Mintix.
00:49:19
Speaker
This is a high profile, very professional group of musicians. These are not musicians that would ever, ever miss a cue. And Helen was at the apex of her career. Like no way would she risk that by just not showing back up. But she wasn't there when it was time to start and the show ended up going on without her. And in fact, even by the end of the last performance at 1130, she would never show back up.
00:49:47
Speaker
She had disappeared in the middle of a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House. It's a good thing she was a violin. Not like, you know, a bassoon. Well, because there's definitely more violence. Well, for the show, you mean? Well, I mean, it's so awesome. Never mind. Good thing their show could just go on and without her. That would have been real devastating. Listen, if I'm callous, it's only because of you. i
00:50:18
Speaker
If I'm callous, it's only because of you. Put it on a t-shirt. I don't know if she's murdered yet. she Yeah, she's missing. She ran away. Yeah, you're saying. the line The hot dog line was very long that night. That's very possible.
00:50:34
Speaker
No, this was very alarming because Helen was a very responsible award-winning performer. Well, now I feel bad. Well, you obviously had all of the information before, so your your concern should have been with the show. Yeah.
00:50:52
Speaker
but She was a Juilliard graduate who'd been playing professionally since she was a teenager. Helen was the youngest of three sisters raised on a poultry farm in a tiny community called Aldergrove in British Columbia. And by tiny, I mean there was like maybe 300 people that lived in Aldergrove and five of them were Helen's immediate family. So ok when I say tiny, I mean tiny.
00:51:16
Speaker
Her parents were Swedish, they had immigrated to Canada from Finland, and Helen had loved music from a very early age. She was a very gifted piano player, but her true love was the violin, which she started playing at eight years old.
00:51:32
Speaker
Her parents were really supportive of her gifts. She was just like this natural and they were very supportive. They would drive her 76 miles every week to Vancouver so that she could study the violin with this well-renowned teacher, which was something they really couldn't afford, but they made it work for Helen's sake. And it paid off as a teenager. She served as a concert master of the Vancouver Junior Philharmonic and a soloist with the Seattle Symphony as a teenager.
00:52:02
Speaker
At 19, she left Canada to attend Juilliard, one of the most prestigious performing art schools in the entire world and the number one performing art school in the United States, where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees. I i feel like it really was made famous by- I know, I'm like, is that how I know the name? Like, surely not, right? Like, at least we got it from Center Stage that has more dancing- Center Stage wasn't at Juilliard though, was it? I feel like they said the name.
00:52:32
Speaker
Yeah, they probably talked about it. Maybe that's, yeah, I can't, maybe. I'm gonna give myself at least center stage, which I'm sure is not that much better, but I do love that. Center stage is, the ballet at the end is at least, I mean, it's corny, but it's 10 million times better than stage the last dance. It's at least real dancing. I mean, it might've been a very obvious, you know, calling her out on everything that she had done, but.
00:53:00
Speaker
I know that we say we're going to do this with Fast and Furious, but we may actually have to watch Save the Last Dance and like... Okay. The review's already been done, but I think we should. I'm absolutely done for that. Yeah. Okay. I don't know what else we could add to the conversation after having... I mean, that's... I just got it so good.
00:53:19
Speaker
and So Helen earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees at Juilliard and it was there that she met the woman who would become her best friend, Judith Olson, who was a fellow musician. She was a pianist who said that Helen was just known for being very friendly. She was always making cheesecakes for her friends. Like this was something she was known for. She was always making cheesecakes.
00:53:40
Speaker
Yeah. And Judith called Helen a better friends. Right. Where's my cheesecake friends? Excuse me. Of course, then I'm like, do I need to be a better friend and be making cheesecakes for people? Because I don't want to do that. I'm at capacity. Yeah. I don't think anybody wants a cheesecake from me, honestly, to be honest.
00:54:00
Speaker
Judith called Helen a world-class giggler and said that if they ever started to giggle, there was just no stopping it. They would just be in constant fits of giggling. They had such a good time when they were together. That's so cute. But when it came to her music, Helen took that very, very seriously. She had decided at a young age that music would be her life. She went to Europe and studied under master violinists in Switzerland and Italy, and then she came back to America. In the summers,
00:54:29
Speaker
She worked as a camp counselor at this like summer camp for artists near Montreal, and that's where she met her husband, Yannis Mintix. He was a sculptor, so an artist as well, and it was basically Love at first sight. And by this time, Helen had been living in New York. And after the summer, she went back to New York and begged Giannis to come visit her. He told her that he couldn't, he didn't have the money. So she sent him the money and was like, you have to come. And so he did. And after that, they were just inseparable. And they got married in 1976 and settled together in New York. And at this time in 1980, they had an apartment on the Upper West Side, just about 10 blocks from the Met.
00:55:12
Speaker
So after Helen failed to return to the pit after this break, others in the orchestra that noticed that empty chair kept looking around for her. Thomas Suarez was another violinist in the orchestra and he actually wrote an article about his experience that night that was published on violinist dot.com that I have linked. And he said that it was beyond strange that Helen was nowhere to be found. He watched the door up until the moment that he had to start playing, just kind of waiting for her to walk through.
00:55:41
Speaker
Like she's gonna like run in real quick, like she had a number two emergency or something. Or something, like where is she? And when she didn't, the only explanation he could come up with was that she'd suddenly gotten sick or maybe an emergency had happened that had caused her to leave so abruptly, but she had left behind her $20,000 violin. Yeah, not she's not doing that. Which was still sitting in her seat. I mean, this has to be like her most most likely her most prized possession, her violin. And noticing that the violin was still out, Thomas took her violin and put it in its case outside the pit to protect it just before the act began. And then the performance had to go on.
00:56:25
Speaker
After curtain call, the orchestra started to pack up and leave and Helen still never came back for her violin. She would have never left it behind. Something was definitely wrong. But what could have gone wrong in the middle of a performance at the famous Metropolitan Opera House? This is like high society. Knowing what you know now as a true crime podcaster and you're this guy who's waiting, what was his name? I forgot already.
00:56:54
Speaker
um Thomas Juarez? Do you grab the violin because it's $20,000 and you know it's her prized possession? Or do you leave it because now you're like, I don't want to be caught this, like, I don't want to move anything. I don't want to touch anything. Or do you pack that up and take it with you thinking like she's just gonna... Well, so it's interesting. Later, we'll talk about this because somebody does end up bringing it to her husband that night.
00:57:22
Speaker
I don't know who that is. I don't think it was the same guy because he did not mention doing that in his article. And I would assume he would probably say that he had done that. But I read in another article that somebody had come and delivered it. so I think everybody's kind of doing all of it. I don't think anybody knows what to do, but my instinct would be to protect somebody's very expensive instrument, like especially as a musician and knowing what that instrument means to that person. Is there a livelihood? like You can't go play without it.
00:57:55
Speaker
Yeah. And like, it's like a car. I'm, you know, um yeah you're like taking out a car loan for that thing. And that's, yeah, that's your whole livelihood. So I probably would have wanted to like do him a solid and be like, okay, she's not coming. I'm not leaving this sitting on her chair. I'm going to go put it up for her. I wouldn't even be thinking a crime had happened. That would be the furthest. I would think emergency, she must have gotten sick or she abruptly had to leave. I would absolutely not that we're in the Metropolitan Opera House.
00:58:24
Speaker
What crime could have been committed here on a 45 minute intermission break, which wasn't even an intermission. It's not like the audience was out roaming about like it was just a break. They had a pre-recorded music to the dance, so they didn't need the orchestra for that part. I'm picturing only murders in the building that the season we're watching now with like the musical. Yeah. I haven't finished that season. I need to go back and finish it. Yeah.
00:58:53
Speaker
I liked it. It was good, but I um i do need to finish it. A few of the members of the orchestra decided to stay back as everyone else was leaving so that they could look for her. One person called her apartment that she shared with her husband, Yannis. It might be Yannis, Yannis. Yannis. Hoping that she'd just gone home and they could get an explanation for this and and they'd know she was okay, but there was no answer at home.
00:59:20
Speaker
And this is because Yannis was waiting outside the Met in his car to pick Helen up, which he did every night that she performed. Another source said that he was not in a car, that he was waiting to walk her home. Either way, when she didn't show up, he decided to head home to their apartment 10 blocks away on the Upper West Side, hoping maybe there had been a miscommunication and she'd like already left, maybe she'd gotten out earlier than she had said, and she'd walked herself home.
00:59:48
Speaker
He'd actually called the apartment before he left to see if she was there and he'd gotten a busy signal so he figured she was at home on the phone and he was like relieved like oh I'll just find her and some our wires got crossed somehow and she's already gone home. Yeah, yeah.
01:00:03
Speaker
But when he arrived at the apartment on 75th Street, she wasn't there. And he would later find out that the busy signal was from all the other people at the Met calling to see if she was there. Because remember, this is 1980. We got one line. yeah And if you're calling, it's holding up the line.
01:00:22
Speaker
Not too long after, around midnight, there was a knock on the door and Giannis rushed to it, hoping and expecting it to be Helen. But instead, it was one of her colleagues who had come to return her violin. Like I said, I'm not sure if this is Thomas or not. And this is like... So the show got out at 11.30 and they said that the violin was returned at midnight. So this is like pretty soon after.
01:00:45
Speaker
But I'm not I'm not certain how correct this timeline is. I think all the people involved aren't necessarily like going to give exact times given what they're going through this night. You know, also like someone that knew where she lived, though.
01:01:01
Speaker
two to return it. like Yeah, like a friend. I mean, it's it's I don't know who it is and it's not important. I don't want you to get hung up on that detail because it's not and important. But it must yeah, it must have been like a a friend she had in the orchestra. But that was one thing that I mentioned is that like this orchestra didn't all know each other well. So when she didn't show back up, like some of them were like concerned, but some of them, like they didn't know her. they didn't like Not everybody knew her work ethic. Not everybody knew who she was. so Right.
01:01:29
Speaker
It wasn't like so like really stand out to a lot of people, but there were a few people that noticed and that were alarmed by this. Giannis at this point, his his wife's violin has been returned to him. She is not home. He is now in a full panic knowing something is wrong. And he called 911 to report his wife missing. The assistant house manager at the Met had also made a call into 911 to make a report. So these reports are both coming in. Detective Michael Strzok with the and NYPD's 20th precinct, which serves the Upper West Side,
01:02:07
Speaker
Got a call from another detective in the squad telling him that he better get down to the Met But it's not like anyone heard anything happen. It's not like then I won't know she's just missing Yeah, we heard yeah No, it's we have a missing musician and nobody knows where she is. And like, this was the Metropolitan Opera House. I mean, it's a very big deal that a crime may have happened here. But at this point, yeah, they don't know what has happened. So Detective Strzok arrived at the Met and he was teamed up with Detective Jerry Giorgio.
01:02:40
Speaker
And one of the first things they did was they checked her locker and they found all of her street clothes in there, meaning she was still in her orchestra clothes. That and the fact that her violin had been left behind told detectives that she was certainly still somewhere in the building. She could be injured somewhere. She could be trapped. She could just be lost. Either way, they needed to work fast to find her. and But this would be no easy feat. From the outside, the Met just looks like a two or three story building and not that wide. But inside, it's actually a 10 level labyrinth. This place is utterly huge, starting with just the stage.
01:03:23
Speaker
One reason the Met is so famous is because it has one of the most technologically advanced stages in the world. It uses tons of these hydraulic elevators, motorized stage, rigging systems that allow very complex productions to be held there. It can even hold up to four different opera productions at the same time because the stage can just rotate them. So like, oh You have like a set and then it just like goes behind another one. That was my understanding by what I was reading, but I don't know a lot about like stage. How dare you? Things, yeah. But that was my understanding was that it just like rotates through. It's a very large stage, very complicated. And so this means that the backstage is also just as large and complicated. In fact, the auditorium takes up only a quarter of the entire building, like I said. It's like the seats.
01:04:19
Speaker
The seats part. Yeah, like the seats in the stage. That's only a quarter of the whole building. It was said that it is very easy to get lost in the backstage area. There are 10 levels of the Met, including the roof, and then three levels below ground that are mostly these like massive storage spaces under the stage. There's large workshops for scenery construction, costumes, wigs, and electric equipment. There's kitchens, offices, an employee canteen,
01:04:47
Speaker
There's dressing room spaces that surround the stage on multiple floors. There's two large rehearsal halls that are three floors below the stage that are nearly as large as the main stage they can fully block performances. They said it's like an entire city back there.
01:05:05
Speaker
And stagehands had warned performers not to go anywhere by themselves because they could open a door, go somewhere, realize they'd made a wrong turn, and find themselves locked in or just completely lost.
01:05:19
Speaker
So the thought that Helen had just gotten lost in the building wasn't from nowhere. like It was a possibility. And I think that's what everybody is hoping for. She got locked in somewhere. She's lost. like We just got to find her. She'll be OK. So they immediately put search teams together to meticulously search the labyrinth that is the Met. And around sunrise, one of the engineers found a pair of shoes on the roof, very clearly women's shoes.
01:05:47
Speaker
But that's sunrise and this show ended at midnight. ah Yeah, at 11 30. It took 12 hours. Well, they said 12 hours. It was around 8 30 in the morning when they finally found her.
01:06:00
Speaker
The search team is called up to the roof and they all spread out searching for her. This roof is nearly as large and sprawling as the inside of the Met. There's multiple levels on this roof. It's not just like poking your head up and seeing the whole thing. Like you had to really look, they had to look everywhere. And one officer just happened to peer down this very narrow opening in the roof that led down to an air shaft.
01:06:25
Speaker
And there, about 30 to 45 feet down, he saw the body of Helen Mintix lying there laying face up on a cross beam. It appeared like she'd been pushed down a ventilation shaft. They had to go down three stories to get where she was. we And there they found a gruesome scene.
01:06:49
Speaker
That was a little sneak peek of our episode 145, the murder of Helen Hagness Mintix. To see how this story ends, find true crime creepers anywhere you get your podcasts. We hope you'll check us out.
Solving Michael Rockefeller's Disappearance with Humor
01:07:08
Speaker
Next, let me introduce you to Private Dicks, a podcast that blends humor and crime in the best possible way. The hosts share investigative tales with a comedic twist, making every episode entertaining, unforgettable, and apparently solvable. If your resolution is to channel your inner detective, this show is the perfect fit. They're out to crack even more puzzling cases and bring you along for the ride.
01:07:36
Speaker
Hello, this is Richard Studell from Private Dick's podcast where we solve all the world's mysteries 100% of the time. Here's a little clip of our episode on billionaire Michael Rockefeller, who went out looking for primitive art in the jungles of Indonesia and never came home.
01:07:55
Speaker
We solved it by the end. So we'll listen to the full episode. It's October. He's there for less than a month. He goes back, joins up with his old adventure buddy, Renee Wasing, and they go back up to see the Azmat. Michael didn't want to waste time this time. He brings a lot of money and he doesn't want to paddle through the swamps. He buys a catamaran so we can get around faster. It's basically just like two canoes tied together, but doesn't bother.
01:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, so you can go make a whole ton more trades in like a a fraction of the time. They enlist the help of two local teenagers, Simon and Frank or something. I can't remember their names, but they can point out where all the little towns are. This tactic worked for Michael as over the first few weeks in the voyage, she visited 13 different villages.
01:08:34
Speaker
Michael collected many things that these first few weeks, shields, spears, paddles, bamboo horns, drums, bowls, but nothing got him as interested as the bishbowls. He just wanted more and more bishbowl. By mid-November, the four travelers headed back to the bigger city of Agatz to resupply for another month of adventure. Then on November 7th, Michael and friends decided they were going to head down to the Arafura Sea Coast in southern Asmat.
01:09:01
Speaker
Not many Westerners have been there. Only one missionary had ever been there and knew that area well. A guy named Cornelius Van Kessel, which I find a great name. And he was going to go meet up with Michael. And as they crossed the Betts River, conflicting tides and strong winds created big waves and cross currents. The catamaran capsizes because one of these big waves just knocked it over, basically flipped. Surprised, shocked, kind of holding on to the side of the boat as it flipped over.
01:09:30
Speaker
The two teenagers just go like, we're going to shore and they just swim to shore. They were as Matt and they basically swam everywhere. They were amphibious little guys. Michael and Renee were still stuck out there on their boat. It was about 10 miles out from shore. Wossing and Michael didn't want to leave the boat. Wossing was a terrible swimmer. Michael was a Harvard man though.
01:09:51
Speaker
forced to swim at birth. They actually had a swimming test at Harvard. Did you guys know this? Every student had to pass or be forced into swimming classes until you could pass it in the sixties. Like if you went to Harvard, you had to pass a swimming test. That's stupid. That's awesome. I hope so many Harvard kids drown.
01:10:10
Speaker
you know You don't even have to anymore, though. You could be a fat slob. and Go to Harvard now. They probably don't. They're Harvard men. but i mean well Hold on. A fat slob is rude. Also, that is someone who would ace the swimming test. What are you talking about? A fat slob? Yeah. Yeah. They would just bob around in the water. They wouldn't even have to paddle.
01:10:31
Speaker
First of all, fat slob has ruined my bet. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just mean like you did, you know, be more accurate now. They're called aquatic accelerators. Just try to talk like a harbor man. You're a fat slob. It's Harvard Law School. That's behind closed doors, Harvard.
01:10:51
Speaker
That's where they talk about the skull and bones meetings. They say, you know, racial slurs and kind things about people's bodies Yeah. So Michael, he could swim, do the Harvard thing, but he didn't want to leave the boat because he didn't want to lose all the that he just acquired over the past couple of days. So they're just gripping onto the ship. The morning Michael said, you know what, I'm going to go, I'm going to take him to risk the swim. I'm going to make it to the shore. It's not that far. So he ties two empty fuel jugs to him to act as like a flotation device.
01:11:23
Speaker
and he takes off his pants, takes off his shoes, and he starts to swim. Meanwhile, Rene, who's the terrible swimmer, is like, dude, don't do it. The first rule of getting lost at sea is you don't leave the boat. Someone will find you. You are super rich. Someone's looking for us very soon. This is where Michael swims out into the ocean, try to make it to shore. This is where Michael goes missing.
01:11:43
Speaker
ah No one really sees him past this point. A couple hours after Michael decides to head to shore, Wossing is saved by some rescue helicopters. A couple hours later, rescue helicopters sent by his parents and the Dutch government. The two boys who swam earlier actually made it safely to shore and informed the Dutch government that Michael was floating besides his capsize boat. Nelson heard about his son going missing, the governor of New York. No expense was spared. He and Michael's twin sister Mary went to Merunk I guess it's about 150 miles south of Asmati. He flew to fucking Indonesia, which like,
01:12:19
Speaker
You could have stayed in New York. You didn't go to where he flipped. You just literally sit in a big city. When they landed, there was already a bunch of paparazzi waiting for them, which I find hilarious that, I don't know, there's paparazzi in Indonesia. I don't know. I didn't know that was a thing. They're just sitting there waiting for him. Story's huge because obviously he's a rich kid, Rockefeller's especially, but it didn't take much time for the Dutch government to call this an accidental death by drowning.
01:12:45
Speaker
It was by November 24th. They sent a letter to the New York Times saying this. It was like two weeks later, or three weeks, I guess. The Dutch government thought that if Michael had made it to shore,
01:12:56
Speaker
which they didn't think he did. If he had, they said he probably would have ran into some villagers and those villagers like the Asmats are usually very nice to Westerners, of always willing to help. The fact that they never heard anything from any of these villages means that he's probably drowned. So as soon as he gets that news, Nelson gets back in his plane, flies back to America, thanking the government of Netherlands for sparing no expense in trying to find his kid. Michael's sister, Mary, sticks around for a bit longer, hoping her brother would pop up.
01:13:24
Speaker
He never did, nothing was ever found. No bones, no clues, no nothing. There's a bunch of theories of what happened to Michael Rockefeller. So let's talk about him. What do you guys think happened to this little ding-dong? Well, I'm like just hearing about this whole bish thing. I'm thinking maybe, you know, he wanted to go find some more bish if he did get to shore um and ended up being sacrificed for ghost jizz. Okay. Okay. It's a pretty good theory. It's not, it's not far off what people think happened to him. Do you guys have ah an idea what's going on here?
01:13:57
Speaker
Rick? Or you want to wait till the end for your theory? No, I don't think I have anything all that grand. Okay, fair enough. Yeah, I think he died cold and alone somewhere. And, oh, I'm sorry, theory. I thought you meant hopes and wishes.
01:14:13
Speaker
Yeah, I don't have one of them. It's honestly, RJ, what your wish is, is like nice compared to what probably happened to him. So like, why are you being so nice to the Rockefellers? What are you, a billionaire shill? Yeah, yeah, you know me, right wing conservative capitalist. I knew it, I knew it. As soon as I started this episode, I'm like, he's going to side with the Rockefellers. I f***ing knew it. I mean, I personally, I don't want to say that I side with them, but clearly they,
01:14:41
Speaker
One their way to the top of one country who's to say they couldn't do it for this small village. I think he could be there running the place. R.J. Rockefeller Jr. figured it out, figured it out. Big, big if true. yeah That's why I live in $103,000 house.
01:14:58
Speaker
say that you're shot of gunshot Well, Michael Rockefeller mins in a jungle. Okay. Yeah. You you're up here. Now you're starting to brag about all your wealth. Okay. No, hold on. Because only the incredibly wealthy have the privilege and ability to deny themselves the safety of modern. It's like that's that is true. It's just like how like only like middle class people go camping. It's that's like rich camping. It's just like life endangering, you know, like going into the jungles or Mount Everest and then they die doing these things, you know, just like a neoliberal white couple who make one hundred eighty thousand dollars a year die in the middle of the woods from a bear attack.
01:15:42
Speaker
it's Yeah, but two times a year, 47 seasons total. There's a lot of people that go out there and get it done just for the, you know, from rags to riches on Survivor. As a member of the working class, I am going to die in my home of a heart related illness.
01:15:58
Speaker
and only not because I'm half hospice, but because I can't afford to go to the hospital, I'll be dying in my home. That's nice. Hey, you know what? It's always nice- Well, I think we could all be so lucky to be 23 and disappear off the face of the earth. That's a rich white privilege right there. He's so mad about it. I love it. Okay. Let's talk about the theories. Okay. So first theory, which is the dumbest one in my opinion, is that he went native.
01:16:24
Speaker
Like he just got to shore, decided like, I'm gonna live, this is the way I wanna live, you know what I mean? Free of money, free of family, know free of everything, live in a jungle, beautiful frontier, unexplored, untouched by Wester, a simpler way, some might argue a better way. Michael just said like this, he loved the pureness of the whole thing, he loved the primitive culture so much, so maybe he just like went there and decided like, fake your death, being a Rockefeller, you know?
01:16:50
Speaker
Maybe it's like he didn't even fake his death. He just like made an agreement with his family, you know? You don't know if they found them. They're down there real quick. His dad left real quick. but Like all he wanted to do is get all the family bill business. And like Nelson said, sure. He persisted and Michael lived in the jungle for the rest of his life. They never put an obituary in the paper for him. So they, there was never, like they never really accepted that he died. They took a whole front page out when he was born, but when he dies, it had nothing. There is a gravestone for him. There's no body.
01:17:20
Speaker
The parents knowing and allowing him to live in the jungle is highly speculative. It's like just me. But like it's funny in a way, like maybe even in the jungle, they supported him. You know what I mean? They just send them tobacco and axes and whatever else you can say. They didn't like him because he's rich. They very well could have afforded a body to put in his grave. and they didn' But imagine he's like a trust fund, like he's a, he's a, he's a jungle trust fund kid. He's just got as many acts as he wants. And he just lives like a king with his fishing line and his tobacco. And listen, I, I know I said I didn't have a theory, but let's be realistic. He probably was wide eyed, you know, and like an idealistic about, about, yeah, maybe going native, but he got green infernoed immediately. No problem.
01:18:06
Speaker
yeah It's not true though, no one's ever seen of like, ah they would have seen him by now. It's not like a hugest area in the world, living in the jungle of New Guinea, nothing ever, no no white guy. I thought you were gonna say getting getting caged and cannibalized was was not. No, that's very possible, but him living amongst the people are in the bushes in the jungle somewhere like this. I feel like they never, they like they it probably isn't true and they probably never did it until he showed up there. And they were like, I hate this guy so much, I wanna eat him.
01:18:36
Speaker
Let's do a real bitch ceremony. Yeah. Like the jungle that he got when he missing in is not like it's, it's super uninhabited. There's like 20,000 people that live in that area. Somebody would have seen that's all I'm just saying. Like now there is the reason this is even a theory is there's some film from 1969 taken near where Michael had disappeared that shows a white man paddling like crazy on a boat with some villagers.
01:19:01
Speaker
He's like dressed up in their garb and stuff like that. It's taken when New York magazine sent some reporters to do a month long investigation into the disappearance of Michael. It was actually Charlton Heston's son, Frasier, making a documentary about missing Michael. And he found some uncut film from the New York magazine where they found the footage from the light skin paddlers. Charlton Heston is trying to make a documentary in the 80s or whatever, or not Charlton Heston is kid Frasier. And he finds all this old footage and he finds this dude, this white dude paddling.
01:19:30
Speaker
And so they look into it and the reporter from New York magazine had notes about an albino asthma. It was actually just said like an albino dude, but you can only see him in the distance just paddling. And it looks like a white dude with things like, did he just join a fucking truck? No, it's just the albino guy. So that never really panned out to anything, but it was interesting when they found it. It was like this big, like he's living there, but no, never panned out for anyone. Even Frazier doesn't think that that's who it was. He thinks it's so an albino guy. So nobody, no one even thinks this. It's just fun little thing.
01:20:00
Speaker
For the uncensored version of that episode, go to anywhere you listen to podcasts and search up private dicks. It's already out and you can listen to all about it. I love collaborating with all you guys and make sure to listen to everybody else's podcasts and go give them a rating and review. Have a good rest of your day, dickheads.
The Twisted Case of Els Van Doren
01:20:23
Speaker
Closing us out today is Sandy from Twisted Travel and True Crime. If your resolution is to travel to new places without leaving your couch, then Twisted Travel and True Crime is just what you need. This podcast takes you on a journey to the world's darkest corners, exploring true crime cases from every corner of the globe. Their resolution this year? To take you on even more Twisted Adventures, filled with chilling stories from places you may never have even heard of.
01:20:52
Speaker
Are you ready for an international mystery tour? They fell through the sky, holding hands, smiling and laughing. They let go of each other, preparing to open their parachutes. The fleeting feeling of happy exhilaration was followed by fear and dread, as Els Van Doren discovered that hers wouldn't open properly. From the sky, her teammates watched as she plunged to the ground screaming. As this episode unravels, much like the strings of her parachute,
01:21:21
Speaker
It was discovered that the cords had been cut. She had been murdered. Hello and welcome to Twisted Travel and True Crime. I'm your host, Sandy. Let's fly to the province of Limburg, Belgium, where the beer is tasty, the cheese is stinky but delicious, and the population is very dense, which might be why some people take to the skies, including else.
01:21:47
Speaker
Else Van Dorn was born in June of 1968 in the heart of Antwerp. As an adult she led a life that seemed pretty ordinary. A married woman and mother of two, she, along with her husband Jan, managed a quaint family-run jewelry store in the peaceful town of Ranst.
01:22:06
Speaker
But beneath this veneer of suburban tranquility, Elle's typical life took a turn in 1994 when she discovered a passion for skydiving. Her husband Jan was her initial partner in the skies, but over time his enthusiasm for the sport waned.
01:22:22
Speaker
and his attention turned toward different interests, like football and sculpting. Meanwhile, Els blossomed in her newfound obsession. It truly had become an obsession. She spent almost every weekend and holiday jumping from planes. By 1998, her skydiving ambitions and skill level had grown to a point where she was able to compete in formation jumping.
01:22:48
Speaker
This is when skydivers build patterns with their bodies while in freefall. A formation team usually consists of four to eight performers and one videographer. She'd been skydiving for seven years when she joined an all-female skydiving team known as the Divas. They traveled weekend after weekend entering competitions and shows.
01:23:11
Speaker
With more than a thousand jumps under her belt, Els and her team even ventured into the skydiving world championships in 2003. If her plan was to make skydiving into a career, fate had something else in mind. In 2004, a hernia forced her to part ways with the divas. Following a full recovery, she chose to embrace skydiving for the sheer joy of it. She joined the Swart Park skydiving club and by 2006, at age 38,
01:23:41
Speaker
She had completed over 2,300 jumps. Somewhere under the blue sky of Belgium, Els Van Doren met a new friend, one who shared her love of skydiving and her name. Els Clodemans was a young, aspiring primary school teacher. The two women formed a close friendship. They hung out so much that Els Van Doren began referring to the younger Els as Babs to avoid confusion, and before long, all the club members called her that as well.
01:24:11
Speaker
Going forward, I will call Els Clauterman's Babs as well. The two women and another Dutch skydiver named Marcel Summers were nearly inseparable and soon they were practicing formations together on a very regular basis. Marcel was the same age as Els and was a skydiving instructor. He and Els took 22-year-old Babs under their wings and helped her learn about formation diving. On November 18th, 2006,
01:24:41
Speaker
Else, Marcel, Babs, and another skydiver named Tom were going to jump in a four-person formation. Three of the four jumped at a height of 13,000 feet, which is about two and a half miles up, or nearly four kilometers. When the jump signal was given, the inexperienced Babs seemed to have missed her mark and jumped a little bit later than the others. The first three jumpers were in freefall, and Babs couldn't catch up with them.
01:25:10
Speaker
At 9,000 feet, Els, Marcel, and Tom broke their practice formation. They spread apart, preparing to open their parachutes. Marcel and Tom broke away and opened their shoots, but Els continued her downward plunge. She was wearing a camera on her head, which captured her as she fell. She pulls her main parachute cord, but nothing happens at first. When it starts to come out, it's tangled and doesn't open properly.
01:25:39
Speaker
Elle's knows the emergency procedures. Once in her past, she'd had to pull her reserve parachute when her main chute didn't want to fully open. She pulled the reserve cord, but it didn't open either. And by this point, she was falling at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour or nearly 125 miles an hour. That's a two mile drop per minute. So she had only seconds to open her parachute completely. In the video footage from Elle's camera,
01:26:08
Speaker
You can see her tangled main chute partially open, and a smaller red piece of fabric caught about halfway up the cords leading to the main parachute. She struggles to untangle the lines, but quickly realizes that she's doomed. She screams for help during the last 20 seconds of her fall, followed by the sound of a thump, and then silence. A woman in Oplebique was peacefully hanging her clothes in the backyard,
01:26:37
Speaker
when she heard a strange flapping sound and then a loud thud. To her it sounded far away. She glanced toward the heavens and spotted a parachute in the distance. This was a familiar sight given their proximity to the parachute club. It was something she'd seen many times before. Nonchalantly, she turned to resume hanging her laundry. But when she did, a white cloth on her shrubs, no larger than a pillowcase, caught her eye.
01:27:05
Speaker
She thought maybe a neighbor's laundry had blown into her yard, so she walked over to pick it up. But as she drew closer, she saw a leg and a foot protruding from her shrubbery. In a state of disbelief, she screamed, calling her husband from the garden. He rushed to her side and tried to comfort her and calm her down. They hurried to the phone and called for help. Only a few minutes passed before emergency services arrived, but their efforts were in vain.
01:27:34
Speaker
Else Van Doren could not be saved. Marcel Summers had watched as his friend had struggled to release her parachute. He had watched her crash into the earth before he was able to land safely. Once on the ground he let loose a guttural scream which echoed through the streets. He began running up and down the street near where he thought Else had landed. He cried for help and called for her. A minute or so later he saw an ambulance.
01:28:03
Speaker
Lights flashing and sirens blaring, which he followed running behind it. When he arrived at the ambulance location, he ran to the backyard where he saw Els lying dead. He started crying and screaming uncontrollably. He pushed towards her body, but people stopped him holding him back. He kept screaming, don't touch her parachute. This isn't normal. This shouldn't happen. There has to be something wrong with her parachute.
01:28:31
Speaker
In shock, he kept crying her name over and over. In time, he was allowed to get to her parachute bag. He pulled out her phone and called Elle's husband Jan to tell him what had happened. The police then took the phone and told Jan that his wife couldn't be saved and that she had died on the scene. Jan was heartbroken and beside himself. He certainly wasn't in a state to drive, but he wanted to get to Elle as soon as possible. He called her sister and her husband who drove him to the parachute club. Meanwhile, Tom and Babs, who had landed safely in the designated parachute landing area, were picked up and transported back to the club in a van used for this purpose. When they arrived back at the club, the owner called every everyone together to share the news that Marcel had called him. El's main parachute and reserve parachute didn't open.
01:29:27
Speaker
While everyone tried to process the news, Babs fell to the ground and started crying hysterically. The members began working to calm her. A few minutes later, they learned that Els had died. The club members began grieving, but a short time later, they turned their attention to Jan, who had just arrived at the club looking for answers, and for any of his wife's belongings. Babs, seemingly recovered from her shock,
01:29:54
Speaker
offered to help Jan gather El's things. Back at the scene of the accident, the police carefully packed away the faulty parachute and they took the film from the helmet camera as the coroner hauled El's body away.
Investigating Possible Sabotage in Els's Death
01:30:09
Speaker
An autopsy would determine that she had not been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Her body wasn't punctured in any external way. She died due to multiple bone fractures and internal bleeding.
01:30:22
Speaker
It was discovered that a critical component of L's parachute, a pilot chute, was missing. The pilot chute is a small parachute that opens first and pulls out the main parachute. As I understand it, there are two pilot chutes in each bag. One attached to the main parachute and another attached to the reserve parachute. Such a vital piece of equipment could not have simply vanished. It had to have been removed from the larger parachutes somehow.
01:30:51
Speaker
At this point, Elle's death was ruled either a homicide or a suicide. The police decided to keep the missing pilot shoot to themselves for the time being. In the days following her death, Elle's family was torn apart by grief, suspicions ballooned, and club members came under scrutiny. Investigators first looked at the people who had been on the plane with Elle's, Tom, Marcel, and Babs.
01:31:18
Speaker
It was less than a day before investigators had their first lead. Marcel had quickly admitted that he and Als had begun having an affair. It had actually been going on for years. What began as a mutual interest in skydiving had grown into a romance. All the time spent training and traveling to compete and put on shows gave them the opportunity to act on their growing attraction. Quite frankly, the affair wasn't much of a secret at the club.
01:31:47
Speaker
Many of the members either knew about it or didn't know that Elsa was married at all. They didn't know she had two children at home. She told the club members that she was separated and she told the club manager that she had a nice time with Marcel on the weekends and during the week she enjoyed her time with her family. She had compartmentalized her two lives. Jan didn't need to know about her life with Marcel and Marcel didn't need to know about her life with Jan.
01:32:15
Speaker
The missing pilot shoot, the signs of sabotage, and the long-standing extramarital affair between Els and Marcel ignited the flames of a complex case. Allegations swirled, friendships were strained, and everyone wondered who wanted Els dead, or had she done this to herself? Well, there were no signs that Els was suicidal.
01:32:37
Speaker
So police focused on the possibility of murder and murder. It was, but I have to stop there. There are a few more twists to this story and the identity of the murderer might surprise
Further Twists and Ongoing Investigation Tease
01:32:48
Speaker
you. You can listen to the rest of this story on twisted travel and true crime. The episode was released in November of 2023. It's called the last fall, the murder of else Van Doren. Thank you so much for listening and happy new year.
01:33:10
Speaker
And that's a wrap on New Year, New Binge 2025. Thank you for starting your year with me and with these phenomenal podcasters. If you want to hear more from the incredible podcasts who took part in this episode, be sure to check out the show notes. Remember, every show you listen to supports the incredible work these podcasters do to share important stories and keep victims' memories alive. Until next time, cheers to 2025.