Latest / PNW Haunts & Homicides / Deadly Devotion: Motherhood & Mayhem, Part 2

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Deadly Devotion: Motherhood & Mayhem, Part 2 · PNW Haunts & Homicides

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Hello again, friend.
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Welcome back to part 2 of my Chilling Mother's Day Collaboration Special.
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Before we embark on our journey again, I want to take a moment to reflect on the origins
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of this holiday.
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To truly understand the history of Mother's Day, we must go back thousands of years to
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the ancient world.
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The earliest known celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the annual
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spring festival in ancient Greece, honoring Rhea, the mother of gods.
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But it wasn't just the Greeks, the Romans also had a festival called matronalia, where
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husbands and children would shower their wives and mothers with gifts and flowers.
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This tradition carried on for centuries in various forms, eventually influencing a Christian
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holiday known as Mothering Sunday.
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Mothering Sunday was celebrated in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, on the
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fourth Sunday of Lent.
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This was a time when people would return to their mother church, the church where they
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were baptized and grew up attending.
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Families would reunite, and children would often bring gifts, such as flowers or small
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tokens for their mothers.
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But what about modern mothers' day?
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For that we must turn to the early 20th century, in the efforts of a woman named Anna Jarvis.
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Anna Jarvis was the daughter of Anne Reeves Jarvis, a social activist and community organizer
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who worked hard to improve the lives of women and families.
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After her mother's death in 1905, Anna sought to create a day that would honor the sacrifice
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as mothers made for their children.
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In 1908, Anna held the first mother's day celebration at a Methodist church in Graften
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West Virginia.
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By 1912, she had successfully established the Mother's Day International Association and
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began campaigning to have Mother's Day recognized as an official holiday.
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Her hard work paid off, and on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation
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designating the second Sunday in May as a National holiday to honor mothers.
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Mother's Day had officially become a part of American culture.
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Anna Jarvis envisioned Mother's Day as a time for families to come together and spend
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quality time with their mothers, writing heartfelt letters and expressing their love and gratitude.
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However, she became disillusioned with the commercialization of the holiday as a grew in popularity.
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Despite her disappointment, Mother's Day continued to spread across the globe, with countries
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adopting their own unique traditions and customs.
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So as we celebrate Mother's Day this year, let's remember its roots and honor the sacrifices
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of Mother's Everywhere and take the time to truly appreciate the love and dedication
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they show us every day.
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Now let's get into the adventure.
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We wake up the next morning in the once grand mansion, now overgrown with ivy and shrouded
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in darkness.
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Her broken windows and cracked walls whisper tales of long forgotten family secrets.
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It's here that we meet Esther who tells a shocking story from her podcast once upon a crime.
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Diane Downs was a 27-year-old mother of three in the spring of 1983 when she arrived at a
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Springfield Oregon Hospital emergency room.
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She screamed for help, saying a man had attempted to carjack her on a rural country road, and
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when she refused to give him her car, he shot her three children sleeping in the backseat.
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The horror of such a random act of violence against innocent children shocked the community
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and the police, but once suspicion for raise that their mother was the shooter, the question
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became why.
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What would cause a mother to murder her children?
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The answer was as cold-blooded as it was shocking.
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Diane Downs was in love with love.
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Perhaps this was because, as she claimed, she was raised with a strict and controlling father
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who showed her little affection and a passive mother who put her husband's needs before her
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childrens.
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Diane, born in 1955, was the first to five children born to Wesley and Willedine Fredrickson.
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Diana's siblings were raised in a conservative Baptist home.
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Her father worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and the family moved often as he was transferred
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to other positions.
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By the time she was in high school, they were living in Phoenix, Arizona.
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Diane said she felt ignored by her mother and criticized by her father.
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As a result, she grew up with a desperate need for love and affection.
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Diane didn't make friends easily and described herself as an ugly duckling as a child.
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She recalled being teased or ignored by her classmates.
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Even worse, was the ridicule in bullying she experienced in grade school.
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Diane blossomed into a pretty teen with a cute figure that she soon realized made her
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popular with the boys.
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For the first time, Diane felt seen.
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Even better, she felt a sense of power over the teenage boys who sought her attention.
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She gained a reputation at Moon Valley High as a flirt, but it was Steve Downs who won
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her heart.
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He was wild and rebellious, and Diane was instantly attracted to him.
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By 16, they were an item and began a sexual relationship.
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When her parents found out, they forbade their daughter to see Steve Downs, but it was only
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after graduation that the couple parted.
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Steve joined the Navy, and Diane was accepted at a Bible College in California, so they went
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their separate ways.
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Diane began relationships with several boys she met in college, trying to fill the void
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left by Steve's departure.
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After two semesters, she was kicked out of school for promiscuity and returned to Phoenix.
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Steve returned to town, and in 1973, when they were both 18, they married against their parents
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wishes.
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Diane wanted to start a family right away.
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She romanticized what it would be like to have children.
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She often expressed a desire to have babies because she'd finally have someone who would
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love her unconditionally.
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Diane didn't say she wanted someone to love unconditionally.
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Instead, she believed a child would fulfill all her emotional needs.
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Soon after they're wedding, however, Steve Downs told Diane that he had changed his mind.
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He didn't want kids right away.
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Maybe in a few years he offered.
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She was furious.
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She accused him of never loving her.
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Her feelings of rejection grew when she discovered Steve was cheating on her.
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Diane became obsessed with the idea of having a baby to fulfill her need for love and affection.
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She stopped using birth control and soon found herself pregnant.
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She was thrilled.
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Her daughter, Christy, was born on October 7, 1974.
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Diane said she experienced real love for the first time in her life when her daughter was
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born.
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But the reality of having a baby soon set in and Diane became exhausted and disillusioned
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about being a mother.
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She and Stephen frequently argued about the stress of raising a child with limited resources.
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Still, Diane continued to chase the high she got from being pregnant and giving birth.
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While pregnant, the pretty blonde who still looked like a teenager received a lot of attention.
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Strangers congratulated her.
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Her family asked about her health and gave advice.
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She lapped it all up and craved more.
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Diane became pregnant again, and her daughter Cheryl Lynn was born in 1976.
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Cheryl was colloquy and cried constantly.
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Diane grew impatient and frustrated that she wasn't feeling the unconditional love she
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so desperately craved.
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Her relationship with her husband became strained to the breaking point and she decided to leave
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him.
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So the timing was terrible when she discovered she was pregnant for the third time.
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Unwilling to stay in the relationship, Diane felt her only option was to terminate the pregnancy.
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Afterwards she left her marriage taking two-year-old Christy and nine-month-old Cheryl with her.
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Finding it hard to parent and provide for her children alone, she and Stephen Reckoncile
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and break up several times over the next two years.
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And expliquably, Diane decided she wanted another child.
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Steve had since had a vasectomy and she asked him to have it reversed but he refused.
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Now working outside of the home, Diane began sleeping with several of her co-workers.
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She purposely set out to get pregnant by one of her lovers.
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Steve found out and got into a physical altercation with the man, but it was too late.
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Diane was pregnant.
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Stephen Daniel Downs was born on December 29, 1979.
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Although he wasn't his biological father, Steve raised the boy they called Danny as his
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own.
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Diane was an inconsistent mother to her children.
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While stressed and unhappy, she was impatient, angry and sometimes neglectful.
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When happy, she doated on her children and took them on special outings.
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She played with them as if she were a child herself and called them her best friends.
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The kids became confused and sometimes fearful of Diane.
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Each mother would they experience today, the nice one who loved them or the angry one who
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yelled and punished them.
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Diane began working as a male carrier at the Chandler Post Office and started sleeping with
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the series of her co-workers.
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Witnesses say that with Steve often gone or while he and Diane were on the outs, Diane
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would be out with one boyfriend or another and put her social life in front of her children.
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She kicked her husband out again and moved her current boyfriend in with her.
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He was also a single parent and he brought his two daughters, a few years older than Diane's
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children with him.
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This arrangement didn't last long.
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Steve was constantly dropping by which was awkward for everyone and Diane's boyfriend didn't
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like how she treated her children.
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Her kids seemed like a pain in the ass to her, he said.
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She felt that kids were inferior.
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They weren't even allowed in the living room.
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She called her kids vulgar and demeaning names he added.
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When Diane began lashing out at his daughters as well, he left.
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Diane sometimes left the children alone altogether.
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During these times, Steve would step in and care for the children until Diane returned.
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She was always a person who needed an enormous amount of attention, a bottomless pit of need.
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This need resulted in her applying to become a surrogate mother.
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She was paid to conceive and carry a child for a couple who was experiencing fertility issues.
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She gave birth to a baby girl in 1982.
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Diane received $10,000 and was even interviewed for a Washington Post story about surrogate
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parenting.
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The attention and accolades she received meant more to Diane than the money, but she put
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it to good use, purchasing a mobile home in Chandler and New furniture.
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She talked incessantly to her co-workers about her experience as a surrogate mother.
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These people needed me.
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It made me somebody, Diane said.
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When she returned to work at the Post Office after the baby's birth, she set her sights on
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one man in particular.
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Robert Nickerbacher or Nick, as Diane called him, was a married man with whom she began
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an affair in the summer of 1982.
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He tried to keep things discreet, but Diane immediately fell for him, and everyone knew she
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was not only sleeping with Nick, but obsessed with him.
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He told her he didn't want kids around while they were together, saying it was wrong.
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She accommodated this request, pawning the children off to their father, neighbors or other
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relatives, while she was engaged in her secret rendezvous with Nick.
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She began urging Nick to leave his wife and marry her, but he made it clear he had no
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intention of doing so.
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She ignored this, believing he'd come around when he realized that it was her he loved.
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She used sex to keep him coming back, and even while he protested that he would never commit
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to her, he continued the affair.
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Diane's mobile home burned down just six months after she purchased it, and Arson was suspected.
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However, she received an insurance settlement for a few thousand dollars and used a portion
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of it to lease an apartment.
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She listed both herself and Nick on the lease.
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Nick had finally had enough.
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His wife had caught wind of the affair and gave him an ultimatum.
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It was either her or Diane.
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Nick told Diane he couldn't see her anymore and broke things off.
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He said he still loved his wife and was working to repair his marriage.
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He also reminded her that he'd made it clear he didn't want children.
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He'd had to have a sect meet early in his marriage to prevent this from happening.
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That's how sure he was about this decision.
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Diane was the mother of three, and Nick said this alone put him off ever marrying her
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or offering her a commitment.
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Diane went ballistic, calling and harassing Nick and his wife nonstop after he stopped seeing
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her.
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She even pounded on Nick's door, insisting he talked to her.
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The couple finally left the state for a long vacation to escape her.
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Still thinking she could win him back, Diane packed up her kids and moved to be near her parents
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who were now living in Oregon.
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It was Diane's plan that once she was settled, she'd contact Nick to whom she was sure
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would come to his senses once her threat to leave became real.
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He could then join her in Oregon to escape his wife.
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Diane believed that she could get him alone.
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He could be talked into marrying her.
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In April of 1983, she arrived in Springfield, Oregon with her three children.
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Just a few weeks later, Diane Downs would arrive at the emergency department of a Springfield
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hospital and announce that her children had been shot and were dying in the backseat of
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her car.
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Diane Downs called Robert Nickerbocker the man she was obsessed with once she arrived in
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Springfield, Oregon.
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She thought he'd miss her and want her back, but Nick told Diane it was over.
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He wasn't ever moving to Oregon to be with her, period.
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Not one to give up easily, Diane made one last effort to convince him.
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A week later, she returned to Arizona and surprised him at work.
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She made an excuse about needing to return a gold chain he'd given her.
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She launched into a speech about her love for him and all the plans she'd made for them
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to be together.
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I told her I wasn't going to Oregon Nick told investigators later.
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I told her I just didn't want to be a daddy.
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Then he drove off in his mill truck.
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That was the last time he saw her.
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A few days later, on the evening of May 1983, a small red sports car screeched to a halt
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at an emergency room entrance of the Mackenzie will limit hospital in Springfield.
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Nurses came running and saw a young blonde woman standing outside her car.
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Someone just shot my kids, she told them.
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When they peered into the car, they saw two small bodies slumped in the back seat.
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As they rushed them to the trauma center, the woman called out, "Get Cheryl, she's on
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the floor, she hasn't moved at all."
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A nurse peered in and saw another small body, but this one was on the floor in the front seat
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on the passenger side.
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The last child found was the most critically wounded.
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Two bullet holes were found in seven-year-old Christie's back.
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Emergency room doctors worked frantically to clear her air passages and found blood clots
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blocking her throat.
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Her blood was already clotting, suggesting that her wounds had occurred some time ago.
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She was connected to a heart monitor, but a heartbeat could not be detected.
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The child was pronounced dead on arrival.
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The other two children were alive, but just barely.
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Eight-year-old Christie had suffered two bullet wounds to the left side of her chest,
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when it exited her back and when was still in her body.
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She registered no blood pressure, was quickly losing blood and was on the verge of death.
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Her heart stopped as doctors worked to clear a blood clot from her lungs.
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They quickly shocked her heart and inserted a line to infuse more blood.
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Miraculously, her heart started to beat again and she was rushed into surgery.
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The little blonde boy, Danny, was just a baby, just three years old.
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He was the only one of the children who was conscious when they arrived.
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He continued to cry softly as the doctors worked over him.
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If found a bullet hole, a fraction of an inch from his spinal column.
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The bullet had been fired at close range.
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Their mother also had a wound.
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The nurse noticed a brightly colored beach towel wrapped around her arm from her elbow
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to her wrist.
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A bullet wound on the outside of her arm was almost halfway between the elbow and wrist.
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It was not life-threatening.
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It was cleaned, disinfected, and wrapped in a bandage.
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Diane Downs, age 27, was questioned by police about the shooting.
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She said she'd been driving home from a friend's house with her three children, Christie H.A.T.
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Cheryl H.7, and Danny H.3, around 9.30 pm.
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She said she was driving on Old Mohawk Road because the children liked to take the scenic
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route.
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Old Mohawk Road was located in a rural area and saw little traffic, especially in the
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evenings.
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Diane said she came upon somebody standing in the middle of the road.
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He looked like he needed help, she said, so she stopped the car and got out, taking the
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keys with her.
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As he approached, he told Diane he wanted her car and she'd refused.
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The man she described as a bushy-haired stranger leaned into her car and began shooting at
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her kids.
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She tried to pull him away, but he shot her in the arm.
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She pretended to throw her car keys into the brush on the side of the road, and when
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he ran to retrieve them, Diane said she jumped in the car and drove off as fast as she
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could go to get help.
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Detectives who interviewed the young mother first struck by her odd behavior.
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Her kids were in surgery, fighting for their lives after being shot by a psychotic stranger
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multiple times.
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Yet Diane downstremained calm, not crying, not screaming, or hysterical.
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She recounted events almost matter of factly, even smiling and giggling at times.
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Her stories seemed implausible as well.
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They were sightseeing at 9.30 pm in the dark.
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And why on earth would a woman with three small children not only pull over and stop for a
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male stranger, but also leave her car to approach him?
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It made no sense to them that an armed car-jacker would shoot the children first, who were no
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threat to him, but didn't attempt to shoot Diane until she physically confronted him.
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Detectives watched as Diane was informed that her daughter Cheryl was dead.
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They saw almost no reaction from her at all upon hearing this news.
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She was then informed about the condition of her two other children.
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Doctors told her they were cautiously optimistic about Danny and explained the damage he'd suffered.
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You mean it missed his heart, Diane asked, sounding surprised?
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Christie was still in recovery after surgery when Diane turned to the doctor and said, "I
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know that Christie has suffered brain damage and I don't want you to sustain her life."
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The doctor was outraged by her statement.
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That was very unusual, he said, and inappropriate.
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Christie would recover, but would have long-term issues with her ability to speak.
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She could not speak for several weeks due to her injuries, and doctors suspected the
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trauma she'd suffered from the violent crime exacerbated this condition.
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Three-year-old Danny survived his injuries, but was left paralyzed from the chest down,
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and confined to a wheelchair the rest of his life.
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This quickly determined that the forensic evidence did not match what Diane told them about
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the shooting.
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No other sightings of a bushy-haired stranger were found, even after an extensive search.
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Nor were any footprints, tire tracks, or other evidence that suggested the presence of a
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second adult at the crime scene.
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More importantly, no blood spatter was found on the driver's side of the door, nor any
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gunpowder residue, which should have been detected if the stranger had shot the kids as
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Diane had described.
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The evidence all pointed to Diane down as the person who shot the children.
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They discovered that she'd lied when questioned about owning a gun, specifically a 22-caliber
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handgun, the type of weapon used in the shooting.
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Both her ex-husband Steve and her lover Nick told police that Diane did own a handgun.
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Nick told investigators he saw the 22 in the trunk of her car in the night before she left
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for Oregon.
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Investigators had found 22-caliber shell casings lying in blood in the backseat of her
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car.
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The gun was never found, however, investigators were able to match tool marks on the casings
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found at the crime scene, with cartridges found in the Arizona home where Diane had lived.
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The matching tool marks proved to investigators that the bullets found in Arizona had been
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in the same weapon used to shoot the children.
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After an extensive investigation, Diane Downs was finally put on trial on May 10, 1984.
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She had been out on bail until February of 1984 when she was formally charged with one
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counter-merder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of assault in the first degree
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and booked into jail.
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While free, Diane met another man, had a fling, and became pregnant.
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She was far along in her pregnancy when she would finally appear before a jury.
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Prosecutors were worried that jurors would have difficulty convicting a pregnant woman
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on the verge of giving birth.
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But the prosecutor's star witness sealed Diane's fate, almost exactly one year after she
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was shot.
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Christie Downs, now nine years old, took the stand to testify against her mother.
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Christie looked very small and frail for her age and still had trouble speaking.
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She cried upon seeing her mother for the first time in seven months.
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Between tears, Christie told the packed but silent courtroom her recollections from the
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night of May 1983 when her mother had stopped the car on a dark country road.
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She described how Diane exited the vehicle, walked to the back and opened the trunk.
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There was no one else around.
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She watched as her mother returned, pointed a gun at Cheryl who was in the passenger seat
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and shot her.
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She then described as her mother had reached over the back seat and continued firing,
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hitting Danny.
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Next, the prosecutor, Dan Huege, asked Christie to describe what happened to her.
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She gently asked her, "Who shot you?"
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Sobbing, Christie answered, "My mom."
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Diane took the stand in her own defense and resided virtually the same implausible series
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of events she described when first questioned.
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She said that after the shooting she had panicked and prayed for her children to live as she
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drove as fast as possible to the hospital.
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If she'd been in such a panic, Huege asked, "How was the wound on her arm so carefully
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wrapped and neatly folded in a towel?"
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Diane had no answer.
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He also confronted her about the timeline.
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It just didn't fly, he said.
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It had taken her 18 minutes to go 8/10 of a mile.
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With a mother who was frantically trying to save her children drive so slowly, again, she insisted
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she gone as fast as she could and didn't believe that this could be true.
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Witnesses, however, confirmed it, testifying that they saw the small red car being driven
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at such a slow rate that they remembered it clearly.
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Others read from Diane's diary, in which she'd written about Robert Nickerbacher, her affair
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with him, and her desperate need to win him at all cost.
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She penned letters never mailed to Nick, in which she promised that if he moved to Oregon
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and married her, her kids would quote "not be a problem, they will not be in the way,"
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end quote.
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Investigators also presented a psychological assessment that had been done when Diane
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applied to be a surrogate.
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The psychologist reported that Diane could shut her emotions down at will, like flicking
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off a light switch.
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He also diagnosed her with histrionic personality disorder, a personality disorder characterized
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by excessive attention seeking, including inappropriately seductive behavior, and an excessive
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need for approval.
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People diagnosed as histrionic, are described as lively, dramatic, and flirtatious, with
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exaggerated behavior and emotions, and who crave constant stimulation.
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One interesting observation, the term surrogate actually means substitute.
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Diane was an expert on substituting.
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She substituted the love she received from her children, for the love she felt was missing
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in her marriage.
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She substituted the easy attention she received from men, for the attention she thought she'd
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missed out on as a child.
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Finally, she attempted to substitute the lives of her children, for the affection of one
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man.
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The jury returned its verdict on June 17, 1984.
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They found Diane down guilty of one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder in the
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first degree, and two counts of first degree assault, guilty on all charges.
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Ten days later, she gave birth to a baby girl who was placed for adoption after the biological
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father signed documents, releasing his claim on the child.
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Diane was sentenced to life plus fifty years, with a twenty-five mandatory minimum sentence.
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The court rejected all of her appeals.
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It was determined by the parole board that her first eligibility to apply for release
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would not be until 2009.
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In 1987, Diane downscaled a prison fence and escaped.
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She was on the run for ten days with the help of another prisoner's husband whom she seduced
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and who'd agreed to provide her a hideout.
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She was caught in five years for added to her sentence.
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The prosecutor, Fred Huggie, requested that Diane be sent to a more secure facility further
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away.
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He had good reason to fear another escape by Diane.
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Fred Huggie became fiercely protective of Diane surviving children, Danny and Christy.
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But the consent of their father, Steve Downs, he and his wife adopted the children and were
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raising them just miles from the Oregon prison where Diane was incarcerated.
26:24
His request was granted, and Diane was first sent across the country to New Jersey's
26:28
Clinton Correctional Facility.
26:31
She was later transferred to California and now serves her time in a California State
26:35
Women's Prison.
26:37
Diane Downs has gone before a parole board in 2010 and 2020 and was denied both times.
26:44
She continues to claim she is innocent.
26:52
We exit the decaying mansion and make our way through a labyrinth of twisted hedges.
26:59
We're deceit and treachery lurk around every corner.
27:03
At the heart of the maze, we meet Caitlyn and Cassie who share a hair-raising story from
27:09
their podcast, PNW Haunts and Homicides.
27:23
Usually neither one of us can handle the other one's topic.
27:26
It's true.
27:27
Like today, that's why I won't be talking that much.
27:28
We're going to hear a lot from Caitlyn.
27:32
Just know the look on my face won't be pleasant.
27:35
That's fine.
27:37
Many of us, if we choose to or are able to celebrate Mother's Day, we do that by sending
27:45
our Mama card or maybe some flowers.
27:48
You know, if we're not close enough to actually visit.
27:51
Since my mom lives in the area, we love to do brunch.
27:56
It's a nice, relaxing way to do something everyone can enjoy for the occasion.
28:01
Ooh, I think of mamosas.
28:04
Mamosas.
28:05
Mimosa, craves.
28:06
But because this isn't a podcast about brunch, in May of 2015, not everyone would be able
28:14
to celebrate the way they might wish.
28:17
Particularly in the somewhat rural, organ areas of Colton and Estecata.
28:23
Joshua Lee Webb was 36 years old at the time, living in a pole barn on his parents' property
28:30
where the Webb family home was, doing odd jobs in the small community of Colton.
28:37
His parents, Tina Marie and David Webb, were aware of only some of his struggles.
28:44
He had problems with his vision and though he was considered kind of a weirdo around town.
28:50
I'm a weirdo.
28:51
Not this kind of weirdo.
28:53
He was generally thought to be nonviolent.
28:55
However, concerning his mental health issues that they were perhaps unaware of, at least
29:01
in part, they would not remain hidden forever.
29:06
Later, a number of bizarre accounts about his state of mind and behavior would come to
29:11
light.
29:12
Like that he thought his girlfriend was trying to inject him with something in an effort
29:18
to kill him.
29:20
And there was the true leap of our claim that Fox TV was trying to own him.
29:26
What?
29:27
Not exactly sure what that means.
29:29
He also believed that something in the family home wasn't quite right.
29:34
Him?
29:35
He was said to believe that there was a recording device present, something like a black box
29:41
in the garage just capturing all the day-to-day goings-on.
29:45
That's like really extreme.
29:47
Eventually, his physical appearance began to deteriorate, not the least of which he had
29:54
some very unusual looking eyes, very unsettling.
29:59
He was known to rub his head in a frustrated manner and complain that it felt like a squid
30:07
was sucking on his head.
30:09
Okay.
30:10
I get that.
30:11
Which of course sounds deeply unpleasant.
30:15
His mother expressed concern to other family members about his mental health.
30:21
And Joshua himself seemed to be aware that what he was experiencing was not normal and
30:28
at times he even expressed concern that he might harm himself for others.
30:34
He had that much self-awareness.
30:36
I feel like he was just feeling like he's very much out of control in his own body and mind.
30:43
He voluntarily turned over firearms and destroyed knives that he had previously possessed.
30:50
He went so far as asking his girlfriend to move back to the east coast in order to keep
30:56
her away from him.
30:58
On May 13th, according to his father, they had a conversation before Joshua went to bed
31:05
and his father could tell that he was taking the break up really hard.
31:09
He didn't know any particular red flags or warning signs though.
31:14
Breakups are hard, so he really didn't give that conversation another thought.
31:19
Yeah, that sounds pretty legit.
31:21
Joshua took it a step further when he also falsely reported himself as a murderer to two
31:29
different police agencies in an effort to be taken into custody.
31:34
If that isn't the biggest cry for help.
31:37
One mother's day fears that perhaps they couldn't admit even to themselves would burst forth
31:44
into reality when Joshua's sister arrived at the web family home along with her children
31:52
to celebrate with the family.
31:55
She was immediately alerted to the fact that something was very wrong.
32:00
When she sadly found Joshua's dog stabbed to death in the kitchen.
32:05
No, what?
32:08
I know.
32:09
I'm really praying that her kids didn't see that.
32:12
I hope not.
32:13
That's so sad.
32:14
But it's not until she steps further inside the family home that the full depth of the
32:20
horror she stumbled upon is realized.
32:24
On Mother's Day of all days, she would find her mother's decapitated body lying on the
32:31
floor.
32:32
Oh, I just got freezing cold.
32:36
When she dials 911, at this point, there's already another call coming into dispatch from
32:43
a local grocery store.
32:45
The caller described a dishevelled man entering the store wielding a bloody knife and we are
32:51
not talking about a butter knife.
32:54
It was an eight inch knife.
32:56
So more like something you'd use to carve a turkey.
33:00
But it gets worse.
33:02
Witnesses would state that in his other hand appeared to be a severed human head.
33:09
No, we're not in sleepy hollow.
33:11
This is not a headless horseman situation.
33:13
The man helped himself to a soda from the cooler, drinking it right then and there in front
33:19
of the stunned employees at the store.
33:22
He threatened one of the store clerks, gave chase, and then gruesomely began stabbing
33:28
the man, Michael Wagner.
33:31
The other employees immediately moved to subdue the attacker.
33:35
They used duct tape to restrain the attacker before calling the police.
33:40
I don't think most of you are likely having any trouble connecting the dots, but this was
33:47
Joshua who became completely catatonic at that point.
33:53
He was taken to the hospital where he would remain in that state until a full 24 hours had passed.
34:01
When he snapped back to reality, he said, "I had a nice snap before providing a freely
34:08
given confession to the horrific crimes of the previous day."
34:13
This case did not go to a jury trial.
34:16
It was pretty open and closed.
34:19
He pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.
34:22
His defense attorneys obviously wanted to see him sentence to a mental institution rather
34:28
than simply being incarcerated.
34:31
Two psychiatrists, one from each of the opposing legal teams, testified in his trial.
34:39
They agreed that this was the correct course of action as both confirmed a diagnosis of
34:46
schizophrenia and psychosis.
34:50
Joshua's father, David Webb, who hadn't been present at the time of his wife's murder
34:55
said, "My wife was wonderful.
34:58
I've been married to her for almost 41 years.
35:02
Joshua was our son.
35:04
I never saw a problem.
35:07
Evidently, there was one.
35:09
I start crying every time I think about it."
35:12
"Oh, that poor man."
35:14
As we emerge from the dark labyrinth, we find ourselves in a decrepit greenhouse, where
35:28
they're wilted plants and shattered glass, hint at a once thriving sanctuary of life.
35:35
It's here that we meet Robin, who recounts a chilling tale from their podcast of trail
35:42
and cold.
35:51
So there are a lot of diabolical mothers out there who are murdered or attempted to murder
35:55
their own children, but I doubt you'll find too many crazy examples of this than Audrey
36:01
Marie Hill.
36:02
I first learned about this story in 1991 when unsolved mysteries put together a special
36:07
episode titled "Diabolical Mines," which attempted to perform an in-depth exploration into the
36:13
mind of a psychopath.
36:15
And even though the song of Audrey Marie Hilly was technically not an unsolved mystery per
36:20
say, I can see why they decided to put together a lengthy segment about her stories since,
36:25
well, it's Batchet and St.
36:28
Audrey Marie Hilly, who went by her middle name, lived in Aniston, Alabama with her husband,
36:33
Frank and their children, Mike and Carol, and even though Frank had a good job and they
36:38
seemed like an ideal family, there was something much darker beneath the surface.
36:43
Marie frequently cheated on her husband and spent money excessively, so she eventually
36:48
decided to utilize a popular practice for psychopaths who experience financial problems,
36:54
take out an insurance policy and love one, and kill them.
36:58
In May of 1975, Frank passed away at the age of 45 after a lengthy illness and the official
37:04
cause of death was ruled to be infectious hepatitis.
37:09
At the time, no one had any inkling that foul play occurred, but it turned out the Marie
37:14
Hitt taken out a $31,000 insurance policy on her husband right before his illness started.
37:21
And Marie blew through that money fairly quickly and reached the point where she was heavily
37:25
in debt and receiving calls from creditors.
37:29
While in 1979, history would seemingly repeat itself when Carol, who was 18 years old at this
37:34
point, became seriously ill and displayed a number of the same symptoms her father had.
37:41
While Carol attempted to recover, her mother secretly gave her injections which were supposed
37:46
to alleviate her nausea, but it only seemed to make things worse and Marie told Carol not
37:51
to tell anyone about these shots.
37:54
While all this was going on, Mike decided to confront Marie about her financial issues,
37:59
and this took place right before he ate a breakfast his mother had cooked for him.
38:04
While lo and behold, Mike soon found himself becoming very ill though he did recover.
38:10
The big turning point occurred when Marie was arrested for passing bad checks and it turned
38:15
out she was attempting to use them to pay the premiums on a $25,000 insurance policy
38:21
she had secretly taken out on Carol years earlier.
38:25
So let this be a lesson for stupid criminals.
38:28
If you're planning to murder someone for insurance money, make sure you at least have enough
38:32
money on hand to pay for the policy.
38:35
By this point, Carol was recuperating in the hospital and Marie's arrest generated enough
38:41
suspicion that physicians decided to perform new tests on Carol and discovered that she had
38:46
a high level of arsenic in her system, which resulted in a Marie's secret ejections.
38:53
Following this revelation, the authorities decided to exude Frank's body had sure enough
38:58
a new autopsy would uncover lethal traces of arsenic in his system.
39:03
And now seemed obvious that Marie had poisoned her own husband and daughter in an attempt
39:08
to collect on their insurance policies and it likely poisoned Mike when she fed him
39:12
breakfast.
39:14
What's ironic is that Marie was described as being very kind and loving towards Frank and
39:19
Carol while she was caring for them during their illnesses, even though she was the direct
39:24
cause of sad illnesses.
39:27
Anyway Marie was first arrested for the attempted murder of Carol before she was released on
39:31
bail and in January of 1980 she was finally indicted for Frank's murder.
39:37
If things had ended there, this already would have been a crazy story, but the next development
39:43
would send things into Kuku for Cocoa Pops territory.
39:47
While she was out on bail, Marie fled to Florida and started a new life under the name Robbie
39:52
Hannon.
39:54
She soon became involved in a relationship with a man named John Holman and got married
39:58
to him, but in the summer of 1982 Marie told John that she had to go back to her home
40:04
state of Texas in order to seek treatment for an illness.
40:08
While months later John was taken by complete surprise when Robbie Hannon's twin sister
40:13
Terry suddenly showed up at his door to inform him that Robbie had succumbed to her illness.
40:19
Nope, you heard that right.
40:22
Marie had actually gone to the trouble of changing her hair and losing some weight and was
40:26
now posing as her alter ego's non-existent twin sister.
40:31
There are only three letters one can use to adequately describe this situation and they
40:35
are W, T, and F.
40:38
Anyway the facade eventually came tumbling down and once the authorities learned that Robbie
40:49
and attempted murder and received sentences of life imprisonment plus twenty years.
40:55
In February of 1987 Marie was granted a three-day furlough from prison in order to visit
41:01
John who remarkably had still decided to stay married to her.
41:06
But she used this opportunity to attempt an escape and spent the next few days hiding out
41:10
in the woods.
41:12
Unfortunately for her, the terrible weather and freezing temperatures caused her to succumb
41:17
to hypothermia at the age of 53.
41:20
So I guess it's only appropriate for the saga Marie Hilly ended in a very unconventional
41:25
fashion.
41:26
So happy Mother's Day everyone and if any of you out there have mothers who have been
41:31
giving you secret injections and asking you not to tell anyone, run!
41:45
We leave the Haunted Greenhouse and enter a long forgotten cemetery where the graves of
41:51
mothers and children lie side by side, their stories etched into the crumbling headstones.
41:59
Admits the tombstones, we encounter Allison and Maggie from their podcast, Coffee and Cases.
42:12
The Christmas tree lights were gleaming and they were illuminating the wrapped gifts sitting
42:18
in the corner of the room.
42:21
In 23 year old Stanley Anita Moore's home at 2249 Lafayette Street in Denver, Colorado.
42:30
During the early morning hours of Monday, December 13th, 1971.
42:36
I'm also going to picture a root off the Red Nose Render playing in the background.
42:41
Yeah all the Christmas movies coming on television, it's a wonderful life maybe playing.
42:47
Now that is probably your thinking an odd name for a girl.
42:53
Yes she was personable and outgoing but Stanley Anita was known as Stanita by her friends
43:02
and family so they just kind of merged the two names.
43:05
Yes she had gotten the unique name because of her dad Stan Lee Moore.
43:11
So he and Stanita's mother had already had three children all girls and now in his wife's
43:18
fourth pregnancy he was desperate for a little boy.
43:24
So when their fourth child was another girl, he decided to pass along his name to her anyway
43:33
calling her Stanley after himself Anita.
43:37
I kind of like it though.
43:40
And her parents did go on to have boys so he was a little premature in passing along the
43:46
name but yeah it's very unique.
43:48
And Stanita was fierce in a way that all of the best people are.
43:54
Her younger brother Steven recalled that Stanita was always his protector and that if Stanita
44:01
was near no bully ever bothered him.
44:05
I love that.
44:06
Yeah she would stand up to wrong no matter what form it came in.
44:10
As an adult Stanita was a hard worker and her role is a nurse aid at Presbyterian Hospital
44:16
but her greatest joy came in being a mother because again she's a protector.
44:24
Yeah I was going to say she's going to be a mom of air.
44:27
She was an independent single mom to a little girl named Shandale.
44:33
The night of Sunday December 12th 1971 into the early morning hours of Monday December 13th.
44:42
Stanita and her then 18 month old daughter were at home with Shandale already fast asleep
44:49
obviously in her crib in another room.
44:53
Which I guess I shouldn't say obviously because she's 18 months old so she could be waking
44:56
up in the middle of the night but she was asleep this night in the other room.
45:01
And while we don't have many details concerning what happened that night here is what we do
45:08
know and I will warn you it is very little and I'll explain to you why in just a moment.
45:17
Someone entered Stanita's home that evening though we don't know if that entrance into
45:23
the home were forcible or if Stanita had let the person in.
45:29
But while my research yielded no details as to the murder weapon we do know that Stanita
45:37
was strangled to death.
45:40
I don't know if the choice to strangle with one's own hands versus using an instrument
45:48
indicates anything about the perpetrator psyche but it would at least to me seem to indicate
45:56
more premeditation if it were done with an instrument like a shoelace in the most
46:03
right.
46:04
Right.
46:05
But again with what little reports there are none of them specify but either way the
46:14
one silver lining is that Stanita's daughter Shandale was not harmed and had slept through
46:22
the incident safely in her crib.
46:26
That is a silver lining for sure.
46:30
We do know that Stanita's family received a call in those early morning hours of December
46:35
13th telling them that something horrific had happened and that they needed to rush to
46:40
Stanita's home right away.
46:43
But again we don't know who called them to tell them that they needed to come over who
46:48
called the police.
46:50
One of those details have been shared but they couldn't believe what had happened.
46:56
In the aftermath, Shandale was adopted by one of Stanita's sisters and despite all of the
47:02
horrors that had already happened in her young life the family made it their mission to
47:07
counteract those horrors with a continual outpouring of love over the years to Shandale.
47:15
Now as I just mentioned, there is a lot of information that is missing.
47:21
Key questions still unanswered.
47:24
Important details, nonexistent.
47:27
This is partly due to the fact that the police files for the case no longer exist in their
47:35
entirety.
47:36
Oh how did that happen?
47:38
So the family just recently discovered that so much of the documentation has been missing
47:47
and they recently discovered that it has been missing for at least a decade.
47:52
Wow.
47:53
I don't understand.
47:54
We've talked about that on our show before.
47:57
Being discarded or things disappearing.
48:00
I want to see how that happens.
48:02
So here's how they explained it.
48:14
The case is that we are not going to be able to see the case.
48:34
Of how the stringulation was enacted.
49:04
However, spokesperson Shepman wrote an email to that same reporter Vaughn noting that,
49:12
"Well, they may just as likely have been destroyed by water damage.
49:18
They could still be available but just accidentally misfiled somewhere else in the archives."
49:26
Or even that a detective had checked out the files to work on the case years ago and just
49:31
never returned them.
49:32
Okay, but I think at least that one you would have record of the detective's check in the
49:37
files.
49:38
I would hope.
49:39
As we know, a lot of cold cases have breaks because the stories remain in the public consciousness.
49:47
Unfortunately, that didn't happen in Stanitas case which received only a couple of articles
49:54
at the time, including one that ran on April 9, 1972 called, "Who killed Mother of Sleeping
50:02
Baby."
50:03
And then nothing.
50:06
Even now, there is little information to help keep the story alive, only a handful of articles.
50:13
And with that, I've pretty much given you all of the information that has been shared.
50:20
Wow.
50:21
That is why you, as the listener, are even more important.
50:27
Just because we don't have a lot of information to share doesn't mean that these stories don't
50:32
need to be shared.
50:35
Despite the bleak outlook, there can still be hope, even though it has now been more than
50:40
50 years since the crime occurred.
50:44
In Kevin Vaughn's article in 9 News, Shandale said of her mother, quote, "I don't get to know
50:49
her, but I wish I could have."
50:53
End quote.
50:55
That kind of loss is heartbreaking.
50:59
However, while Shandale doesn't have memories of her mother's kindness and love, she can
51:05
feel the outpouring of it from others who are willing to share her mother's story and
51:11
to push for answers.
51:12
And answers are still possible.
51:23
As we wander deeper into the graveyard, we come across Nina, who tells a tale from her
51:29
podcast already gone.
51:41
There are a lot of terrible ways to die.
51:44
Cancer, drowning, and Alzheimer's-related illness.
51:49
But for me, the worst way to go is being burned alive.
51:53
David Cole and Timothy Fowler were close friends from Deerfield, a small town in Lennoway,
52:00
County, Michigan.
52:02
Deerfield is a very small town, and it's located about 60 miles southwest of the city of Detroit.
52:09
In the spring of 1982, David and Tim were nearing the conclusion of their sophomore year of high
52:15
school.
52:16
The two spent a lot of time together, and they loved working on cars.
52:20
Their dream was to open an auto shop after high school, a place where they could earn money
52:25
doing what they loved.
52:27
Their families described the boys as "good kids" who stayed out of trouble.
52:34
Saturday, May 8, 1982, the day before Mother's Day.
52:39
David's mom and stepdad are off to West Virginia, they're visiting relatives.
52:44
David invited Tim over to spend the night at his parents' farmhouse just a few miles outside
52:48
of Deerfield.
52:50
But both David and Tim's parents were reluctant to allow a friend to stay over because of
52:55
the lack of parental supervision.
52:57
However, the boys were persistent, and their parents gave in.
53:02
Tim went to David's farmhouse for the night.
53:05
But on Mother's Day, May 9 at approximately 12.45 am, firefighters are called to the farmhouse.
53:13
When they arrive, the wooden structure is engulfed in flames.
53:17
When the fire is extinguished and the smoke clears, a horrifying discovery is made.
53:23
The bodies of David and Tim are found on the first floor, locked inside of a windowless bathroom.
53:30
The boys were still dressed in street clothes, leading investigators to believe that they were
53:35
awake when the fire started.
53:37
Evidence at the scene made it look like a person or persons came to the home and forced
53:42
the boys into the bathroom, locking the door from the outside, trapping them in a small,
53:48
windowless room.
53:50
This person or persons then poured gasoline on the floor of the home and lit a match.
53:57
The gasoline appeared to have come from a can that was usually kept out in the barn.
54:02
During their investigation, officers found the nearly destroyed can in the remnants of the
54:06
fire, along with the bodies of Tim and David.
54:11
A 1983 story in the citizen patriot newspaper reported that gasoline was poured in front of
54:17
the door and ignited.
54:19
But more recent stories claim that the fire started in the kitchen, which was adjacent
54:24
to the bathroom.
54:26
The farmhouse where the boys lived and died was older, made mostly of wood, and the first
54:31
floor bathroom was part of an addition to the home.
54:35
This was the lack of windows and the strange door setup where it locked from the outside.
54:42
When the bodies of the boys were recovered, investigators learned that one of the boys
54:46
had lowered himself into the bathtub, filling it with water in an attempt to survive the
54:51
blaze.
54:52
The fiberglass tub melted around him, leaving investigators with a chilling teblow.
55:00
When I initially covered this horrific double murder on the podcast in April of 2019,
55:06
it's episode 114 of your interested in an in-depth look at the case.
55:10
I spoke with Kim Spencer, the younger sister of Timothy Fowler.
55:15
She believes that locals committed the murders, perhaps kids from a neighboring high school
55:19
were involved.
55:21
But back in 1982, at the time of the blaze, police interviewed teenagers from the nearby town
55:27
of Petersburg, but the interviews did not move the case forward.
55:33
Detective Kevin Greca of Lenaway County Sheriff's Department is the investigator in charge
55:38
of this case, and he told the press that he developed various scenarios leading to the
55:43
fiery death of the boys.
55:45
But these scenarios generally come back to a disagreement over a girl, or a dispute over
55:50
drugs.
55:53
Kim's sister said that he was not a drug user, but it's possible that he and David were
55:58
targeted to send a message to someone else.
56:01
Listeners, it's my understanding that some of the people police looked at in this case have
56:06
since passed away, and that another potential suspect is in prison on charges unrelated
56:11
to the Mother's Day murders.
56:15
Police believe that even today there are people in the area with knowledge of who started
56:19
the fire that led to the deaths of two children.
56:23
With the right information, Detective Greca is confident that this case is solvable.
56:28
If you have information about the Mother's Day murders, contact Detective Greca at the
56:33
Lenaway County Sheriff's Office.
56:35
He can be reached at 517-264-5364.
56:40
[Music]
57:04
As we continue to explore the long forgotten cemetery, we notice a secluded corner,
57:10
surrounded and creeping ivy, and overgrown plants.
57:15
Here we encounter Alicia and Sierra, who share a chilling tale from their podcast, twisted
57:24
and uncorked.
57:25
Hello everybody, I'm Alicia, and I am Sierra, and we have a story for you.
57:34
In honor of this Mother's Day episode, we will be telling you about Ma Barker.
57:39
She was the matriarch of the Barker, Carpey, gang that operated during the 1900s in Chicago.
57:48
After her husband of 35 years leaves the family, Kate, Ma, Barker, was left to her own devices
57:55
and encouraged her son's criminal lifestyle.
57:58
She became the alleged mastermind behind all of the activity that the gang got up to.
58:04
Like all good stories though, we have to go back to the beginning.
58:08
Kate Barker was actually born Arizona Donnie Clark on October 8, 1873 in Ashgrove, Missouri.
58:17
Her parents John and Emily in Clark affectionately called her Ari.
58:22
Love the name, Arizona and Ari and Emily.
58:26
Just put it in there.
58:27
Same, so pretty.
58:28
Same.
58:29
In 1892 she married George Barker, and they went on to have four sons together.
58:34
Herman in 1893, Lloyd in 1897, Arthur in 1899, and Fred in 1901.
58:45
George would take any job that he could to sport his large family.
58:49
Even if all of them weren't the best paying in order to put food on the table.
58:54
His jobs would range from a service engineer to a clerk.
58:58
Kate stayed at home and cared for the boys and the home, and in 1910 one of George's jobs
59:05
brought the family to Oklahoma.
59:07
Hopefully it was better paying.
59:10
Most people would focus on settling their roots, continuing to live the All-American dream,
59:14
you know, but this was right around the time that the Barker children started committing
59:19
crimes in order to make money for the family.
59:23
They were repeatedly involved in various gang activity and the seriousness of their crimes
59:28
would only escalate as they got older.
59:32
In 1927 Herman died during a robbery shootout.
59:36
He shot out officer point blank in the mouth and then turned the gun to himself, knowing
59:41
full well that guns would soon be on him.
59:44
That or he just didn't want to go to jail.
59:46
The motive behind this action is unclear.
59:50
Goodness.
59:51
After the death of Herman Mr. Barker was crushed and he couldn't stand that his family was
59:56
living this way with his wife Kate knowing all about it.
1:00:00
He left the family to avoid connection with the criminal lifestyle of his wife and children.
1:00:07
From 1928 to 1931 the Barker boys were in prison and was no one to do her bidding for her.
1:00:14
Ma Barker lived a life of poverty often turning to sex work for income.
1:00:20
In 1931 when Fred Barker was released from prison he founded the Barker Carpey gang with former
1:00:27
prison inmate and friend Alvin Carpey.
1:00:31
On December 9, 1931 Fred and Alvin killed Sheriff Roy Kelly in Missouri during a robbery which
1:00:38
forced Ma and the rest of the gang to flee Oklahoma.
1:00:42
A manhunt ensued for Fred and Alvin with Ma listed as an accomplice.
1:00:49
When Arthur was released from prison in 1932 he quickly joined the gang.
1:00:55
So no prison reform at all here from anyone it seems.
1:00:59
Just from crime to crime to jail to crime.
1:01:03
The group would be on the run committing crimes throughout St. Paul, Minnesota and Chicago
1:01:07
Illinois over the next few years looking over their shoulder constantly for police out
1:01:13
for them.
1:01:15
The blutes began portraying Ma Barker as a ruthless killer that would plot their crimes out and
1:01:21
protect the gang at all costs.
1:01:24
From this point up until 1935 the gang was highly sought after by the FBI as well for obvious
1:01:31
reasons.
1:01:33
On January 16, 1935 FBI swarmed Ma's house.
1:01:40
A tip off to police indicated that family was living in Oklahoma, Florida.
1:01:45
This resulted in a four hour shootout between the Barkers and police because they refused
1:01:51
to surrender.
1:01:53
Jesus.
1:01:54
Alvin Carpey and two of the Barker boys had left the house three days prior for a job, leaving
1:02:00
Ma and the youngest of the boys, Fred, alone in the house at the time of the shootout.
1:02:06
Once the smoke cleared, both Ma and Fred were dead.
1:02:11
Arthur Barker and Alvin Carpey continued the gang despite all of the losses they had experienced
1:02:17
thus far, and in November of 1935 the boys robbed a male train in Ohio.
1:02:24
In January 1936 postal inspectors found Alvin Carpey hiding out New Orleans and he surrendered
1:02:32
without a single shot being fired.
1:02:35
Clearly he thought better of his next moves after what happened to Ma and Fred.
1:02:40
After this the Barker Carpey gang was finally dismantled.
1:02:50
Finally, in the shadows of an ancient crypt, we meet Josh.
1:03:03
Josh is my brother, and together we are going to share a terrifying tale of a mother's
1:03:09
dark deeds from a podcast we do together, Mystery Inc.
1:03:23
Well Shane, we have a story about a mother who gave birth to a legend yet treated her like
1:03:29
a machine.
1:03:32
We have seen her daughter to work herself into an early grave.
1:03:36
We have all seen Dorothy skipping along the yellow brick road to find her way back home
1:03:41
in the Wizard of Oz.
1:03:44
Join by friends she wants nothing more than to go back home to her loving family.
1:03:50
If you know about the fabulously tragic life of Frances Gum or her stage name Judy Garland,
1:03:58
I bet she would have opted to stay over the rainbow.
1:04:04
Legends never die, but they often grow from unnurished soil.
1:04:09
Judy Garland was is and will always be mother, but let's learn about the horrible woman who
1:04:17
gave birth to her.
1:04:19
An ex-Vaudville actress turned bitter wife and mother who basically sold her daughter to
1:04:25
a studio.
1:04:26
Her name was Ethel Marion Milne.
1:04:30
Without her we would never have met our beloved Dorothy, but maybe Frances would have lived
1:04:36
a longer happier life without the trauma from her mother remaining with her until her
1:04:42
early demise.
1:04:45
Frances was born the youngest of three daughters, two Frances Gum and Ethel Milne.
1:04:51
When the couple found out they were pregnant for the third time, they panicked due to the
1:04:56
financial cost and sought to abort the fetus.
1:05:01
After being unable to find someone to do the procedure, the couple, desperate, took matters
1:05:07
into their own hands and did everything they could to cause a miscarriage.
1:05:12
They already had two girls and their relationship was rocky and they often separated.
1:05:19
Their efforts went in vain though as Frances Gum was born on June 10th, 1922 in Grand
1:05:26
Rapids, Minnesota.
1:05:28
She quickly became the family favorite.
1:05:31
As even at a young age she had a star presence about her.
1:05:36
Ethel had all of her daughters performing as soon as they could walk.
1:05:40
Judy first began appearing on stage at the age of only two.
1:05:45
This was before child labor laws, but they still wouldn't have applied to the poor girls.
1:05:51
Many businesses, entertainment and paper delivery are, let's say, more than lacks about the exploitation
1:05:59
of child labor still to this day.
1:06:03
In 1926 the family moved to Lancaster, California for two reasons.
1:06:09
One was they were hopeful that they could launch the motion picture career of the sisters
1:06:14
who eventually began using the stage name, the Garland Sisters.
1:06:19
As their surname Gum just wasn't glamorous enough.
1:06:24
The second reason was to escape the increasing rumors that Judy's father was gay.
1:06:31
Well that explains her panache.
1:06:35
By the time Judy was 10 her mother began to increase her workload.
1:06:40
It was clear to Ethel that all of her hopes lay with her youngest daughter.
1:06:45
Ethel began putting all three girls on anphetamines to make them wake up and work.
1:06:52
Then she would give them sleeping pills to make them shut off for just a few lucky hours
1:06:56
of rest.
1:06:58
Judy said that her mother used to threaten to hurt her if she didn't perform, even when
1:07:04
she was sick.
1:07:07
Ethel would force her to go out on stage.
1:07:10
But she also stated that she only felt loved when she was singing.
1:07:16
In 1935 Judy's father Frances fell ill due to meningitis and died in the hospital, leaving
1:07:23
the girls alone with the will of their horrible mother.
1:07:28
That made Ethel increase her efforts to push her girls to start them even more.
1:07:33
When she began forcing Judy to audition, studio executives worked extremely critical of her
1:07:38
physical appearance and Ethel started forcing their wishes upon her daughter.
1:07:44
They made her stick to a strict diet and weight loss pills to prevent her from gaining
1:07:49
any weight.
1:07:51
You know in the Wizard of Oz she has little insert in her nose to give it a better shape.
1:07:58
Eventually she would be put on a diet of black coffee, chicken broth and cigarettes, all
1:08:05
with her mother's approval.
1:08:07
By the time Judy graced our screens as the girl and the Ruby slippers, she had already appeared
1:08:13
in several films.
1:08:15
But Oz is what launched her into fame.
1:08:18
For her mother living vicariously through her daughter, it would have been wonderful.
1:08:23
Ethel didn't care about her daughter at all, only keeping her new feeling of finally having
1:08:28
fame.
1:08:30
For Judy was in constant search for plain human kindness.
1:08:36
By 1941 she had married her first husband and quickly became pregnant.
1:08:41
Judy was ecstatic about it and grateful for the opportunity to have someone to love and
1:08:47
to love her unconditionally.
1:08:51
Sadly though, studio executives didn't think being pregnant suited their carefully crafted
1:08:57
image of the beautiful virgin that was in Judy and told her mother to convince her to abort
1:09:04
it.
1:09:06
Judy refused, but her mother still held so much power over her that she went to her home,
1:09:15
made her get in the car and drove her to have the procedure.
1:09:20
She was now in her 20s and a married woman, but the constant neglect from her own mother
1:09:25
held so much power over her that she gave up the one thing she wanted most in the world.
1:09:33
Love
1:09:35
Throughout her life, Judy was married five times and had three children whom she loved
1:09:40
and adored.
1:09:41
Liza Menelli still speaks so lovingly of her wonderful and loving mother.
1:09:48
Judy starred in Glow and dimmed several times throughout her short life.
1:09:53
Before she died, she had begun a stage revival and received standing evations each night.
1:10:00
It appeared that she was back and better than ever.
1:10:04
All of that attention must have brought up some of her old demons because she began to
1:10:09
substance abuse again.
1:10:12
The old habit her mother had given her as a child was something she just couldn't
1:10:16
beat.
1:10:18
And on June 22, 1969, Judy Garland was found dead of an overdose in the bathroom of her
1:10:25
rented home in London.
1:10:28
So come to the addiction that her mother had given her.
1:10:32
Her body had been worn out from the brutal conditions that Judy had grown accustomed to
1:10:36
from the age of two.
1:10:39
Ethel Marion Melney died 16 years before her daughter in 1953.
1:10:45
She was living alone and working in the office of a factory.
1:10:49
Her body was found in the parking garage by a fellow employee.
1:10:53
She had suffered from a heart attack on her way into the office.
1:10:57
It was found on her knees leaning against a car.
1:11:02
Ethel had let a studio basically have all ownership of her daughter from appearance to when she
1:11:08
could have a child.
1:11:11
On her the addiction that ultimately ended her life forced her to abort a wanted fetus,
1:11:19
abused her into performing mentally and emotionally scarring her forever.
1:11:25
And that's just all the stuff we know about.
1:11:29
The story of Judy Garland is most definitely a sad one.
1:11:34
I had known that the studio had owned her pretty much, but it never occurred to me to think
1:11:40
about how her own mother treated her until now.
1:11:46
As I watched the Wizard of Oz as a kid, Dorothy seemed like an adult to me and so happy.
1:11:55
It goes to show you the phenomenal acting ability Judy possessed, making the whole world
1:12:01
fall in love with her all while being abused and unloved by her own mother.
1:12:09
There's no business like show business.
1:12:18
Our journey through the hidden recesses of motherhood comes to an end, leaving us with haunting
1:12:24
memories and chilling tales.
1:12:28
As we part ways, remember to cherish the love and sacrifices of the mothers in your life.
1:12:36
But never forget the beneath the surface, darkness can lurk.
1:12:42
Thank you for joining us on this spine tingling adventure and a special thanks to all of our
1:12:48
talented podcaster friends for sharing their eerie stories.
1:12:54
Remember all the podcasts you heard are listed in the show notes in order of appearance.
1:13:02
Go take a listen.
1:13:04
Stay vigilant to your listener and we'll meet again in the shadows of our next Macobb
1:13:10
journey.
1:13:10
[MUSIC]
1:13:20
[ Silence ]