Dark Downeast
Episodes
The Murder of Roberta "Bobbie" Miller (New Hampshire)
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When 54-year-old Bobbie Miller and her dog were found dead in their Gilford, New Hampshire home one November afternoon in 2010, it didn’t take long ...
The Disappearance of John Lango (Pennsylvania)
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On January 1, 1988, 17-year-old John Lango walked out the front door of his home in Pottsville, Pennsylvania never to return. He was treated as a runa...
The Disappearance of Audrey Groat (Vermont)
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It has been more than three decades since the day 41-year-old Audrey Groat left her Northfield, Vermont home supposedly for an afternoon of shopping o...
The Victims of the Hitch-Hike Murderer (Massachusetts)
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On a chilly December night in 1972 just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, what might have been just a routine traffic stop took an unexpected turn whe...
The Murder of Gwendolyn Taylor (Massachusetts)
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the night Gwendolyn Taylor was attacked just outside her apartment building in Dorchester, Massachusetts, witnesses watched helplessly as an unknow...
The Suspicious Death of Barbara Ann Ripley (Maine)
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It was early afternoon of September 29, 1971 and 11-year old Barbara Ann Ripley should’ve been getting off the bus at home in North Yarmouth, Maine ...
The Disappearance of Nadine Mendonça (Massachusetts)
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When 25-year old Nadine Mendonça went to her favorite hang out in downtown Fall River, Massachusetts for a casual night out, neither she nor her fami...
The Murder of Matthew Margolies (Connecticut)
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When 13-year old Matthew Margolies didn’t come home for supper on the night of August 31, 1984, police in Greenwich, Connecticut launched a full sca...
The Murder of Jon Pownall (Maine)
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1973: Just months into production of a new and exciting project, film director Jon Pownall was found dead at his Monument Square office in Port...
UPDATE: The Murders of David Nixon & Steven Ray Johnson (Maine)
23 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A special update to this week’s episode, Murder on Goose Rocks Beach, covering the cases of David J. Nixon and Steven Ray Johnson. View source mate...
The Murders of David Nixon & Steven Ray Johnson (Maine)
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1987: On the night of June 8, 1987, David Nixon had just hung up the phone with his father. He called back home to let his folks know that he ...
The Murder of Jimmy Stone (Connecticut)
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
CONNECTICUT, 2018: On the night of May 18, 2018, 36-year old James “Jimmy” Stone Jr. was loading up his belongings from the trailer where he once ...
The Murder of Patricia Moreno (Massachusetts)
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 1991: On July 20th, 1991, 17-year-old Patricia Moreno sat on the fire escape at her foster family’s apartment building. She often use...
The Disappearance of Ralph Jean-Marie (Vermont)
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 2020: On April 15, 2020, 38-year old Ralph “Rizz” Jean-Marie was reported missing from a motel where he was living in Barre, Vermont. The...
The Victims of the Last Call Killer (New York)
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW YORK CITY, 1990s: On May 28, 2001, after an eight year long investigation spanning three states, New York police officers finally closed in on the...
The Murder of Frederic Alan Spencer (Maine)
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1973: In April of 1973, the vibrant college town of Orono, Maine was shattered by a shocking murder that sent tremors through the University of...
The Murders of Laura Kempton & Tammy Little (New Hampshire)
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
PORTSMOUTH, 1981 & 1982: In just over a year span during the early 1980s in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the lives of two young women were ended by an a...
The Murder of Raymond "Butch" Weed (Maine)
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 2003: On the night of December 23, 2003, two friends dropping off Christmas gifts at the home of 40-year old Raymond “Butch” Weed were shoc...
The Murder of Anita Piteau, The Huntington Beach Jane Doe (California)
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On March 14, 1968, kids playing in the oil fields of Huntington Beach, California discovered the brutally beaten body of a young woman. Investigators ...
The Murder of Anne "Nancy" Payson Holt (Maine)
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1976: Anne Payson Holt, better known as Nancy, was almost 80-years old, but not quite yet. Her milestone birthday and the fancy gala planned in...
The Disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis (Massachusetts)
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
BOSTON, 2014: On February 4, 2014, 13-year old Kristopher Bryan Lewis got off the school bus at his usual stop on the corner of West Selden and Morton...
The Murder of Louise Chaput (New Hampshire)
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 2001: It was late fall of 2001 and Louise Chaput was looking forward to her weekend plans of hiking the White Mountains with friends. B...
The Murders Aboard the Herbert Fuller (Massachusetts)
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ATLANTIC OCEAN, 1896: The chilled, windy air of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded the ship past midnight on July 14, 1896. Nine days into its voyage betwe...
The Murder of Charlotte A. Dunn (Maine)
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1971: The quiet of a dark late spring evening in Bangor, Maine was interrupted by frightened screams inside an Otis Street Apartment building. ...
Sylvia Baker (3 of Spades, Connecticut) from The Deck
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sylvia Baker, 28, went downstairs on July 17th, 1982 to take out the trash. Sylvia never returned to her apartment, where her two young kids were watc...
The Disappearance of Bryan Nisenfeld (Rhode Island)
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On February 6, 1997, 18-year old Bryan Nisenfeld sat in his afternoon literature class at Roger Williams University in Providence, Rhode Island. Bryan...
The Murder of Roy Weber (Rhode Island)
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
RHODE ISLAND, 2003: On Christmas morning in 2003, a security guard on the Johnson & Wales Harborside campus in Providence, Rhode Island discovered the...
The Suspicious Deaths of Janet & Stephen Dow (New Hampshire)
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1982: On December 10, 1982, a car sat in a ditch engulfed in a furious blaze. Janet Dow and her son, Stephen Dow, were inside that vehi...
The Disappearance of Brenda LaCombe (Massachusetts)
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 1982: For over 40 years, the family of 19-year old Brenda LaCombe has wondered what happened to the single mother of a little baby boy ...
The Murder of George Jodoin (New Hampshire)
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 2001: On December 27, 2001, a friend arrived at 50-year old George Jodoin’s farmhouse in Auburn, New Hampshire, expecting to get a tu...
The Murder of Jane Britton (Massachusetts)
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 1969: It was the morning of January 7, 1969 and 23-year old Harvard University graduate student Jane Britton should have been in class ...
Introducing The Fall Line: “Sherry or Cheryl” Jane Doe
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In March of 1976, a young woman was discovered, with no obvious trauma, in the Harpeth River in Nashville; she carried on her a picture of a little bo...
The Murder of Margaret Pizio (Massachusetts)
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 1979: It was August 20, 1979 and 35-year old Margaret Pizio was clocking into her overnight shift at the Susse Chalet Motor Inn in Seek...
The Disappearance of Reina Morales Rojas (Massachusetts)
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 2022: On November 26, 2022, 41-year old Reina Morales Rojas got into a car in East Boston, MA and some time later was dropped off in ne...
The Murders of Diane Compagna & Anne Psaradelis (New Hampshire)
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1973: On July 11, 1973, 15-year old Diane Compagna swung her beach bag over her shoulder and headed out the door of her house in Merrim...
The Murder of Bessie Selek (Maine)
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 1999: On the night of April 20, 1999, 41-year old Bessie Selek was walking along Route 202 near the Waterboro-Lyman, Maine town line when she w...
The Murder of Rita Curran Part 2 (Vermont)
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1971: Rita Curran and her family waited over 50 years for closure in her unsolved homicide, but with a renewed investigation beginning in 201...
The Murder of Rita Curran Part 1 (Vermont)
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1971: After more than 50 years, 24-year Rita Curran's murder finally has closure. In this two part series, you'll hear the details of an inve...
The Suspicious Death of Denise Scott Ramsey (Maine)
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 2021: On Mother’s Day weekend in 2021, skeletal remains were discovered in a shed on private property belonging to a man who had passed away ...
The Murder of Angela Belisle (Vermont)
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1981: During the earliest moments of the investigation, the death of 35-year old Angela Belisle was presumed to be the result of dangerous te...
The Murder of Ronald Rogers Part 2 (Vermont)
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1971: In a homicide investigation, determining the identity of the victim is an obvious and crucial step in the pursuit of justice. Without k...
The Murder of Ronald Rogers Part 1 (Vermont)
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1971: It was 10:30 p.m. the night before the 4th of July in 1971 when a family returning to their cottage near Killington Ski Resort in Vermo...
The Murder of Helen Jewett (New York)
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
NEW YORK CITY, 1836: In the early morning hours of April 10, 1836, the madam of a New York City brothel awoke to find 22-year old Helen Jewett's bedro...
The Still Unsolved Murder of Darien Richardson (Maine)
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE, 2010: In January of 2023, yet another year passed without justice for Darien Richardson and her family.You first heard Darien Richardson’s st...
The Murders of Jack & Florence Bettencourt (Maine)
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
LIBERTY, MAINE 1973: As the wind and rain picked up on a dark December night in Liberty, Maine, Joaquin "Jack" Bettencourt closed up his popular secon...
The Suspicious Death of Morgan Patten Part 2 (North Carolina)
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Steve and Renee Patten learned that their daughter, Morgan Patten, was killed in a car accident far away from her home in New England, their imme...
The Suspicious Death of Morgan Patten Part 1 (North Carolina)
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Morgan Renee Patten was supposed to be spending a weekend with her fiancé celebrating their engagement in Jacksonville, North Carolina where he was i...
The Murders of Sandra Valade, Pamela Mason & Rena Paquette (New Hampshire)
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since February 1964, rumors have swirled across New Hampshire about the death of Rena Paquette. It has been almost sixty years and still the truth rem...
The Murders of Carrie Moss & Sonya Moore (New Hampshire)
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On July 25, 1989, 14-year old Carrie Moss, wearing a one-piece swimsuit, stone-washed jeans, and a white t-shirt, hopped on her bike and pedaled off t...
The Murder of Susan Taraskiewicz (Massachusetts)
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Police first thought Susan Taraskiewicz’s murder to be a random act of violence, but soon the investigation revealed a much deeper conspiracy. Was S...
The Haunted Lighthouses of Seguin & Boon Island (Maine)
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As beautiful as they are, lighthouses have a dark side, too. The legend and lore surrounding the light stations of New England date back hundreds of y...
The Murder of Judith Flagg (Maine)
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
FAYETTE, 1983: When Ted Flagg returned home from work on a cold day in January 1983, he was not warmly greeted by his wife as usual. Instead, he found...
The Disappearances of Tina & Bethany Sinclair (New Hampshire)
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In February of 2001, the calm in small town Chesterfield, New Hampshire was disrupted by an investigation carried out by New Hampshire State Police. M...
The Murder of Tammy Dickson (Maine)
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
SOUTH PORTLAND, 1994: 22-year old Tammy Dickson was preparing for a new start in life. She was a recently divorced young mother and was looking ahead ...
The Disappearance of Robert "Bobby" Desmond (Maine)
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Robert "Bobby" Desmond's case is the oldest on the Maine State Police Unsolved Missing Persons case list but his story has never been told. Detective ...
UPDATED: The Murder of Leslie Spellman (Maine)
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve heard Leslie Spellman’s story on Dark Downeast before. I was initially compelled to tell Leslie Spellman’s story because I couldn’t bel...
A Conversation with Ashley Flowers, Host of Crime Junkie
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Flowers is the creator and host of the Crime Junkie podcast and founder and CEO of audiochuck, the podcast network behind even more chart-toppi...
The Cons of Mair Smith Part 2 (Maine)
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Would you know how to spot a scam in your life before it was too late?For years, Johnathan Walton didn’t know that the woman he called his best frie...
The Cons of Mair Smith Part 1 (Maine)
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Johnathan Walton hosted a wine and cheese night in his Los Angeles apartment in 2013, he couldn’t have known that the event would invite a shar...
The Murders of Dominic Kirmil and Irvin Hilton (Massachusetts)
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
He committed his first murder at 15-years old, ending the life of an innocent shopkeeper as he and his buddies made their way around Lawrence, Massach...
The Murder of Kenneth Zernicke (Maine)
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Zernicke Holmes left work on the night of September 24, 2015 to find her phone flooded with missed calls and messages. When she was finally ab...
The Death of Elmer McCurdy (Maine)
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Strung up in the corner of a roadside amusement park fun house was the figure of a man coated so many times with phosphorus paint that it glowed in th...
The Deaths of John Chakalos & Linda Carman Part 3 (Connecticut)
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ACTIVE CASE, PART 3: In October of 2016, about a month after he was plucked from a life raft after a week at sea, Nathan Carman walked into the privat...
The Deaths of John Chakalos & Linda Carman Part 2 (Connecticut)
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ACTIVE CASE, PART 2: Nathan Carman was 23-years old when his boat the Chicken Pox sank during a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island, presumably...
The Deaths of John Chakalos & Linda Carman Part 1 (Connecticut)
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ACTIVE CASE, PART 1: When the daughter of wealthy real estate developer John Chakalos walked into her father’s Connecticut home one morning in Decem...
The Murder of Blanche Kimball (Maine)
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
AUGUSTA, ME 1976: The murder of 70-year old Augusta resident Blanche Kimball remained a cold case for decades until a new tip, advancements in DNA tec...
ANNOUNCEMENT: Missing Kim
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Missing Kim, a Dark Downeast mini-documentary is out now at missingkim.com.If you have information that could help in the investigation, please contac...
The Murder of Florence Small (New Hampshire)
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The fire horn rang out in Ossipee, New Hampshire around 10 p.m. on September 28, 1916. The blaze at Frederick and Florence Small's cottage on the lake...
The Serial Killings of Albert Flick (Maine)
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Albert Flick was released from his first prison sentence for killing his wife, he restarted his pattern of threatening and victimizing women. But...
The Disappearance of Ellen Choate (Maine)
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NEWPORT, MAINE 1975: Ellen Choate was ready to start her new job. So ready, that she hopped a train from Philadelphia to Boston just hours after she g...
The Murder of Robert McKee (Maine)
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It was just before 4 a.m. on June 20, 1975 in Newport, Maine. The sky was just warming with hints of dawn and the air was quiet save for the buzz of t...
The Disappearance of Judith Leo-Coneys Part 2 (Vermont)
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It was described as one of Vermont’s most frustrating cold cases. A dedicated mother and beloved school teacher disappeared in November of 1979, wit...
The Disappearance of Judith Leo-Coneys Part 1 (Vermont)
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
VERMONT, 1979: When the vehicle of Judith Leo-Coneys turned up at a junkyard in Roxbury, Vermont, it was the first big clue in the disappearance of th...
Inside the State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit (Maine)
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Semper Memento. Always Remember. Those words guide the work of the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit. In this special release episode, I peel ...
The Murder of Dorthea Burke (Maine)
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
STOCKTON SPRINGS, 1984: Nearly four decades is a long time to wait for justice. In the case of Dorthea "Dot" Burke, time proved to be exactly what det...
The Disappearance of Russell Bean (New Hampshire)
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1978: When State Police investigators started digging in March of 1988, it had been 10 years since anyone had seen Russell Bean. An inv...
The Wrongful Conviction of Isaac Knapper (Maine)
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In April 1979, the lives of two teenagers from two very different parts of the country were inextricably linked by murder. In Brewer, Maine, 17-year o...
The Murder of Lila Drew (Maine)
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
MASARDIS, MAINE 1977: The impact that murder has on a family and a community is profound and far-reaching. When a murder goes unsolved, grief is partn...
UPDATE: The Murder of Sophie Sergie (Alaska)
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: After more than two decades of searching for answers in the unsolved homicide of 20-year old Sophie Sergie, DNA evidence led d...
The Disappearance of Jesus De La Cruz (Massachusetts)
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS 1996: 6-year old Jesus De La Cruz was out playing with a friend on September 28, 1996 when a man approached the two young boys. Hi...
The Disappearance of Kitty Wardwell (Maine)
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
DEDHAM, MAINE 1983: For nearly three decades, the family of Kitty Collins Wardwell hoped that the whereabouts of their daughter, sister, and mother wo...
The Suspicious Death of Shawn O'Brien (Rhode Island)
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
RHODE ISLAND, 2006: Was it a seizure or did somebody murder Shawn O'Brien? His daughter, Natalia St. Louis, just wants to know the truth, but the deta...
The Murder of Sophie Sergie Part 2 (Alaska)
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
26 years is a long time to wait for answers in an unsolved homicide, but in 2019 the family of 20-year old Sophie Sergie finally had a glimmer of hope...
The Murder of Sophie Sergie, Part 1 (Alaska)
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: Sophie Sergie was a first generation college student from a small village in rural Alaska who set her eyes on building a bette...
The Murder of Douglas J. Parent (Maine)
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
WALDOBORO, MAINE 1983: Who killed well-known Waldoboro figure Douglas J. Parent? And why? His case has been on the Maine Unsolved Homicide list for de...
The Murder of Sean Conway (Maine)
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
CORNISH, MAINE 1991: Sean Conway's family has been waiting 31 years to learn what happened to their brother and son on January 16, 1991. This long-sta...
The Murder of Jason Bass & Disappearance of Adam Emery (Rhode Island)
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
RHODE ISLAND, 1990: They were sitting in their car eating clam chowder when another vehicle smashed into their rear bumper and took off. Adam Emery pu...
The Murder of Katherine Murphy (Maine)
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
WATERVILLE, MAINE 1971: Katherine Murphy was a freshman at Colby College, continuing her family legacy at Maine's mini-Ivy liberal arts school, when s...
The Murder of Michael T. Connolly (Maine)
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
PORTLAND, 1930: The early morning had been foggy and dark, and the high tide came in at 3:17 a.m. It was the perfect storm for a successful offloading...
The Suspicious Death of Alexie Adams (Maine)
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
ORONO, MAINE 2018: A young woman in a college town was found dead in the snow. From the first minutes of the investigation, police assumed she must’...
The Murder of Jack Bevins, Part 2 (Maine)
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
OGUNQUIT, 1990: When York Police Detectives found the body of John “Jack” Bevins on his bathroom floor surrounded by blood and shell casings, it w...
The Murder of Jack Bevins Part 1 (Maine)
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
OGUNQUIT, 1990: This case will challenge you. It will raise questions in your mind about consequence and justice, and what happens when an individual ...
The Murder of Thomas Napier (Maine)
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
SACO, 1993: Thomas Napier did not have an easy life. His childhood years were plagued with pain and trauma, and then as a teenager his choices landed ...
The Suspicious Death of William Costello (Massachusetts)
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
MASSACHUSETTS, 1933: When Captain William Costello was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor, the responding doctor assumed he suffered a heart att...
The Ghost Town Beneath Flagstaff Lake (Maine)
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On July 4, 1949, the villages of Flagstaff and Dead River came together, with current residents and past, for a celebration that they called Old Home ...
The Suspicious Death of Sally Maynard Moran (Maine)
25 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
QUESTIONABLE, 1953: Sally Maynard Moran left for a walk to the far side of Monhegan Island on the evening of July 9, 1953. That side of the island is ...
The Suspicious Death of Wanda Mitchell (Maine)
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
UNDETERMINED, 1980: She was one day shy of her 15th birthday when Wanda Mitchell ran away from home. Less than a year later, her remains were recovere...
The Suspicious Death of Marcia Moore (Washington)
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
FROM AWAY, 1979: It took over 10 years for remains found in the woods of Stacyville, Maine to finally be identified. Thanks to a true crime podcast, a...
The Suspicious Death of Christopher Roof, the Stacyville John Doe (Maine)
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
MAINE JOHN DOE, 2010: For years, he was known only by the name stitched into the blue and white striped knit hat he was wearing. Chris, the Stacyville...
The Disappearance of Angel Torres, Part 2 (Maine)
27 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine your son, imagine any person you love, just disappears. No viable leads, no physical evidence, nothing to direct your search beyond unreliable...