True Crime Brewery

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Sources

Betty Wilson, Snapped, Oxygen Network, S33 E2, 11/5/2023

The Betty Wilson Story, Old Huntsville, No. 77

By Two and Two, Jim Schutze, 1/1995

Finding Betty, Jean Adam Jr., Retrieved 4/9/2024

The Wilson Murder, Forensic Files, S1 E8, Retrieved 4/2/2024

Wilson v. State, Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1/13/1995

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Apr 08, 2024

02:03:29

17-year-old Karla Homolka met 23-year-old Paul Bernardo in 1987. Some saw their meeting as love at first sight, but the two had a dangerous attraction which would drive them to commit abductions, sexual assaults, and even murder. This good-looking couple became obsessed with each other. And Paul was very controlling of Karla. But Paul Bernardo’s crimes were not all his own. Evidence, including videotapes, would show that Karla was a willing participant, despite her claims that she was just another one of Paul’s victims.

Join us at the quiet end for Killer Couple: Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo. The most basic question asked about serial killers is why. This becomes much more complicated and difficult to answer when murders are committed by more than one person. Today we’re analyzing one of the most notorious couples in modern history. What role did Karla play in Paul’s violent sex crimes and how did her gender affect the disparity in their charges and sentencing?

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Sources

Deadly Innocence, Scott Burnside, Alan Cairns, 1995

Investigating Gender Bias and Sentencing Disparity: A Case Study Analysis of the Paul Bernardo-Karla Homolka Case, Kathrine Lorraine Leafloor, Carleton University, 5/1997

Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes, Discovery Plus, 12/13/2021

The Ken Murray Case: Defence Counsel’s Dilemma, Criminal Defence News, 7/6/2011

Lethal Marriage: The Uncensored Truth Behind the Crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, Nick Pron, 2005

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case, The Canadian Encyclopedia, retrieved 3/30/2024

Mar 25, 2024

01:35:19

On a weekday afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, fifteen-year-old Paula Cooper stabbed 78-year-old Ruth Pelke to death. In a city with a history of racism, Ruth was a white, beloved bible teacher who refused to move out of her overwhelmingly black neighborhood. When Paula and her friends showed up at Ruth’s door that day asking about bible studies, Ruth had happily invited them in.

Join us at the quiet end for Death Sentence: The Murder of Ruth Pelke & the Punishment of Paula Cooper. When Paula was sentenced to death, few argued against the state’s impending execution of a tenth grader. But when the victim’s grandson forgave the girl, the media brought the story to the forefront and millions signed petitions in support of Paula. This case raises questions about the value of a human life and whether our justice system is made for rehabilitation or retribution.

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https://www.amnestyusa.org/updates/a-clear-scientific-consensus-that-the-death-penalty-does-not-deter/

Sources

A Clear Scientific Consensus that the Death Penlty Does Not Deter, Amnesty International, retrieved 3/14/2024,

A Pause in Federal Executions, but Uncertainty About What’s Next, The New York Times, Hailey Fuchs, 7/22/2021

Biden vowed to end the death penalty. Activists are demanding action as he nears the 100-day mark, CNN.com, Christina Carrega, 4/25/2021

Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views of Leading Criminologists’ Michael L. Radelet Traci L. Lacock, Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Winter 2009,

IndyStar Archives 1985-2017

Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy by Alex Mar, 2023

Mar 11, 2024

01:34:49

April Kauffman didn’t have an easy life growing up. When she was just seventeen, she gave birth to her daughter Kim and set out to make a better life for them both. April raised her daughter in a loving home despite an early split from Kim’s father. She earned her cosmetology license and worked as a hairdresser and as a model. April was fun, energetic, and independent. But life as a single mom could be lonely.

Join us at the quiet end for The Dr. & Mrs. Kauffman. In 2002, April believed she had finally found her happily ever after when she married Dr. Jim Kauffman, a successful physician and a former green beret. As the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, April became an outspoken radio personality and a fierce veteran’s advocate. But Dr. Kauffman had a dark side which April began to uncover. The doctor was running a pill mill out of his medical office and associating with a criminal motorcycle gang: The Pagans. When April had had enough and threatened divorce, she began to realize that her life was in danger, and she might never make it out of this marriage alive.

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Sources

April Kauffman, https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/april-christine-kauffman-atlantic-city-new-jersey, retrieved 2/27/2024

http://aprilkauffman.net/, retrieved. 2/27/2024

Doctor Dealer: A doctor high on greed, a biker gang high on opioids, and the woman who paid the ultimate price, George Anastasia and Ralph Cipriano, 2020

The Doctor, the Hitman & the Motorcycle Gang : the true story of one of New Jersey’s most notorious murder for hire plots, Annie McCormick, 2020

Doctor’s Orders, Discovery Plus, 9/3/2021

Husband of slain radio host paid man to kill his wife 5 years ago, authorities say, NJ.com, True Jersey, Chris Franklin, 09/3/2018

Punishing Pill Mill Doctors: Sentencing Disparities in the Opioid Epidemic, William & Mary Law School, Adam M. Gershowitz, 12/2020

Who Was April Kauffman: Her Life, Her Mysterious Death and Why None of it Makes Any Sense, Boardwalk Journal, Sarah Colson and Ian Licht, 6/2012

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Feb 26, 2024

01:48:00

The Halderson family appeared to be living a happy middle-class life. Parents Krista and Bart had everything they had wished for and worked for, including a comfortable suburban home and two loving sons. Mitchell, 24, was working in the tech industry and Chandler, 23, was a college student living at home. But all was not as it seemed with Chandler.

Join us at the quiet end for Parent Trap. Chandler Halderson was weaving a complex web of lies for years. His college degree and job prospects were not what he portrayed them to be. In fact, Chandler’s life was going nowhere and his father was becoming frustrated and suspicious. But before Krista and Bart could uncover their son’s lies, the couple disappeared. Over the days that followed, evidence revealed that Chandler Halderson would stop at nothing, including murder, to protect his life of deception.

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Sources

Chandler Halderson Trial, Channel 3000, https://www.channel3000.com/news/chandler-halderson-trial/, retrieved 1/3/2024

Parricide: An Introduction for Clinical and Forensic Mental Health Professionals, researchgate.net, Kimberly D. Dodson, 9/2017

State of Winconsin v. Chandler M. Halderson, Circuit Court Dane County Wisconsin, 8/24/2021

Timeline: Order of Events leading up to Chandler Halderson’s trial, WKOW.com, Sierra Rehm, 1/3/2022

Unemployed Son Mooched Off Parents He Killed and Dismembered, Claimed to Be College Student Who Got Job at SpaceX: Prosecutor, Law & Crime, Alberto Luperon, 1/4/2022

Feb 12, 2024

01:43:03

Karla Brown was 22-years-old in 1978. After five-years of an off and on relationship, she and her fiancé, Mark, bought their first home together. That June, the couple were focused on moving and decorating their new home. They had friends over to help with the move on June 20^th, followed by an evening of food and drinks. Next door, at the home of Paul Main, the pretty and outgoing Karla had not gone unnoticed.

Join us at the quiet end for Finding Karla Brown’s Killer. Karla’s fiancé Mark went to work on June 21^st, leaving Karla home alone. Between 10 and 11am, Karla ended a phone call with her future mother-in-law, telling her that someone was at the door. By the time Mark returned home that day, Karla would be the victim of a brutal murder and the focus of a lengthy, complex investigation.

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Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods

Sources

Bite Mark Identification- A Relieable Forensic Tool or Junk Science, Penn State Dickinson Law, Samuel D. Hodge Jr., Robert E. Rains, 7/1/2017

The Karla Brown story: What happened and the latest updates, Tuko.co.ke, Florence Wanjiru, 4/5/2022

PCAST, Court Decisions Assessing the Admissibility of Forensic Science Evidence,

PEOPLE v. PRANTE, Supreme Court of Illinois, The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. John Prante, Appellee. Decided: 5/12/2023

Silent Witness: The Karla Brown Murder Case by Don W. Weber and Charles Bosworth, Jr.

Jan 29, 2024

01:46:23

Elana Steinberg’s husband, Steve Steinberg, was a well-liked restaurant manager with a gambling problem. Elana struggled to keep their finances afloat, but it wasn’t easy. Then, on an otherwise normal night in 1981, Elana was stabbed 26 times in their bed. Steve called 911 and told the dispatcher that two bearded men had robbed them and killed his wife.

Join us at the quiet end for Victim on Trial: Elana Steinberg. It wasn’t long after Elana’s murder when Steve confessed that he had killed her. Put on trial for murder, Steve’s defense was temporary insanity. Yes, he had killed his wife, but he had done it while sleepwalking. And, Elana had led him to it with her nagging and shopping. Prepare to be outraged. This is a case where the killer was treated as a long-suffering victim and the real victim was put on trial.

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Sources

Crime/mystery: The Defense Pleaded Nagging, The New York Times, Tony Hillerman, 10/9/1988

Death of a Jewish American Princess by Shirley Frondorf

Homicidal Sleepwalking: To Kill While Asleep, TimeTraveller.org, Fiona Guy, 10/26/2017

Jan 15, 2024

01:33:22

On March 18, 1990, 15-year-old fraternal twins Dannette and Jeanette Millbrook disappeared while out walking from a convenience store to their home in Augusta, Georgia. Earlier that day, the girls told their mother that a man in a white van had been following them. Nothing more is known about this man and he would not be the only person of interest in the girls’ disappearance.

Join us at the quiet end for The Missing Millbrook Twins. Dannette and Jeanette’s mother reported them missing that same evening, but she was told that she had to wait for 24 hours. Even after the 24 hours passed, the sheriff’s office failed to investigate or follow up in any way with the family. In fact, when the girls’ 17^th birthday passed, the case was closed. The sheriff’s explanation? The girls were now old enough that they could not be forced to return home. This suggests that the girls were runaways, but there was no reason to believe this to be true. In fact, it seems clear that two poor black children were not a priority for the sheriff’s department and a significant injustice was done when they never bothered to look for Dannette and Jeanette. Is it too late now or is there a chance that this cold case can somehow be solved?

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If you have any information on the Millbrook twins, please contact the Richmond County PD non-emergency line at 706-821-1020

Sources

The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins, Oxygen True Crime, 2019.

The Fall Line Podcast, Season 1, created by Laurah Norton & Brooke Hargrove, 6/12/2017-7/31/2017.

Frustrated Sister of Missing Twins Says Sheriff Hasn’t Fixed ‘Terrible Injustice,’ Huffington Post, David Lohr, 6/26/2017, ret. 12/28/2023.

How Black and Indigenous Women are Detrimentally affected by ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome,’ UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog, Mary Bailey, 11/1/2021, ret. 12/30/2023.

Little Sister Still Searching for Twins Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook Last Seen in Augusta, Georgia in 1990, NBC Cold Case Spotlight, Sarah Portney, 4/22/2023, ret. 12/28/2023.

Missing Dannette and Jeanette Millbrook, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/twwinsfammily/

Runaway Youth: Caring for the Nation’s Largest Segment of Missing Children, American Academy of Pediatrics, Clinical Report, 2/1/2020.

What is the Masters and how did it start? A brief history of golf’s most famous tournament, Golf.com, James Colgan, 4/11/2021, ret. 12/28/2023.

Jan 01, 2024

01:23:17

At 6:00 a.m. on August 28, 1965, Carl and Carmela Coppolino’s physician, Dr. Juliette Karow, was awakened by a phone call. Carl Coppolino tearfully described to her how he had just found his 32-year-old wife dead, seemingly from a heart attack. Dr. Karow was concerned when she arrived at the house—young women in their 30s rarely die from cardiac arrest.

Join us at the quiet end for The Love Triangle Murders. Forty-one days after his wife’s death, Carl Coppolino married Mary Gibson. Imagine the chagrin of the Coppolino’s neighbor Marjorie Farber, who had moved from New Jersey to Florida in hopes of being with Carl. Incensed by this turn of events, Marjorie went to the police and told them that she had stood by helplessly as her husband was strangled to death by Carl. And she had information to share about Carmela’s death as well!