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How the 1975 Film Jaws Brought Attention to the Lady of the Dunes Mystery · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, get ready, because today we're going deep into
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  a cold case that's been haunting Cape cod for almost
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  fifty years. Yeah, it's the Mystery of the Lady of
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  the Dunes. This one has it all, a gruesome discovery,
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  decades of dead ends, and a resolution that hinges on
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  some really cutting edge forensic science.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, and a dash of Hollywood intrigued to you just
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  for good measure.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, it's a fascinating case and what really stands out
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  for me is how it shows the incredible power of
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  investigative genealogy. This technique was key, yeah to finally putting
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  a name to the victim, Ruth Marie Terry, and uncovering
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  her killer. It's proof that even after decades of mystery,
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  persistence and new technology can bring justice.
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  Speaker 1: I love that. Okay, So let's for one all the
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  way back to nineteen seventy four.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: A young boy is walking his dog and he stumbles
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  upon a horrifying scene. Oh no, it's in the dunes
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  near Provincetown, Okay. And it's the body of a woman.
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  She's almost decapitated, her hands are missing.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not just that she was brutally murdered, She's
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  also carefully posed on a beach towel. Really yeah, like
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  she was just enjoying a day at the beach.
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  Speaker 3: That's what makes this case so eerie, isn't it. It's
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  that staging. It suggests a killer who is not only
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  violent but really meticulous, right, like they were trying to
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  send a message, maybe even taunt the authorities.
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  Speaker 1: I see. And for years, that's all investigators had, that
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  disturbing crime scene and an unknown victim. Right despite all
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  their effort, the case went cold, and this woman, the
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  lady of the Dunes, she just became this haunting reminder
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  of the unsolved mystery.
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  Speaker 3: It's like imagine trying to solve a puzzle but you
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  don't even know what the picture is supposed to be.
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  Oh wow, that's what the investigators were facing. Without knowing
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  who she was, they had no place to start building
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  their case.
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  Speaker 1: It makes sense. And then Ellen enters Joe Hill.
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  Speaker 2: Joe Hill.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, that Joe Hill's son of Stephen King. Oh wow,
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  he's watching the movie Jaws, which by the way, was
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  filmed not far from where the body was found.
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  Speaker 2: Right Martha's vineyard exactly.
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  Speaker 1: And what catches his eye is an extra in that
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  crowded beach scene time stamp fifty four point zero two.
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  And she looks just like the composite sketch of The
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  Lady of the Dunes.
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  Speaker 3: Now that's a captivating observation. Yeah, but it's a good
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  example of how even the most intriguing theories needs scrutiny. Yeah,
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  because even Hill himself pointed out discrepancies, like the genes
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  that the extra was wearing in the movie there were
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  a different brand than the ones found with the victim. Still,
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  though his theory totally sparked the public imagination, I bet
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  put The Lady of the Dunes back in the spotlight.
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  Speaker 1: We think about the coincidence though, I mean, one of
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  the biggest movies of all time, it potentially features assumed
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  to be murder victim. Yeah, just unknowingly captured on film
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  like that's something out of a Stephen King novel.
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  Speaker 2: It really is.
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  Speaker 1: But okay, let's separate fact from fiction. Okay, while that
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  Jaws connection was a super interesting theory, it wasn't the
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  key to actually solving the case.
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  Speaker 2: You're right.
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  Speaker 3: The real turning point came a little more recently in
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  twenty twenty two, okay, and it was the rise of
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  investigative genealogy. This revolutionary technique uses DNA databases to basically
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  trace family trees and identify individuals.
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  Speaker 1: So it's like putting together a giant family puzzle, yes,
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  but the pieces are scattered across all these like massive
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  databases of genetic information exactly.
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  Speaker 3: So by comparing the DNA from the crime scene to
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  these databases, investigators can build these family trees wow, and
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  narrow down potential relatives, either of the victim or even
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  the perpetrator. And in this case, that led them right
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  to identifying the lady of the Dunes as Ruth Marie Terry.
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  Speaker 1: So finally, after almost fifty years, she has a name, right,
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  a family story. This wasn't just crucial for giving her
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  loved ones some closure, but it totally changed the direction
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  of the investigation. Now instead of this faceless victim, they
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  had a place to start, a life to try, relationships
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  to explore, and ultimately a path to her killer.
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  Speaker 3: And that's where this story takes a much darker turn.
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  Oh because identifying Ruth Marie Terry let investigators straight to
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  her killer. Oh wow, her husband at the time, a
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  man named Guy Muldavin.
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  Speaker 1: And here's where things get unsettling, right, because it turns
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  out this Muldavin had a history of violence. Oh really, Yeah,
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  and he was already on law enforcement's radar.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Back in nineteen sixty Muldavin was actually a suspect in
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  the disappearance and presumed murders of his ex wife and
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  stepdaughter in Seattle hold On.
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  Speaker 3: So the man who we now know is linked to
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  the lady of the Dunes murder, Yeah, he was already
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  suspected of killing his ex wife and stepdaughter years earlier.
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  That's chilling. What happened with that case.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the details of that case, they're really disturbing. So
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  Muldoven's ex wife and stepdaughter they vanish without a trace,
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  and he's the prime suspect obviously, right, but there's not
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  enough evidence to charge him with murder.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow.
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  Speaker 1: However, he is eventually convict of some lesser crimes related
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  to the case, like forging his ex wife's signature and
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  selling her car.
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  Speaker 2: So he was like profiting off their disappearance. That's awful,
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  it is.
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  Speaker 1: And here's what makes it even more creepy. Years later, Okay,
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  so they're doing some renovations to the property where they
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  had all lived and guess.
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  Speaker 3: What why they find human remains in the septic tanch
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  Oh my gosh. It's just you know, they couldn't be
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  definishedly identified at the time, but it adds another layer
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  of suspicion to Muldobbin's past.
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  Speaker 1: You know, right, right, Okay, so we've got a potential
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  serial killer who seemingly got away with murder not once,
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  but twice. That's got to be frustrating for investigators, knowing
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  they were so close all those years ago.
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  Speaker 3: It really is, and you know, it highlights just how
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  limited investigators were before we had DNA technology and things
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  like investigative genealogy. But it also shows how important it
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  is to never give up on these cold cases. Technology techniques,
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  they're always evolving, offering new ways to bring justice to
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  these victims in their families.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, and in this case, justice for Ruth Burrie
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  Terry did come, even if it was delayed. I have
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  to ask, though, knowing that Malavin died in two thousand
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  and two, did that like change anything about the investigation.
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  I mean, there wouldn't be a trial, right.
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  Speaker 3: You're right, there couldn't be a trial, But that doesn't
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  mean the investigation stopped. You know, there's still so much
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  value in uncovering the truth even if legal like retribution
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  isn't possible. Right, by definitively linking Muldavin to Terry's murder,
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  they brought a sense of closure to her family and
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  they answered all the questions that had been lingering for decades.
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  Speaker 1: That makes sense, But I'm still hung up on this
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  whole thing. Like Muldavin having this history of violence going
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  back years before Ruth Marie Terry's murder, it makes you think, like,
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  could there be other victims out there right, other unsolved
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  cases that are somehow connected to him.
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  Speaker 3: It's definitely possible. I mean, anytime you're dealing with someone
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  like Muldavin, that's something you have to consider. Yeah, and
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  I'm sure investigator looking into it right, re examining old cases,
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  you can find any connections.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, it's almost like, you know, you peel back the
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  layers of this like dark twisted onion, and with each
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  layer the story gets creepier and creepier.
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  Speaker 3: You're telling me, you know, just when you think you've
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  uncovered the most unsettling parts of this whole thing, yeah,
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  another detail comes out. Yeah, and it's really bizarre. Okay,
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  So two years after Terry's murder, well Dobbin.
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  Speaker 2: Self publishes a cookbook. It's called Cooking with Rump Oil.
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  Speaker 1: He wrote a cookbook, Are you serious? That's a weird
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  thing for someone who suspected multiple murders to do. What
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  was he thinking?
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  Speaker 3: It's hard to know what his real intentions were. But
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  there's one particular recipe in this cookbook that really stands out, okay,
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  because of its connection to Terry's murder.
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  Speaker 2: It's called cape cod shit.
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  Speaker 1: Cape cod shit. Okay, that's a weird name for a recipe.
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  What's so unsettling about it?
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  Speaker 3: Well, the whole recipe is full of this like strange
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  and graphic language, almost like a parody of cooking instructions,
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  but really dark. But the part that really gets you
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  is this one line says, after the shit is caught,
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  anything over five minutes ends it, the sweet turpentine taste
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  will turn to that of a burnt glove, and the
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  tender look will become one of despair.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's not exactly your typical cooking advice. It's
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  almost like he's describing, well, a murder.
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  Speaker 3: That's the thing. A lot of people felt the same
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  way when they read that retired FBI profiler Julia Colly,
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  she's got tons of experience analyzing criminal minds, you know. Yeah,
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  even she weighed in on what it could mean psychologically speaking.
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  Speaker 1: Oh wow, what did she have to say?
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  Speaker 3: Well, she said, it's impossible to know for sure, but yeah,
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  the language and the imagery, it's all very suggestive. Like
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  maybe Moldaven, consciously or not, was expressing his guilt, like
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  he was reliving the crime, but through this weird, twisted metaphor.
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  Speaker 1: That's a really chilling thought. It's like he's taunting everyone,
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  hiding a concession and plain sight disguised as a recipe.
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  Speaker 2: Right. It adds a.
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  Speaker 3: Whole other layer of complexity to this all already disturbing case,
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  and it makes you wonder about how we should interpret art.
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  You know, when the artist has done terrible things, can
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  you separate the art from the artist, especially.
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  Speaker 1: When it seems like the art is hinting at those
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  terrible things. It really makes you think.
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  Speaker 3: It does, and it reminds us that even the most
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  everyday things can have hidden meanings and unsettling connections. The
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  truth is out there, but sometimes it's hiding where you
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  least expect it.
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  Speaker 1: So, okay, we've got this case that spans decades. Yeah,
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  it's got this potential connection to a huge Hollywood blockbuster, right,
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  and it involves a killer who might have used a
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  cookbook to confess to his crimes. Where do we even
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  go from here?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's important to like zoom out a
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  little bit, like the big picture. Okay, this case, as
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  wild as it is, it really shows the progress that's
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  been made in forensic science.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: You know, if we didn't have things like investigative genealogy,
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  Ruth Marie Terry still be known only as the Lady
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  of the Dunes.
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  Speaker 2: Her killer would never been found.
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  Speaker 1: That's true. Investigative genealogy has really changed the game when
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  it comes to cold cases.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: It gives hope to families who thought they'd never know
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  the truth about their loved ones, and it holds perpetrators
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  accountable even if they thought they'd gotten away with it. Oh,
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  but it also raises some ethical questions, right.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, Definitely, using DNA databases in investigations is a powerful tool,
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  no doubt, but it's one that we need to be
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  careful with. Yeah, there are questions about privacy, consent, the
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  potential for misuse of genetic information.
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  Speaker 2: It's complicated, it is.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a double edged sword exactly. On one hand,
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  you have the potential to solve crimes and give families closure,
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  but on the other hand, you have to balance that
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  against individual privacy.
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  Speaker 3: And there are the conversations we need to be having.
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  How do we balance the pursuit of justice with protecting
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  individual rights. How do we make sure these powerful tools
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  are used the right way ethically.
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  Speaker 1: These aren't just hypothetical questions, no they're not. There are
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  real world issues with consequences.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, But I think the Lady of the Dunes case,
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  as complex and disturbing as it is, shows that even
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  in the darkest mysteries, there's still hope for answers, for justice,
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  for the truth to prevail.
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  Speaker 2: Even if it takes a long time.
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  Speaker 1: It's true. So for our listeners, we've covered a lot
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  of ground today, from a gruesome discovery to a Hollywood
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  connection to a cookbook that may hold more than recipes.
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  As you think about this case, what really sticks with you?
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  It really is a lot to think about the brutality
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  of the crime, all those years of uncertainty, and then
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  you add that strange cookbook to the mix.
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  Speaker 3: Right it just adds another layer of creepiness to it all.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 3: It's those kinds of details that often stick with you. Yeah,
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  you try to make sense of it all, but sometimes
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  it just feels.
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  Speaker 1: Irrational, right, right, And sometimes I think, like with that Cape,
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  Cod should recipe those weird details because I'm almost symbolic, Yeah,
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  of the bigger mystery. It's like you're trying to put
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  together a puzzle, but some of the pieces are just missing, right,
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  and the ones you do have, they don't really fit
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  together the way you'd expect exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, but that's what we're dealing with, right. These cases
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  they're complex. Yeah, there are always going to be questions
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  that don't have answers, things you just can't know for sure,
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  And I think that's part of what makes them so fascinating,
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  so captivating. You have to think critically, really examine the evidence,
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  and ultimately come to your own conclusions.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking of conclusions, let's circle back to that Jaws connection
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  for a minute. We know it didn't actually help solve
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  the case, right, but the idea that this woman who
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  would soon be murdered was potentially caught on film in
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  this iconic movie, Yeah, it's just wild.
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  Speaker 3: It really is, and it makes you think about how
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  our lives are all connected in ways we don't even realize. Yeah,
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  and how you know, things can change so quickly. Someone
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  could be going about their normal life and then suddenly
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  everything takes this dark, unexpected turn.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine right, you're an extra in one of the biggest
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  movies of all time, and then shortly after you become
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  the victim of this horrible crime. It's a chilling thought.
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  It makes you wonder what other stories might be hidden
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  out there, Like what secrets are lurking just beneath the
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  surface of everyday life.
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  Speaker 3: It's a good question, and I think it shows how
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  important it is to pay attention to the details, to
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  really observe what's going on around you. You never know
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  what you might find.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good point. Well, as we wrap up our
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  deep dive into the Lady of the Dunes case, what
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  are the key takeaways you hope our listeners will remember?
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  Speaker 2: Well?
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  Speaker 3: I think the biggest one is the power of perseverance. Okay,
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  both for the investigators but also for the families who
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  were searching for answers. Yeah, it took almost fifty years,
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  but Ruth Marie Terry's case was finally solved, and that's
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  because of advances in technology, but also because people never
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  gave up on her.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, and it's also a reminder that justice can
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  take many forms.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Dobbin could never be brought to trial, Yeah, but
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  identifying him as the killer gave Terry's family some closure, right,
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  and it gave answers to a community that had been
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  haunted by this mystery for so long.
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  Speaker 3: And I think finally it's a reminder to be careful.
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  No evil can hide in plain sight. Well, Dabbin was
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  a husband, he seemed totally normal, but underneath it all,
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  there was this darkness that led to tragedy.
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  Speaker 1: Well, said the Lady of the Dunes. It's a complicated story,
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  full of twists and turns, and even though it's been solved,
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  it still sticks with you, he does. It's a story
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  about loss, about fighting for justice, and about the power
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  of truth. And for everyone listening as you go about
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  your day, remember the Lady of the Dunes, Remember her story,
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  the mystery that surrounded her, and the hope that even
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  the most difficult puzzles can be solved. Eventually,