Episode 133: Wendy and Steve Reid cross Logan Clegg’s deadly path

When Djeswende and Stephen Reid were shot while out for a walk in the woods in Concord, New Hampshire, police said the public was not in danger, even though they didn’t know who did it and didn’t have solid leads for weeks. But it turns out the public WAS in danger, from a man whose history of violence and illegal gun possession didn’t stop him from being armed that deadly day.

We take you step by step through what happened before and after the Reids and Logan Clegg met in the woods, and how a six-month investigation, that focused on the smallest of details, led to Clegg’s arrest just hours before he planned to step on a plane to Germany.

Also, Rebecca gives the NNW treatment to the Apple+ show “Bad Sisters.”

Episode 132: Azita Jamshab, there’s no insurance against murder

Azita Jamshab, 29, and newly divorced was ready to move from Maine to Las Vegas and start a new life. But her insurance agent, who was also the beneficiary on her life insurance policy, had a different plan. Rebecca presents.

Maureen updates Episode 72, the Cocoanut Grove fire, and Episode 125, Katahdin Kills and Doesn’t Care, and takes the NNW machete to the Discovery plus documentary “My Name is Bulger.”

Episode 131: The serial killer and the Lady in the Dunes

The Lady in the Dunes case — a murdered woman found in the dunes of Cape Cod on July 26, 1974 — may have gone cold shortly after she was found, but the case lived on in New England as an enduring mystery, and then became an internet sensation. When she was finally identified on October 31 as Ruth Marie Terry, whose Tennessee family had been looking for her for nearly 50 years, what came next would be a shocker.

Using newspaper archives, we take a long, deep look at her suspected killer, who may have gotten away with four murders before he married, then killed, Ruth Marie Terry.

Rebecca also gives the NNW review treatment to “Magpie Murders” — the book and the TV show.

 

Episode 130: Lottery winner Michael Allen’s losing ticket

Michael Allen had been living large in the nine years since 1988, when he’d won $5.8 million in the lottery. The problem was, he didn’t really know who his friends around town in Lewiston, Maine, were. Then one night, two of them lured him to a motel room… he didn’t live to see the morning. Rebecca reports.

We also give the Discover+ show “Real Life Nightmare” the NNW treatment, introducing our new Copaganda category.

Episode 129: The thing about murder in Ireland

When Ashling Murphy was attacked and killed in broad daylight by a stranger on a well-used path in Tullamore, Ireland, shock and anger reverberated across the small country. Her murder renewed vows that attitudes toward women in Ireland had to change.

But where’s the same outcry when women and children are killed by a man who isn’t a stranger? You might well ask Miriam Burns, killed in Killarney in August, or Lisa Cash, 18, and her siblings, twins Chelsea and Christy Crawley, killed in Dublin in September. Or all the other victims of domestic violence in Ireland.

Ireland isn’t that much different that many other countries, with the exception that its homicide rate is very low. But with domestic violence leading to more than half of Ireland’s murders, we look at the disconnect between murders like Murphy’s and the majority of others.

We also have updates on Episode 127, missing Jill Sidebotham and Lydia Hansen; and episode 123, Sophie Sergei’s murder.

And Rebecca gives the NNW treatment to the Netflix doc “I Killed My Father.”

Thanks for your patience during our absense! Vacation morphed into technial difficulties. We’re glad to be back.

We’ll be back after this short break

Miss us already? We’re taking a short break, but we’ll be back the first week of October with an exciting new episode. Thanks for all the support and thanks for listening. Meanwhile, check out our “More Stuff” page, where we’ve posted some of the video footage we discussed in Episode 128.

Episode 128: Burning down ‘hell’

In one week, three arson fires in Lewiston, Maine’s Tree Streets downtown neighborhood made dozens of residents homeless, destroyed millions of dollars worth of property and added pain to the already hardscrabble existence of the state’s poorest inner city. Police were quick to arrest four people in the unrelated fires — including two children — but was there justice? Rebecca explores.

We also update Episode 96: Just who WAS Shaun Harrison; Episodes 77: The police war on Black women and 95: Johnetta Carr justice delayed; and Episode 127: Where are Jill Sidebotham and Lydia Hansen?

And Maureen gives the NNW treatment to a documentary very close to her heart, if not anyone else’s.

Episode 127: Where are Jill Sidebotham and Lydia Hansen?

Jill Sidebotham and her daughter, Lydia Hansen, were last seen by their family on June 27 in Springvale, Maine, when they left with Lydia’s father (Jill’s former boyfriend) on what he described as a “camping trip.” The last confirmed sighting was on surveillance camera at the Mexico, Maine, Walmart on July 2. Jill and Lydia were expected home June 30, but no one has heard from them since. Her family and friends are adamant that she would not have taken off without saying anything, and find it unlikely she’d willingly go anywhere with Hansen.

The Sanford Police Department issued an alert seeking their whereabouts on July 3. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has added Lydia to its list.

In this episode, we discuss the search for the two — and Nick Hansen — as well as Hansen’s history of violence.

We also have an update on the arrest of Raymond Lester (Episode 126.2), charged with murder in the death of Nicole Mokeme, as well as an update on what’s been going on with Uber and sexual assult these days (Episode 12).

Rebecca does her NNW recommendation on the books of K.L. Slater.

Episode 126.2 When will people start caring about Nicole Mokeme’s murder?

In this Maine Mini we discuss the June 18 murder of Nicole Mokeme, who’s life mission was to create safe and powerful places for Maine’s black, brown, indigenous and other marginalized people. Unfortunately, an abusive man and a criminal justice system that let him continue to get away with it made Maine a very unsafe place for her.

Haven’t heard of her? No big surprise. After a brief flurry of attention, despite the fact that the man charged with her murder is still at large, police aren’t talking and the media has moved on.

Episode 126: The many victims of Armando Barron

It’s hard to get past some of the more sensational aspects of the New Hampshire murder of Jonathan Amerault and the horrific abuse of Brittney Barron by Armando Barron, but once you do it’s a textbook case of what can happen when coercive control goes unchecked. Some people may ask why Barron’s wife didn’t do more to stop what happened, but we’ll get into that. And more. Presented by Rebecca.

We also have updates on Ayla Reynolds, Melissa Sousa, Ghislaine Maxwell and more.

And Maureen gives NNW treatment to the Hulu docusaries “Captive Audience.”

Episode 125: Katahdin kills and doesn’t care

One of Maine’s greatest assets is Baxter State Park and Katahdin, Maine’s highest mountain, is its crown jewel. Some visitors chafe at the rules, but those who don’t pay attention learn the hard way, and sometimes lose their life because of it. Maine’s Wabanaki legend has it that Pamola guards the mountain and rains thunder and danger down on those who dare climb it. We talk about a few, of the many, times Pamola has one.

Another episode with a very special visit from a family member!

And Rebecca gives an NNW review to the audio version of “Then She Was Gone,” by Lisa Jewell.

Episode 124: Jane Shusko, killer arsonist or badly burned?

Rebecca takes on a tragic story from our old hometown, with a very special appearance by our mom!

We also update our most-ever updated episode, Annie Dookhan (Episode 29), the Concord, NH, double-murder of Desjwende and Stephen Reid (Episode 122.2) as well as catch up on a 2020 Maine triple murder (Episode we can’t remember) and give the NNW treatment to Maine Cabin Masters.

Episode 123: Sophie Sergie’s long road to justice

Sophie Sergie was killed on April 26, 1993, in the bathroom of a dorm at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. The case went cold fast and stayed that way for 26 years until an investigator in Alaska, inspired by the resolution of the Golden State Killer case decided to try something new.

Episode 122.2: Who killed Djeswende and Stephen Reid?

BONUS EPISODE

Djeswende and Stephen Reid were shot to death while on an afternoon walk in the woods near their Concord, New Hampshire, apartment April 18. There was seemingly no motive for the double murder, and police seem baffled. A little more than a week later, Holly Banks and Keith LaBelle, a newly dating couple, were shot to death in Banks’ home, 100 miles to the north, in Gorham, New Hampshire. Police have said little about that case, and no one has yet been charged.

While two couples killed in mysterious circumstances in New Hampshire, which averages 19 homicides a year, may be an anomaly, it’s not unheard of. Will the Reid and Banks-LaBelle killings join the list of four murders of couples in the Granite State over the past 48 years that have yet to be solved? We discuss in this special New Hampshire Mini Episode.

Episode 122: Amity Maine, not too small for triple murder

When Jeff Ryan, his 10-year-old son Jesse and Jeff’s buddy Jason Dehahn are stabbed to death in Amity, Maine, population 218 in June 2010, it’s a classic “it can’t happen here” crime. But it can And it did. Rebecca exlains.

Episode 121: Let’s talk about dating app crime

One angle in the ongoing story of the death of Lauren Smith Fields that hasn’t been looked at is dating app sexual crimes and violence. Lauren met a man on Bumble — and somehow during their first date wound up ingesting a deadly cocktail of drugs. If her date has something to do with her death, it’s part of the ongoing issue of dating app crimes against women that no one wants to address. Or even talk about.

We also NNW the Netflix docu-series “Bad Vegan.”

Episode 120: Lauren Smith Fields no justice in sight

When Lauren Smith Fields died in her Bridgeport, Connecticut, apartment while on a first date with a man she met on Bumble, and the police didn’t bother to notify her family, that was just the first injustice in a case that has all the worst elements of racism, white male priviledge, police incompetence and more. And the sad thing is, she’s not the only one.

Also, Rebecca gives NNW treatment to the Netflix series Worst Roommate Ever.

Special Announcement: No, no one was murdered

Something suddenly came up that has delayed Episode 120. No, no one was murdered, but we do have to take a short break. Listen to this special announcement to find out when we may be back and also some things to do so you’re not staring at the wall until we return (hopefully soon).

Episode 119: Typhoid Mary the real story

Irish immigrant Mary Mallon became synonymous with the spread of infectious disease, and is still known more than a century later as Typhoid Mary. But what really happened? And it’s interesting how, more than 115 years after she was identified as the source of a typhoid spread in New York, that as much things have changed, how some things just don’t. Rebecca tells us all about it.

We also discuss the revelations that have come out about London’s Metropolitan Police in the wake of the last year’s Sarah Everard murder, an update to our Episode 97, and Maureen NNW’s the HBOMax docuseries “The Murders at Starving Rock.”

 

Episode 118: Amy Fitzgerald Part 2 Justice Erased

Greg Fitzgerald checked all the eraser killer boxes, including making sure life without parole didn’t really mean life without parole. The second part of the story about the tragic end to the extraordinary life of Amy Fitzgerald.

Also, Rebecca NNW’s the Netflix doc “The Tinder Swindler”

Episode 117: Amy Fitzgerald, another eraser killer victim

There’s a certain kind of killer and Amy Fitzgerald was the victim of one of them. Maybe not as famous as some of the others — Scott Peterson, Chris Watts, Charles Stuart, Mark Hacking, the list goes on and on — but her story is just as significant as their victims. Marilee Strong identified these type of men in her 2008 book “Eraser Killers,” and we’ll talk more about how very dangerous they are, particularly since people still don’t get it.

Maureen also has the latest Maura Murray update, Rebecca does an NNW review of the Netflix documentary “The Puppet Master,” and our ongoing discussion of “Dalgleish” continues.

Episode 116.1 Maine’s first murder of 2022 and more

Hey! It’s a special bonus episode. We had so much stuff for Episode 116 that we had to leave some out, but still wanted you to hear it. We talk about Maine’s first murder of 2022, the alleged domestic homicide of Eva Cox, of Lubec. We also catch up on the recent and startling sentence for the perpetrator in Maine’s first murder of 2020.

We’ll be back next week with a brand new full-length Episode 117.

Episode 116: Montreal Massacre and its legacy of pain

Marc LePine tried to make a “political point” by shooting up a university in Montreal in 1989, killing 14 women. The legacy of the Montreal Massacre could have gone a long way to changing things, ranging from attitudes toward women to guns. But the equivocation started while the bodies were still warm. Are we any smarter in 2022? Rebecca takes a look.

We also update news on Ghislaine Maxwell, the Steven Downs trial, and Maureen gives “Dalgleish” the NNW treatment.

Episode 115: The Happy Face Killer’s unhappy story

Sister Liz is our guest storyteller, bringing another troubling tale from the great northwest.

We also discuss the merits of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (the 1968 version) versus “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” both bank robber movies shot in Boston in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

And Rebecca and Maureen give the NNW treatment to the Hulu documentary “Dead Asleep.”

Episode 114: Ted Conrad 52 years on the run

On his 20th birthday, July 10, 1969, Ted Conrad walked out of the Clevebank bank where he worked with $215,000 in a paper bag. For 52 years he eluded the FBI and U.S. Marshal Service in what’s still that city’s most expensive bank heist. But then, in May 2021, a Massachusetts man on his death bed, told his family his secret…

We also discuss the Taylor Swift-Don McLean situation, and Rebecca gives an NNW to the podcast “Suspect.”